Dear Fairmont Families:

             The May SCAC meeting addressed the following:  

Yorba Linda High School:  At the City Council meeting in May, the Council voted unanimously to approve the joint-use parcel and zoning changes necessary to move the high school forward.  The environmental impact report will be done over the summer and the project should go out for bids in the fall.  The district is targeting January 2007 as the time when construction will actually begin.

 

State Budget:  The governor explained his May revised budget, which includes additional monies for education.  There will be a cost-of-living adjustment of 5.9 percent, which was the amount the district had budgeted.  These annual adjustments are meant to offset the increases in materials and supplies and other expenses that the district incurs annually.  There will also be funding of approximately $400 million allocated to the counseling programs at the middle and high schools.  That will be an expense the state will fund on an ongoing basis.  The additional money beyond the cost-of-living adjustment and counseling programs is a one-time payment based on revenues the state received this year.  It amounts to $5 billion for education, $2 billion of which will be provided in the 2006-2007 school year.  The state has given specific instructions on the kinds of expenses that the $2 billion may be used for and includes library books, art and music equipment, instructional materials and classroom supplies.  The remaining $3 billion will be paid out over a period of seven years.  It is not known at this time if it will have to be spent according to specific state instructions.  The funds are a payback of the money taken from Proposition 98 a few years ago.  Keep in mind that this is the governor’s proposal and that is must still pass the legislature.

 

Esperanza:  The superintendent also addressed the situation that occurred at Esperanza where a Spanish teacher had called students with Hispanic surnames out of class to talk to them about the STAR testing.  The state sets targets for each school as a whole and for each subgroup within the school.  Subgroups include English Language Learners, Special Ed students and various ethnic groups if there is a large enough student population of a particular ethnic group at the school.  A school may, as a whole, meet its target, but the subgroups might not.  If they do not meet their target and they do not show the required improvement, the school can be placed on the state “watch” list.  The teacher was the contact person at Esperanza for the STAR testing.  She had addressed the different subgroups by going to the ELL and SDC classes and talked to the students as a group, but handled the Hispanic subgroup differently.  She realized afterwards that though she meant well, she did not serve the students well and apologized.

 

Student Information Cards:  The district hopes to streamline the student information cards we have to fill out at the beginning of each year, by cutting down on the amount of information required and the number of forms to be completed.  They are hoping to have the changes ready for Fall 2006.

Middle School and High School Counselors:  Dennis Kreil, the head of the counseling program for the district, stated that the ratio of counselors to students at the high schools is approximately 1:520 and at the middle schools is approximately 1:1100.  He was very pleased that the funding from the state included monies specifically targeted for the counseling programs and will be looking for parent input on the best way to use the money to assist the students.  He emphasized that school counselors cannot meet individually with every student at the school and know each one intimately.  Their focus is more on the at-risk students.  Parents really need to take the lead on making sure their students are on track in fulfilling graduation requirements and preparing for college.  There are meetings for parents of 8^th and 10^th grade students, held at the middle and high schools, in which those requirements are discussed. 

 

Good News:  All of the schools that were nominated for the Distinguished School award will receive it, which, of course, includes Fairmont.  In addition, the Esperanza representative told us that a junior from the school achieved a perfect score of 2400 on the SAT, and the El Dorado representative was very happy to report that the Jazz One and Jazz Two groups from El Dorado took first place in their divisions at the Reno Jazz Festival and that the Jazz One group was the overall Grand Champion of the Festival.  Apparently the Reno festival is an international one and included bands from performing arts high schools and other specialty schools.  So, kudos to El Dorado! J

 

            Have a wonderful summer!  See you in the fall.

 

                                                                        Connie Hood