THANK YOU!

I am very pleased to have received the support of such a large portion of the Berryessa community. The election results indicate that Berryessa voters appreciate the gains that have been made in our schools during the past few years and want to keep us moving in that direction.

I can't begin to thank all the people who helped me during this long campaign. I've been in campaign mode for 11 months and your support and encouragement has kept me fueled. I hope you know how much I appreciate all that you have done for me and for the Berryessa community.

I pledge to continue to put children's needs first during my second term. There are still some tough challenges ahead, but with the proper priorities and good teamwork, our schools will continue to thrive.

To see the complete election returns, visit the Santa Clara County Reigstrar of Voters website.

Positive Progress for Berryessa Schools

With 10 days until election day, it is time to sum up the campaign. My campaign has been based on tremendous gains that have been made over the past few years and articulating a vision of keeping balanced services so that all children are offered a well-rounded education.

Much of the focus of the past couple years has been on the budget cuts and tough decisions that have been forced upon us. Like every other public school district in the state, Berryessa Union School District has been a victim of the recession. As a result, we have been forced to cut 20% of our budget. That required creative solutions in order to maintain the balanced services I mentioned. While our class sizes have increased, we were able to keep K-3 classes at 24:1, while many districts around us are now have 30 children in each classroom at those grade levels.
Increased class size means a reduced teaching force. Our district has 35 fewer certificated teachers than it did last year. In order to prevent further erosion of the teaching staff, we made small but painful cuts in other areas. We reduced library hours by 20%, middle school counseling by 25%, custodial service by over 40%, maintenance staff by a similarly large amount, and clerk and secretary hours by about 10%. Our district office administration has made cuts every year, and we operate as lean as any of our peer districts.

We were able to maintain our unique and award-winning music program, and avoid closing any of our schools. Large savings were realized by a major lighting retrofit project that converted the district to modern fluorescent lighting fixtures.

Through it all, the Berryessa Union School District has made tremendous growth during recent years. Our district's API scores are up 68 points over the past 6 years, with 11 of our 13 schools now scoring above 800 and 4 of our schools above 850. Three more schools have been awarded distinguished school designation during the past four years. Two of our schools were major winners in the Governor's physical fitness challenge. Our middle school students were big winners at the county science fair. Piedmont Middle's music program won major statewide awards. The list goes on.

Despite the cuts, the district has been able to add a district librarian, a social worker, and two new school psychologists. We have just completed a complete upgrade of our district's technology, with increased bandwidth and modern systems. We are utilizing computers in classrooms and this year have received a grant to install smart board technology in 4th and 5th grade classes at 2 schools. And we are about to begin installation of solar panels across the district in the most profitable solar deal by any district in our County.

The district is moving forward and needs continuity of leadership to continue to make progress in these areas. I am bullish on the future of the Berryessa School District and look forward to being part of its ongoing success.

Knowledge and Experience

The Berryessa Citizens Advisory Committee (BCAC) hosted a forum for the 6 candidates for Berryessa School Board on Monday, Oct. 11. We addressed questions from the role of board members to the district's academic performance to class size. I have previously addressed class size and the trade-off between keeping class sizes small and preserving balanced services for our children.

At the forum, I was glad to be able to discuss this issue further. The video for this question is available to watch here. It is clear from the answers that I have an in-depth understanding of how a school district's priorities can make a difference in educating our children. It is important during times like this to keep that knowledge and experience on the board.

Video of the entire forum is available here.

Supporting District Libraries

One of the most important services offered in our schools is the library. I know that my daughter Mia looks forward to her weekly visit to Noble's library, where she can experience the wonder of a large selection of books and bring a book of her choice home for one week.

Due to the California budget crisis, school libraries across the state have pared back service and even closed completely. Close to home, the East Side Union High School District no longer has library staff at each school.

Fortunately, the Berryessa School District still provides libraries that are open 4 hours/day in each of our elementary schools and 5 hours/day in each middle school. These hours are paid for out of the district budget, both from the general fund and from Measure W revenue. Last year, the district provided one more hour at each school (5 and 6). That means we were able to move forward with no more than a 20% reduction in district support at each school.

At the same time, due to responsible budgeting, the district has been able to add a full-time credentialed librarian to serve all 13 schools. Our new librarian, Anne Lee, helps support curriculum and material selection and provides a service that has not existed in the district for many years.

I will continue to make sure that the Berryessa School District supports quality library programs.

Enhancing Services for our Students

One role of a School Board member is to find ways to maximize the value of all the educational dollars the district is able to spend. Having to make cuts means being smart about the resources that can be deployed. By keeping spending under control, we
have been able to add strategic new resources, such as a district librarian,
school psychologists, and a social worker, all while maintaining key academic
programs, including music, counselors, and libraries.

The two additional school psychologists will assist our Special Education programs and help teachers and paraeducators complete Individual Education Progams (IEPs) and work with children that need additional help. The social worker will supplement the work being provided by our middle school counselors, working with families that need extra attention. The district librarian will help create academic programs that teach literacy and help make sure school libraries have the resources they need to help students be successful.

I am very proud that our district has added these new services during the past two years. These kinds of programs enhance the great work being done in the schools and will help bring our district to the next level.

Don't Let Unrealistic Expectations Cloud Our Gains

The so-called "No Child Left Behind" legislation from the Bush Administration focused schools around the country on bringing everyone up to standards. However, the goal in the legislation is for 100% of all students to be proficient by 2014. This means that every student in every school, even those that are still learning English, such as new immigrants, or those who have special needs, must be proficient or a school is deemed failing.

While schools should strive for everyone to be successful, the result of the unrealistic goal is to stigmatize schools that are making significant annual progress. The requirements call for double digit growth in performance every year, a standard that cannot be met. In Berryessa, what this means is that several schools that have improved every year are being labeled as "Program Improvement" schools this year.

For a more detailed discussion of No Child Left Behind and it's unrealistic expectations, see my discussion at the Board President's Blog.

When school API scores are released this week, I will be celebrating the amazing achievements of the Berryessa School District's teachers and staff in enabling growth in achievement at our schools year after year. I will continue to focus on ways the district can continue it's phenomenal growth in the years ahead. And at the same time, I will continue to lobby the federal government to find better ways to measure adequate yearly progress so that exemplary schools are not categorized as failing.

Keeping Classes Small

One goal that all candidates running for school board claim to have is keeping classes small. This was aided by California's Class Size Reduction (CSR) program, which provides bonus money for school districts that keep kindergarten to third grade classes at 20:1. Over the past two years, as the state decimated school funding, districts have found it exceedingly difficult to maintain that ratio.

A couple years ago, the state offered flexibility to school districts by allowing districts to keep the CSR money even if K-3 class sizes increase. As a result, many districts, including Berryessa's neighbors in Milpitas and San Jose Unified, jumped their classes to 30 students.

I have made sure people understand that in order to preserve libraries, counselors, and music, we would have to increase K-3 class sizes above 20. However, my goal has been to keep classes as small as possible and not jump to 30 like others have done. As a result, this year, our K-3 classes average 24 students.

Some candidates running for the board have suggested that the board could have avoided reducing library hours, which we cut by 20%, and cutting clerk time, which was reduced by 12%. The only way to have done that would have been to increase K-3 classes even more, and laying off more excellent teachers. My position is that slight reductions in these other areas is a reasonable educational trade-off that allows us to keep class sizes as small as possible.

All the cuts that have been implemented over the past couple years have been painful, for our students and our staff. But our district ended up with the best balance possible for a low-funded district. We still offer music, libraries, counseling, and our K-3 classes have just 24 students in them. I will continue to fight to maintain that balance.