August Board Meeting Highligts

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

District Office Conference Room A

8 Altarinda Road, Orinda, CA 94563

Link to video of the meeting part 1, part 2

I.               Opening Business

II.             Public Comment Period on Closed Session Items

III.            Closed Session Item – Adam Seville will be the new Principal of Wagner Ranch

IV.          Reconvene in Open Session – 6:00pm

V.            Public Comment Period – Charles welcomed new Directors to the District

VI.          Consent Calendar – Adopted by the Board

VII.         Action Items

A.      Settlement Agreement with BC Construction (Low bidder for Glorietta Project)

(The Director of Facilities will present a settlement agreement for the Glorietta kindergarten retaining wall.)

·      2 days into the project there were problems

·      Ed continued to answer questions

·      BC Construction didn’t know what they were doing on this job

·      Ed called legal council

·      District came up with a reasonable way to solve issue

·      Pay BC Construction $2,000 to save legal fees

·      Ed recommends that the Board approves this settlement

·      Board approved Settlement Agreement with BC Construction (Unanimous Approval)

B.     Contract with Pacific Coast General Engineering for Glorietta (Kindergarten Retaining Wall)

(The Director of Business Services will present a second reading of the revised policy for Board approval.)

·      $68,873 Bid

·      Ed recommends Approval of contract with Pacific Coast Engineering

·      Board approved Settlement Agreement with BC Construction (Unanimous)

     C.  Board Policy/Administrative Regulation 7214 – General Obligation Bonds
          (The Director of Business Services will present a second reading of the revised     

          policy for Board Approval).

·      The District does not currently have a Bond

·      Approved by the Board

VIII.       Discussion Items

A.  2014-15 Budget Update

(The Director of Business Services will share the latest information on the    

Governor’s Adopted Budget.)

·      State Budget signed on June 20, 2014

·      State budget provides $250 million dollars in LCFF funding above the May Revise estimates.

·      Total apportionment is $4.7 Billion

·      $400.5 million dollars has been apportioned to buy down K-12 prior year mandated cost claims.

·      Budget included $4.7 billion to buy down cash deferrals in 2014-15 and leaves a balance of $897.2 million in deferrals. 

·      The increased gap percentage for 2014-15 nets the District an increase in funding of approximately $60,000.00 over the May Revise.

·      There will be an estimated $160,000 for one-time mandated cost reimbursements.

·      Local Control Funding Formula Target $18,107,819.41 (Moving target each year).  Our current 2014-15 LCFF Entitlement is $15,590,586.

·      There is a “Held Harmless” agreement so we don’t receive less than in P2 of 2013-14

·      Each year, we receive 29.5% towards the target

·      2020-21= Full implementation (When we get to our target, all districts will get the same base amount).

·      Final State Adopted budget includes a CalSTRS plan which includes a smaller employer contribution rate increase for 2014-15 and consistent increases up to final implementation as compared to the May Revise. 

·      CalSTRS Rates are set through 2020-21 and these costs are increasing.  In 2013-14, the district paid 8.25% towards CalSTRS.  In 2014, the district will pay 8.88%.  By 2020-21, the district will have to pay 19.10%.  On the other hand, members (teachers) will pay 8.15% in 2014-15 and 9.205% by 2020-21. 

·      Matt – I’m not happy with the cost of CalSTRS for the District

·      Tyson – Does an employee have to belong to CalSTRS?  Loreen – Not sure.

·      CalSTRS increase to the district in 2014-15 is $219,944 (Mostly one-time in nature)

Multi Year Projections:

·      2014-15 up by 1.51%

·      2015-16 down by 9.71%

·      2016-17 up by 3.81%

Reserve Restriction

·      Senate Bill 858 was passed (Power Point provides this information)

·      State voters may enact Prop 44, the proposed “Rainy Day Fund” in November 2014; and,

·      The state makes a contribution to the Proposition 98 Reserve created by that proposition, in the following year

·      District reserves would be limited to two times the state minimum

·      For this to happen, Proposition 44 has to pass and the state has to make a contribution to the prop 98 fund

·      Matt – What does our current class size 20/1 cost the district since the State average has increased to 24/1?  Loreen – Having 4 fewer students per class costs the district $729/child at full implementation (We are now receiving 40%)

B.  2014-15 Enrollment Update (Changing by the hour)

     (The Director of Business Services will provide current enrollment numbers  

     and projections for the coming school year.)

·      Projected Enrollment 2,456

·      Current Enrollment 2,498

·      Numbers may be inflated a bit because of students moving away

·      New enrolment daily

·      We will know more by mid-week

·      Our 2014-15 revenue is based on our prior years’ ADA (2013-14 = 2,502) 

·      Our budget will not increase until the prior year enrollment increases

·      We are close to flat enrollment

C.  2013-14 Developer Fee Report

(The Director of Business Services will present the annual developer fee report for fiscal year 2013-14)

·      Fees doubled from last year

·      Used to offset the cost of growth for the District

·      Used for additions and reconstruction

·      We receive 70% of fees and Acalanes receives 30%

D.  Resolution on Local Reserves Cap

(The Board of Trustees will consider adopting a resolution on local reserves cap.)

·      Review & Discussion

                  E.  Other Post Employment Benefit Liability (OPEB)

(The Director of Business Services will present options for addressing the District’s OPEB liability.)

·      Matt wants to set money aside for this unfunded liability

·      Matt – How much would our attorney charge to set up a trust?

·      Julie – Pay-as-you-go is irresponsible

·      Chris – This is money we have already spent

F.  Facilities Summer Projects (Ed Silvas)

(The Director of facilities will present a summary of Summer Facilities Projects.)

·      This summer has been busy with numerous projects going on throughout the District.

·      Matt – District fields are looking really bad and I would like to repair them over time.

G.   Board Policy 6011 – Academic Standards

(The Director of Curriculum & Instruction will present a first reading of the revised policy.)

·      Statewide standards serve as the basis for the State’s curriculum frameworks and State assessment of core curriculum areas.

·      2010 – State Board of Education adopted new standards for ELA and Math.

·      2012 – District teachers, staff, and administrators began making the transition to using the Common Core State Standards by revising and redesigning instructional units, benchmark and formative assessments, and progress reporting tools to focus on the new standards and not on CST blueprints or similar CST-based guidance.

·      2013 – OUSD Three Year Curriculum Plan was developed to address and support these shifts for professional development, instructional materials, and assessments.

·      January 2014 – The Common core State Standards Expenditure Plan was approved to support these shifts.

·      June 2014 – The goals outlined in the Local Control Accountability Plan for implementation of the CCSS were approved.

H.  Board Policy/Administrative Regulation 6162.51 – State Academic  

     Achievement Tests (The Director of curriculum & Instruction will present a

     first reading of the revised policy.)

·      English Language Arts & Mathematics Focus

·      We will be communicating expectations to parents

·      The Superintendent or designee shall ensure the proper articulation of standards between grade levels and among schools and the alignment of these standards with the district’s vision and goals, promotion requirements, and other desired student outcomes.  He/she shall also ensure that the standards are easily understandable and measurable.

·      The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) is the official name for our summative assessment developed by the SMARTER Balanced Consortium to align with Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics.   The first full administration of these assessments will occur in the spring of 2015.

I.       Board Policy 6142.91 – Reading/Language Arts Instruction

(The Director of Curriculum & Instruction will present a first reading of the revised policy.

·      In August 2010, the State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English-Language arts in accordance with Education Code 60605.8 consisting of a set of national standards in English Language Arts with additional standards added by California.  The content standards for California were modified in March 2013.

·      July 2014 – State Board approved ELA Framework and incorporates the California Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy in History/Social Science, Science, and Technical Subjects and ELD Standards.

·      All California schools are expected to implement the CCSS in the 2014-15 school year.

·      Charles – Teachers need time during their duty day to grade trimester assessments.

                  J.       Board Policy 6142.92 – Mathematics Instruction

(The Director of Curriculum & Instruction will present a first reading of the revised policy.)

·      August 2010 – The State Board of Eduction adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics in accordance with the Education Code 6060.8 and then modified in January 2013.

·      November 2013 – The State Board of Education adopted the Mathematics Framework.

·      The State Assessment system has transitioned to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), which is aligned with the CCSS, and will be administered in the sping of 2015.

·      Julie - There should be a commitment by the Board to make sure students can take the highest level of math that they have the aptitude for

·      Chris – He’s not sure what type of language to include and will have Kathy figure this out.

·      Joe – Let us work on some options and bring it back.

K.      Board Policy 5123 – Promotion/Acceleration/Retention

(The Director of Curriculum & Instruction will present a first reading of the revised policy.)

·      This policy and regulations delineate requirements for retention and the district’s responsibility to provide supplemental instruction for students in grades 2-6 who have been identified at being at risk of retention.

·      The Board of Trustees expects students to progress through each grade level within one school year.  To accomplish this, instruction shall be designed to accommodate the variety of ways that students learn and include strategies for addressing academic deficiencies when needed.

·      Students shall progress through the grade levels by demonstrating growth in learning and meeting grade-level standards of expected student achievement.

·      When high academic achievement is evident, the teacher may recommend a student for acceleration into a higher grade level.  The student’s maturity level shall be taken into consideration in making a determination to accelerate a student.

·      As early as possible in the school year, the Superintendent or disignee shall identify students who should be retained and who are at risk of being retained in accordance with law, Board policy, administrative regulation, and the following criteria.

·      Students shall be identified for retention on the basis of grades and other indicators of academic achievement shall also be used:  State assessments administered pursuant to Education Code 6064060649 universal screening results, unit and/or trimester district assessment results applicable to current grade level.

·      When any student in grades 2-8 is retained or recommended for retention, the Superintendent or designee shall offer an appropriate program of remedial instruction to assist the student in meeting grade-level expectations. 

Things added:

·      TK has been added

·      We no longer have the STAR results

·      We have unit assessments for math

                  L.      Board Policy/Administrative Regulation 5144 - Discipline

(The Director of Curriculum & Instruction will present a first reading of the revised policy.)

·      February 11, 2013 – Discipline policy revised

·      The policy and regulations delineate acceptable student conduct and provide direction for sound disciplinary practices with a focus on correcting student behavior while avoiding an adverse effect on student learning or health.  The regulation outlines alternative means of correction and disciplinary strategies in lieu of suspension, when applicable.

·      The Orinda goal for addressing student engagement and school climate is listed on page 12 of Orinda’s Local Control Accountability Plan.  The specific actions related to school climate are listed on page 18-19 of Orinda’s Local Control Accountability Plan.

·      We need to address school climate and provide positive intervention for students.  This reinforces what we have previously approved.

·      Site-level rules shall be consistent with district policies and administrative regulations.  In developing these rules, the school shall solicit the participation, views, and advice of one representative selected by each of the following groups:  Parents/guardians, teachers, school administrators, school security personnel, if any.

·      The final version of the rules shall be adopted by a panel comprised of the principal or designee and a representative selected by classroom teachers employed at the school.

·      Each school shall fine a copy of its rules with the Superintendent or designee and the Board may review these rules.

·      School rules shall be communicated to students clearly and in an age-appropriate manner. 

·      Each school shall review its site-level discipline rules at least every four years. 

·      It shall be the duty of each employee of the school to enforce the school rules on student discipline.

·      To the extent possible, staff shall use alternative means of correction that keep students in school and participating in the instructional program.  Except when a student’s presence causes a danger to himself/herself or others or he/she commits a singe act of a grave nature or an offence for which suspension or expulsion is required by law, suspension or expulsion shall be used only when other means of correction have failed to bring about proper conduct.

·      Charles – The District needs to provide a safe, nondiscriminatory school environment for Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming students.

M.      Board Policy/Administrative Regulation 5144.1 – Suspension and Expulsion Due Process (The Director of Curriculum & Instruction will present a first reading of the revised policy.)

·      Suspension and Expulsion/Due Process is a mandated policy that outlines specific procedures and requirements for protecting the safety and well being of all students.  The policy was previously revised on February 4, 2013 to reflect new laws requiring fair, consistent enforcement of the suspension and expulsion of students.

·      AB 256 – A student may be disciplined for bullying by means of an electronic act even when the act originated off campus.

·      The goal for addressing school climate is listed on page 12 with specific actions on page 18-19 of Orinda’s Local Control Accountability Plan.

·      Except when otherwise permitted by law, a student may be suspended or expelled only when his/her behavior is related to a school activity or school attendance occurring within any district school or other school district, regardless of when it occurs.

·      A teacher may remove any student from his/her class for the remainder of the day and the following day only for acts specified in Education Code 48900 and for any act listed in “Grounds for Suspension and Expulsion”.  The teacher shall immediately report this action to the principal/designee and then send the student to the principal or designee for appropriate action.  If that action requires the continuing presence of the student at school, he/she shall be appropriately supervised during the class periods from which he/she has been removed.  As soon as possible, after the teacher decides to remove the student, the teacher shall ask the student’s parent/guardian to attend a parent-teacher conference regarding the removal. 

·      A student removed from class shall not be returned to class during the period of removal without the approval of the teacher of the class and the principal. 

·      A student removed from class shall not be placed in another regular class during the period of removal. 

·      The teacher of any class from which a student is removed may require the student to complete any assignments and tests missed during the removal.

·      Pursuant to Board policy, a teacher may provide that the parent/guardian of a student whom the teacher has removed attend a portion of a school day in his/her child’s classroom.  When a teacher makes this request, the principal shall send the parent/guardian a written notice that the parent/guardian’s attendance is requested pursuant to law.

·      OUSD needs to develop fair systems for suspension and expulsion

IX.      Information Items

A.    Fund 40 Expenditures Summary Report

·      The Special Reserve Fund for Capital Facilities (Fund 40) was established in 1989 primarily for revenues generated from the Pine Grove sale of surplus property.  A Facilities Task Force was established in 2013-14 to prioritize and make recommendations for the use of these funds.

Summary of Fund 40 Expenditures:

Revenues:                              $17,019,313.78

Projects Completed:               $1,978,052.57

Projects in Progress:             $2,713,370,64

Board Authorized Projects:    $1,050,698.00

Reserved by the Board:                   $500,000.00

Balance to be Allocated:         $10,777,192,57

X.      Communications

·      Joe – Thank all those who have helped with summer projects.

XI.      Future Agenda Items

·      Matt - Update on where we are with facilities projects

XII.     Adjournment (8:30pm)

Why Do Teachers Quit or Stay?

By LIZ RIGGSOCT, The Atlantic

October  18, 2013

Richard Ingersoll taught high-school social studies and algebra in both public and private schools for nearly six years before leaving the profession and getting a Ph.D. in sociology.    Now a professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s education school, he’s spent his career in higher education, searching for answers to one of teaching’s most significant problems: teacher turnover.

Teaching, Ingersoll says, “was originally built as this temporary line of work for women before they got their real job—which was raising families, or temporary for men until they moved out of the classroom and became administrators. That was sort of the historical set-up.”

Ingersoll extrapolated and then later confirmed that anywhere between 40 and 50 percent of teachers will leave the classroom within their first five years (that includes the nine and a half percent that leave before the end of their first year.)    Certainly, all professions have turnover, and some shuffling out the door is good for bringing in young blood and fresh faces.    But,turnover in teaching is about four percent higher than other professions.

Approximately 15.7 percent of teachers leave their posts every year, and 40 percent of teachers who pursue undergraduate degrees in teaching never even enter the classroom at all.    With teacher effectiveness a top priority of the education reform movement, the question remains:  Why are all these teachers leaving—or not even entering the classroom in the first place?

“One of the big reasons I quit was sort of intangible,” Ingersoll says. “But it’s very real: It’s just a lack of respect,” he says. “Teachers in schools do not call the shots.   They have very little say.   They’re told what to do; it’s a very disempowered line of work.”

Other teachers—especially the younger ones—are also leaving the classroom for seemingly nebulous reasons.    I spoke with nearly a dozen public and private school teachers and former teachers around the country.   (I used pseudonyms  for the teachers throughout this piece so that they could speak freely.) Many of them cited “personal reasons,” ranging from individual stress levels to work-life balance struggles.

“We are held up to a really high standard for everything,” says Emma, a 26-year-old former teacher at a public school in Kansas who now works for a music education non-profit.   “It stems from this sense that teachers aren’t real people, and the only thing that came close to [making me stay] was the kids.”

In my interviews with teachers, the same issues continued to surface.    In theory, the classroom hours aren’t bad and the summers are free. But, many young teachers soon realize they must do overwhelming amounts of after-hours work.   They pour out emotional energy into their work, which breeds quick exhaustion.    And they experience the frustrating uphill battle that comes along with teaching—particularly in low-performing schools.

 “What people are asked to do is only the kind of thing that somebody can do for two or three years; you couldn’t sustain that level of intensity throughout a career,” said Thomas Smith, a professor at Vanderbilt University’s education school.    He was referring specifically to charter schools, but his sentiment is one that resonates with many beginning teachers in challenging schools.    “[It’s] the same way that people might think of investment banking.    It’s something that people do for a few years out of college, but if you want to have a family, or you want to have some leisure time, you know, how do you sustain that?”

Joseph is a former Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher who loved his first years in the classroom; after a couple of years, though, he came to a saddening realization about the future of his career.

“I realized that most older men I taught with eventually felt pressured to advance into higher-level administration as their careers progressed in order to better support their family,” he said.    “What many of them working in high-need schools told me, however, was that being successful at school directly conflicted with being successful husbands and fathers.    While this is certainly true of any occupation, most occupations don't leave your children asking you, ‘Why do you go to more basketball games of the kids at school than mine?’"

Pay is also an issue that came up in my interviews. A starting teacher salary in the U.S. is $35,672.

“What is expected of great teachers and the amount they are paid is shameful,” says Hayley, a former teacher from the Northwest, referring to just one factor in her decision to leave the classroom to work for an education-tech startup. “Yes, if you love something you should do it regardless of pay, but when you take into consideration the time, the effort, the emotional toll and what teachers are asked to actually do everyday, it was painfully obvious that teaching is not a sustainable job. I really wish it had been.”     Hayley taught for three years before finding herself emotionally drained, physically exhausted, and interested in pursuing a career that provided more balance and financial security.

Higher pay doesn’t necessarily lead to a better retention rate, though. “[Some] studies suggest that teachers are more interested in working at schools where the conditions of work are good rather than in getting paid more,” Smith, the Vanderbilt professor, said.    He pointed to a study by the Benwood Foundation that offered teachers in Chattanooga large bonuses to go teach in lower-performing schools.    The study found that few teachers were willing to move for this kind of offer. (In fact, according to Smith, the initiative had to be reengineered to offer bonuses to teachers already in those schools.)

With the exception of retirement, studies suggest that there are only a handful of overarching factors that push teachers out the door—family or personal reasons, other career opportunities, salary, administrative support and overall job dissatisfaction.    These are largely the same issues that arose in my interviews.     Some were wholly unhappy or drained and left in pursuit of another career completely, some wanted more money; some wanted both.

Another study done by the National Charter School Research Project suggests lack of job security is a factor in teachers’ decision to leave public charters; however, this was not a concern of any charter teacher I spoke with.    Most teachers sounded simply frustrated, overworked and underpaid—sentiments that are certainly echoed in the research.

The teacher-turnover problem has a flipside, of course: If 40 to 50 percent of teachers leave the classroom within the first five years their career, that means that 50 to 60 percent of teachers stay.    Who are they?    Where are they teaching? What is keeping them?

Becky is a retired teacher who taught for nearly 30 years in just about every capacity imaginable.  After starting in Chattanooga in a public school, she moved all over the country, teaching in Houston in a low-income school and then Chicago in a wealthy suburb before teaching at a private school in Ohio.

She loved teaching, but even in her years before retirement, she still felt the weight of the work on her constantly.

“When you’re in your early 60s and you’re still coming home with 65 hours of grading over two weeks…that’s very overwhelming. [But] I love working with teenagers. I love the relationships and I love being able to help them.”

This overwhelming desire to help students is a common thread among all the teachers I speak with.   They all cared for their students deeply, but even this couldn’t keep teachers like Hayley or Emma in the classroom.    Simply put: everything else—the workload, the emotional toll, the low pay—was just too much.

A range of factors influences teacher retention, according to Ingersoll’s research, but he tells me that the way administration deals with both students and teachers has a “huge effect” on teacher satisfaction.   He cites this as being one of the potential ways to keep teachers without spending billions of dollars increasing salaries.

“Those schools that do a far better job of managing and coping with and responding to student behavioral issues have far better teacher retention,” he says. And, in both public and private schools, “buildings in which teachers have more say—their voice counts—have distinctly better teacher retention.”

Ingersoll has also done extensive research on beginning teacher support and found that teachers who have even just two small initiatives in place (working with a mentor and having regular supportive communication with an administrator) are more likely to stay in the classroom.

Based on other education statistics, parental involvement, student achievement and the career entry point for teachers can also impact retention.    Parental engagement and high student achievement are key factors.    Where these numbers grow, teachers are more satisfied and presumably more likely to stay in the profession.   And teachers who sought teaching as their first career are more likely to stay in the classroom in comparison with teachers who entered the profession mid-career.

Regardless of why teachers stay or leave, the revolving door of teacher turnover is a problem that affects students and entire schools.    Ingersoll maintains that it doesn’t have to be a problem that continues to spiral out of control; the revolving door can be stopped.    And while there are a number of ways to fix it—from increasing salaries to mentoring young teachers—the mindset behind the solution is simple.

“Respected, well-paid lines of work do not have shortages,” Ingersoll says. He adds that he is happy with his new career, but he would still be a high school history teacher had it not been for the lack of respect and low salary he experienced. For a lot of teachers I spoke with, this seems to be the common sentiment:    If the overall attractiveness of teaching as a profession gets better, the best teachers will enter the profession, stay, and help increase the effectiveness of schools.

“To improve the quality of teaching,” Ingersoll says, you need to “improve the quality of the teaching job.” And, “If you really improve that job… you would attract good people and you would keep them.”

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