Dear SCUSD board members,
I urge each of you to search your hearts to find the courage to respond positively to the attached resolution after it has been shared during public comment.
The community is counting on continued support from Trustees Rodriguez, Pritchett, Ye and Arroyo. Regrettably we are girding ourselves for a continued negative response from Trustees Cuneo and Kennedy.
Trustees Woo and Hansen remain as the hope for a second chance. One more year to insure that we don't cause irreparable harm to public education in Sacramento. One more year that will pay for itself many times over in terms of increased funding, public support and, most importantly, emotional resiliancy in our most vulnerable neighborhoods.
The welcome news of the May Budget Revise, the 1 M extra the board already budgeted above the reserve minimum and the 12 M available by cutting the never spent yearly increase in books and supplies remove the fiscal necessity of therushed closure process. Any, or all, of these also provide fiscal resources above and beyond what is needed to balance the 1 M gross savings projected from implementing these neighborhood school closures without the second chance of one more year to get things right.
Please Trustees Woo and Hansen, join John Quincey Adams (Mexican American War), JusticesCurtis and McLean (Dred Scott), Senator Hoar (Chinese Exclusion Act), House Representative Jeanette Rankin (World War I and II), Senators Morse and Gruening (Vietnam War), Senator Robb (DOMA), House Representative Barbara Lee (Iraq War). All of these courageous public servants have left us a legacy of voting with the future rather than with the present majority.
Join in their legacy of courage by requesting, after public comment, that a one year reprieve be placed on the agenda for June 13th. Provide our children the exampleof allowing second chances whenever possible. A one more year second chance is certainly a reasonable possibility.
Sincerely,
Leo Bennett-Cauchon
916 307-8525
Second Chance for Neighborho
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| "Second Chance for Neighborhood Schools" |
Attached please find attached the "Second Chance for Neighborhood Schools" resolution. I am very appreciative of the DAC for voting its approval last night. On behalf of the DAC, I will have the honor of presenting it to our School Board this comingThursday May 16th at about 6:55 PM. It would be appreciated if folks would consider joining me in this presentation. Please send me an e-mail response or find me in the back of the meeting room at about 6:15 PM. I will wear a name tag :)
As has been done previously, a group could submit their public comment cards together and speak one after the other. This way the entire "Second Chance for Neighborhood Schools" resolution could be presented rather than a two minute summary. If you would like to add your particular story or comments to this group presentation, this would be most welcome. Just let me know so that we can keep the comment cards in a reasonable order.
If any of your affiliated groups are or may be able to join the DAC in endorsing the resolution, sharing this information after the presentation would be most helpful. I am asking that the resolution be placed on the next Board agenda for June 13th, the last day of this school year.
Per Board policy, I have been submitting requests to place a second look at school closures on the agenda in March, April and May. To date, contrary to policy, I have received no official response. Per Board policy the board can place the resolution on the next agenda.
Thanks for the consideration,
Leo Bennett-Cauchon (916 307-8525)
"Fight Back" Update:
1. A group of us continue to banner in support of the targeted seven schools each Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30. Please consider joining us at the Serna Center tomorrow. We consistently receive lots of supportive honks :)
2. A small group of us were able to have a productive discussion with State Senator Steinberg's district staff. We arrived at a consensus that the closure process was unnecessarily rushed and that fiscal justifications were problematic.
3. Governor's May Budget Revision is promising: Senator Steinberg: "... we no longer have to stare at enormous deficits and make agonizing decisions on which cuts will do the least harm to our children, to the poor, and to middle class families. ... It’s important that we also begin making up for some of the damage done to tens of thousands of Californians. ..."
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson:
" ... Californians want our schools back on solid financial ground, and Governor Brown's proposal represents another important step in the right direction. ... we must continue to work to see that all children, including our youngest and most vulnerable, benefit from California's recovery ..."
State Senator Leland Yee (San Francisco):
“Thanks to Governor Brown and the voters of California standing up for Prop 30 last year, our state’s economy is moving in the right direction. The Governor’s proposal puts much needed money back into our public schools. The children of California will be better served by this support. Their future, and ours, will be brighter as a result."
SECOND CHANCE FOR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL FACILITIES
WHEREAS, the Sacramento City Unified School District of Education (Board) has received documents and heard oral presentations, including presentations by the public, regarding the recommended "wise sizing" of school facilities at its regular meetings in March, April and May; and
WHEREAS, vigorous neighborhood opposition was expressed at community meetings held at the school sites for the proposed School Closures; and
WHEREAS, the proposed School Closures will decrease, District wide, the quality of the curricula and educational programs which are currently dispersed among most traditional neighborhoods to the detriment of the learning environment and supports for neighborhood students, especially those with the highest needs, of the Sacramento City Unified School District (District ) and
WHEREAS, the proposed School Closures serve to increase the ongoing costs of keeping open empty facilities and divert funding of the District's educational programs to busing, crossing guards, portable relocation as well as increasing any deficit gap caused by federal funding cuts, Average Daily Attendance (ADA) loss, and the loss of one-time federal funds and rising costs; and
WHEREAS, the proposed School Closures involve potentially significant walking safety risks; and
WHEREAS, the proposed School Closures have a significant effect on the environment by increasing the original design capacity for restrooms, cafeteria, playing fields and other common areas at the receiving schools by more than 25% or ten classrooms; and
WHEREAS, the District's enrollment, over the past three years has stabilized, including an increasing student population in the primary grades as documented by California Department of Education (CDE) reports; and
WHEREAS, the closures will have a cumulative impact and a significant effect on Hispanic and African American plurality neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 30, Governor Brown’s May Budget Revision, and the expanding economy have significantly improved funding for public education and thus disproportionate effects on Hispanic and African-American plurality schools can now be avoided; and
WHEREAS, effective ideas including dependent charters, school clustering and other options to School Closures have been generated by site transition teams but need equitable time for consideration;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education hereby finds and determines as follows:
1. Adopts the foregoing recitals as true and correct and incorporates all determinations and findings therein by this reference.
2. Approves the neighborhood school recommendations, as presented to the Board, to keep Clayton B. Wire, Collis P. Huntington, Fruit Ridge, Joseph Bonnheim, Maple, Mark Hopkins and Washington open for the 2013-14 school year.
3. Finds that the recommendations are "categorically exempt" from the provisions of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.18 and section 15314 of the Guidelines.
4. Directs the Superintendent to create design teams for all district schools.
5. Further directs the Superintendent to take such further action as necessary to carry out this Resolution.
