SCAC Minutes

PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Superintendent’s Community Advisory Council Monday, March 15, 2010 MINUTES 1. WELCOME Mrs. Beth Berndt called the meeting to order. 2. MEETING MINUTES (January 25, 2010) Minutes were approved as submitted. 3. GOOD NEWS REPORTS Esperanza High School Congratulations to Mr. John King and the Women’s Soccer program named by ESPN RISE Magazine as number one in the State. The National Merit Scholarship program has determined which of the 16,000 semifinalists named in September have met all requirements to advance to Finalist Standing in the competition. The following students are finalists from Esperanza: Emily Cheng, Michael Taylor, Sarah Patno and Lynn Yu. In early February, Esperanza was proud to celebrate Signing Day with 20 athletes who will go on to play college sports. At the event, student athletes were recognized for their hard work and success. They gathered in the gym to sign their scholarship papers and take photos with family and friends. Six additional Aztec athletes have yet to make a decision on which university they will attend. The Academic Decathlon team received a 2nd place overall team score at the recent Orange County competition. The team earned 40 individual subject medals, 2nd and 4th place plaques and $1,100 in scholarship money. The Speech and Debate Team received a 3rd place sweepstakes trophy at the Orange County Speech League Open Tournament at Sonora High School. Twenty schools from Orange County were in attendance. The Winter Formal Dance in mid-February was a big success with over 600 students enjoying music and refreshments at the Marconi Center in Tustin. Congratulations to Mr. Walt Walters and Mr. Larry Eynon on receiving a grant from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for $5,000! Mr. Dave Green and Mr. Rich Medellin were recently honored by the Orange County Athletic Directors Association for their outstanding accomplishments and support of high school sports. The Orange County Register had a feature article on Esperanza alumnus, Evan Stanley, who served as Executive Chef at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Fairmont Elementary Eighty students participated in the Second Battle of the Books program at Fairmont and nearly every family was represented at a very successful Open House on March 11. Linda Vista Elementary Linda Vista is very proud of Noelle Johnson, a fifth grader, who advanced to State level for the National Reflections program. An invitation was also extended to everyone to stop by the ESC on Friday, March 26th, for the Reflections Showcase 2010 to view the work of all the Council Level Award Winners. Mabel Paine Elementary Mabel Paine is looking forward to hearing the results of the Distinguished School Team visitation that took place in February. Also, congratulations to Akiva Henderson on being selected to the district’s Elementary Honor Orchestra. Mable Paine has implemented a “going green” program that has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the use of paper. Parents are getting accustomed to using the school’s website for information that was previously sent home. As a follow up note on Mabel Paine’s Soles- To-Souls shoe drive for the people in Haiti, the goal of 1,000 pair of shoes was surpassed. The total number collected was 1,007 pairs!! Morse Elementary Morse is very proud of the caring attitude its students exhibited when they recently initiated a classroom project to collect funds for the victims in Haiti. The 6th grade classes recently went to Outdoor Science camp and the students, staff and community made sure all students had the necessary funds and/or equipment for this fun and educational excursion. Tynes Elementary Tynes is very proud of Jodi Hawkins, GATE Teacher, and her 4th grade class. They were selected to represent Orange County at the statewide Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference on March 6, 2010, in Palm Springs. Their “Robotics” project was chosen because the Review Team was impressed with the student-driven aspects of the project and how they worked together to solve problems. The team indicated the project was an “excellent example of a hands-on, interactive tool-to-enhance learning.” The project will be on display during the CUE conference in Palm Springs in March. The Placentia News Times featured Tynes for their service-learning project that included great environmental benefits. The school is participating with Inside the Outdoors organization to “upcycle” for the Project Zero Waste program here in Orange County. “Upcycling” is the reuse of waste items that cannot be recycled. The waste items are then made into useful items such as pencil pouches, backpacks, folders, purses, etc. The items being collected are: empty drink pouches (such as Capri Sun), empty chip bags, old plastic pens, plastic mechanical pencils and used glue sticks. The community is encouraged to participate and may drop items off at the school. Van Buren Elementary Van Buren is looking forward to their annual School Carnival which will be held on Saturday, June 5. Students, staff and parents are looking forward to the modernization scheduled to begin this summer. Van Buren welcomed Katie Karcher on March 11 as their “Principal for a Day”. A student amused Mrs. Karcher by asking her if her family owned McDonald’s! Van Buren is participating in the Read Across America Used Book Drive, which is both a reading incentive program and an opportunity for students to trade in used books. Congratulations to the 6th grade class for meeting their reading goals! Van Buren families are trying to do their part to help during this difficult economic time by asking each teacher to submit a “wish list.” Parents have the option of donating needed items to the school. A SCAC guest asked if a central location could be established by the district to provide information on school collections for humanitarian efforts and/or district/school needs. Mrs. Rosemary Gladden reported that staff will create a page on the district’s website for schools to post information. SCAC representatives were encouraged to contact their Site Administrator to share the information they want posted on the District Website. Rosemary will contact community newspapers regarding the possibility of partnering with the school district to promote this type of information. 4. SUPERINTENDENT’S UPDATE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS New School Board Member, Kim Palmer Dr. Smith introduced Kim Palmer as the newly selected School Board Member replacing Judy Miller, who retired in January. Lakeview Elementary Parking Lot Traffic Flow Dr. Smith reported on a concern expressed at last month’s meeting regarding safety in the parking lot at Lakeview. Dr. Smith and a team visited the school during dismissal time to observe the process and discovered a very efficient valet program. Although the parking lot was busy, cars moved through the pickup process in a well-organized manner and the lot was cleared in approximately 15 minutes. Parents were encouraged to continue using caution and slower speeds when entering or exiting school sites. Yorba Linda High School Students Crossing Fairmont Dr. Smith reported on another concern expressed last month regarding student safety while crossing Fairmont Blvd. south of Bastanchury and north of Yorba Linda Blvd. On his site visit, Dr. Smith and staff did observe ten to twelve students crossing Fairmont Blvd., south of Bastanchury. Steve Umber, Director of Transportation, will be meeting again with the City of Yorba Linda traffic engineer to share the pedestrian issues that are occurring and to ask the City to consider some kind of physical or regulatory barrier near the entrance to the school on Fairmont Blvd. Budget Update Dr. Smith updated SCAC members on the latest budget information. He explained the Governor will soon be submitting his May Revise budget, but at this time, the district is not anticipating any increase in state funding. Dr. Smith expressed his deep appreciation to the certificated, classified and management staffs for their support of the furlough days this year and next year. This has been a tremendous help with the unprecedented challenge of balancing the district’s budget. Dr. Smith explained that summer school has been reduced as another cost-savings measure. Summer programs will be provided at El Dorado High School for middle and high school students who need credit recovery. In addition, summer programs for special education students will be held at three elementary schools and El Dorado. A fee-based enrichment program will be offered through the Parkview Booster Program at Tuffree Middle School. Students who are seeking opportunities for first- time courses will be able to enroll at Pacific Coast High School, an online program, for high school students. Summer school information will be available to parents soon. A question was asked regarding the status of the district’s music program for 5th and 6th grade students. Dr. Smith said no changes to the music program are anticipated. In response to a question regarding the possibility of parents funding events or programs, Dr. Smith explained that it is very difficult to do that district-wide and maintain equal opportunities for all students. It would be more beneficial to the district and the State of California to find long-term solutions to the way public education is funded. A lawsuit against the State is to be filed in April or May charging that the State of California has not adequately met its obligation to fund public education. Discussion followed on the merits and intricacies of the lawsuit. SCAC will be updated on this as information becomes available. 5. RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION / RACE TO THE TOP Mrs. Candy Plahy showed a PowerPoint presentation which demonstrated the Response to Intervention (RtI) model and explained how students are identified by means of CST, CELDT, classroom performance, district assessments, teacher professional collaboration and Vital Indicators of Progress (VIP–K-8).

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