Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "natomas unified school district"

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

Natomas Unified declares impasse with classified staff

2011-03-17T01:38:16Z

The Natomas Unified School District has declared an “impasse,” or stalemate, with the California School Employees Association, chapter 745 over labor negotiations.

The district is optimistic that a state mediator will move the district and the classified staff toward reaching an agreement that, according to a press release, would “adequately address the district's fiscal crisis and avoid a state takeover.”

As part of the district's overall plan to achieve these cuts and minimize their impact on students and programs, each employee group, including all administrators, has agreed to take reductions of 7.9 percent of salaries and benefits, but the CSEA has not.

According to the press release from the district office, the district believes it is necessary to declare an impasse to obtain the assistance of a state mediator.

CSEA Chief Negotiator and immediate past president Omega Brewer said on Wednesday that the district was not willing to accept the union’s offer of 14 to 20 furlough days.

The CSEA indicated earlier this month that union members had agreed to a 7.9 percent cut, which equaled 15 to 19 furlough days, but when the district came to the union with the supporting documents to have the agreement ratified, it was 19 to 24 furlough days.

See more of the story as it developed http://sacramentopress.com/headline/46882/Natomas_schools_closer_to_state_take_over.

Natomas schools closer to state take over

2011-03-04T04:14:16Z

The California School Employees Association Chapter 745 announced last week, that its membership voted to reject the tentative agreement with the Natomas Unified School District.The agreement, if ratified, would have been a major step toward avoiding state takeover and establishing fiscal solvency for the district.

On Jan. 11, the District and CSEA's Negotiations Team reached a tentative agreement with respect to furlough days for the 2011-12 school year, reflecting a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation.

After negotiating with CSEA nine times since September, district officials said they were disheartened to hear of the rejection.

But to local CSEA Chief Negotiator and immediate past president Omega Brewer, the situation as presented by the district has been “marred with misinformation.” She said it's been a challenging process and that they have every intention on reaching an agreement.

The members wanted an agreement to reflect an equal cut across the board while taking into account how many days a year each person works, she said.

Brewer said the union agreed to the original concessions that the district now says they rejected. She said union members had agreed to a 7.9 percent cut, which equaled 15 to 19 furlough days but when the district came to the union with the supporting documents to have the agreement ratified, it actually reflected 19 to 24 furlough days.

After talking with the district about the discrepancy, Brewer said the district gave the excuse that it was a “calculation error.”

Superintendent Bobbie Plough said on Thursday that while there was an initial miscalculation, it was acknowledged and dealt with in a timely fashion.

“There were questions, and the district agreed to report back to the association. We did it as soon as we could … We made it a priority,” Plough said.

Brewer said the classified staff agreed to give 24 furlough days for this current year but part of agreement was to not backfill.

“Not only did Natomas Unified backfill (classified positions), they backfilled with substitute teachers at $300-$400 per day,” Brewer said.

That was an agreement that was assigned last year, and Plough is new to the district. The superintendent said that as soon as she was aware that was going on, the district immediately stopped the practice.

“I was shocked that was happening. It doesn't make any sense. When that came to my attention, I directed that to stop,” she said.

Brewer said that the union had every right to file unfair labor practice, but it didn't.

“There's not a lot of trust (of the district) from the classified perspective.... If you want things done right, you have to pay for that. There are employees willing to pay that cost. All this mismanagement hurts our children,” she said.

Asked if she feared what would happen if the state took over the district, Brewer said she doesn't know if the union members are scared. “Given actions that have gone on with this district, I don't know if it might be best.”

On Wednesday night, the district and the union worked on the issue again.

“It was a positive session,” Plough said. “I believe we have a structure of a tentative agreement that can be supported by the group.”

The sooner the parties come to an agreement, the better, she said, as for each passing day of not having a ratified agreement, the district moves closer to state takeover.

Earlier this year, the Natomas Teachers Association ratified a tentative agreement with the district that contained furlough days and certificated staff lay-offs totaling a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation for the 2011-12 school year.

In November, the Board of Trustees approved a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years for all district management and unrepresented staff.

Last month, Assemblyman Richard Pan said he is required to ask the Legislature for a state “take-over bill,” which he then called a “holding position.” At the time, he recommended that unions and staff make concessions three years out.

http://sacramentopress.com/headline/46012/Assemblyman_Pan_leads_Natomas_Unified_town_hall_meeting

Monica Stark can be reached at monica.stark@sacramentopress.com

Assemblyman Pan leads Natomas Unified town hall meeting

2011-02-19T01:04:24Z

Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) led a town hall meeting for the Natomas Unified School District community at Inderkum High School on Thursday night where he and Superintendent Bobbie Plough laid out a plan to help the district prevent a state takeover, or “receivership.”

The town hall meeting came on the heels of a prediction made by County Superintendent David Gordon that NUSD would end up with a negative fund balance in the coming years.

If that projection comes true, then the district would lose local control with a state-appointed receiver in place and a disempowered school board.

As the state legislator for the governing district, Pan said he is required to ask the Legislature for a “take-over bill,” which he called a “holding position for right now.” Pan recommended that unions and staff make concessions three years out.

NUSD management and the Natomas Teachers Association have already agreed to a 7.9 percent pay cut for the 2011-2012 school year, and the district is hopeful that classified staff will agree to similar cuts.

In addition, NUSD, like many districts across the state, has responded to the fiscal crisis by working on two budgets of its own – one that hinges on the hope that tax extensions make it on the June ballot and pass, and a second budget that doesn't. Plough said the second budget would reflect a $350 cut per student or, in other words, a 6 percent additional cut.

“If tax extensions pass and we get agreements from (the) teacher’s association and classified for the 2012-2013, we will make it as a district,” she said. “We need to look at cash flow, and we need to maintain it over the next two years.”

Pan said the state Legislature's goal is to pass a budget at the beginning of March in order to get the tax extensions on the ballot in June. While Pan said the Republicans have not been supportive of putting measures like these on the ballot, he said that doesn't mean Democrats won't be able to find two Republicans who would break from their caucus.

“I'm hopeful colleagues on the other side of the aisle will step up and recognize what impact (the state budget) will have on their school districts,” he said. “We're not the only district having challenges.”

Assuming the extensions are put on the ballot, Pan noted the added difficulty of requiring a two-thirds vote.

NUSD is in a unique and more dire situation than most because it is experiencing declining enrollment due to the economy, and because students are leaving the district schools for charters. Plough said that 300 leave per year to charters, and 100-125 leave because of the economy. District-wide, there are 12,000 students; 3,000 of them have opted for charters.

At the meeting, Assembly Appropriations Committee staff member Kimberly Rodriguez said that because the cost in education is “90 percent people,” NUSD will have to suffer further layoffs or get concessions from unions.

“Savings is going to be people,” she said.

According to the district website, there will be a budget workshop on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. at the education center located at 1901 Arena Blvd.

Monica Stark can be reached at monica.stark@sacramentopress.com

Natomas School District's Future Hinges On Proposed Tax Extensions

2011-02-01T07:04:32Z

Natomas Unified School District officials probably know better than any other in California the importance of Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed tax extensions.

Voter approval in June has the power to pull this small Sacramento-area district of 10,000+ students back from the brink of bankruptcy. If the proposition fails, state funding to K-12 education could be cut 6 percent – or more – and two local legislators are poised to introduce legislation in the coming weeks that would empower the state to take over the cash-strapped school district in Natomas.

While school districts statewide will be equally impacted if Gov. Brown's propositions fail to pass, Natomas Unified will financially be out of time. The question is: Can the community, more specifically California voters, save the school district from bankruptcy?

“The process of a state takeover has begun,” said Bruce Roberts, Natomas school board president.

The Natomas Unified School District has 13 schools and is home to four independent charter schools which have, in part, contributed to a decline in enrollment at its traditional campuses. The district's history of controversial budgeting practices, coupled with the collapse of the housing market and ongoing cuts to funding at the state level have created what some have described as a “perfect storm” in Natomas education.

State education code requires school districts show a balanced budget three years out and when Natomas Unified failed to do so for the 2011-12 school year, Sacramento County superintendent David Gordon started bankruptcy proceedings. Despite recent concessions by its employees – in the form of layoffs, increased class sizes, furlough days and pay cuts that balanced the budget for 2011-12 – Natomas Unified coffers cannot sustain the district into 2012-13 with its current proposed budget. Gordon fears the school district will be crippled if Gov. Brown's proposed five-year tax extensions are not approved by voters.

“I keep emphasizing to the district they have to be prepared and plan ahead,” Gordon said. “It is difficult to stay solvent if you do it for one year and just squeak by.”

Gordon knows going back to the bargaining table so soon after striking a deal is not easy, but says Natomas Unified has to budget for “automatic inflators” such as annual step and column pay raises and insurance premium increases in 2012-13. The school district, he said, also needs a contingency plan in the event tax extensions are not approved for the 2011-12 school year. The teachers union expects to resume contract negotiations in February and the classified employees union is scheduled to be at the table in March.

“The county assured the Natomas Teachers' Association that state receivership would be avoided if teachers contributed 7.9% to the budget deficit,” teachers' union president Cynthia Connell said. “The community which rallied together to urge teachers to take these cuts must finally understand that teachers cannot save this district; they've been misled to believe we can.”

In recent years, Natomas Unified has laid off dozens of employees. The school district has also reduced funding for athletics, cut stipends for extracurricular activity advisers, eliminated summer school programs, discontinued all school busing except for special education students, closed all elementary school libraries and one school.

Parent groups and the Natomas community have rallied in response to support their neighborhood schools. Fundraisers are held to pay for school supplies, equipment and field trips. Most recently, enough money was raised to temporarily reopen some school libraries for limited use. Natomas Unified superintendent Bobbie Plough is moving forward with plans to renegotiate agreements with the charter schools and earlier this month hosted a community meeting to generate additional fundraising ideas.

“I’m glad that our teachers and classified employees made generous concessions this year, but we need to fix our long-term budget problem to prevent a state takeover,” said Ryan Herche, a Natomas resident and former school board candidate who attended the meeting. “We can raise new revenue by opening school property for advertising and applying for grants.”

Herche, who repeatedly called for an audit of Natomas Unified accounting during his campaign for school board last year, believes the school district can save money by changing its competitive bidding process and by using district employees, instead of contractors, when it proves more cost effective.

“Doing business 'the way we've always done it' has caused a fair share of our financial woes,” added Connell. “It is going to take changes in policies and practices at the district and board level to turn around the years-old practice of deficit spending.”

Work toward a balanced multi-year budget continues at the school district level. Meanwhile Assemblyman Richard Pan, District 5, and Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, District 9, plan to jointly introduce a spot bill in February that would authorize a state takeover of Natomas Unified. Pan said the legislation is a placeholder that will be enacted only if necessary to keep the school district solvent.

“We would like to avoid a state takeover,” said Pan, a Natomas resident with two young children. “We also don't want the district to go under. I am hopeful that is not going to happen.”

Pan and Natomas Unified plan to hold a town hall meeting Feb. 17 about the state budget, the proposed tax extensions and the assemblyman's role in the state receivership process. Even if the district manages to make more budget cuts for 2012-13, parent volunteers like Scott Dosick, who serves on the school district's budget advisory and bond oversight committees, say they understand the depth of the school district's financial woes and what would come with a state takeover – more layoffs, larger class sizes, school closures and negative impacts on the community. They also know the future of Natomas Unified likely hinges on whether Gov. Brown's proposed tax extensions will be passed or voted down.

“That would represent a cut of $3.5 to $4 million dollars for the Natomas Unified School District,” said Dosick. “This would be beyond catastrophic – I don't even know what word to use.”

Natomas schools, teachers reach tentative bargain

2010-12-17T21:19:04Z

Natomas Unified School District and teachers' union officials reached a tentative agreement Thursday evening to solve the district's budget woes and prevent a state takeover of the district.

Late Thursday afternoon, the Natomas Teachers' Association agreed to 7.9 percent cuts in total spending on teachers, proposed by the district, to help prevent an $8.9 million cash shortfall expected by the end of fiscal year 2012/2013. Average class size will increase by two students, according to the school district.

Teachers also agreed to take seven unpaid furlough days for school year 2011/12 and to go without extra compensation for teaching classes with more than 30 children, up to a limit, teachers’ union President Cynthia Connell said.

"We've done our part and more," Connell said in a prepared statement. "We want it to be clearly known that by accepting this agreement, in essence, Natomas teachers have 'bailed out' the district."

The district agreed to use $1.3 million in Education Jobs Fund money from the U.S. Department of Education to fix a budget shortfall without eliminating jobs. The money must be used to hire or retain teachers. With an average total compensation of $79,000 per teacher, that will save at least 16 jobs, according to Connell.

Natomas Unified School District Superintendent Bobbie Plough said she's "very happy" the two sides have reached agreement.

"It's a major step toward avoiding the state takeover," she said.

The school district has made major program cuts and is now asking all employees to make "major sacrifices," she said.

"I think anytime we're asking public school employees to take a cut in pay, that's a sacrifice," she said. "I think they deserve a whole lot more than we provide for them anyway."

The union's 440 teachers are scheduled to vote on the agreement in mid-January. Teachers represent nearly half of the district’s budget.

The school district originally proposed an 11 percent pay cut, after the teachers had taken a 3 percent cut in late 2009. Teachers had to take six unpaid furlough days this year, shortening the school year. In the last year, 40 teachers were laid off, classroom supply stipends were canceled and class sizes increased by 25 - 30 percent, according to the union.

Two weeks ago, Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David Gordon initiated the possibility of the state taking over the district in an effort to get the district an emergency state loan. The district projected it would run out of money this spring or summer.

The two sides are likely to return to the bargaining table in January or February if the state makes education cuts to help balance its own budget. Plough characterized the bargaining as difficult and emotional, yet professional and collaborative.

"We ended yesterday with handshakes, hugs in the room and a commitment to continue working together," she said. "I think that's a great sign post for this community – to know that we are committed to working together, even though this is extremely difficult."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Natomas school district, teachers 'hopeful'

2010-12-10T04:02:48Z

Natomas school administrators and teachers' union officials both expressed hope Thursday they can head off a state takeover of the district.

Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David Gordon initiated the possibility of the state taking over Natomas Unified School District last week when he began the process to get the district an emergency state loan.

The two sides voiced optimism following a meeting early this week, which was the latest in a string of bargaining sessions. More negotiations are set for next week.

Talks between leaders from the district and Natomas Teachers' Association have become "very collaborative," District Superintendent Bobbie Plough said.

"We're not going to go through a state takeover," Plough said. "I'm very positive we're going to work through this with our employee associations."

Both sides have worked hard and made progress to solve an $8.9 million cash shortfall expected by the end of fiscal year 2012/2013, said Natomas Teachers' Association President Cynthia Connell, whose union represents about 440 teachers.

"The bottom line for the district is they need $9 million," Connell said. "What we want is the best deal possible for our teachers, but that actually helps to solve the district's budget woes."

The teachers' union and district officials will meet again Thursday, Dec. 16. School officials will hold another bargaining session Wednesday, Dec. 15 with negotiators from the California School Employee Association, which represents the district's 362 classified employees. Natomas Unified has 45 unrepresented staff, which includes management and others.

Natomas Unified School District falls under the supervision of the Sacramento County Office of Education. Gordon began efforts to get the district an emergency loan, as required by law, after the district projected it would run out of money this spring or summer. But that could be sooner, if the state makes budget cuts that impact the district, Gordon said.

Plough and Gordon have scheduled two community meetings on the matter at 3:30 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14 at Natomas High School, 3301 Fong Ranch Road.

They will provide updates and explain the process involved in a state takeover, with help from the county's Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Tammy Sanchez and, at 6 p.m., from a representative of the state's Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team.

The district's $60 million budget this year is balanced. But the district is spending more money than it's taking in, Gordon said.

The school district initially proposed saving $8.9 million by asking all staff to agree to 7.9 percent in total cuts and the teachers' union countered with 4.86 percent. The two sides have moved closer together on numbers but didn't wish to discuss it further during ongoing negotiations.

The areas where spending would be cut has been part of the negotiations. Those could come in the form of pay cuts, health benefits, retirement plans, salary freezes, furlough days, teacher preparation time and fees for teaching oversized classes, according to both sides.

Arranging the loan can take four to six months. Gordon will need to find a local state legislator to sponsor a bill authorizing the loan, but he hasn't begun that process.

He has met with the state's Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team to discuss the terms of the loan. Those terms include the state schools superintendent assigning a trustee administrator, usually a former school district superintendent, to oversee the district until its financial problems are resolved and the loan is paid back.

"Their first priority is to try to balance the budget and then to pay back the loan," Gordon said. "That's the first priority of the district for years to come. So, often, little else is talked about."

As many as 9,810 students attend three high schools, four charter schools, a middle school, a preschool and eight elementary schools. The district has had financial problems for three to four years.

Plough was brought in as the new superintendent in July. If the state takes over, Plough would lose her job and the school board would serve only in an advisory capacity.

The administrator would work with the district to help it bring five areas of governance back up to state standards and to solve its financial problems, said Tina Jung, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education.

Teachers represent nearly half of the district’s budget. Classified employees are mostly part-time cafeteria workers, playground assistants, library technicians and instructional aides paid just above minimum wage. Their costs take up about 17 percent of the budget.

California School Employee Association Chapter No. 745 members have concerns about more cuts after being the first group to agree to concessions two years ago. They agreed to take 24 furlough days, then discovered the district paid some teachers far more for special education needs on those days, Chapter President Omega Brewer said.

At his weekly press conference Tuesday, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson encouraged the teachers' union to come to an agreement with the school district.

“I just want to say loudly and clearly, I hope to goodness the teachers' union leadership is willing to give concessions. Other districts have done it. Other collective bargaining groups have done it," he said. "If you don’t do it, and your school gets taken over by the state of California, then you lose your superintendent. You lose your school board.... All the decision-making is made at the state level, which means there really (is) no democratic process for the community in Natomas.”

It's difficult to say whether the two sides can hammer out an agreement by Christmas, Plough said.

"We're going to make it through this," she said.

Photo of Bobbie Plough provided by Natomas Unified School District. Mayor Kevin Johnson quotes provided by reporter Kathleen Haley.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Johnson aims to link city services with schools

2010-09-03T01:38:02Z

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Thursday he is organizing an effort to link city services with Sacramento school districts.

At a press conference at American Lakes Elementary School in Natomas, Johnson laid out a plan for how local schools can benefit from a relationship with city government.

Sacramento schools and the city should explore methods to share city facilities and to boost public safety and after-school efforts for schoolchildren, he said.

“We’re talking about the need to create a partnership in a way that we have not done in the past,” Johnson said to an audience that included a group of third graders.

City Hall and the school system need to bolster their relationship because both entities are experiencing challenges from budget cuts, he said.

He said he plans for school district superintendents and a representative from the city manager’s office to meet regularly to analyze efforts involving the city and the school system.

Bobbie Plough, superintendent of the Natomas Unified School District, said Johnson recognizes how it is crucial to “work smarter through partnerships.”

The school system and City Hall are separate entities, Johnson said, but they should not be cut off from each other. “There’s no way Sacramento will be a great city without great schools,” he said.

Johnson made his announcement about a new effort between city schools and City Hall in the aftermath of recent budget cuts to the city’s Office of Youth Development. It is no longer an office, and has one remaining staffer.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Fighting empty calories through proactive academic nutrition

2009-10-29T04:55:59Z

Something is missing on Natomas Unified School District’s campuses that makes it harder to satisfy a sweet tooth: soda and candy vending machines.

A 2005 California Health Interview Survey showed that 62 percent of teens consume 39 pounds of sugar each year from soft drinks alone. The research showed that counties with the highest obesity rates had the highest rates of soda consumption.

One Natomas Unified School District parent, Heather Reed, said she “agrees 100% with the district’s ban on soda machines” and believes there is a link between adolescent obesity and soda consumption.

Reed is in a unique position; not only is her daughter an eighth grader at Leroy Greene Middle School, but Reed works as an Education Nutrition Consultant for the California Department of Education and also serves on the district‘s Health and Wellness Committee.

“I think sodas are like comic books,” Reed said. “They’re not going to nourish you.”

In 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law banning the sale of soda on public high school campuses. Resulting in lost income for school districts, the law didn’t fully take affect until earlier this year. NUSD has no candy vending machines, but currently there is no law against them.

Last month, the Wellness Committee unveiled its “Wellness Policy on Physical Activity and Nutrition,” an outline of nourishment goals, daily physical education plans, rules about meal times and special instructions for foodservice at classroom parties.

Limiting foods with minimal nutritional value, restricting fat and sugar, and increasing whole grain, fruit and vegetable offerings are all goals of the “Wellness Policy.”

The policy states that brand names or logos on school books and scoreboards can only represent foods approved by the Wellness Committee. While Reed said she doesn’t think advertising of any kind belongs on school campuses, the potential for profit is appealing.

Reed said school fundraising through selling candy is another area that the Wellness Committee has started to regulate. Students are discouraged from selling candy to raise money and candy is not supposed to be given as a reward for good behavior.

“Personally, I don’t think candy is an evil thing.” Reed said, “I think selling it for fundraising is a bad thing.”

With budget cuts of more than $13 million forcing the district to re-evaluate its spending, one area that will see a dramatic change is foodservice. According to NUSD Public Information Officer Heidi Van Zant, the district started using Chartwells, a foodservice management company, on June 1 in order to carve money out of the budget. Students now pay $3 for lunch entrées, last year they paid $2.50.

Van Zant describes a high school cafeteria under Chartwells as “a whole new world.”

The new options for high school students are almost overwhelming; in one cafeteria, seven entrée areas each serve a different style of food daily. Students also get fresh fruit and a choice between fat free milk and 100% juice. Every week, students are given 35 different entree choices including crunchy tacos, vegetarian or Hawaiian pizzas, teriyaki beef or orange chicken plates, eggplant deli sandwiches and spinach or chef salads.

Inderkum High senior Mariana Diaz said she doesn’t usually eat school lunch entrées, but she does eat a la carte and snack items. Diaz, who drinks mostly water, said she stopped drinking soda four years ago, so the absence of soda vending machines on campus has never affected her diet.

“My mom stopped drinking soda so I just decided not to because I know it’s unhealthy,” Diaz said.

Diaz said she mostly brings food from home instead of buying any $3 school lunches, but she occasionally buys $2 burritos that haven’t changed in quality or price since last year. She said more students, like herself, would buy school entrées more often if the prices were lower, the portions were bigger and students could get through the service lines faster.

Diaz added that although Inderkum sells breakfast, like cereal and muffins, she has never eaten any breakfast items at school.

“I guess I just come to school too late to get breakfast,” Diaz said, “but I probably wouldn’t spend my money on it anyway.”

Reed said the Wellness Committee is planning a two-week “walk-to-school free breakfast pilot program” aimed at promoting breakfast to high school students. Breakfast is extremely important, Reed said, and even though 75 percent of Natomas High School students qualify for reduced price meals, a lot of them don’t take advantage of it.

“Some schools are doing amazing things with food like creating gardens, farms, and increasing fresh fruit and veggie options,” Reed said. “The goal is to try to make foods not only more healthful but connect it to the rest of the school.”

The Wellness Committee meets on the second Thursday of each month at 3:30 p.m. The Board will hold a Student Health and Wellness Workshop on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in the district’s Education Center at 1901 Arena Blvd.