Banner Year for Scotts Valley Schools

By Penny Weaver, Scotts Valley Unified School District Superintendent

Scotts Valley students, staff, school and community leaders celebrated the opening of a new school year with new banners and plaques. These honors were achieved as Scotts Valley Middle School and Scotts Valley High School were both named California Distinguished Schools last May. SVMS was also named a “School to Watch” which is a state and national honor recognizing high student performance and best practices in the educational program.

SVHS earned a six-year accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) after an extensive 18-month self-study report and visitation by WASC consultants. The report cited the staff members as “early implementers of the Common Core” and gave commendations for the positive school culture empowered by student leadership, rigorous program and high expectations of staff.

These are wonderful honors and validation that students are achieving and demonstrating high performance while the staff is delivering quality instruction as part of a progressive program. These statements are not only validated by the awards, but by other indicators including high rates of graduation, overall school attendance, scholarship awards, and acceptance into college programs.

Celebrating these achievements has not been diminished by fiscal fears fortunately. This is the first year of the last six years that we are beginning a school year without bracing for possible catastrophic mid-year cuts in the midst of ongoing budget reductions. We are all catching our breath and addressing critical priorities now that we can focus with a more stable fiscal future.

Worsening facility conditions are an urgent focus area for courageous leaders in Scotts Valley Unified School District. I say courageous because these are the people who have sacrificed deep cuts for six years enduring furlough days which are a reduction in wages, no wage increases and tougher conditions such as higher class sizes. Parents and community members continue to give of themselves and their resources to help bridge the budget shortfalls. Scotts Valley Education Foundation is funding library clerks, curriculum coaching and counseling this year. The Falcon Club provides all the funding for thriving sports programs at SVHS.

The community passed Measure K in June 2012, a temporary three-year $48 per parcel tax measure, with a 76.11 percent approval. These funds saved five classroom teaching jobs with some contribution of district general funds. Then, Proposition 30 passed statewide in November 2012 and the fiscal cliff was averted. The Local Control Funding Formula for schools was born. This is a new system of school funding legislated and signed into law. Our revenue is slightly improved under LCFF. This year, we were able to bring back one high school academic counselor.

The last two years our high school principal and assistant principal have worn their hats and that of counselor as well.

We also added teachers at all four schools to address some of our highest class sizes. We still have class sizes too high in some grade levels and subject areas at our high school but we continue to plan remedies as funding is projected to incrementally increase over the next eight years. We still have some positions on layoff including one less full time administrator at the district office.

Although the educational program funding is beginning to stabilize, the school facilities have significantly worsened in condition over the years of lesser funding and especially during the years of fiscal crisis. The Board of Trustees Members made courageous decisions to prioritize the support of the classroom and the recent honors have proven this to be effective strategy. The Board is now focusing on the results of a facility assessment we recently completed to determine our next steps in addressing critical facility needs at a time when there are no state funds for modernization or new construction.

The Board of Trustees will meet on October 15, 2013 from 5 to 7 p.m. in a special study session to discuss establishing priorities given the number of findings regarding seismic, accessibility, and code concerns with our buildings. We are also working with program specialists at the Office of Public School Construction to be evaluated for facility and financial hardship funding eligibility. There will be a lot to learn and more difficult decisions to make. We look forward to collaborating with our school communities so that we may move forward with our best thinking together.

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To contact Superintendent Weaver call the District office at 831-438-1820 or email pweaver@scottsvalleyusd.org