There were not many people at the meeting tonight and although it started fifteen minutes late, it was still relatively short. Here are the agenda items which I thought were particularly important.
1. During board member comments Trisha Funke shared information regarding some upcoming events sponsored by TronaCare. Five abandoned house demolitions are planned in the near future, with three or four more following in a month. Also there is a clean up scheduled for this Saturday (April 13). On top of that a couple properties will be taken down by hand late in May. If my count is correct, a total of ten or eleven abandoned houses will be dispensed with during the next couple months.
2. Superintendent's Report - David Olney discussed a number of issues:
a. FCMAT reviewed Food Services and made positive comments regarding the cafeteria. However, some recommendations are expected in the forthcoming official report. During discussion of this item several comments were made about federally imposed restrictions and requirements regarding food selection and nutrition. For instance, the federal government is banning white bread and white pasta and mandating that fruit and vegetable quotas be met. Board members agreed that it is difficult for the cafeteria to offer inexpensive, palatable food and to meet these requirements. The name of Michelle Obama was mentioned at least once during this discussion.
b. VERIZON - School bandwidth to be increased to 100 Mbs (upload and download speed) effective July 1st, 2013. New wiring is being installed to facilitate this boost in speed and this wiring can handle up to 1 Gbs if the district decides to pay extra for that much bandwidth. During discussion of this item there were questions about Digital 395 and Olney explained that the current upgrade has nothing to do with Digital 395, but that he is looking into the possibility of taking advantage of Digital 395 if that becomes possible at some point.
c. Strategic Plan for District / Governor's Proposed Budget 2013-14 - Olney talked at length about changes to school funding proposed by Governor Brown. The presentation was well-organized and detailed. The governor is proposing quite a few changes and Olney listed off quite a few acronyms in the process of explaining these changes. One acronym which came up several times was LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula). Tom Hopper also shared information on how these changes may impact ROP (Regional Occupational Program) or CTE (Career Technology Education).
3. Public Comments - Lana McCullar stated that she has talked to several students who are dropping out of the high school and transferring to Opportunities For Learning in Ridgecrest. She hopes that the district is looking into ways of retaining students at the high school. A few people mentioned in regards to this topic that Opportunities For Learning may become a charter school at some point in the future, or at least that there is a rumor floating around to that effect.
4. Certificated Staff Negotiations - It was announced that negotiations between the Trona Teachers Association (TTA) and TJUSD have begun and that the topics to be discussed include Health and Welfare, Compensation, Teachers Evaluations, Teacher Hours, and Leaves.
Next Regular Board Meeting: Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 6 p.m.