PALSS Update

PALSS Update
March 19, 2015

New course offerings at Ripon High- Ripon High Principal Lance Morrow
shared several new course offerings at Ripon High for next year. There will
be an AP Music Theory added to increase AP offerings to 10 AP courses. CP
Psychology will be added to the schedule with the hope of offering an AP
Psychology class the following year. A computer teacher was hired and will
teach Introduction to Computer Programming. The hope is to offer a
computer coding pathway program at the high school. In addition, pending
board approval an Auto Tech 1 and Auto Tech 2 courses will be added to the
schedule. Upon completion of these courses students will be allowed to be
ASE certified. Lance shared that they have started discussions with the
elementary school to introduce keyboarding classes in the younger grades so
when they come to high school they are already proficient. Ripon High can
then replace their Keyboarding requirement with a World Geography class.
They are hoping to add AP Human Geography as well for the 2016-17 school
year.
Answering questions about the RUSD budget- Mr. Draa invited Douglas
Crancer from Ryland SBC to come and explain the districts current budget.
Board member Chad Huskey asked a question about Fund 14 and if that 1.5
million set aside for district maintenance would continue to grow each year
by 1.5 million. Mr. Crancer said no that it would just roll over to the next year
if not spent. He also shared there is 1.5 million in the lottery account.
RUDTA President, Rod Wright, asked how the district could amass millions of
dollars in their budget during the worst budget crisis from 2009-2013. Mr.
Crancer said that he would have to look at the last 5 years actuals to see
what was budgeted and what was actually being spent. Mr. Wright asked to
be provided with copies of those. Mr. Crancer showed a CalSTRS chart that
shows the district currently contributing 8.8% for the employer contribution.
Through the next several years that contribution is expected to increase and
by 2021 be a 20.4% projected employer contribution. Janeen Eisenhauer
asked about if the money the district has earns interest. Mr. Crancer says it
does but it is a minimal rate set by the state. Jen Brogan asked how the
increase in property taxes would positively affect the district. Mr. Crancer
says that if property taxes go up the state reduces the amount of payments
it gives to the district. If property taxes go down the state increases the
payments to a set amount so property tax has very little effect on a district
budget. At the next board meeting, the board will be provided with what the
budget would look like if the 10% raise that the teachers union is asking for
was allocated in the budget.
Shari Hernandez, Ripon High Booster Club President asked Mr. Draa if the
district is looking at how its spending its resources efficiently. She cited that
the district and individual schools use many sources for their printing.
Instead they should look into bidding out and getting a printing contract in
order to save money. She also asked if food service for the district was
operating as efficiently as it could. She then brought up the fact that we
operate 5 very small elementary schools and this causes the district to not
use their resources as wisely as they could.
Solutions to the singleton issue- The singleton issue has continued to be

a problem for students, parents and teachers in the district. Jen Brogan and
Karina Ilardi shared with the group that they gave a board presentation over
two years ago about this problem and presented a solution of closing Ripon
Elementary in order to save money and run the district more efficiently. We
have seen firsthand that this is possible because the schools are running fine
with 4 elementary schools with the distribution of Weston students to other
sites. By closing a school this would result in the permanent elimination of
singletons, increase the number of students in each campus to levels that
are more fiscally sound, and put teachers together at grade levels that have
more in common with each other and allow for collaboration. Right now we
would not be able to ask developers for increased Level 2 fees because we
are running our schools with very low numbers. Even with running at 4
schools, we would still have room for growth. With increased home building
from the Austin Road project and students coming into our district, we could
then ask the builders to contribute to building a new school.
Jen and Karina have been advocates for a middle school in Ripon Unified. It
is their belief as educators that it better prepares students for high school.
Teachers in the upper grades can also focus on their academic strengths and
students are able to be exposed to a variety of electives. They both served
on every committee in preparing the Facility Master Plan. They gave the
group their suggestions for how this would work. A question was asked if the
credentials the 6-8 teachers have would allow them to teach in a middle
school or junior high. Jen said that as long as the teacher taught a core class
such as Science/Math or Lang. Arts/Social Science and had the students for
two periods it would be able to work.
The solutions presented were the following;
1. Ripon High School takes over Ripon Elementary- This would allow
Ripon High the necessary growth that is needed for that campus. Ripon
El students would be redistributed to the 4 other elementary schools.
All schools maintain current K-8 structure. However, at grades 6-8
students are provided with a middle school type structure to ease
transition to high school by switching classes and taking electives.
2. Reconfigure Ripon Elementary to a 7-8th grade junior high
approx. 500 students
Distribute Ripon Elementary K-6 to the 4
other elementary schools. This option leaves schools running at a very
low number and is not fiscally responsible.
3. Reconfigure Park View to the original purpose of a middle
school- approx. 750 students as a 6th-8th campus OR approx. 500
students as a 7th-8th campus. Park View would become a middle school
campus and students would be distributed to the 3 other schools
(Weston, Colony Oak, Ripona) and Ripon High would take over Ripon El
site for needed growth. Ripon El students would be redistributed to
other schools.
Karina believed the most popular solution among parents would be Solution
1 because it has the least disruption and moves for students. Stephanie
Hobbs, RCAF President said it would be wise for the board to act on the
Master Facility Plan while it remains relevant. There was a consensus at the
meeting that the district needs to move forward with a permanent solution
and make something happen. Jen said there is a lot of talk in the district but
not a lot of action. Lets be proactive in planning instead of reactive as is
usually the case.
Vince Hobbs shared that he believed a middle school option would be
beneficial to our students as they need to be better prepared for the high
school setting. Colleen Butler Medeiros, Weston PFA President, shared that
we need to support the school board in making this tough decision, as it is
time for some changes to take place. Heidi Hawes, 7th grade Weston teacher
and parent, told the group about the idea that was brought up a few years
ago about using Ripon El to house Colony Oak when it is being built, then the
high school could take over that campus for needed growth the following
year.
We had a very productive meeting and we were so impressed by the
meaningful dialogue we had. It is quite obvious there are many people who
care about education in our community. We had several new faces at PALSS
and encourage you to come out to the next PALSS meeting when we start up
again in the fall.

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March 19, 2015

Solutions to the singleton issue- The singleton issue has continued to be

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