It was a fairly short board meeting and although there were several people in attendance during the early part of the meeting, most people left after student awards were passed out. The following are items which were of special interest:
1. Superintendent David Olney swore in Samantha McLean and Sandy Sprouse. Deana Garrison is the new board president. Trisha Funke is the clerk. Sandy Sprouse is the county rep and the date and time for meetings will remain the same (second Thursday of each month).
2. Dawn McMillan presented the First Interim Report for fiscal year 2012-2013, projecting revenue and expenditures for the next three years. She explained that projections are based on conservative estimates of income and that the district is currently deficit spending at a rate of approximately $1.2 million per year.
3. Dawn McMillan presented another report regarding the 2011-2012 Independent Auditor's Report. The only critical finding indicated that the cafeteria was impacting the general fund. She then went on to explain that this is typically the case with small schools due to nutritional requirements, food costs, labor costs, etc.
4. Sex Education Program adopted. Materials will be presented to 6th and 9th graders in compliance with CA state law. (The law actually requires that middle school and high school students receive sex education with the specific grade levels left to the discretion of the school district.) The program is called Positive Prevention Plus and it contains scripted lessons which must be followed verbatim. (If all a teacher is doing is reading a pre-scripted lesson, then it would seem that it would be better to just present the material via videos or computer presentations.)
5. Olney talked briefly about the new marquee. Tom Hopper was available to answer questions regarding this item. He stated that adjustments were still being made to the display settings. (From what I saw when I drove by while leaving the meeting, it appears that the marquee has only one side so that those driving towards the school from the north see just the blank back of the board.)
6. Next Regular Meeting: Thursday, January 10, 2013, 5:00 (closed session)/6:00 (open session) p.m., in the District Board Room.