 | | Featured Article | | SMCOE Board President Rod Hsiao shares goals for 2012. |
|
|
Governor's Budget Increases Uncertainties for Schools
Schools would be spared significant cuts for the 2012-13 school year if Governor Jerry Brown gets his way and voters approve a ballot measure instituting $7 billion in temporary taxes next November.  But that's a big "if," and if the measure fails, Brown's budget proposal, released in early January, includes another round of mid-year trigger cuts next year, including $4.8 billion in education reductions, the equivalent of decreasing the school year by three weeks of instruction.
"In past years, we would receive the Governor's budget proposal in early January and districts could start planning comfortably based on projections for the next school year," notes Denise Porterfield, Deputy Superintendent, Fiscal and Operational Services Division, at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE). "But, with this much uncertainty, to be prudent we have to make plans based on the worst case scenario. That means an additional 6% reduction in funding on top of the 20% reduction we have seen over the last several years."
Trigger Cuts and More Cuts
In addition to the possibility of trigger cuts next year, the Governor's proposal eliminates funding for transitional kindergarten, a program that was slated to start next fall. Under the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010, students must be 5 years old when they start kindergarten. The deadline for when students must be 5 will be gradually moved up over the next three years, and the legislation called for the implementation of transitional kindergarten to be offered to students who will turn 5 after the cut-off date. With the new registration deadline starting next fall, that leaves 125,000 students statewide ineligible for kindergarten but with no funding for the transitional kindergarten program.
Another hit to young children in the budget is the reduction in state-funded childcare programs. For San Mateo County, that means a loss of 1,000 state-funded childcare slots. "With the loss of these slots and no funding for transitional kindergarten, it will mean a lot of kids will not be ready for kindergarten. And the impact will be on our poorest children," adds Porterfield.
Home-to-school and special education transportation funding were also eliminated in the Governor's budget proposal. The County Office currently receives $13,000 per student for transporting special education students to SMCOE special education programs. "This funding goes away but not the federal mandate to educate these students," says Porterfield. "The funding responsibility for transportation now goes back to the local school districts and they must use general fund money to support these students."
Weighted Student Formula Would Change School Funding
The Governor's budget proposal offers a significant change in the way schools are funded. The "Weighted Student Formula" would replace the current funding system and redistribute funding, targeting students with the greatest needs. The formula would be phased in over five years and no details on how it would be implemented have been released as yet. The proposal also consolidates most categorical programs (excluding federally required programs such as special education) into one stream of funding, which should provide school districts with more flexibility, even though they will be receiving fewer dollars.
.
For now, it's a waiting and planning game for local school districts as the Governor's budget proposal moves to the state legislature. The Governor has asked the legislature to adopt the budget by March 1, and more details will be forthcoming in the months to come.
See the full budget proposal summary here.
|
|
SMCOE Board President Rod Hsiao
Focuses on 2012 Goals
San Mateo County Board of Education Board President Rod Hsiao is no stranger to the needs of youth in San Mateo County and across the country. By day he is senior director of strategy and operations at BUILD, a national nonprofit with initiatives that target  disadvantaged youth in the Sequoia Union High School District; Oakland; Washington, D.C; and Boston schools. The BUILD program helps youth start businesses and cultivates their entrepreneurial spirit and interest in furthering their education beyond high school.
Hsiao has been a San Mateo County Board of Education Trustee since 2006 and is now serving for the first time as president of the board. For the year ahead, he sees the board focusing on goals they jointly set at their retreat in October 2011. These include: paying close attention to the work of San Mateo County Court and Community Schools while focusing on best practices and closing the achievement gap for these students; promoting shared services across San Mateo County; and addressing the achievement gap for all students through culturally relevant approaches.
Hsiao is also personally interested in promoting the newly created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Center at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE). "In addition," he adds, "we want to be clear about what we are trying to achieve with specific programs, and how we know we are achieving our goals," he says. "We'll be working with County Superintendent Anne Campbell to have richer conversations with program managers at the County Office so that we as board members can be well informed."
"I am continually impressed by the high caliber of the staff at the County Office," he notes. "They work with students who have the most challenges and they do it so well."
Hsiao brings rich experience to his work as a County School Board Trustee. He worked for several members of Congress in Washington, D.C., and did graduate work in public policy at Harvard University, focusing on economic development. Last year, the Obama Administration appointed him to the national Council for Underserved Communities under the Small Business Administration. He also volunteers in several capacities helping youth and founded a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement for young people.
Hsiao and his wife Linda, a social worker who works with foster youth in Santa Clara County, are the proud parents of a 1-year-old son. "I am enjoying learning things all over again with him," he adds. When he's not working, parenting or serving on the San Mateo County Board of Education, he enjoys hiking, biking, and discussing books.
|
|
Daina Lujan Takes Helm of Safe Routes to Schools Program
In mid-December Dain Lujan came on board at the San Mateo County Office of Education as Coordinator of the Safe Routes to Schools Program and she has hit the ground running.  She's been working with Peter Burchyns to get up to speed and transition the program to her leadership.
Before becoming Coordinator of the Safe Routes to Schools Program, Lujan taught first grade for six and a half years in the Pacifica School District. While there she served on a number of school and district committees including the Green Team Committee, working on green initiatives such as composting and organizing school car pools to reduce traffic and pollution, and on the district's Safe Routes to Schools committee.
For several summers she also ran the teen camp program for the South San Francisco Recreation Department, and piloted a program for 13- and 14-year-olds to serve as "buddies" to preschoolers. It became so popular that parents would line up overnight to get their teens into the program.
Safe Routes to Schools is a national program, funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The goal of the program is to enable community leaders, schools and parents across the United States to encourage more children to walk and bicycle safely to school. In the process, programs are working to reduce traffic congestion and increase safety around school sites as well as improve health and the environment.
Through a partnership with the County of San Mateo and the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) of San Mateo County, the San Mateo County Office of Education has received a $2 million grant to bring Safe Routes to School to local school districts.
So far, in San Mateo County, six school districts--Ravenswood City Elementary, Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary, Pacifica, Redwood City Elementary, Millbrae Elementary and San Carlos Elementary--have signed on to participate. "We originally thought that 20-25 schools would sign up in the first year and we were delighted that school districts as a whole signed up. We have surpassed our goal and are now at more than 25 schools," notes Lujan.
Learn more about Safe Routes to Schools and Daina Lujan here.
|
|
PPLC Focuses on Goal of All Children Reading by Grade Three
Following up on Destination 2025, a well-attended Children and Youth Summit held last April, the Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council (PPLC), chaired by County Superintendent of  Schools Anne Campbell, is focusing on how to make the San Mateo County Bill of Rights for Children and Youth a reality.
As a result of the Summit and input from community stakeholders, the PPLC is concentrating on three principal goals: that all children will be proficient in reading by grade 3; that they will have a healthy mind, body and spirit; and that they will have optimism about their future. For this year, the Council is focusing on the first goal--how to assure that all children are proficient in reading by grade 3.
As a first step, the PPLC is educating its members (leaders from multiple disciplines throughout San Mateo County) on where San Mateo County students stand in terms of reading proficiency at grade 3. At their last meeting in December, the group examined reading test scores across the county and looked for trends. "There were no surprises," says Peninsula Partnership member Pamela Kurtzman, Director of Healthy Youth Initiatives for the Sequoia Healthcare District. "When we looked at the demographics we saw that the most successful students had parents with a college education and access to outside resources."
"As we continue to look at the data, we'll be looking for trends," says Michael Garb, PPLC member and CEO of StarVista, an agency that provides social services, early intervention, education, and counseling resources and services to more than 34,000 people throughout San Mateo County every year. "We'll be addressing the larger questions such as, 'Why are some schools successful and what factors, such as curriculum and preschool, lead to success?'"
"The next step will be to figure out how we can work together to improve reading proficiency," adds Shelly Masur, Redwood City Elementary School Board Trustee and Executive Director of Teen Talk Sexuality Education. "PPLC is not in a position to say 'Use this curriculum,' but rather to bring people together to discuss collaborative efforts, such as support for after-school programs."
"We'll be looking at raising awareness throughout San Mateo County about third-grade reading proficiency, and what our main message should be," notes Nancy Magee, Administrator, Board Support and Community Relations at the San Mateo County Office of Education. "Our ultimate goal will be to pool resources for particular projects that can improve reading proficiency. For example, we know that students with access to summer school make improvements and summer school programs have suffered cutbacks. That could be an area where pooled resources could make a difference. We also know that equipping parents to read to their children is important. That could be part of a larger public campaign raising awareness about this issue."
|
|
Upcoming SMCOE Events Focus on STEM
Two upcoming events supported by the San Mateo County Office of Education will highlight Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The San Mateo County Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Fair 2012 takes place the week of January 29, 2012 at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, and the Council of Math and Science Educators of San Mateo County (CMSESMC) will present the 36th annual Spring STEM Conference on March 3 at the San Mateo County Office of Education.
STEM Fair Highlights Student Projects
The STEM Fair will host more than 300 students (5th through 12th grade) entering projects, from close to 40 schools throughout San Mateo County. The projects will be in the categories of: 
technology, engineering, materials; biological; behavioral/health/social; physical; earth/space/environmental; and mathematics. In previous years projects such as a levitating train, a thermo-mechanical sunflower, the living roof, and the secret of a digital display, have been entered. The projects are judged by over 80 volunteer scientists, engineers, doctors and other professionals from companies throughout the Bay Area, such as Genentech, Gilead, Kaiser Permanente, Life Technologies, Oracle, Amgen, Electronic Arts, San Mateo County Fair, and Wells Fargo.
The event continues throughout the week of January 29th through February 3rd. The public is invited to attend the Open House on Wednesday evening, February 1, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. and the awards ceremony on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.at the Hiller Aviation Museum.
Winning projects go on to the Bay Area and State Science Fairs. There are also a number of special awards presented by groups such as the San Mateo County Environmental Services, League of Women Voters, Association of Women Geologists, Electrical Engineers, San Mateo County Fair and companies such as Oracle, Electronic Arts and Amgen.
CMSESMC Conference Brings Together Math and Science Educators The Council of Math and Science Educators of San Mateo County (CMSESMC) will present the 36th annual Spring Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Conference on Saturday, March 3, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the San Mateo County Office of Education. More than 25 sessions will foster excellence in STEM curricula and educational programs. The conference promotes professional excellence in teaching and strengthening leadership in these fields. In addition to the sessions there will be exhibitors, the opportunity to network with other professionals and a one-day pass or gift certificate (if you are already a member) to Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT). Advance registration is $40, with reduced fees for student teachers, preschool teachers and groups. You can see the program and register at CMSESMC.org. For more information, contact Janet Shi at jshi@smcoe.k12.ca.us. |
|
Check Us Out on Facebook
The San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) now has a page on Facebook. We'll be providing frequent upd ates on SMCOE events and education news of interest, and linking to other education organizations. Check us out and "like" us today on Facebook!
|
|
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
|
|
|
