Fremont Schools Budget Crisis On 02-20-09, our governor finally signed a new CA budget with deep cuts to education. Fremont schools are expected to face a $8 million funding reduction for the current 2008-2009 school year. The state will send fewer and/or smaller checks to FUSD the rest of this school year. Next school year, a $17.5 million funding reduction is expected. For further information and update, please read the state and Fremont schools budget related articles below.
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"March in March" Rally at Sacramento Join the fight for education. Tell Sacramento Legislators: We Care, We Count, We Vote! "March in March" Rally Monday, March 16, 2009 State Capitol - Sacramento Join students, parents, staff, and friends for this historic event. Stop more budget cuts to education. Participants will meet at Raley Field, 400 Ball Park Rd., West Sacramento, CA at 9:00 am. March is from 10:00 am to noon. Rally is from noon to 2:00 pm. Bus transportation is available for this event. Buses will leave at 7:00 am and return at 4:30 pm. For further information, please call Athena Steff at (415) 239-3920. SEIU Local 1021 Schools Industry Council
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Latest News
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Community Support Needed for Washington High School
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| We are now ready to install LCD projectors on the Washington school site, in every classroom. This is a large task and we need your support. We are looking for volunteers who can assist the technology group to install the LCD mounts. Experience is not necessary. If possible, we would like to have student and parent teams install the mounts. This project qualifies for Community Service hours. We do need adults working with the students due to liability issues. This will be a great opportunity for students and parents to bond while providing a much needed upgrade to the school. The school is now fully networked and each classroom will have the ability to present multi-media content once this project is completed. Many of the new approved text books come with an electronic component that needs to be incorporated into the classroom. With budget cuts, etc. there is no way that we will get this equipment installed without community support. I am including information from Mark Clevenger, who is on our technology committee and Ron Urlich, a retired Washington teacher who gives much of his free time installing cables and hooking up new equipment on site and designed the prototype mount. You can contact Mark Clevenger at mclevenger@fremont.k12.ca.us and leave your contact information so he can get back to you, or you can contact me (Michael Salvaggio) at 510-791-0115 and I will make sure that someone gets back to you. Depending on the response we can have this project completed this year. The teachers are very anxious to have access to the LCD projectors in their classrooms.From Mark Clevenger:About 10 years ago Washington High School entered the Digital Age when a group of parent volunteers helped install a network, bringing the internet first to the Business Classroom and then finally to the rest of the school. We again are asking for parents to help us with a new school wide project, installing LCD projectors in the classrooms. The only real requirement is that you are willing to work. Electrical wiring experience is helpful, but not necessary. Some of the tools that would be helpful to bring would be, 10 foot ladders, cordless drills with screw bits, wire cutters and strippers and tiny flat head screwdrivers. MarkFrom retired Washington teacher Ron Ulrich: I have a tentative short term calendar that should get us a good start. I plan on doing the Fremont building first and will do one additional classroom, a week from Sunday, to be sure I have all the steps in sequence.Let's try for the following dates: Saturday 28 Feb, Sunday may be another option depending on how things go on Sat. Other dates are March 7, 28, and 29.As I mentioned at the SSC meeting I feel a parent with a student works well as I will not have time to supervise the students and since it is a school project, it is nice to see parents involved as well. Start time around 8 or 9, I will be there early for sure. Ron(Information from Michael Salvaggio, Washington High School, School Site Council Chair. Note from Hiu Ng: Next work date is currently planned for March 28th.) |
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Niles School Registration
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| New Student Registration packets for Niles School are now available at the school. Open registration for new students is Wednesday, March 4th. For Kindergarten, children must be 5 years old by December 2nd, 2009 and live in the Niles attendance area.
One-Day Sibling Preference Registration is March 3rd.
This is for new incoming students with siblings already at Niles.
The school has mailed out the Registration Reservation forms with all the document requirements for existing students. These are due on February 27.
If you'd like to contact the school with questions, call 793-1141.
Regards,
Kely
2nd St. |
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Discussion
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Budget Discussions
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02-25-09 Fremont School Board Meeting Report
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On 2-19-09, the California Legislature finally passed a budget. On 2-25-09, our School Board held a regular meeting but the dominating agenda was clearly budget cuts within Fremont Unified School District. As of today, our school district is still getting state budget information from its Sacramento consultant. The best current guess/estimate is that FUSD would have to deal with a $8 million funding shortfall during the 2008-2009 school year. The state will send fewer and/or smaller checks to FUSD. Next school year, the currently projected funding reduction is $17.5 million. Our state government can cut funding to education much faster than our school district, or any other school district, can respond. There are both legal and educational issues involved in terms of our school district’s ability and desire to reduce its expenses by $8 million for the rest of this school year. Therefore, $8 million of our school district’s undesignated cash reserve will be used to cover this school year’s funding deficit. That still leaves a $17.5 million state funding reduction for next school year. FUSD staff has created multiple lists of potential cuts to address this funding problem. Some of these have been reported and shared. Below is the approved and prioritized list from the 2-25-09 School Board meeting. I change the wording and add some additional info so that hopefully it is easier to understand. 1. District Office/Support/Site Administrator Layoffs 2. Eliminate Cal OSHA reserve fund 3. Eliminate Custodial Uniforms 4. 2% Work Year Reduction (Taking from Non-school Work Days for All Employees) 5. 2% All Employees Pay Cut 6. Athletic Stipends (50% cut) 7. 66% Cut to Elementary PE, Science, Music, and Computer Specialist Teachers 8. Kindergarten Class Size Increase 30:1 and 60:2 (Both Teachers and Students Will Overlap) 9. 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Class Size Increase 32:1 10. Jr, High and High Schools Class Size Increase 28:1 (many classes will have more than 35 students) 11. Eliminate School Bus Service to Jr. High and High School Students Living Inside a 3 Miles (as a bird may straightly fly) Radius from School 11. Cutting 4 Counselors (keeping 22 – funding for 6 from one-time, one-year only source) 11. 50% Cuts to All Jr. High and Elementary Library Staff (Library Media Techs) 11. 50% cuts to All High School Library Staff (Certificated Librarians and Library Media Techs) The primary reason that 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade class size (20:1) is not increased is due to extra state (CSR) funding for these grades to keep class size at 20:1. The last four items are viewed as having equal priority. Further details for some of the items will be investigated by staff and discussed during the next Board meeting on 3-2-09. Together, these items add up to be about $21.6 million. Our School Board has officially asked staff to start negotiating items that require employment contract changes with all employee bargaining groups. It is not clear as to how long this negotiating process may take. Until this process is concluded, FUSD is unlikely to be able to reduce its salary expenditure. The current state budget requires a special election with 5 propositions on May 19th this year. The governor will also review and revise the state budget shortfall again in June. So far, for the past 12 months, every review by the governor has produced a larger state revenue shortfall. Putting it bluntly, the probability of needing to make further cuts beyond $17.5 million for next school year is high. By Hiu Ng
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Posted - 03/03/09 10:50pm
by Hiu Ng |
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2/11/09 Fremont School Board Prioritized Cuts
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Currently, FUSD has provided a prioritized list of 14 items to our School Board for consideration at the 02/11/09 Board meeting. Below is a summary. You can get the official information to the School Board by downloading the 2/11/09 Board Packet from the district web site. These proposed cuts will involve the layoff's of 234.7 FUSD employees and the majority of them will be teachers, library and counseling staff. There is a second list of cuts including the same items but with reduction vs. elimination in some cases. This second list of cuts will involve the layoff's of 200.9 FUSD employees. Other previously mentioned items are still part of the plan but they are now listed below the initial consideration line.-----------------------------------------------------------------Prioritized FUSD Budget Cut Items as of 2/11/09 Board Meeting 1) Reduce District Support and Staffing - $1,000,000 2) Eliminate Cal-OSHA Budget - $117,000 3) Eliminate Custodian Uniform Requirement - $30,000 4) Eliminate Athletic Coaches (jr. high and high school) Stipends - $544,159 5) Extend Secondary Transportation Distance to 3 miles - $470,000 6) Eliminate Elementary Prep Period and Prep teachers - $7,119,0347) Restructure Kindergarten 30 Students to 1 Teacher - $1,925,424 8) Increase Class Size in Grades 4, 5 and 6 to 32 students - $1.069,531 9) Temp. 2% Reduction of District Work Year (all employees) - $4,336,354 10) Increase Jr. High and High School Class Sizes (7-12) - $1,297,878 11) Eliminate 9th Grade Class Size Reduction (for English and Math) - $436,47912) Eliminate All Counselors - $2,634,572 13) Eliminate All Library Media Tech’s from All School Sites - $1,613,880 14) Eliminate All Certificated Librarians from All High Schools - $448,000
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Posted - 02/09/09 1:35pm
by Hiu Ng |
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Proposed FUSD Budget Cuts as of 1/28/09
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Responding to the state budget cuts, FUSD is currently proposing 18 cuts in 3 categories. These are provided below with the estimated financial impacts, some basic facts and personal observations. The estimated financial numbers assume full elimination or implementation. You can also get the official Board presentation by downloading the 1/28/09 Board Packet from the district web site: www.fremont.k12.ca.us. FUSD District-wide Support Services and Staff Cuts: 1) Reduce District Support Staffing - $1,000,000 * Elementary Vice Principals should not be in this category as they are generally considered "site" personnel. * Not certain why pay increases such as "step and column" are not suspended as pay cuts are being discussed. * Cuts in this area seem too cautious as compared to cuts to schools. is aiming at $25 million dollars of cuts at this time so not all cuts are expected to be implemented. Also, the possibility of addtional federal funding is not yet taken into consideration.2) 4% Pay Cut Across the District (all employees) - $8,672,708 3) 2% Reduction of District Work Year - $4,336,354 * Compliance of 180 days of instruction. * Effective for one year. * Not affect retirement credit. 4) Extend Secondary Transportation Distance to 3 miles - $470,000 * $300,000 from parents. * $1,700,000 from state. * $2,000,000 revenue loss - general fund expenditure. 5) Eliminate Cal-OSHA Budget - $117,000 * $30,000 expense last year. 6) Eliminate Custodian Uniform Requirement - $30,000 * Most likely will happen as this is offered by employee group. 7) Eliminate All Library Media Tech’s from All School Sites - $1,613,880 * Strong opposition from community. 8) Eliminate All Certificated Librarians from All High Schools - $448,000 * Each Fremont high school has 1 Certificated Librarian. * Strong opposition from community.Elementary Education Reductions: 1) Eliminate Elementary Prep Period - $7,119,034 * 225 minutes of prep per week in grades 1-6. * Prep teachers are currently teaching P.E. Science, Music, and/or Computer. * Schools may have different types of prep teachers. * Not clear how science and computer lab’s would be maintained if this option is used. 2) Restructure Kindergarten 30 Students to 1 Teacher - $1,925,424 * KG teachers would teach AM or PM class with 30 students each. * Overlap and help each other for 100 minutes. * Not all schools will be able to implement 30:1. * In some schools, not all KG classrooms within the same school will be 30:1. Some will still be 20:1. * FUSD qualifies for 20:1 funding. 3) Eliminate Kindergarten Class Size Program - $366,563 * 20:1 to 30:1 in both AM and PM classes. No other changes. 4) Eliminate Grades 1-3 Class Size Reduction Program - $1,088,518 * Class size increases from 20 to 30 students in grade 1-3. * FUSD will forgo state funding for program. 5) Increase Class Size in Grades 4-6 - $1.069,531 * Increase class size from 30 to 32 students.Secondary Education Reductions: 1) Eliminate Secondary 97-12) Prep Period - $6,798,429 * All secondary teachers will teach 6 periods a day without a prep period. * Would greatly impact elective classes. * School Board members didn’t show much interest in this option during last meeting. 2) Eliminate Counselors - $2,634,572 * All counselors from all jr. high and high schools will be eliminated. * 2 Board members not interested in this option from last meeting. * Strong opposition to this option from community. 3) Increase Secondary Class Sizes (7-12) - $1,297,878 * Increase students to teacher ratio to 28:1. * Size of some classes will be beyond 35:1. * Class size has already been increased from 26:1 this school year. 4) Eliminate Athletic Stipends - $544,159 * Coach’s stipends for all sports will be eliminated. * Parental contribution or no stipend will be paid. * Not certain how many coaches are impacted. 5) Eliminate 9th Grade Class Size Reduction - $436,479 * Increase from 20:1 to 27:1 (or perhaps 28:1) in 9th grade English and Math.
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Posted - 02/07/09 1:43am
by Hiu Ng |
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