Quick report on last nights LASD board meeting (3/31/14) which was the final board meeting before making the final facilities offer to BCS. Started with a surprisingly large number of public comments on non-agendized items. Jeff Fixler spoke on enrollment growth meaning after school care needs more space allocated. Don Ball (Target site owner I believe) spoke on construction in the area. Over 1000 units are currently under construction, but because of high rents and the way these are built, they are not children friendly. Mentioned one new project had 330 units, of that 264 were rented, resulting in only 6 new children. Then 5 teachers spoke about the need for an increase in salaries. All were given 3 minutes for comments. This was followed by a long presentation and discussion on Educational Blueprint. The biggest concrete takeaway was that the district wants to start a program where teachers can observe other teachers teaching. At this point we were past 8pm (oops) so comments on the next two items, CEQA and the final offer were limited to 1.5 minutes each. I think most of us were prepared for 2min which is the usual quick format, so there were lots of cut-off comments. That said, there were still a lot of really great stuff from BCS parents. I gave public comment on both items. Interestingly, the districts lawyer sat right next to the public speaker podium taking notes on everything said. The board then spoke. Mr. Luther felt that the board was trying to do the right thing. Felt strongly that the 5th and 6th graders should have access to shared outdoor facilities. Said that everything he heard was that flexible sharing at the principal level went well. And finally felt that the use of the word discrimination was inappropriate as it has a long history in this country (quite a few public comments centered on this, parents felt they were being discriminated against by the district for choosing a charter school). Mr. Goines supported Mr. Luthers comments. He felt that they had improved the allocations at Egan, and felt they could allocate some space by the track at Blach to help make the numbers line up better. Mr. Taglio basically said ditto. And claimed this was the first time hed heard anyone complain about the lack of after school sports allocation (how is that possible?). Apparently, some of these are city run programs. Especially the programs in the city gyms. (Are these then be open to all students?) Doug highlighted that theres a big difference between Prop 39 and a bond funded facilities build, this was in response to a number of public comments that pointed out that the district built a much-larger-than-necessary MPR for GB when it was reopened. Reminded everyone that they are seeking a balance, that time given to BCS is time taken away from Blach students. Felt the offer should contain full access for lunch and brunch time (no afternoon recess was mentioned). Find an extra hour for PE time W-F (its just 8-9am now). Doug also felt that there was a good relationship between administrators but then made a comment about Ms. Schwartzbaums letter (that was in response to Mr. Baiers earlier letter.) Felt that, if thats what she *really* thinks itll be a long year (this felt like a bit of veiled threat. If were good theyll continue with flexible sharing. If were bad no flexibility). Ms. Logan then spoke, reiterating what was said above. Open up outside sharing a bit. Add an hour to PE. Be more specific about times. She was also making some veiled threats about flexibility. As an aside, there doesnt seem to be a set process for flexible sharing (or taking it away). Again, the law requires the district to negotiate in good faith to find a schedule that minimizes disruption to both programs. Flexibility is part of that. This is not an optional if-were-good item. Finally set a May 1st deadline for approval of a proposal of a play structure that BCS wants to install (at their expense).
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:14:44 +0000
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