Sacramento school board approves layoffs to help solve budget deficit About 430 teachers and other school staff, 125 central office workers would lose jobs By Maria L. Lopez March 4, 2010 – Elementary class sizes will be larger and about 430 teachers and other school staff would lose their jobs under a plan approved by the Sacramento school board Thursday night for millions of dollars in spending cuts to close a $30.6 million budget deficit. The Sacramento City Unified School District board voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the cuts to take effect in the next school year unless the district’s unions join the administration in agreeing to concessions to stave off some of the cu

 The budget and strategic plan survey of the community is complete. These surveys mark the a new commitment by SCUSD to listening to our community, consulting the community on important decisions and providing the public open access to our work in leading the district.  The data will be accumulated and we will report on the results of the surveys as soon as possible. Superentendent Jonathan Raymond announced that the district has scheduled four community forums to discuss the budget. These forums seek to gain recommendations from the public on how the district should deal with a budget shortfall of up to $30 million. “In the end, the school board will make the tough decisions about how to

 These surveys mark the beginning of a new commitment by SCUSD to listening to our community, consulting the community on important decisions and providing the public open access to our work in leading the district. We thank everyone for their enthusiastic participation in these historic surveys. The data will be accumulated and we will report on the results of the surveys as soon as possible. We also will contact those community members who provided us email addresses when the survey results are tabulated.  

 Hmong Women’s Heritage Association helps boost participation in district surveys By Maria L. LopezIn an effort to ensure the greatest participation possible in two historic surveys, the Sacramento City Unified School District is teaming up with the Hmong Women’s Heritage Association (HWHA) to assist parents and students in completing questionnaires about the district’s budget and strategic plan from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 at the Association’s offices, 2245 Florin Rd. The first-of-its-kind endeavor to involve Sacramento residents in improving their public schools involves a pair of surveys on school improvements and the district’s budget. Every Sacramento community member

 SCUSD superintendent urges community to weigh in before surveys close one week from today The Sacramento school district’s historic public surveys on its budget and strategic planning have drawn more than 11,000 responses so far, and Superintendent Jonathan Raymond Tuesday urged parents, teachers and students to take the surveys before the Feb. 9 deadline in one week.  This first-of-its-kind effort to involve Sacramento residents in the improvement of their public schools involves a pair of surveys on school improvements and the district’s budget. Every Sacramento community member—including parents, teachers and other employees of the district—is being asked to respond to the surveys t

 SCUSD budget gap grows by $10 million School district facing eighth year of reductions   Story By Maria L. Lopez Photo by BigEducationApe.blogspot.com Surveys by K12 Insight Sacramento City Unified School Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond announced today that the district will need to reduce its 2010-11 general fund budget by $28 to $30 million. The projection was readjusted after review of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposals. Raymond said the district had expected to trim $18 million from next year’s budget but revised the estimate after the Governor’s proposals were released. Raymond said that since 2002-03, SCUSD has cut more than $144 million from its budget. “W

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

From the lofty perches of the power players, in their skyboxes and bank towers, the public may look very small, almost antlike. Deal and decision makers are elevated and segregated from the little people, whose lives they influence. On Thursday, October 29, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced his "Rules of the Game" plan to build an arena and entertainment complex in Sacramento. The press conference was held 25 floors up, with a hazy overview of the city, extending from the historic rail yards to Cal Expo: two potential sites for a new and lucrative sports/real estate venture. In that same sweeping view, the mayor could look down on the central city neighborhoods. From Downtown, Midtown, East

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 prem

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 s

The SCUSD Board of Education voted 5 – 1, with 1 abstention, to drastically reduce summer school programs for the next two years - effective immediately. The decision eliminates all programs for elementary and middle school students, and reduces summer school for high school students. In addition, special education programs will be reduced and adult school programs will either be reduced or converted to a fee based system. The decision will also impact almost 300 district employees, some of whom planned to report to work as early as today. In her opening statements, Interim Superintendent Susan Miller stressed that the budget for this and next fiscal year was balanced as of May 14th, but

As their peers celebrate the last day of school, many Sacramento students will head home facing an uncertain summer. With only a one-day notice, SCUSD called a special Board of Education Meeting to be held on Thursday – the last day of school. The Board will consider a staff suggestion to eliminate summer school programs district wide. Due to budget constraints, enrichment programs have already been stripped from the district’s summer school agenda. Kara Broderick, a first and second grade teacher at David Lubin Elementary, said that teachers were asked “only to recommend students that were below basic or far below basic” grade levels. The Board will decide Thursday whether or not to elim

SCUSD to Meet with Residents In Lincoln Village Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), which includes the schools of Abe Lincoln, AM Winn, Einstein, and Rosemont, has been facing serious budget problems this year. The district has already cut over $20 million from this year's budget and may be looking at mid-year cuts of up to $30 million more. The district is even looking at closing some school sites in an extreme effort to cut costs. A special community meeting is being held by SCUSD officials on Tuesday, January 13th, at AM Winn Elementary School located at 3351 Explorer Drive. This meeting is being held to inform the public about options the district is considering and to s

The first article in this series discussed the mixed reactions from community members regarding the decision to turn Sacramento High School into a charter school. You can read this story by clicking here or by clicking on the green storyline tab to the right. For those of you who don't know, Sacramento High School became a charter school in 2003. This surprised me, because I had always thought, "Once a charter, always a charter.” But, in learning more about the current Sacramento High School, there is a unique story.  The current school is a collaborative project put together by Kevin Johnson and St. Hope. Concerned with low academic performance, Johnson returned to his former Oak Park