 | | Featured Article | | Adele Berg provides leadership and vision for SMCOE ROP. |
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Mixed Results for School Measures
The November 8, 2011 election was a mixed bag of results for school measures in San Mateo County. Parcel taxes for Burlingame and Pacifica Elementary  Schools squeaked out victories, and a Millbrae Elementary School District bond measure passed, supporting building upgrades. But a $564 million bond for the San Mateo Community Colleges went down to defeat as did a $40 million bond in the San Bruno Park School District.
New and returning school board trustees were elected in the Sequoia Union High School District, Hillsborough City School District, Redwood City Elementary School District, San Bruno Park School District, San Carlos School District, San Mateo-Foster City School District, Woodside Elementary School District and the San Mateo County Community College District. In the Burlingame Elementary School District, San Mateo Union High School District and Millbrae Elementary Districts, incumbents seeking a new term were automatically re-elected since they did not face any challengers.
See more about election results here.
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Adele Berg Takes Helm of ROP
After serving for 14 years in a number of administrative positions in the South San Francisco Unified School District, Adele Berg became Administrator of the San Mateo County Office of Education's (SMCOE) Regional Occupation Program (ROP) on July 1, 2011. She brings wide-ranging administrative experience to the position and a vision of providing San Mateo County students with career pathways through ROP courses.
She's excited about her new role as Administrator of ROP. "Career Technical Education (CTE) is becoming more and more of a trend in education," she notes. "Our aim is to serve all students by helping those on the path to UC and CSU but also addressing the needs of students going to work. Career Tech Ed can meet the needs of all students by providing relevant education."
SMCOE's ROP currently serves 2,800 students countywide. Most of the students, ages 16 and older, are served through programs at their local high school. The ROP facility on Rollins Road in Burlingame serves about 200 adults and the Serramonte site serves 100. Course offerings at these facilities prepare adults for employment in insurance, accounting and medical billing; as medical administrative and dental assistants; and auto body repair specialists. Any adult 18 years or older in San Mateo County may attend."Particularly in this economy," notes Berg, "People are looking for new careers."
ROP courses at the high school level include biotech, engineering, robotics, video production, and digital photography. Growing areas of interest and also popular courses for students are art and multimedia, child development, culinary arts and hospitality.
Learn more about Adele Berg and new directions for ROP here.
See the new ROP website here.
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SELPA Committee Transitions Mental Health Services to Local Districts
The California state budget trailer bill AB 114, passed on June 30, 2011, eliminated the mandate on county mental health agencies to provide mental health services to students with disabilities. As a result of this bill, it is now up to school districts to ensure that students with disabilities receive special education and related services, including some services previously arranged for or provided by county mental health agencies.
Pamela Ptacek Blatt, Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Administrator at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE), is working with school district representatives from across the county on transitioning these services to school districts. She is leading a school-based mental health committee, comprised of a superintendent, chief business official, special education directors and school psychologists to determine the best way to deliver these services within the confines of state allocations and school district budgets. The committee meets monthly and also has separate subcommittees to address the many facets of this legislation and its effect on local school districts.
The services that fall under mental health services run the gamut from counseling, special day class wrap-around services to residential treatment programs. Most impacted are unified and high school districts.
For this year, the SELPA is continuing to contract with the San Mateo County Health Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS), as in past years, to provide these services to the nearly 400 students in San Mateo County who require them. The only major change is that school districts will not be providing medication support, as this is not a requirement under IDEA.
The school-based mental health committee is looking at different, cost-effective ways of delivering these services to students in future years.
"The change in the delivery of these services was caused by the state budget crisis," notes Blatt. "Costs had gotten out of control and there was a feeling at the state level that districts could manage these costs and provide services directly, at a more reasonable rate. We don't really know if that's true but the committee is looking at designing school-based mental health services that provide educational benefits to students with IEPs (Individualized Education Program) who require mental health services as a related service." |
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SMCOE and County Libraries Form Partnership Through Library Links
For several years, Library Service Coordinators Kris Cannon and Nancy Magee (who is now Administrator, Board Support and Community Relations) at the  San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) have been working with the Peninsula Library System, and county and city librarians across San Mateo County to make public library research databases available to public school teachers and students. Titled "Library Links for Education, a Digital Partnership," the project went live in October 2011 and is fully accessible through a portal on the SMCOE website.
"So often in public education, with budget cuts we take things away. But this is the opposite--a unique offering, giving the resource of top quality databases to schools for free and unlimited access," says Kris Cannon. "These resources have been evaluated and are known for quality, content and currency."
Included in the 15 available databases are authoritative reference books, images, periodicals and academic journals that can help students with their research projects. "It's not like sending students blindly to the Internet," adds Cannon. "These resources have been selected because they are high quality."
To access the databases, teachers apply online through the SMCOE portal for a database access card. Once the teacher receives the access card, he or she can share the pin code with students. With this pin code, students can access the database on classroom or home computers, or even on their iPhones. In the first week of the launch of Library Links in October, 40 teachers signed up for an access card, and the numbers requesting access are continuing to grow.
Learn more about Library Links and see descriptions of the databases here.
Access Library Links through the SMED Center here.
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About the San Mateo County Office of Education
The San Mateo County Office of Education provides a variety of instructional, business and consulting services to the County's twenty-three public school districts, charter schools, the Community College District, and County Office of Education staff.
Believe In Tomorrow: Think Green Today
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