Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "jonathan raymond"

School superintendents urge lawmakers to put tax extensions on June ballot

2011-03-29T01:39:38Z

School superintendents from across the state convened on the west steps of the Capitol on Monday to urge lawmakers to get tax extensions on the ballot in a June special election, which they said is necessary to avoid a $4.6 billion reduction in public school funding.

Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Johnathan Raymond said time has run out and that legislators need to get the tax extensions put on the ballot this week, since county clerks need 88 days to prepare for an election.

“We are here because we represent children in California, and that, I think, is a point getting missed in our message,” said Raymond.

“I look right in front of me and I see two yellow school buses. We all know what that means, a field trip to the state Capitol. Well, what's the most important civic lesson that we can possibly tell them? That a government for the people, by the people is truly representative,” Raymond said.

He urged legislators to put the measure on the ballot and let the people of California decide the future.

“It's not a Republican issue. It's not a Democrat issue. It's a basic issue of representation and democracy,” Raymond said.

If the tax extensions don't make it on the ballot, Gov. Jerry Brown has said he will move to an “all cuts” budget to address the state’s $26 billion shortfall.

An “all cuts” budget would devastate K-12 funding, triggering massive layoffs, a loss of programs such as sports, summer school and bus transportation and hurt schools in low-income areas,

“This is not a new tax. It is one we already pay, and a successful ballot measure would not increase it, only allow us to pay a bit longer with the belief that we will exit from this budget chaos,” said Riverside Unified School District Superintendent Rick Miller.

Extensions placed on a November election rather than June, don’t hold any water said Fresno Unified School District Superintendent Mike Hanson.

“Frankly, November does us very little good,” he said. Hanson said districts will spend the 2011-12 school year decimating programs for students across the entire state. To imagine a November election with tax extensions passed, districts would then have to attempt to rebuild what they tore down.

Moreover, Hanson said districts have exhausted the one-time money that has been kept in reserves to get them through tough times.

Some districts have eliminated home-to-school transportation, summer school programs, adult education and programs such as: sports, drama, yearbook, and speech and debate. Moreover, it's common to see class sizes of 40 students or more.

In addition, school years have become shorter, where students aren't guaranteed 180 school days a year anymore. Some districts have not been able to adopt new textbooks at the time when standards have been updated.

The worst-case scenario budgets will trigger massive layoffs, and districts have been taking those steps already. Thousands of teachers were pink-slipped earlier this month. About 300 (of the nearly 1,100) statewide districts have reported a total of 19,000 teacher pink slips.

In the past, districts have used pink slips for temporary teachers and then hired some back, but superintendents now are saying these pink slips are basically to keep the balanced budget in place they’re required to have by law, Hanson said.

Earlier this year, the Natomas Unified School District announced that a state takeover would be imminent if concessions weren't made by unions and if the tax extensions weren't passed. (http://sacramentopress.com/headline/46012/Assemblyman_Pan_leads_Natomas_Unified_town_hall_meeting)

Meanwhile the SCUSD board voted to balance the district's projected “worst-case” budget shortfall of $22.35 million by eliminating financial support for extracurricular activities and reducing the district’s counseling staff by 37 percent, eliminating one assistant principal position at each high school and raising K-3 class sizes at two grade levels. They previously approved raising class sizes for all other grades – including 40 students per teacher at the high school level.

At a glance (courtesy of the Education Coalition, www.protectourstudents.org):
-California has cut $18 billion from K-12 public schools in the last three years
-A reduction of $1,900 per student has occurred over the last three years
-If taxes are not extended, Brown has said he will ask for an “all cuts” budget
-An “all cuts” budget could lead to $4.6 billion reduction in public school funding
-That amounts to an additional $754 cut per student in 2011-12
-A $19,492 cut per classroom
-Statewide teacher layoffs of 52,874
-Class size increase of 18.2 percent
-California already ranks 43 in the nation in per-pupil spending
-California ranks 50 in staff-to-student ratios

Rosa Parks Middle School becomes a 'priority school'

2011-03-26T00:06:13Z

Elementary school Principal Robert Sullivan will be taking over Rosa Parks Middle School to help turn it around after it was added to a list of schools needing improvement last week.

According to the district office, Sullivan began with SCUSD at age 17, when he landed a job as a custodian at Tahoe Elementary School to help pay for college, eventually working his way up to instructional aide and then teacher. He was an assistant principal at John Still K-8 School until taking over as principal at John Sloat seven years ago.

Under Sullivan’s tenure at John Sloat, student test scores have risen dramatically. The school improved its state-measured Academic Performance Index (API) base from 664 in 2005 to 761 in 2009 – a 97-point gain toward a target of 800 points. John Sloat is ranked ninth out of 10 on the API scale when compared to similar schools. In 2005-06, 39.7 percent of students achieved proficiency on the California Standards Tests in math. In 2009-10, that grew to 61.2 percent. In 2009-10, Hispanic student scores rose a 38 points.

Sullivan will remain at John Sloat for the rest of this school year. The principal position at that school has been posted, and the district plans to hire his replacement in the coming weeks. The current principal at Rosa Parks will finish the year and then be released. (fired?)

The decision to include Rosa Parks in the Priority Schools program was made after weighing several factors, including student academic performance, according to SCUSD.

The middle school, which serves about 475 students, dropped 33 points on the API scale last year. With an API of 624, it has the lowest student tests scores of any middle school in SCUSD.

The school has also struggled to close achievement gaps. Scores for African-American students plummeted 57 points last year, scores for students with disabilities fell 39 points.

According to the district, principals at the six original priority schools report better attendance, greater family participation, fewer suspensions and generally happier students, which they attribute to a better learning environment.

Raymond emphasized that funding for Rosa Parks’ addition to the Priority School program will come from “categorical” funds – money from the federal government earmarked for high-poverty schools.

At Rosa Parks, 100 percent of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, the federal poverty threshold. Because the Priority Schools are funded categorically, Rosa Parks’ inclusion will have no effect on the district’s anticipated budget of $22.35 million – the projected amount if current temporary taxes are not extended by voters.

“But it’s not all about funding. It’s about these schools being 'Incubators of Innovation,' ” said Gabe Ross, SCUSD chief of communications on Friday. “These sites are places where new techniques and programs are piloted, with the goal of expanding successful practices district-wide. We’ve also said that priority schools will be the first in line for additional resources and opportunities when they become available.”

Priorities schools, Ross said, do get some additional resources (categorical dollars), which include some extra staffing (an extra assistant principal, instructional aides).

The district’s other priority schools are: Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary, Jedediah Smith Elementary, Oak Ridge Elementary, Will C. Wood Middle School, Fern Bacon Middle School and Hiram Johnson High School.

Rhee urges top school officials to get political, find supporters

2010-05-25T04:30:32Z

School district superintendents should find ways to gain political support from community members, according to Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

At a Sacramento Press Club luncheon Monday, Rhee urged the city’s businesspeople, media professionals and politicians to back Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jonathan Raymond in his efforts.

These groups should “give this man some cover,” Rhee said.

Superintendents are not elected to their positions, but they can benefit from making alliances with groups, she said.

“When you are a superintendent and you want to do bold things that might not be popular, you have to have some political capital," she said.

Rhee, who is engaged to Mayor Kevin Johnson, gave the example of layoffs she made last fall. She said that because of a budget crunch, she laid off 266 teachers.

Rhee said she changed the way layoffs had been carried out, deciding that the criteria for a layoff should be the quality of a person’s work instead of the length of time they have worked for the school district.

The business community’s support of her criteria was helpful, she said.

“The business community were the ones who were my strongest supporters of this,” she said. “They came out and said: This is how we run our businesses. We would never run an organization in a way that you were just ... getting rid of people based on how many years they’ve been there instead of looking at what they produced for the organization.”

Rhee, who praised government systems in which mayors run schools, said she and Johnson were not planning any efforts to reverse California law to allow mayors to manage schools. However, she did say that an effort to change state law could be worthwhile later.

“Now, a few years down the line: Is this something that might be appropriate?” she asked rhetorically. “Absolutely.”

Asked after the event if she planned to move to Sacramento, Rhee responded that she still has a lot of work to do in Washington, D.C.

A move to Sacramento is “not going to be any time in the near future,” she said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

School moving from old Marshall School to Thomas Jefferson Elementary

2009-11-05T03:04:47Z

It was confirmed last week California Montessori Project's Capitol Campus will move from the Marshall School to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in the College Glen neighborhood.

Since August, CMP leased the Marshall School building from the Sacramento City Unified School District, which also oversees its charter. Next Thursday and Friday, the school will be closed for the move and will resume at the new campus on Nov. 16.

SCUSD superintendent Jonathan Raymond met with CMP board members, students and parents Tuesday night at the campus' new location. After stating reasons for the move, he answered questions from parents.

"The old Marshall School, although a very beautiful facility and by all appearances structurally sound, does not comply with two very important requirements," Raymond said. "No. 1, the Field Act, (which) simply relates to the ability of a building to withstand a seismic event; the other important component is this building does not meet state building codes - it is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act."

He stated that charter schools are required by Prop 39, which passed in 2005, to comply with either one of these codes, and the Marshall School does not. Raymond also took responsibility for the error, and said he looks forward to helping CMP move to the Jefferson campus, which is Field Act and ADA compliant.

"We're going to do it expeditiously, with (the) least disruption to the children and to the families of California Montessori Project, first and foremost," Raymond said to the crowd of nearly 200 gathered in the multi-purpose/lunch room.

This includes providing bus transportation to the new school site throughout the remainder of the school year. Details on the bus routes will be given in the next week, Raymond said.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary School closed at the end of the 2008-09 school year after suffering from low enrollment and loss of revenue. Although CMP Capitol Campus' enrollment is also low, in the low 200s, moving to this location is an opportunity for the school to expand and use the facility the way it should be used, Raymond said.

The school also has a new rooftop ventilation system with furnaces and thermostats added last year, said Mellissa Truitt, SCUSD Associate Superintendent of Capital Asset Management Services.

Some parents said they were still upset about leaving the downtown location so quickly in the middle of a school year. They were notified in late October about a possible move.

"The move is disappointing because we lived in the (Marshall) neighborhood," said Rachelle Barbour, parent of a first-grade student at CMP. "If it wasn't for the liability reasons [if a seismic event did occur, the district and the CMP board would be liable for any injury], it wouldn't have happened so fast."

However, Barbour said she felt "reassured" that the superintendent met with parents and will use the buses provided by the school district. She also noted that there are too few schools in the grid, and said she would like for another school to open in the downtown area.

Darrin Greer, another parent of a first-grade student, thought that the meeting was informative and answered questions.

"The superintendent was open and it helps (that) the district is committed to transportation," he said. "Moving is difficult to do in the middle of the year."

Greer said it would be interesting to see how many people will stay at CMP and how many will leave, but he expects most will stay for at least the rest of this year. He also wanted to know if any other schools in the SCUSD have ADA or Field Act compliance issues.

"This was the only one," Raymond said in an interview after the meeting. "We want to see it thrive. We want to provide whatever support we can to ensure that they do, it's important for the community."

He also said that creating downtown-area schools is a priority.

"We have people living and moving in there, and we need to provide school facilities for those children too and those families," Raymond said. "I've told the community and others in the neighborhood that's something I want to work toward."

Sacramento: A City That Works For Everyone: How Does Central Sacramento Work For Families?

2009-10-29T19:22:29Z

On Monday, October 19th, parents of the charter school California Montessori Project (CMP)-Capitol Campus where surprised to learn through a letter from CMP Director, Gary Bowman, that Mr. Raymond, the new Superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), was requesting that the Capitol Campus be relocated from the Old Marshall School (2718 G Street), a facility the school had moved into only 3 months prior, because the building was now deemed unsafe. The Capitol Campus is to be relocated in the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School (in the College Glen area) far from the current location forcing hundreds of families on the roads. Moreover the campus has to leave the premises in a hurry, in the middle of the school year -the move has already been planned for November 11th- even though parents learned through a subsequent letter from Gary Bowman (dated Thursday October 22nd) that there is "no imminent danger" and even though no one has yet seen the full report on which the SCUSD based its decision. Parents were not consulted, either about the time frame or by the choice of the new location. There is a perception among the parents community that the SCUSD is forcing a hasty decision in order to facilitate some ulterior plan. Read more here

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's slogan for Sacramento is "A City That Works For Everyone". How can the central city work for families if school are disappearing? CMP- Capitol Campus is the only Charter School offering a free-tuition Montessori education in the downtown/midtown area, attracting an extremely diverse community of families. The rightly named “Capitol Campus” has been in existence for eight years (first in the Pioneer Church on L Street, then since August 2009, in the Old Marshall School, where it was able to receive more students and extend its offering to 7th and 8th graders). Many families have made the choice to live in the downtown area because they believe in minimizing their environmental impact and improving the quality of life by living close to work and school. Last August, the Old Marshall School neighborhood community welcomed the school with open arms and big smiles, it was viewed as an important moment in the life of our city. Read more here. Parents are worried that their vision to make midtown more friendly and welcoming to families will never materialize if there are no schools to support families.

Open letter to Susan Miller, Associate Superintendent Sacramento City Unified

Dear Susan Miller,

Thank you for your message, even though it is a form letter that all parents received as a reply; and even though it came when everything had already been decided without any real input from us, the parents. This doesn't reflect a real concern for our situation! Only SCUSD Board member Jerry Houseman has shown a real interest in our problem by engaging into individual and thoughtful conversations, not only with me but with all the parents from whom he had received a letter.

We are forced to move but we still haven't seen the famous report from the architects and engineers hired by the District that claim that the Old Marshall School is not in compliance with the California Building Codes. We, as parents, are very curious to learn what the real problem with the school is: how exactly is the Old Marshall Building not in compliance? When are we going to be able to see and review the full report?

I was looking forward to meeting Superintendent Jonathan Raymond on November 3rd but now I am worried that he will give us the same kind of general, non-specific answers.

It is indeed "most unfortunate" -to quote your words- that our whole school Community has to be uprooted to the College Glen area, nice in itself but not what I signed up for when I enrolled my kids into the "CAPITOL" Campus of CMP. I will now have to spend 20 to 30 minutes on the freeway to take my kids to school every day (which is almost 2 hours in the car each day) when our commute to school is right now only 7 minutes (less than 30 minutes per day in the car).

If I had wanted to drive so far just so that my children would have a soccer field near their school or a real multi-purpose room, I could have signed up for another CMP Campus. What is now the choice of the parents who have chosen the environmentally conscious lifestyle of living, working, shopping, entertaining, and taking their kids to school in downtown Sacramento?

How is it more safe for our family to drive so long to go to school? There is more chance that my children would get injured in a car accident than there is that the Old Marshall School would ever fall on their heads!

We had a nice location at the Pioneer Church that we were outgrowing, so yes we were looking for another location in the downtown area, but we could have stayed there another year or two, till we find the perfect place... Now we have no choice but to take our kids to a distant school or leave CMP in the middle of the school year, which as you know very well is an almost impossible task, not only because the schools are full but because of the hardship it would impose on our children.

The only real support from the District that I would have been grateful for would have been if you had helped us find a location in the downtown area (even if it was only a temporary solution), by working in collaboration with the state or even commercial building owners, so that our families could have remained where we have chosen to be by enrolling our kids into the CMP Capitol Campus.

Sincerely,
Cecile Downs, a distressed and frustrated parent of two CMP students.

Parents split over possible Montessori school move

2009-10-28T04:56:49Z

A five-hour board meeting on the fate of California Montessori Project's Capitol Campus ended around 10:45 p.m. Monday night with a resolution: If an assessment says the Marshall School building in which the school resides is not compliant with state building codes, the school must move "expeditiously."

If the assessment, which has still not been made public, says the building does meet minimum state codes, the board will reconvene to decide if the school will move or not.

Nearly 100 people - parents, elementary school students and the California Montessori Project's nine board members, superintendent and a legal advisor - filled a multipurpose room at the Marshall School in Midtown to see if the school would need to move. They voiced a range of concerns, asked questions and offered suggestions to the board and its director.

The public charter grade school opened at its current location, 2700 G St., on Aug. 17, after eight years of being located in the Pioneer Congregational Church, 2700 L St.

California Montessori Project leases the Marshall School building from the Sacramento City Unified School District, which also oversees its charter.

Last week, parents received a letter from CMP superintendent Gary Bowman saying new SCUSD superintendent Jonathan Raymond had recently performed a study, deeming the building unsafe.

"I don't think (previous) staff did a thorough job, and that was something that I uncovered when I started," Raymond said to KCRA 3 last Tuesday. "(Students) were already in there, and we started to ask questions (like) 'Why were they in before we did a thorough review?'"

California public schools are required to pass strict earthquake standards designated in the 1933 Field Act, but since the Marshall School was built in 1903, it does not meet them.

"We know we don't have Field Act compliance, (because) we predated the Act by a number of years," said Bowman.

As a charter school, however, CMP only needs to meet minimum building requirements and not the Field Act. Their previous location, Pioneer Congregational Church, was not Field Act-compliant.

Bowman told those gathered Monday night that Raymond told him last week, "it's not your mistake, it's the city's mistake." He also said Raymond told him that "we will do everything we can to make it whole," and that he wants to meet again next Tuesday.

A CMP facilities team proposed Jefferson Elementary School, in the College Glen neighborhood, as the best fit for the school to lease. Several parents praised Jefferson's newer facilities, which include a larger grassy area for children to play, a more modern kitchen and a multipurpose room with a stage.

"In terms of the move itself, SCUSD is going to bring in packers, movers, they're going to go full tilt to support this move," Bowman added.

However, others felt skeptical of SCUSD's motives, shocked and betrayed at the sudden news.

"We felt that the building was safe enough," said Cécile Downs, the parent of a kindergartner and a second grader. "To my knowledge the school still has not received any written instructions to move."

Many parents voiced their concern that moving would disrupt students' education and take parent volunteer hours. Others alleged that the district wanted to rent out the Marshall School, which Bowman denied.

A number of parents demanded transportation to the new school it moves. Some said they would not be able to transport their children because it takes too long.

"This building is over a century old, and I don't believe there have been any problems related to earthquakes in this building," said Rich, a parent of a first grader who did not give his last name. "There is far more risk to our children driving on the freeway for two hours a day to get to a new location."

The Sacramento Press contacted SCUSD's public relations office manager Maria Lopez and asked if the Marshall School building violates any codes. She said the code is not the issue.

"Our superintendent said that no students should be in any structures not compliant with the Field Act," Lopez said. "There's a little bit of a grey area on whether independent charters (should) go into non-Field Act-compliant structures. Some think that they can, some think that they cannot."