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Parent Advocate League Update I was able to attend the CUSD board mtg. on Monday, and I arrived after opening comments. Thankfully, PALs member, Debi, took great notes on the opening comments. Opening comments: Supt. Woodrow Carter explained more about Marco Forester and the comments made by a parent, Kim McCarthy. He stated he met with her, and he described her as candid, forthright and well-spoken. He further explained that the situation was a breakdown between a parent and the district and exacerbated by the media. CUEA President V. Soderburg spoke to say all classes are taught in English. Trustees Anna Bryson and Sue Palazzo said the American flag painted at M. Forester should be repainted. Teachers from M. Forester spoke in support of their school. Item 25 (Portables at Oso Grande and Truman Benedict): Approved 7-0. Discussion: Timeline for portables is still February; DSA approval is required; Christensen asked about other options. Parents from Oso Grande spoke: four classes are held in MPR and the library; the areas are not walled – lots of noise; the process is taking too long; this will have long-term effects. District personnel state this is the fastest they can do this. A parent from Oso Grande said he has spoken with DSA on three occasions and was told portables can be provided to schools on emergency and temporary bases, such as this situation. He also told the district that he made an appointment for them this Thursday at 10 a.m. Lebs (Asst. Supt. of Operations) stated he will go back and review those options. Item 26 (APR Results): This was a display of CUSD test results and how well our district is teaching our students. Many thanks to our wonderful teachers of CUSD.
Item 29A (Volunteer Assistance Program): Suspension was approved 5-2 (Addonizio and Palazzo stated they were for the Megan's Law review and the TB testing, but not the fingerprinting. Addonizio stated, "Regulations exceed authority of this policy." Three people spoke on this topic. I spoke and asked five questions parents want to know about this policy. I also urged the district to be very clear with parents on this policy so they do not open the door to costly lawsuits, as well as the need for one dist. badge not school badges. PALs member, Debi, spoke in support of the overworked school secretaries. Rhonda Whalen, head of Classified workers union, stated it is a huge burden to the school secretaries and urged the district to have one badge issued from the district. Trustee Darnold asked Supt. Carter if he would respond to the questions asked. Carter stated he would not respond point-by-point because that information is already available to parents and has been since October. He also stated the speakers had been a part of the decision-making process of this policy. Unfortunately, Debi and I have never been a part of the decision-making policy, which is why we are asking so many questions. I did look up on the dist. website to find the answers to the 5 questions and only 2 out of the 5 can be answered. Please view the following: Frequently Asked Questions about Volunteer Fingerprinting PDF http://www.capousd.org/volunteer/Volunteers-FAQ.pdf I am looking forward to finding out more information, so if anyone attended the initial meetings on this, please let me know and I will forward to the rest of PALs. Carter also believes it is better to have school site badges so schools know who is allowed at the schools and who is not. Carter wanted to stress that this suspension is temporary (until Dec. 1), and parents still need to move quickly if you intend to volunteer this year. He will be doing an "all call" via telephone to make that point to parents soon. The next board meeting is on Monday, Sept. 22, at 7 pm. |
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