by Timothy Rutt
Survival seemed to be the theme as the Altadena Town Council and the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education held their annual joint meeting Saturday, March 3.
“Survival” in that PUSD is going to suffer yet another round of budget cuts from the state, and board members expressed support for a series of measures designed to stem some of the pain, but acknowledged that there would be some painful cuts ahead.
Chief Financial Officer John Pappalardo said that the school district had to look forward to reduced funding from the state for the 2012-2013 academic year. The board endorsed a “tax initiative” from Gov. Jerry Brown (meaning proposed tax increase) and Pappalardo noted that there two competing tax initiatives that were collecting signatures to be on the ballot in November.
“The support for public education seems to be high in the state, unfortunately the state legislature and governors have not supported California education with funding,” Pappalardo said.
The board also threw its support behind a proposed state constitutional amendment that would lower the threshold to pass a parcel tax, from 66 percent to 55 percent. In 2010, the school district held an election to increase the parcel tax for education funding, and while a majority approved, it did not pass the two-thirds approval threshold.
Board member Ed Honowitz said that the public woud soon hear about “major reductions” in school district funding, noting that budgeting had to go on with the expectation that none of the initiatives would pass -- and even if they did, the situation “will get worse before it gets better.” Honowitz said to expect additional layoffs, as “in the short run, that’s the only way we can get to a balanced budget between now and then.”
Superintendent Jon Gundry said that the district was looking at a “community schools initiative,” similar to what was being used in schools in Multnomah County, Oregon, where the county supervisors made a commitment to “quality education [as] the best way out of poverty.”
Among the methods used in that initiative was to target resources to the schools in greatest need first, and to develop “strong community partners,” a term that included partnerships with cities but was otherwise left vague.
Later in the meeting, in response to audience concerns, Gundry admitted that Eliot Middle School would be one of the neediest campuses.
Gundry also said the district was committed to developing a “21st Century skills framework” for students, a program that included better pre-school education and after-school programs, although he noted the paltry funding given to those programs. Gundry said such a skills framework included critical thinking, oral and written communication skills, learning collaboration and developing creativity. “We want to teach kids the skills they need in the future, no matter how the world changes,’ Gundry waid. “Kids in kindergarten will be entering careers that may not exist.”
Gundry, who is in his first school year as PUSD’s superintendent after stints at LA Unified and in Texas, addressed perennial concerns that the district is top-heavy with administrators, saying that he had never come to a district that had “so few people working in central offices.” PUSD principals are on their own, he said, with no administration coordinating them. There is no body supervising secondary instruction, or coordinating science and social studies in PUSD.
If he had the money, Gundry said, he would be hiring teaching coaches for the campuses, providing “high quality coaching --- we need experienced, skilled academic coaches coming into the classroom to help [teachers] do better, not evaluate.”
The joint board also looked at construction improvements planned or already underway at Altadena schools, and the use of the recently-closed campuses at Burbank and Loma Alta elementary schools. Board member Elizabeth Pomeroy noted that, at Burbank, which is now housing a grab-bag of PUSD programs, “essentially every room is occupied.” Loma Alta is also being heavily used with community programs, housing the Rose City Academy charter school, the Quality of Life Center, the Altadena Arts Coalition, and the sheriff’s department VIDA program aimed at high-risk teens.
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