TJUSD Board Meeting - March 12, 2020

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TJUSD Board Meeting - March 12, 2020

Postby blackturtle.us » Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:43 am

Other than people present for student awards, there were very few people present for this meeting which lasted about two hours. Highlights as follows:

1) All five board members plus the interim superintendent attended a small school district conference. Each shared something interesting they learned about while at the conference. A couple of these items included a presentation on teaching woodshop by making guitars, another presentation on streamlining board policies, as well as one on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) and another on community Wi-Fi systems.

2) Properly Qualified Coaches - After approving three assistant football coaches, board members discussed the extent to which all coaches are required to have proper first aid training and CIF certification. There was some uncertainty as to whether such training only applied to head coaches or if assistant coaches are also trained and certified.

3) COVID-19 Discussion - The high desert (including northern San Bernardino County, Inyo County, and Kern County) have had very few, if any, cases of coronavirus as of March 12, 2020. However, preparations are being made to ensure district preparedness for an outbreak. At this time all athletic trips and field trips have been cancelled and the situation will be assessed on a weekly basis. Students are being reminded to wash hands and use hand sanitizer to help minimize the spread of any germs.

4) Facility Updates and Projections - No plan is in place at this time to replace or repair the old high school. All grades are now housed at the “Round School” which was built in 1968. There are plenty of maintenance and repair issues at the “Round School” to be dealt with, but for next year it looks like all grades will continue to be housed at the “Round School.” The possibility of replacing or repairing the high school is being looked into with cost estimates ranging up to $22 million for modular buildings (nine classrooms, gymnasium, and multipurpose auditorium/cafeteria). There is much uncertainty about how much of this cost would be reimbursed by the state. At this point the district is waiting for the results of a soil stability study to help determine the feasibility of using the old high school site.

5) Modernization Funds - Somewhere around $2.8 million may be available for modernization of existing facilities. It may be possible to use this money to help with construction of new facilities or repair of old facilities. At any rate, all funding sources are being investigated to help pay for improvements and repair of district facilities.

6) Structural Engineer - A structural engineer will be inspecting district facilities in the near future. This is necessary to authorize approval by the state and/or county for any projects related to earthquake recovery.

7) Second Interim Financial Report - Two numbers were of particular interest. $1.1 million will be paid back to the state due to the charter school fiasco. Also, the projected balance at the end of the current financial cycle for the district after accounting for all currently planned spending will be $10.8 million. [This makes it hard for the district to qualify for Financial Hardship funds which would potentially pay for 100% of needed earthquake repairs. However, the district will still qualify for Facility Hardship funds which potentially pay for 50% of costs associated with earthquake recovery.]

8) Calendar for 2020/2021 School Year - Board discussed changes in structure of school year. Proposed calendar would place high school finals weeks prior to Winter Break for First Semester and late May for the Second Semester. There were some complaints about the timing of Homecoming.

NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING: April 9th
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - March 12, 2020

Postby ergot » Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:13 pm

School districts close due to coronavirus
Schools respond down in the San Diego area, but there are several cases down there and so there was a need for urgent action.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - March 12, 2020

Postby recluse » Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:32 pm

Los Angeles Schools To Close 2 Weeks Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
The Los Angeles area has several cases. I haven't heard of any cases in Ridgecrest or Trona as of yet. It could be that this area is isolated enough that there won't be many cases, then again who knows at this point. I heard that there is some hoarding behavior happening at stores throughout southern California. Not sure if that will get worse or not.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - March 12, 2020

Postby wildrose » Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:42 am

CHARTER SCHOOL FIASCO
Hopefully this is the end of the charter school fiasco as far as TJUSD is concerned. It was an expensive lesson to learn.
blackturtle.us wrote:Second Interim Financial Report - Two numbers were of particular interest. $1.1 million will be paid back to the state due to the charter school fiasco. Also, the projected balance at the end of the current financial cycle for the district after accounting for all currently planned spending will be $10.8 million. [This makes it hard for the district to qualify for Financial Hardship funds which would potentially pay for 100% of needed earthquake repairs. However, the district will still qualify for Facility Hardship funds which potentially pay for 50% of costs associated with earthquake recovery.]
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Re: School Shutdowns

Postby panamint_patty » Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:43 am

Tons of schools are shutting down for at least three weeks in California. Kids spread germs like crazy and schools are basically germ factories. But if schools shut down then what do parents do about supervision for their kids? And kids may still congregate and spread germs, defeating the whole point of closing the schools in the first place!
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Re: School Closures

Postby wildrose » Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:18 am

Closing down schools seems like an over-reaction to me, but when people have lost their minds to the point where they are hoarding toilet paper, then nothing is surprising. Shutting down schools does not prevent kids from congregating and that's the problem and this might be a case where the solution to the problem is actually worse than the problem was to begin with!
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Re: Political Stunt

Postby desertrat » Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:27 am

When people get to the point where they are obsessing over toilet paper, you know that the world has gone crazy. Toilet paper? Really? Get a grip!!! This whole over-reaction frenzy is just a political stunt to turn a small problem into a disaster so that the entire mess can be blamed on the president. As someone else already noted in the TRONA HIGH SCHOOL thread: THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF and at this time the general public has been whipped into panic mode. Prudent action is one thing, but all this hoarding behavior is just crazy! Should schools be closed? Probably yes in areas where there are several cases. Probably not in areas where there are none. I'd put travel restrictions in place before I'd close schools and I don't think we're anywhere near that stage and we probably never will get to that point. The coronavirus is just a bad flu, not something serious like the black death or smallpox or cholera, etc.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - March 12, 2020

Postby blackturtle.us » Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:19 am

EMERGENCY TJUSD Board Meeting - March 16, 2020
An emergency board meeting was held this morning. After input from the community about how to deal with the coronavirus issue, the board went into closed session to decide what actions the district would take. The following are the main aspects of the decision:
1) School closed at least until April 13th.
2) Staff will meet tomorrow (March 17th) to organize for closure and to provide educational guidance to parents and students during the closure.
3) Food services will provide lunch and breakfast everyday. Food will be made available at midday (exact hours to be announced). Students will be able to pick up a lunch and breakfast for the following morning. Possibly food will also be made available at bus stops, but the details on this were a little sketchy.
4) Instructional materials will be made available to students. This may include Chromebooks or work packets or a list of online activities, depending on grade level and available options.
5) For people without internet, the school will provide some time for students to come in and work on line at the school. Details on this were not provided.
6) Communication through email and tjusd.net website.
A letter will be sent home with students at the end of the day today.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - March 12, 2020

Postby mrgreen » Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:32 pm

Coronavirus: See How A Parent And A Teacher Are Adjusting To Home Learning
Distance learning they say is the way it will be done in the future. The future is here.
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Re: Over-Reaction

Postby MojaveMike » Tue Mar 17, 2020 6:32 am

Shutting down the school seems like an over-reaction to me. On the other hand, it may reduce the number of people who are infected. However, there's a good chance that no one at the school would become infected regardless of what the local schools do. It's hard to say. I worry more about people who travel into infected areas and who might bring the virus back with them than about people already in the area.
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