State Officials

Let’s Not Neglect State Officials

As CVUSD has made plans to close two elementary schools in 2009, hundreds of parents have come forward in protest of the decision and asking officials to reconsider budget and spending priorities so that such a step won’t be necessary. Such active involvement is to be commended, but if we as parents truly want to make a difference in our public schools, we must also make our concerns known to our state officials.

Currently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has suggested 10% across-the-board cuts in education. That works out to a $4.8 billion cut for K-14 education, on top of a $400 million reduction for education in the current year. The net effect is about $750 less per student than K-12 education would normally receive or about $18,750 per classroom. His proposal calls for the suspension of Proposition 98—the state’s minimum funding guarantee for public schools and community colleges—in order to help address a $14.5 billion state budget shortfall. The proposed cuts are the largest ever contemplated for public schools in California and come in a state that already spends well under the national average per pupil. CVUSD estimates it could lose $5 million from it's $170-million budget, and has already notified as many as 90 teachers that they may not have a job next year.

We need to make some of the same demands of our elected state officials that we have made of our CVUSD officials. Are they truly looking at the impact these kinds of budget cuts will have on our children? Should they be looking elsewhere to make cuts or increase revenues? Could they be looking to overhaul state educational spending in ways that provide more direct benefits to our kids? A great source of information about the California education system, particularly as it relates to financing education is at www.edsource/org – there are many facts and figures presented in a straightforward, non-partisan manner that can be used to get a better understanding of how the state funds our schools. It’s not just the amount of money the state provides to public schools that causes severe problems on local levels; many of those problems are caused by the way the state allocates the money and by the way it determines how much each school district should receive.

Included here is contact information for the governor, our local state representatives, and the members of the education committees in the Senate and Assembly. Let’s tell them that we care passionately about our children’s schools and let them know what type of impact their decisions are having in our community. We believe that California can do better, and we need to make sure our voices are heard in Sacramento.

Tammy Ditmore
Newbury Park
fourditmores@verizon.net


Contact Information for California state representatives from our district

State Senator: Tom McClintock
Although McClintock is our state senator for the remainder of this year and should be voting on this year’s budget, he is now running for U.S. Congress in the Sacramento-area district where he has actually lived with his family for more than 10 years – his kids do not attend school in Ventura County. None of the links posted on the California Legislature pages lead to a State Senate home page for McClintock; I tried several different ways, but all I found is this website, http://www.tommcclintock.com/, which is a campaign website for his congressional campaign. There are places on that website to leave emails and campaign contributions.

Here are mailing addresses for him:
Capitol Address
State Capitol
Room 3070
Sacramento, CA 94248-0001
(916) 651-4019

District Address
223 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Suite 400
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
(805) 494-8808

Assembly Member: Audra Strickland
Home page: http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a37/index.aspx?page=home
Email: Assemblymember.strickland@assembly.ca.gov,
or through contact page at: http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a37/index.aspx?page=Concern

Capitol Address:
State Capitol
Room 4208
Sacramento, CA 94249-0037
Phone: (916) 319-2037
Fax: (916) 319-2137

Westlake Village District Office
2659 Townsgate Road, Suite 236
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Phone: 805-230-9167
Fax: 805-230-9183

The Assembly Education Committee includes Gene Mullin (Chair), Martin Garrick (Vice Chair), Julia Brownley, Joe Coto, Mike Eng, Lori Hancock, Bob Huff,
Betty Karnette, Alan Nakanishi, and Jose Solorio

You can find links to contact information for each of the members and more about the committee’s schedules, publications, etc. at http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=6

The Senate Education Committee includes Jack Scott (Chair), Mark Wyland (Vice Chair), Elaine Alquist, Jeff Denham, Abel Maldonado, Alex Padilla, Gloria Romero, Joe Simitian and Tom Torlakson.

Some contact information and other information about the committee can be found at http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/sen/committee/STANDING/EDUCATION/_home1/PROFILE.HTM

However, links to the Senators home pages do not appear functional. In theory, most senators (not all accept email) can be reached by email at Senator.LastName@senate.ca.gov. Example: Senator.Scott@senate.ca.gov

Governor:
Website: http://gov.ca.gov/
For email, use form at: http://gov.ca.gov/interact

Address:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841

Fax: 916-558-3160 ( new number )

How do we find a real solution?

It is my opinion that our district is trying to take the "easy" way out of the budget shortfall that they are facing. They figure that by closing schools they can quickly slash $1.3 million a year from the budget. In reality, closing two schools is not going to solve the deeper problems that I see:

1. Lack of due diligence in all areas of the budget
   • The district spends excessively in some areas while underfunding others. There is little to no oversight to do a sanity check on what we pay for the services provided to us. While it is true that the lions share of the district budget goes to our teachers, this is not the place to cut. There are tens of millions of dollars spent every year to administer and operate this district. Every parent should be scouring the budget line items to hold the School Board accountable.
     
   • If we as parents independently audit where our tax dollars are going and find that the district is efficiently managing the resources that have been entrusted to them, then I fully support a local tax initiative to go on the ballot in November keep all of our schools open. I suspect, however, that we may find that there were many stones left "unturned" and additional taxes may not be necessary.
2. Reduction of Funding from the State Level
• This is out of our control at the local level. We should cross this bridge when we get to it. Every district will have to deal with this.
• Once we fully understand the impact in terms of a monetary amount of the reduction for our district, then we can discuss what to do about it. Right now it is all just guessing based upon the Governor's proposed budget.

The only real solutions to our district's budget issues will involve spending less, bringing in more, or a combination of both.  Let's work together to find a better alternative to school closure.

Districtwide Parents Meeting Tonight!

The Parents of Conejo Valley Schools clearly need to get on the same page!  :)

I just found out about a large group of us meeting at University School tonight, Monday March 10th at 6:00 PM.  We have fought the stats and have succeeded in making the analysis more fair and honest.  At the same time, this is no consolation to parents of students at University or Meadow's schools.  As long as the current evaluation process continues, two schools will still be identified for closure.  This is unacceptable.

It is time for us to all work together towards a common solution.

Below is the original text of the meeting invitation for tonight. Hope to see you there!

Meeting MONDAY 6:00 PM at University Elementary MPR

 

This meeting is for ALL SCHOOLS still wanting to speak at the March 18th school board meeting.  This is the first step for a Grassroots Movement that has begun that is uniting the district to work together towards keeping All schools open and for finding a “Real” solution to budget issues that face all of us now and into the near future.  Ventura County Supervisor, Linda Parks, is interested in attending this meeting as well as other local government representatives who are interested in our cause.

The main focus on Monday night will be for us all to coordinate our efforts for the upcoming School Board Meeting on the 18th. Our focus has to be reviewed...this is no longer about fighting the individual statistics or talking about how wonderful our individual schools are - this is about UNITY and speaking about our goals as a school district to fight school closures and budget concerns in general.

The PTA's from all CVUSD schools are being invited, so this is not just a University gathering. We welcome and need all support!!!!

 

 

See you there,

Ron Ballen

Update on School Closures

Click here to view the district's latest closure update.

Two New School Closures Announced

The District’s Facilities Goals Committee met on February 20, 2008 to review the Board revised school closure criteria data and have reached a decision to recommend closing University Elementary and Meadows Elementary in fall 2009.

Please refer to the CVUSD website for more detailed information.

Back to the Drawing Board

The Conejo Valley School District has chosen to do the right thing.  At the February 5th board meeting the board voted to throw out the results of the original Primary Criteria analysis and start the scoring process all over again.  After over four hours of public comment from our active community, the board made a bold decision and the school closure process will now have the opportunity for an open and thorough review.

Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to realize this outcome.  Now the hard work begins.  Many parents still believe that school closure in any form is not necessary.  We will continue to engage in this process to ensure that any analysis is fair and accurate and to express that we believe that all schools should remain open.

Click here to read the article in the Ventura County Star.

Letters to the Editor

Please note that the links to the Acorn for January 31st are links to Letters to the Editor from the following authors:

Paul Kessler

Jo Anne Cobasko

Karen Cabelli

We do not condone any remarks that are negative or seek to discriminate against any student population or school.  Any such remarks will be removed from this site.  Our goal and purpose is to keep ALL schools in the Conejo Valley open.

Do the RIGHT thing.

For ALL students.

Today AND tomorrow.

Read The Call for Action

A document entitled "Call for Action" has been posted to savecvschools.org.  Download it here.

savecvschools.org is now online!

The website is now active at http://www.savecvschools.org/.  You can view this blog, download the raw data files from the district and get actively involved in the parent response.  Thank you for taking the time to visit.

Next School Board Meeting

The community is urged to attend and lend support at the upcoming School Board Meeting Tueday, Feb. 5 at 6:00 p.m. held in the TOHS PAC. Among the topic of school closure, the expenditure of fiber optic high-speed internet (now including a Verizon bid) will be voted on. Dorothy Beaubien does not believe that these two topics relate (see article) . . . but how can they not? School closure is due to lack of students which equates to lack of funds thereby putting us in crisis mode here, so why spend funds that should otherwise go to support and save our schools?

EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING

An EMERGENCY SCHOOL BOARD MEETING has been set for MONDAY, JANUARY 28th at 3:00 p.m. in CVUSD offices conference room A.

Please attend!!!!!!!! It seems as the district has set the meeting at an unconventional time to make it inconvenient for parents to attend.


The following is information from the website:

Should the Board of Education authorize staff to enter into an agreement with Sunesys, LLC to install a high-speed, fiber optic network connecting the District Office to 31 District sites?
BACKGROUND:
The District currently maintains a local area network (LAN) connecting the District Office to 31 separate District school and work sites to provide Internet access and data transfer. The current network utilizes five, T-1 copper phone line/frame relay circuits, providing speeds of from 0.7 to 1.0 megabits per second (mb) to each site. Up until January 2008, the District LAN was connected to the Internet through the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE), who serves as the District’s Internet service provider. The District utilized three T-1 circuits for this connection, which provided speeds of up to 4.5 mb. This frame relay LAN is completely antiquated, and does not provide the type of speeds necessary to support the timely use of resources available on Internet. It is also unable to handle the speeds necessary for effective data transfer using current management information software like Zangle, Escape and Edusoft, and instructional software such as Successmaker, requiring speeds in excess of 50 mb to operate effectively. The recent social sciences adoption provided the District with software and video resources that can only be used with networks running at least 100 mb, with a 200 mb recommended speed. The net annual cost of telecom tariffs on the current LAN and the prior VCOE connection was approximately $186,000; approximately $136,000 associated with the LAN and $50,000 associated with the VCOE
connection, which included the cost of Internet service. The gross costs of the connections are reduced by 42% through use of the Federal E-Rate program, and an additional 50% of the net E-Rate cost through the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF), a combined effective discount of 71%. The District is billed the net rate, and the telecoms and VCOE bill the Federal and State directly for the E-Rate and CTF discounts on behalf of the District. . .
In order to address the needs of the LAN for higher speeds, in December 2007 the District issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for installation of a high-speed, fiber optic LAN connecting the District Office to 31 District sites. The RFP utilized a format required for eligibility for E-Rate and CTF discounts, and specified the need for a minimum speed of 1,000 mb, or 1 gigabit per second (gb) to each site. The RFP requested costs for installation of the LAN with connection directly to each site’s Main Distribution Facility (MDF). Under E-Rate rules, telecom vendors can amortize the initial capital costs of installing the fiber and connecting it to the MDF over a five year period. . . The District would be required to install the connections between the Verizon fiber network and the MDF at all sites through a separately bid construction contract, at a one-time cost that could exceed $2.0 million, and would not be eligible for E-Rate and CTF discounts. The Sunesys proposal provided connection to all 32 site MDFs as requested, with installation costs amortized over 5 years. The table below summarizes the costs submitted by the three vendors, including gross annual costs years one through five, net annual costs years one through five after E-Rate and CTF discounts, and net annual costs for years six and beyond. . .
ATT 18 $2,777,532 $805,476 $254,040
Sunyses 32 $1,600,164 $464,052 $92,808
Verizon 32 $734,400 $212,976 $212,976
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Authorize staff to enter into an agreement with Sunesys LLC to install a high-speed, fiber optic network connecting the District Office to 32 District sites. at the expense of two wonderful elementary schools.
2. Do not authorize staff to enter into an agreement with Sunesys LLC to install a high-speed, fiber optic network connecting the District Office to 32 District sites. and actually tighten up the budget instead of excessively spend it!
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve alternative 1.
RATIONALE:
Sunesys is the only vendor that submitted a complete proposal for 1 gb service to all District sites, delivered to the MDF, and their quoted costs are less than those submitted by ATT for only 18 sites. Because the Verizon proposal does not include the amortized costs of installing a connection from the Verizon network to each site’s MDF, it is very difficult to evaluate their proposal. They were contacted and asked to include these costs in a revised proposal, and they declined. It is estimated the District could spend $2,000,000 in a separate construction contract for this installation. The $2,000,000, amortized over five years would add $400,000 per year to the Verizon net annual cost of $212,976 for years one through five, which would exceed the Sunesys net cost by approximately $150,000 per year.
The net annual costs for the Sunyses proposal in years six and beyond are approximately $120,000 less than Verizon. Therefore, staff is recommending the District contract with Sunyses. . .
The annual net cost of the current frame relay LAN and former frame relay connection with VCOE was $186,000. The net annual cost of the Sunyses LAN and radio link to the VCOE is $484,052, and increase of approximately $300,000. The 2007-08 District Budget at first quarter was revised to include an additional $300,000 in net telecom charges in anticipation of awarding a contract for a high-speed fiber optic network. However, since that time, the Governor has proposed significant cuts to State education funding in 2008-09 that could require the District to significantly reduce its expenditures. so why are we spending more at this time of crisis? District staff surveyed administrators and school site principals regarding the wisdom of moving forward with the new expense in light of the Governor’s proposal. The response was unanimous. District sites cannot continue to function effectively with a slow, outdated network, and it is significantly impacting the quality of District instructional technology programs. In addition, the current network will require several hundred thousand dollars in maintenance and replacement costs of the next several years, with no increase in speed (is this a fact??). For these reasons, it is recommended the Board authorize staff to enter into the agreement with Sunyses. Since Sunyses will not begin billing the District until July 1, 2008, the $300,000 budgeted in the current year can be used to purchase any one-time equipment necessary to support the LAN, with the balance carried over to 2008-09 to partially support next year’s costs. Instead of using funds to SAVE OUR SCHOOLS!

Respectfully submitted,
Mario V. Contini
Superintendent

Prepared by:
Jeffrey L. Baarstad, Ph.D.
Deputy Superintendent, Business Services
Mike Vollmert, Ph.D.
Director, Assessment and Technology

District Update

This evening, Tuesday, January 22nd, students and staff of CVUSD received a recorded phone message from Superintendent Mario Contini notifying us that the process of identifying the final two elementary schools for closure is temporarily suspended.

No recommendation for school closure will be offered at the Feb. 5 Board Meeting. The Board will more deeply explore the outcome of the first phase of criteria before beginning the 2nd phase of the process.

Parents and staff will be notified of the next steps following the Feb. 5 Board Meeting.

Front Page News

The Front Page of the Ventura County Star has featured Maple:
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/19/maple-school-parents-voice-frustration/

Join the Fight to Save Our Schools!

Welcome to this Blog!
We as a community feel strongly about the decision the school board has made to close two elementary schools in the CVUSD effective Fall 2009. Here is a forum where you can gather information, and share information regarding the school closures. We think Conejo Valley has wonderful schools, and closing them would be detrimental to our community at large. Thank you for taking the time to visit.