Beyond the Blackboard

More Layoff Notices Coming to Capistrano Unified

Facing another year of deep budget cuts, the Capistrano Unified School District is poised to eliminate 346 temporary certificated positions, including 10 counselors and two school nurses.

The jobs also include 103 positions in grades K-6, but the bulk of the cuts are in secondary instructional services, including 47 in English, 39 in Math and 24 in Social Science.

District officials must plan their budget even before the state spending plan is in place. Statewide, school officials are working on two scenarios: If the Governor’s proposal to extent certain taxes moves forward, CUSD will see what Superintendent Joseph Farley calls “relatively minor” cuts of $1 million. But if the tax-extension plan is rejected, CUSD cuts are expected to hit $17.5 million. Additionally, the district expects to enroll fewer students, causing another decline in revenue.

“Preparing for a significant budget shortfall creates the need to consider an increase in class size as well as the possibility of reducing or eliminating programs  and services,” Farley says in a staff report.

The board meets in a special session to consider the cuts at 6 p.m. on March 8 at district headquarters, 33122 Valle Road.

Capistrano Boasts 97.3 Percent Graduation Rate

From Capistrano Unified School District:

Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) graduated 97.3 percent of its high school students in 2008-09, the best graduation rate among the state’s large districts.

Statistics released on Tuesday by the California Department of Education show that the percentage of CUSD high school students who graduated in 2008-09, the last year for which graduation and dropout data has been compiled, increased from the 95.7 percent the previous year. The district’s dropout rate also declined. For the class of 2008, the district had a four-year dropout rate of 3.7 percent. The rate dropped to 2.4 percent for the class of 2009, the second lowest rate in the county.

 “This data reinforces what we already know—Capistrano Unified School District is one of the top school systems in the state,” Superintendent Joseph M. Farley said. “Some may think that high school graduation is a given, but earning a diploma takes a commitment from parents, teachers and students. This district has done a superb job at ensuring that student achievement remains the number one focus. Not only have the teachers and staff maintained a high standard, but they continue to raise the bar and find ways to provide even better instruction for our students.”

Statewide, CUSD graduated the highest percentage of students among districts with more than 35,000 pupils in 2008-09. For that same year, CUSD was ranked third in Orange County. Only Laguna Beach (97.5 percent) and Los Alamitos (97.4 percent) unified school districts, both with significantly smaller student populations, graduated a higher percentage of high school students in the county.

The graduation rate at Junipero Serra High School, a program for students who may struggle at traditional campuses, rose from 76.4 percent to 91.9 percent, bucking a trend that suggests alternative schools don’t graduate a high percentage of students.

“Serra has committed to helping students succeed by building necessary skill sets and authentic confidence,” Principal Rich Bellante said. “Excellent graduation rates don’t surprise me—we all collaborate to make that happen.”

The graduation rate and dropout rate do not add up to 100 percent because there are students who may receive a special education certificate instead of diploma. Those students are not counted in this data.

Register Publishes Teacher/Administrator Salaries, including Capistrano's

Many people are sure to be unhappy about it, but the Register has published a database of teachers making more than $100,000 a year.

Capistrano Unified School District Board President Anna Bryson is quoted as saying teachers salaries account for 85 percent of the district's budget.

The story notes that years of service, additional education and additional duties boost base salaries.

Capistrano Unified has quite a few on the list.

Here's that list.

OC Weekly Report: Regi Going After Teacher Salaries -- and Some Aren't Happy

No sign of Capistrano Unified in it yet, but this from www.ocweekly.com:

An Orange County Register editorial project that relies on the names, campuses and salaries of all public school teachers in the county has riled many instructors, a state teacher union official confirmed.

This was most dramatically played out in the Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD), the final holdout in providing the public information sought by Register editors.

The HBUHSD is working with the paper and the Orange County Department of

Education "to determine the relevance of all of the requested data, including specific work locations," Deborah M. Coleman, the district's assistant superintendent in charge of human resources, wrote in a letter dated Oct. 19 and sent to all employees.

"Although we continue to work with the Orange County Register and dispute the need and newsworthy nature of the specific data being requested, we feel it is important to notify each of you of the possibility that this will be released and become part of an upcoming newspaper article. To date, it has been determined that the requested information is within the rights of the Register and our District must relinquish this data."

Click here to see the entire story.

 

Uso Endorses Measure H for Capistrano Unified

This came across the email from San Juan Capistrano Mayor Lon Uso - acting on his own, not as the city leader:

Dear friends,

As long as it takes a couple of hundred thousand dollars to run for school board, you will have special interest slates controlling the BOD. We must allow candidates to run in their area of representation to break this unhealthy cycle.

What is most disturbing is that before being elected most members of the school board were adamantly for what is now measure H but now that they are elected are against it because it is much more difficult to dislodge an incumbent and are using the fear tactic of the union to do so.

I don’t care who you vote for in the upcoming race but I urge you to vote YES on H and help bring independent candidates that may help heal this district

Lon

Just a Little Record Keeping: Capistrano Unified Teachers Approve Contract

This came in by email this weekend...I'm checking to see what it means to teachers, etc.

 

Capistrano teachers approve new contract

Capistrano Board of Education also approves new agreement

 

ALISO VIEJO – By an approval margin of 94 percent, members of the Capistrano Unified Education Association have approved the tentative contract agreement that resulted from their three-day late-April strike action. In a special May 19 meeting, the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees also voted 5-0 to approve the new agreement.

 

The three-year contract guarantees that salary cuts and furlough days will be restored as new monies from state funds and from enrollment growth come to the district. It also delays the health benefits cap until the 2010-2011 school year and gives Capistrano teachers improved provisions for transfers and leaves.

 

“CUEA members cannot find words adequate to express our appreciation to the thousands of supportive district parents and community members whose support and encouragement helped Capistrano’s teachers achieve this new contract with the CUSD board,” said CUEA President Vicki Soderberg.