Candidate for
Board Member; Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District; 2 Year Short Term

The Parcel Tax (Measure D)

I support the Parcel Tax Initiative. The schools have been underfunded for years. The current crisis in the California State Budget has exacerbated the situation. Many teachers are using their own money to purchase supplies necessary to effectively conduct their classes. I applaud their devotion and selflessness. The Livermore Valley Education Foundation has supported a number of programs in the Livermore Schools for over a decade because there was not sufficient funding from the State. However, the District needs to develop a funding position that covers these basic needs. The Parcel Tax will provide much needed funding to restore some of the programs that have been lost through the budget cuts of the past several years.

Although increasing funding is not the sole solution to bringing education standards to the level expected by parents and the community, it is an important component to bringing the Livermore Schools up to the standards that we all desire.

The Livermore Valley Charter School

I support parents having a choice in the schools where they enroll their children. Until last year the district provided two "magnet" elementary schools that provided an option for parents who wanted their children to take advantage of special programs or who were concerned with the school that their children would otherwise attend. I think that such options are good. They recognize that children (and parents) are different, and have different needs and expectations. The Livermore Valley Charter School would provide such an option.

However, my goal is that every child in Livermore should receive instruction, guidance, and extra curricular activities that prepares them for their next challenges in life whether that is college, career training, or their first job. So as we provide special opportunities through Charter Schools or "magnet" schools, we also need to provide quality education and programs at rest of the schools in the District to ensure that the needs and expectations are met at those schools as well.

The District Budget

The School District's budget has been under increasing pressure over the past several years. State funding has decreased, additional programs have been mandated by the State without sufficient funds to fully implement the programs. At the same time the State requires a certain level of reserve funding as an indicator of good business practice within a district. Given the choices of cutting programs or meeting the State mandated reserve, the School District chose to let the reserve fall below the required level to minimize the impact of the budget cuts on the programs. While this might seems like a good idea if you expect only a one year dip in funding, if that reduction in funding persists for multiple years, it can lead to serious financial problems.

The District needs to plan budgets for the next several years that will restore the State mandated reserve. This may again make the district face some unpleasant choices of how to find that money in already constrained budgets. However, it is necessary to have sound financial planning to provide for the long-term health of the Livermore Schools.

There have been some problems in the past with financial operations. These financial discrepancies indicated a lack of control in the financial processes in the district. Currently, because of the lack of the State mandated funding reserve, the district has an outside financial advisor that is reviewing all financial actions of the district. This has added increased financial oversight of expenditures of the district. I hope that this is a trend that will continue and perhaps be strengthened even after the assigned financial advisor has completed his work. I will make a continuing effort to review the management of the district to see that it meets best business practices.

This outside review of the budget and the financial planning should help to restore confidence that the district financial activities are properly handled. I would strongly favor the addition of a Chief Financial Officer for the District to continue detailed financial planning for the District and the tight oversight of expenditures.

Class size reduction

In general the reductions in the State funding of the schools has resulted in class size issues at all grade levels. The State established a program to reduce class size in the K-3 grades. I am in favor of smaller class sizes for kindergarten and third grade. Without additional funding through the Parcel Tax or some other mechanism, class size reduction for all these grades is not possible this year or next year within the constraints of the district budget. But we do have reduced class size in the first grade paid by the District.

We also have reduced class size in the second grade this year. The reason is that a group of highly motivated parents have been part of the Livermore Valley Education Foundation and have raised the necessary funding to preserve the reduced class in the second grade. They had hoped that they could have done more.

If parents of children in kindergarten, and third grade would like smaller class size for their children, I encourage the parents of each student to participate in the Dollar-A-Day campaign of the Livermore Valley Education Foundation. This is a clear case where if the parents want reduced class size there is a way to achieve it. It only takes their participation. Send a check of $200 or $300 (or about $20 per month) to LVEF and write on it "class size reduction" and for which grade.