schoolbusiness california
California Association of School Business Officials
Fall 2009
Weighted toward charters? Some see bias by State Board of Education
Rising through the ranks
Grass-roots members are the key to CASBO and the future of school business
Pandemic flu redux Are your schools prepared?
2 | California School Business
Fall 2009 | 3
4 | California School Business
contents Volume 74 Number 3 Fall 2009
departments
9
Checking in A quote, a thought, a moment to reflect Brian Lewis
13
Bottom line CASBO is going places…and not by accident! Sharon Ketcherside
15 49
In focus CASBO member profile: Beverly Heironimus Out & about Photos from CASBO events statewide
50
Book club The 360 Degree Leader
51
First person CASBO Professional Development…your advantage in critical times Molly McGee-Hewitt
58
Last words
cover story
30
Weighted toward charters? Some see bias by State Board of Education Linda A. Estep
interview
17
FCMAT leader answers questions in tough fiscal times Joel Montero: Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride Julie Phillips Randles
features
25
Rising through the ranks Grass-roots members are the key to CASBO and the future of school business Julie Sturgeon
43
Pandemic flu redux Are your schools prepared? Julie Phillips Randles
15
25
30
Fall 2009 | 5
CASBO MAGAZINE HONORED WITH ASAE GOLD CIRCLE AWARD publisher editor in chief
California School Business, the quarterly magazine of CASBO, has earned a coveted Gold Circle Award from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and The Center for Association Leadership.
features editor contributors
The magazine’s feature articles are written by professional journalists who research the stories and draw on the experience and expertise of members and others as sources for the articles. Each edition of California School Business also includes a member profile, columns by officers and staff, a question-and-answer interview with a person of influence in school business, and coverage of CASBO issues and events.
Jodi Jackson Julie Phillips Randles Linda A. Estep Molly McGee-Hewitt Dennis Meyers Julie Sturgeon Kevin Swartzendruber
editorial assistant design/layout
The Gold Circle Awards recognize excellence in association communications in categories including annual reports, magazines, newsletters, blogs, Web sites, podcasts and innovative communications. The 2009 competition attracted more than 300 entries. California School Business was redesigned and reinvented just over two years ago in direct response to the association’s member-driven strategic plan which called for revitalization of the association’s publications to make them more professional in content and graphic design, and to build their revenue generation.
Brian Lewis
cartoon advertising art
Kristen Jacoby Sharon Adlis Shawn Turner Lori Mattas
casbo officers president president-elect vice president immediate past president
advertising sales manager
Sharon Ketcherside Sacramento County Office of Education Renee Hendrick Orange County Department of Education Gary Matsumoto Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Eric D. Smith Santa Barbara School Districts CiCi Trino Association Outsource Services, Inc. 115 Spring Water Way Folsom, CA 95630 916.990.9999
www.casbo.org California School Business (ISSN# 1935-0716) is published quarterly by the California Association of School Business Officials, 1001 K Street, 5th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 447-3783. $2 of CASBO membership dues goes toward the subscription to California School Business magazine. The subscription rate for each CASBO nonmember is $20. Periodicals postage paid at Sacramento and at additional mailing office. Send address changes to the CASBO membership department at 1001 K Street, 5th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. Articles published in California School Business are edited for style, content and space prior to publication. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent CASBO policies or positions. Endorsement by CASBO of products and services advertised in California School Business is not implied or expressed. Copyright 2009 CASBO. All rights reserved. The contents of the publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Published September 2009
6 | California School Business
Fall 2009 | 7
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checkingin
A quote, a thought, a moment to reflect When you take your seat on the plane, do you ever flip through the pages of the airline magazine “in the seat pocket in front of you?” I usually do, and I often find at least a little something that’s worth thinking about. So here’s the quote from an airline magazine Q&A that got me thinking a few weeks ago: “People loved each other. We rooted for each other. We wanted each other to be the best we could be. When you’ve got a gang like that, you can do anything because you know you’ll never fall on your face. And if you do, there will be someone there to laugh.” This take on workplace collegiality, collaboration and, yes, humor, struck a chord with me. I will say at the outset that the word “love” may be a bit too strong for many of us. At a minimum, though, I have to say that I prefer to work in a place where people do care about each other, and have a sense of shared responsibility and pride in our collective efforts. That said, there is something about the sense of teamwork reflected in the quote that I think we all aim for in the places where we spend so much time with other human beings, doing what we hope is meaningful work, in the process of supporting ourselves and our families. We are in the midst of confusing, difficult times that shake us and make our already challenging work that much more difficult. The fiscal realities are obviously the driving factor and are at the core of so much of what faces us every day. But the very human, real-life implications of those fiscal realities can undermine us and cause us to question things we previously may have taken for granted. They also impact how we conduct ourselves and how we interact with others. We ask ourselves: How much worse is this going to get? For our students, for our schools, for our communities, for our families? When will it end? How different will things be when it does end and we take stock of a potentially different reality? Of course, none of us knows the answers to those questions. But what do we know? Let me take a guess or two. We know that most of us have to work to survive. We know we’d rather work in a place that makes a difference in people’s lives. We know we want to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. We know we want to be treated with honesty and respect. And we know we want to be appreciated for what we and our colleagues bring to the table. If we try hard enough, we can continue to do these things, even in these tough times. If we work smart enough, we can continue to find new ways to do things in a new environment. If we care deeply enough about our work and our colleagues, we can withstand the stress that today’s unstable world presents us with every day. Oh, and who was the source of the quote in the airline magazine? It was Maya Rudolph, formerly of “Saturday Night Live.” Food for thought and reflection from, perhaps, an unexpected source. Here’s to the seat pocket in front of you!
If we care deeply enough about our work and our colleagues, we can withstand the stress that today’s unstable world presents us with every day.
Brian Lewis Executive Director
Fall 2009 | 9
10 | California School Business
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12 | California School Business
bottomline
is going places… and not by accident!
casbo
By Sharon Ketcherside CASBO President
Three years into the development and implementation of casbo’s third strategic plan, the association
continues to be a “best practices” example
of how a member-driven organization like ours thoughtfully develops a vision
of the future, and creates and implements specific steps to get there.
Everything we do as members and
leaders of the association, and everything our professional staff does on our behalf,
is driven by that plan. Unlike many organizations that develop a strategic plan
and let it sit on a shelf, casbo’s plan is a
living document that guides us every day. More than 15 years ago, casbo lead-
ers charted our course by establishing
this commitment to strategic planning that has served us incredibly well. And
in times like these, with diminishing
A key challenge facing the organiza-
tion in the current economy is whether
the business model we have employed
for many years will be the business model of the future. Historically, the vast majority of our work and two-thirds of our gross revenue have been generated by professional development activities – the casbo Annual Conference and California
School Business Expo; and our statewide
workshops. The steep drop-off in participation in both of these activities is a
warning sign that compels us to examine our business model and plan for change.
Our strategic plan forces us to focus on our real priorities and real needs. The good news is that casbo mem-
the priorities charged to Brian when he
we work to fulfill the strategic plan – our
our Associate Member Committee pro-
started in 2005. Financial support from
resources and increasing pressures, our
bers have incredibly strong support as
forces us to focus on our real priorities
professional staff. Under the leadership
vided the start-up resources to launch
rector, Brian Lewis, our staff has brought
the publication’s excellence, along with
planning is more important than ever. It and real needs.
Some of the key elements in the plan
include making casbo more transparent
and making it possible for more mem-
bers to get involved in a wider variety of ways. With our new bylaws passing in
March by a “yes” vote of 85 percent, the
of our passionate, dedicated executive dihigh-level professional association work
to the table. Without that work, we could
not have achieved so much of our aggressive strategic plan in such a short time.
On that note, I’m thrilled to con-
Governance Implementation Team (git)
gratulate our staff for a recent award.
necessary to implement the bylaws.
magazine, just received the Gold Circle
is now working to draft the new policies
Improved communications, another
element in our plan, drove the launching
of a new Web site in 2007. New changes
have recently been made that will continue to make the site more user friendly
for members across the state. The site is
chock full of information and resources… and more is on the way.
the new magazine. This recognition of the significant revenue it generates, is
another example of the fine work of our staff. Congratulations to Brian and casbo’s communications and marketing director, Jodi Jackson!
Together, casbo members and our
This publication, California School Business
professional staff are carrying out our vi-
Award from the American Society of
and where we’re going in the future, are
Association Executives and the Center. This is a prestigious honor that confirms
sion for the future. Where we are today, no accident.
our magazine as the best in the nation
Sharon Ketcherside, of the Sacramento
budgets over $2 million. The evolution
president.
among all associations with annual of the magazine was directed by our
County Office of Education, serves as casbo
previous strategic plan and was one of
Fall 2009 | 13
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Beverly Heironimus Focus on students is her singular passion During her nearly two-decade career in school business, Beverly Heironimus has faced the myriad issues that all CBOs must handle, but there is one particular aspect of her job that keeps her motivated – the ability to impact student learning by managing financial resources. Heironimus, assistant superintendent, business services, for the Dublin Unified School District, says it’s her job to “manage resources wisely and provide the money for the classrooms.” She adds, “It’s always about student learning, staying focused on what’s important and providing resources for that.” That singular passion – a focus on the students – has guided her work for the last 18 years. “The students are the reason we are all here and why I feel this is the right path for me,” Heironimus said. “Our resource allocation decisions must impact student learning. The love of learning for all students will serve them well in life.” Her career began in the insurance industry as a corporate accountant in training. She then moved to the Sacramento County Office of Education as an account clerk, and on to Hayward Unified as an accounting supervisor and budget manager. In the early 1990s, she left school business to become a certified public accountant and then worked for two accounting firms with school district clients. After becoming a CPA, Heironimus was offered a high-paying controllership in the wine industry; an offer she turned down to follow her passion. “I was aware as I turned down the job that education was where my heart was, and I could not imagine my life not serving education,” Heironimus explained. She returned to schools as director of finance for Newark Unified and then became a consultant at the Alameda County Office of Education before joining DUSD in 1999. Her roles with CASBO are many and varied and include serving on the Northern Section Finance R&D Committee for 10 years and as chair of the committee for three; and moving up through additional posts with the Northern Section including serving as director III, II and I, vice president and president. Heironimus also has worked on the Annual Conference Committee and on the Facilities Working Group. She is currently a member of the Legislative Committee. Heironimus has found that CASBO membership has helped her become a known commodity in the industry. “It’s where you meet people, your reputation becomes known and you end up getting jobs from it,” she tells prospective members. “All of the information and literature that comes out of CASBO is great. Even my board recognizes the value and asks ‘What does CASBO say about this?’”
Photography by Hope Harris
Fall Fall 2009 2009 || 15 15
16 | California School Business
interview
FCMAT leader answers questions in tough fiscal times
Joel Montero: Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride By Julie Phillips Randles
Business is – unfortunately – booming for Joel Montero, chief executive officer of the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team (fcmat). With the state in a massive budget crisis and deep cuts felt in districts statewide, calls to fcmat for assistance and advice are on the rise.
fcmat, created by the Legislature in 1991, is an external and
independent entity designed to help local education agencies
avoid fiscal insolvency by providing financial advice, management assistance, training and related school business services.
As ceo, Montero oversees three broad areas: fiscal support, management/technical assistance and professional and product development.
Through fcmat, he also is one member of the three-person
Education Audit Appeals Panel (eaap) authorized in Education
Code Section 14502.1, and administers the California School Information Services (csis) program. He also is responsible
for statewide professional development under Assembly Bill 3141, and for providing support to chief business officials and
other business office positions at the district and county levels as spelled out in Assembly Bill 1200.
Before joining fcmat in 1998, Montero spent 10 years as
the superintendent of the Novato Unified School District. He also has held posts as an assistant superintendent in several school industry disciplines including school business, personnel, curriculum and instruction. Montero also has worked at the school-site level as a principal, assistant principal and teacher. In
total, Montero has a 34-year track record in nearly every school
industry strand. He holds life credentials in administrative services and secondary education.
Montero is a frequent lecturer and workshop presenter for
education organizations statewide, including casbo, speaking
Photos by Jodi Jackson
on topics such as fiscal audits, governmental relations, management assistance and external evaluation and monitoring of fiscal programs.
Fall 2009 | 17
Joel Montero
FCMAT leader answers questions in tough fiscal times
He is a member of the California Curriculum Management
Montero: If you look at us in terms of our annual report year-
Audit Center board of directors and provides oversight of the
over-year, 2007-08 as compared to 2008-09, there is overall
the California County Superintendents Educational Services
look at the sequence just between current-year first and second
Committee. He also serves on casbo’s Professional Develop-
quadrupled. Most of those are related to fiscal emergency issues.
California Educational Data Partnership. Montero serves on
Association (ccsesa) Business and Administration Steering ment Committee.
Montero has a bachelor’s degree in design engineering and
a master’s degree in education administration from the California State University system.
Here’s what Montero had to say about his life and career when
he sat down recently with California School Business magazine.
about a 200-percent increase in everything. However, if you
interim, between October and January, our contacts have about Right now we’re in 100 districts, give or take, and about half
of those are related to fiscal issues, either cash management, multiyear projecting or budget-development help. If you
compare that to our normal growth on an annual basis, generally we think if we have contacts year-over-year that are about 15 percent to 20 percent in excess of the prior year, that’s a big year. This has been significant for us and getting bigger every day.
CSB: What is your ideal brain food? Montero: I spend a lot of time on the road, so my normal brain
CSB: Can you identify an issue or two that puts districts over the edge
Realistically, when I need to get something done and I need my
Montero: The issues that put districts over the edge haven’t
food, particularly when I have to do a lot of thinking, is fruit.
fiscally?
brain to work, it’s coffee.
changed significantly, they are just more severe and acute in a bad
CSB: Name one of your hidden talents? Montero: My most significant hidden talent is creating calm out
that have a pattern of deficit spending year over year over year
of crisis. I think it’s one of the things that I do best that probably
most people don’t know about me. I also think one of my hidden talents is a sense of humor, and because of my job, it doesn’t come out a lot.
CSB: What three things are essential to your life. Montero: Family, absolutely. My wife and two boys, 16 and 18, are the lights of my life and everything that I do revolves around
them. Friendships; I have some very important friendships that
to me are essential. People who will accept you for who you are, and know who you are. And then work. I am committed to my
work and it is an absolutely essential part of who I am, whether it’s this job or jobs I’ve done in the past.
economic environment. For example, deficit spending – districts
are eventually going to run into trouble. That’s the biggest thing.
The second thing, and this is new, is the issue of one-time money. School districts now have federal stimulus money and they are
going to spend it to support things that are ongoing. And they won’t have that money again next year. So districts that are not
good at planning forward in terms of how they are going to mitigate the loss of one-time money, particularly federal dollars,
are going to struggle in the out years. The third thing is poor cash management. The state doesn’t take over school districts that
have unbalanced budgets; the state takes over school districts that run out of cash – that’s two separate things. Particularly in this environment, in the era of cash deferrals, if you are not good at managing cash, you are going to struggle.
CSB: What kind of solutions are you recommending to troubled
CSB: What do you do to manage stress? Montero: First of all, I exercise every day that I can, even when
districts?
classic cars. For me that’s mindless work, and I inherited the
current and multiple years, what we’re saying to them is you
Montero: The advice we’re giving to districts right now, who
I’m on the road. Like everyone else, I have hobbies. I restore
for the most part are struggling financially, looking out in the
interest from my father who was passionate about it. I have a
have to sit down right now and identify what your core program
shop at my house and I just go out there and I don’t have to think about anything else.
CSB: These are incredibly tough economic times for schools, which is leading to more and more districts facing a financial cliff. What
percentage of increase have you seen in districts that are seeking your aid in the past year?
18 | California School Business
is for children. What is it that you have to do to provide a solid
education for the children in your community? What are the things that are mission critical for every child that have to be supported?
Then, we’re telling them to look at the core program that
you establish and staff to contract. What that means is, in this
continued on page 20
Fall 2009 | 19
Joel Montero
FCMAT leader answers questions in tough fiscal times continued from page 18
environment, districts can’t afford to overstaff. This is an indus-
about how they apply and use their stabilization money lo-
in your budget. If you are carrying people that you can’t afford
understand that it has limitations because it’s one time. Use it
try of people, and so paying for people is the largest expense line
or are beyond the level you have established in your collective
bargaining agreement, you are spending money that you don’t have to spend.
cally. Any money is good money at this point, but you have to judiciously and have a plan to mitigate the loss of those dollars, because they will go away.
Finally, fasten your safety belts; it’s going to be a bumpy
Then we’re telling everybody that they have to conserve
ride. What I’ve been saying to people is “look, you have to get
state takes you over, you lose your local governance option; you
uring out where you are and how you are going to come out the
cash wherever they can because if you run out of cash and the
lose local control over the entity, and nobody wants that. Managing cash is critical. The fourth thing that we’re telling them is that after you establish the core program, you need to prioritize
other parts of the organization that are a high priority for their
community. After you fund the core program, if you have any
from here to there, and that’s what’s important right now.” Figother end of the tube basically intact and with your governance
authority intact. The problem is we don’t know where “there” is yet.
CSB: How can districts on the verge hold on for the next two or three
money left, you either put it in the bank and save it for cash flow,
more tough years ahead? What if this funding crisis lasts five years?
you can run.
leadership, good governance and good planning will be the
or you go from that prioritized list and run the things you think
We’re also telling districts to maximize flexibility in Tier 3
which is part of categorical program flexibility that came about
in the February 2009 budget. We’re telling them to be strategic
Montero: First of all, those school districts that have good districts that are most successful. The ones that think ahead and think strategically and are fiscally responsible; those are the districts that will survive. You have to be a better planner and a
continued on page 22
20 | California School Business
Fall 2009 | 21
Joel Montero
FCMAT leader answers questions in tough fiscal times continued from page 20
better leader right now. You have to be more cooperative overall
at second interim or next year at budget-development time. You
community, and the communication has to be better. All of those
better at that stuff are going to fare better in this market. Districts
within your district, between administration and labor and the
things that we think we want to do that facilitate good operations
have to be flexible, you have to be thoughtful. Districts that are
that go into crisis and throw up their hands and give up are go-
with any entity, that’s even more important now.
ing to struggle.
the unknown. The September 2008 budget was a balanced state
CSB:
between that three-week period we went from a balanced bud-
in to play?
Here’s the big issue right now for school districts – fear of
budget. That budget went out of whack in about three weeks and
get to about $8 billion in deficit at the state level. In February, the
fcmat
offers charter school fiscal management training. What’s
different about the advice you give to charters? What other issues come
Montero: Charters have a different set of rules, obviously, and so
problem was fixed for a second time by eliminating a $40-plus
the primary thing is that charters don’t have much economy of
categorical programs – the state effectively eliminated that $40
districts where one little thing that happens can move them into
billion state deficit. Flexibility, cuts to the revenue limit, cuts to
billion deficit. Then in May the deficit, in addition to that $40 billion, was $24 billion more. If you are a school district, you have a
great fear of what you don’t know is coming. The first thing you do is you don’t go into crisis. You try to plan effectively and you
have to move almost in real time day-to-day because decisions
that you made yesterday may not apply to the financial realities that are happening today or in six months or at first interim or
scale. We kind of deal with charters like we deal with tiny school
insolvency just like that. If you are a small district and you have
to place a student in a non-public school placement that you didn’t know about when the school year started, you could burn
through your whole reserve and more in months. Charters are
kind of like that – they tend to be smaller in number. They are receiving cuts as well in their categorical program block grants
and in their operational block grants, so they are going to have less money. While the law supports that school districts can’t
close the doors, the law I think assumes that if a charter goes
upside down, there’s a place for those children to go – the regular public school system. There’s no provision in the law if they run out of cash to help them. Charters have to do exactly everything
that school districts are doing in terms of identifying the core program and trying to maintain themselves in an uncertain
period, and know that the result of not being able to do that is not to exist anymore.
We’re providing as much management support as we can
for them. Sometimes they don’t have as much fiscal expertise because they tend to be smaller and to be sometimes staffed by
folks that are either volunteers or don’t have as much experience in school business, so we’re trying to help them with the
planning part – multiyear projecting. We think right now that multiyear projecting is probably the most important thing that we do because at every school district and charter school you
have to create a set of assumptions that impact your decision-
making day after day. The problem is that those assumptions now change almost every day. z z z
Julie Phillips Randles is a freelance writer based in Roseville, Calif. Do you have an opinion or a comment on this article? California School Business magazine welcomes “Letters to the Editor.” Please send your letters to jjackson@casbo.org. All letters are edited for content, space and style considerations.
22 | California School Business
Fall 2009 | 23
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24 | California School Business
feature
Rising through the ranks Grass-roots members are the key to CASBO and the future of school business By Julie Sturgeon
Leaders always rise to the occasion in
you, struggling with the same time and
have or are in the process of moving up
take charge, calming the troops and
the top like a cork in water, but are actu-
are doing today to prepare for the calling
times of crisis. They step forward and suggesting innovative ways to tackle the challenges.
But unlike a Hollywood script, they
do not merely rise from a mist ready to
do battle. Instead, these leaders have paid their dues, sitting in the cubicle next to
budget limitations. They do not shoot to ally working their way through the rank
and file the entire time. They are often unnoticed until the spotlight swings
through the ranks. They share what they of becoming leaders in school business. Sharon Ketcherside
their way.
When Sharon Ketcherside’s children
casbo’s upwardly mobile-members who
dent of Rio Linda Union School District
Here is a glimpse at a handful of
were in middle school, the superinten-
Fall 2009 | 25
Rising through the ranks “My goal was to learn everything I could and meet everybody I could to help me in my job.” Sharon Ketcherside Procurement services manager Sacramento County Office of Education
begged her to apply for a school secretary
troop leader, a position she still holds in
him “no” several times, but eventually
“Any type of formal program helps
position that had just opened. She told
partnership with her daughter.
took the job. Six years later, she needed
you hone your skills as a leader, to be
lege bills that started rolling in, and she
earned her bachelor’s degree in business
a 12-month paycheck to tackle those col-
made the leap to the position of buyer in the purchasing department.
On her first day on the job, the direc-
tor slid a piece of paper under Ketcherside’s hand and said, “This is a casbo application for membership. I’m not
telling you it’s mandatory, but it will be really good for your career.” A month later,
organized,” she said. Ketcherside also administration from Alameda University
in 2007 to put herself in a position to be
promoted down the line. Put it all together, and you get a woman who is prepared for that next step and has no fear of living up to the responsibilities.
“Fortunately, I’ve been a mom, and
now it’s just my husband and me. He has
your own little environment, you won’t
get the exposure you need to broaden your horizons.’” Personal development,
Ketcherside style, involves networking to solve problems and share solutions.
“The more you network, the more in-
formation you glean, the more you have
in your repertoire to do your job, and I’m not just talking about skill sets,” she noted. Nor does she advocate a grab for
leadership as the sole point of memberships. “When I first joined casbo, I never
had a thought of being the association’s
president. My goal was to learn everything I could and meet everybody I could
to help me in my job. The focus is moving up in the career, not the organization,” she summed up. Fast facts: 1987-88 and 1988-1989: PTA President 1986-1989: School Site Council member 1991-1996: School secretary 1996: Joined CASBO 1996-1999: District buyer 1999: Director of purchasing at Folsom Cordova 2007: BS in business administration, Alameda University
his career and it’s time for me to see what
2009-10: CASBO president
side said.
Brad Vereen
vices manager at the Sacramento County
ployees to look at casbo professional de-
a stint in the military and a position as a
casbo.
success. “I tell them, ‘You need to learn
he decided to try a career path as a chem-
Ketcherside found herself at the casbo
Annual Conference and since that gathering in 1995, she’s never missed the event.
Today, she is the procurement ser-
Office of Education and president of
“At the time I joined, my job was just
a paycheck to me,” she confessed. “But
once I did some networking at that con-
ference, I knew that’s where I wanted to
be. I didn’t want to be a buyer for a school district, I wanted to be someone who can make a huge difference.”
Ketcherside describes herself as a
driven people-person who, “if I’m not challenged, I’m bored and get into trouble,” she laughed. But she credits her rise to the fact she rarely lets a chance to learn
and get involved escape. That includes
a stint as on a school site council and
service as pta president and a Girl Scout
26 | California School Business
I can do, add on, accomplish,” KetcherNaturally, she encourages her em-
velopment opportunities as part of their
every aspect of your job and of the per-
son’s sitting next to you, too. If you stay in
“Offer to help when it is not expected. It is appreciated, and it gives you visibility and knowledge that you’ll need later.” Brad Vereen Energy education manager Dublin Unified School District
Brad Vereen brought with him an mba,
purchasing agent in Silicon Valley when istry teacher in the Dublin Unified School
District in 2003. He liked the setting, but
hanging up his corporate instincts wasn’t
you don’t there are consequences,’ ” he
and inclination he was the right man for
So he asked the superintendent to
to command respect.” Instead, he said, it
of Business Management certification
as easy as he anticipated.
recommend him for a school business management certification course. Before
he could warm his chair, Dublin put
out a job description for an energy man-
said. “Now, being a cop is the wrong way
takes a leader to make this happen because at the core, he’s offering them nothing in return except a warm fuzzy feeling.
“You can either have someone sit-
the job. Completing the 13-month School
program at University of Southern California covered that angle. Second, ally himself with a professional organization
in this industry. casbo has filled this
ager, and Vereen fit the bill. Since January
ting at a computer very passively send-
need perfectly. And third, develop a track
district’s energy savings along with his
build yourself and position yourself as
whether that’s a budget, people or both.
classroom duties; this fall he will step into the management role full time.
The job involves working directly
with utility providers to lower energy costs, scour bills for errors and educate
staff on ways to reduce energy consumption. Although the district added several
new buildings, Vereen managed to ensure that the district consumed less electricity overall during his first year at the helm.
“In my previous career, this would
have been done in a very heavy-handed, black hat approach. ‘You will do this. If
ing e-mails, or you can present yourself,
someone with significant responsibility,”
record of being in charge of something, “Failing to understand the goals and
Vereen explained. He chose the latter,
objectives of other parts of the organiza-
the initiative to meet with teachers and
“Offer to help when it is not expected. It
snagging invitations to meetings, taking continually making himself visible.
Second, he realized the jump from
the certificated world to the business side would not be easy. “There needed to be a
logical entry point for me. You can’t go
from a chemistry teacher to budget direction without a compelling reason,” he
said. So he laid out a three-point strategy:
First, convince people that by training
tion in depth is a killer,” Vereen added. is appreciated, and it gives you visibility and knowledge that you’ll need later.”
Fast facts: 1990: BA, UC Berkeley 1999: MBA, California State University, East Bay 2003-2007: Science teacher, Dublin Unified School District 2008: Certificate, School Business Management, University of Southern California
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Rising through the ranks 2007: Energy education manager, Dublin Unified School District 2008: Joined CASBO
Jaime Lightsey Jaime Lightsey’s moment of truth came
while she attended a graduation ceremony in San Bernardino County. She didn’t have a student there; she wasn’t a proud aunt or supportive family friend, she was a
contracts specialist for the county’s superintendent. “I saw how our jobs specifically
“I saw how our jobs specifically pertain to the future, how what I do here makes a difference there.” Jaime Lightsey Contracts specialist San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
pertain to the future, how what I do here makes a difference there,” she said.
Lightsey says she was goal-less when
took a few more, and eventually enrolled
hectic and the time short. Lightsey used
years ago as a secretary. As she moved
full-time student on the side. Her goal is
program, trotting out to homeless shel-
she entered the school business arena five into the office specialist i, then office specialist ii categories at San Bernardino,
“I really didn’t know where my strong
at San Bernardino Valley College as a to transfer to the University of Redlands’ business program in a year.
Earning $1,000 from casbo’s East-
points were. I was a person who liked to
ern Section professional growth schol-
But her supervisor put her in charge
association as yet another stepping stone
be around people,” she said.
of maintaining the contract files each day
using a series of 19 Excel spreadsheets.
Lightsey had a passing acquaintance with access from her secretary role, and
decided to see if she could move the database tracking system to that venue for better work flow.
arship has helped. Lightsey joined the
these temporary addresses. “I would see
the excitement on the kids’ faces,” she explained, “and it just reinforced that I am here for a reason.”
And the leadership steps are worth
it in unexpected ways. “So many people
the casbo newsletter put out the call for
they can be. I can honestly say I’m not
found herself part of the fabric. When volunteers on various committees, she
didn’t hesitate to pick up the phone and
dial. Currently, her participation with the Eastern Section Purchasing r&d has
opened her eyes to the realities of the
would mean taking a class, and Lightsey
“I’m not afraid to ask a question,”
state budget.
did know the classroom environment
Lightsey said of her journey.
Once she conquered that first course, she
that spurs her on when the schedule gets
had never been among her strong suits.
ters to sit down and tutor kids living in
in her own education quest, and quickly
The rub: Improving the system went
hand-in-hand with improving herself. It
to volunteer with a homeless education
She carries another memory as well
make fun of clerical jobs and how boring bored,” she laughed. Fast facts: 2004: Secretary for student events, Riverside County Office of Education 2005: Office specialist I, KidsNCare department, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools 2006: Office specialist II, purchasing/ contracts department 2007: Contracts specialist 2008: Joined CASBO
“Making sure you have decent relationships with your peers goes a long way in advancing your career.” Eric Rosburg Director of information technology Washington Unified School District
28 | California School Business
2009: CASBO Eastern Section professional growth scholarship recipient
Eric Rosburg Eric Rosburg knew the ins and outs of running a start-up, pre-ipo technology company cold. He was there in the early
2000 s when the bubble burst and mas-
sive layoffs were inevitable. Rosburg himself let go some of his top staff. “And
since we weren’t doing a lot of actual work anymore, as a department, I made it
our sole focus to find some of these guys jobs,” he noted.
One of those employees returned the
working long hours of overtime for a board of directors to make a little more
money, for a ceo to have a padded ex-
serving in a superintendent capacity down the road.
His advice: Don’t try to reinvent the
favor. The tech had landed a position at
pense account,” he pointed out.
wheel every time thinking it’s the only
the commute from Reno to Napa was a
his leadership experience toward the
yourself. “Making sure you have decent
threw the gig to Rosburg. Later, a value
ties remain the same, he contends, like
the Napa County Office of Education, but strain on the family. So when he quit, he
reseller recommended that Rosburg look into a similar position posted in the
casbo job listings with Washington Uni-
fied School District.
“At a start-up, everything was done
at the speed of light,” he noted. “We didn’t
take into consideration much the actual cost of doing business – that was for someone else.” The school business side
introduced a purchase order process that was painstakingly long in comparison.
So he made a commitment to shape
school business model. A lot of the quali-
listening to your staff and making sure
you maintain integrity. “But when you move from private industry to schools,
the terminologies are different. This is the only industry that has more acronyms than the telecom world I came from,” Rosburg said.
From that perspective, he attended
the 2005 casbo Annual Conference and
California School Business Expo and agreed to fill the empty r&d chair for
way to be creative and draw attention to
relationships with your peers goes a long way in advancing your career,” he said.
“Get involved. Get known. Don’t be a wallflower.” Fast facts: 1997: Kaiser Permanente, Santa Rosa Campus, IT helpdesk 2002: Manager of information technology, Napa County Office of Education 2003: Joined CASBO 2002-03: Sacramento Section Technology R&D chair 2006: Director of information technology,
But, like Lightsey, he found the
technology in the Sacramento Section. He
Washington Unified School District z z z
tivating. “One of my biggest complaints
gram through the University of Southern
Julie Sturgeon is a freelance writer based in
ultimate customer – students – very moworking pre-ipo was you bust your tail
also enrolled in a cbo mentorship proCalifornia toward his ultimate goal of
Indianapolis, Ind.
Fall 2009 | 29
Weighted
toward charters?
Some see bias by State Board of Education
30 | California School Business
cover
By Linda A. Estep
G
ot a bone to pick with the State Board of Education? If
in the Santa Ana and San Juan unified school districts this fall.
schools, take a number, get in line and help yourself to a chill
Research Foundation which already operates six charter schools
your objection relates the board’s apparent affinity for charter
pill. More than one group has a dog in this fight, and fur is about to fly.
Education advocates, professional associations and elected
school board officials have recently pointed to what they believe
is a stacked state board that favors charter schools; a board illequipped to make decisions that benefit the majority of public
The petition was submitted by the Magnolia Educational and in Southern California.
According to sources at the Association of California School
Administrators (acsa), neither district had been notified of the
opportunity to express concerns about the petition. After being alerted by acsa that the item was on the board’s agenda, Santa
Ana Superintendent Jane Russo and San Juan Director of Com-
school students in California.
munications Trent Allen attended to express concerns about the
appointed by the governor. Of the 11, one is a student represen-
petition establishing charter schools in both districts under the
The 11 members of the State Board of Education (sbe) are
tative. Recent appointees by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger each
have a pronounced slant toward the charter movement - the
petition, but to no avail. The board voted 7-1 to approve the oversight of the sbe.
Although the board acknowledged that the districts should
appointees are either charter operators, have ties to the charter
have had advance notice of the agenda item and instructed
“The state board has lost its way,” said Scott Plotkin, execu-
Allen said the board continued with its deliberation and voted
movement or are strong proponents of charter schools.
tive director of the California School Boards Association (csba)
and a veteran of Sacramento politics and policy-making in education.
“Decisions are overreaching toward charter operators. The
issue is more than a conversation about half the board having
Department of Education staff to be more diligent in the future, to place a charter school in his district where no schools are classified as program improvement schools. The cde documents
that accompanied the petition indicated the charter should be established in an area where schools are struggling.
Plotkin and others maintain that petitioners occasionally
some connection to charter schools. Many decisions have be-
apply under the statewide benefit charter provision in order
for sticking the governor’s finger in the public schools’ eye?’”
potentially damaging impact to the district. Others contend that
come politically tinged. It’s like ‘wait a minute, what is the basis he said.
“When you think of statewide bodies in education, the tradi-
tion is that they are lay persons with no agenda or ax to grind. They concentrate on good public policy. When you have people with a vested interest, it contradicts tradition in appointments,” Plotkin added. “We think this is a big issue.”
Bone of contention A bone of contention is the growing number of charter school
petitions being approved as a “statewide benefit charter.” Under this designation, the board may authorize the five-year operation of a charter school providing instructional services of statewide
benefit that cannot be provided by one charter school in only
to bypass a school district that might deny the petition due to
sometimes a petitioning charter is a duplication of instructional services already available in the district, despite the petitioner’s claim of offering something new or creative.
A matter of perspective At issue is not an anti-charter sentiment, insist those expressing
concern. It is what critics call an imbalance of perspectives tilting toward the charter movement that has them agitated. Observers feel the majority of traditional public school students are not
represented by a board that has a disproportionate percentage of members connected to charter schools or are vocal charter supporters.
Despite the charter movement’s growing popularity and
one district or county. Two schools must be opened in different
the governor’s clear support, less than 5 percent of California’s
meeting performance objectives at the end of two years to open
collected by the California Department of Education.
counties in areas with struggling schools. There is an option after two additional schools each year.
One such recent approval of a statewide benefit charter was
the establishment of Pacific Technology School to be opened
6.2 million students attend charter schools, according to data
Critics frustrated with board agendas heavy with charter
school business are asking if enough attention is shown to the
other 95 percent of California students. Some go so far as to
Fall 2009 | 31
Weighted toward charters suggest most board members do not have a background deep
that it is a good thing that several members have experience in
issues affecting school districts throughout the state.
well-balanced body whose members are looking out for the best
enough in public education to make informed decisions about
“When a board has members with no experience as a (public
school) superintendent, teacher or school business official, that
both k-12 and higher education. I am confident that the sbe is a interest of all California public school students.
“I can assure you that the sbe members are all deeply
imbalance is not healthy,” said Sherry Griffith, legislative advo-
concerned about California’s education system as a whole, and
anyone who is a business official, how can you understand what
give all students the opportunity to succeed, regardless of what
cate with acsa governmental relations. “When you don’t have
the budget issues really are?”
Two current board members do have teacher experience on
their resume, although not recent.
Brian Lewis, executive director of casbo, believes a diverse
have made a commitment to doing everything in their power to school they attend.”
Board member bios
board is a strong board. “Whether it’s the school board or the
According to the board member biographies on the State Board
and leads to meaningful discussion and debate,” he said.
charter school in Los Angeles. Board member Johnathan
State Board of Education, diversity of viewpoints is a strength “Without that diversity, full representation is lacking, effective
governance is denied, and fair and equitable decision making is
out of reach. This is certainly true of decisions made by the state board that have a huge impact on the finances and operations of
of Education Web site, Yvonne Chan is principal of a conversion
Williams is founder of a charter school network in Los Angeles and a former board member of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the Black Alliance for Educational Options and the California Charter Schools Association.
“The balance is not representative of reality,” he said. “The
Two recent appointees (unconfirmed by the state Senate as of July 2009 ) are Jorge Lopez and Rae Belisle. Lopez is the executive director for Oakland Charter Academy. Belisle is the president and ceo of EdVoice, recognized as a charter school advocacy group. She is also an attorney who has served as chief counsel to the State Board of Education and defended the constitutionality of charter schools. She chaired the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools from 2005 to 2008 .
pro-charter members, and it makes one wonder what is his
executive and chairman of the California Business for Education
Secretary of Education Glen Thomas submitted the follow-
public school teacher and currently a member of the board of
traditional public schools. How they’ve handled facilities issues is a prime example.”
Stacked deck Lewis believes an imbalance on the sbe means the board cannot adequately serve all public education students in California.
governor seems preoccupied with filling the board with ultimate goal.”
ing statement to California School Business magazine regarding
the makeup of the board:
“When it comes to appointments, the governor’s first pri-
ority is to find the best, most qualified individuals to serve the people of California. He always welcomes and looks for diverse
backgrounds and opinions, but his highest priority is to appoint
Other sbe members are Gregory Jones, a retired insurance
Excellence Foundation; Ruth Bloom, sbe vice president, a former trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Los Angeles; David Lopez, president of the National Hispanic University in
San Jose; and James Aschwanden, a former high school agriculture teacher who has been executive director of the California Agricultural Teachers Association since 1993.
Board President Mitchell is president and chief executive
people to the State Board of Education who he feels will help
officer of NewSchools Venture Fund, a venture philanthropy
Ted Mitchell, state board president, responded similarly
privileged children through investing in for-profit and nonprofit
ensure every California student receives a first-rate education.”
in a statement, repudiating claims that board members lack appropriate backgrounds to adequately serve all students in public education.
firm that focuses on transforming public education for undereducation entrepreneurs, mostly charter schools. He also sits on the board of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Alan Bersin resigned from the sbe this year when he accept-
“The ability of an individual State Board of Education mem-
ed a position with the Department of Homeland Security in the
education issues is based on the totality of their experiences. It
he is a former California secretary of education and superinten-
ber to objectively and competently engage in the full range of
is a good thing that a number of our members have experiences
in both charter schools and district schools in the same way
32 | California School Business
Obama administration. A 2006 Schwarzenegger sbe appointee, dent of San Diego City Schools. Before entering public service, he was a senior partner in a Los Angeles law firm.
casbo President-elect Renee Hendrick, executive director of
business services for the Orange County Department of Educa-
tion, believes the sbe has become more lenient in approving charter petitions that have been denied by school districts. “Charters can
be a great supplement to some districts, but with the board stacked the way it is, a level of fairness might not be there,” she said.
acsa legislative advocate Laura Preston attends board
meetings and monitors the charter school agenda items.
“Change will come when there is more balance,” she agreed. “We want real educators on that board, people who understand the implications of decisions at the local level.”
Preston added that she and other observers of sbe busi-
ness have access to board members “who are very gracious,”
but she feels the governor should be advised that his next appointment must come from a traditional public education pool of candidates.
Bitter pill to swallow The board’s March 2009 approval of the Western Sierra
Their zealousness to bring more and more charters onto the playing field has resulted in their loss of understanding of the legislative intent as to the purpose of charter schools.
Collegiate Academy to be established within the Rocklin
continued on page 36
Fall 2009 | 33
34 | California School Business
Fall 2009 | 35
Weighted toward charters continued from page 33
Unified School District boundaries (with sbe oversight) was an
campus and its ability to meet operational expenses. He pointed
His district had twice denied that petition, and it was denied a
his district, one of them building its own facility in collaboration
especially hard one for Superintendent Kevin Brown to swallow. third time by the Placer County Board of Education before the charter petitioner applied for sbe approval.
Brown said his community was overwhelmingly opposed
to the establishment of the charter school which plans to be
open initially to students in grades 7 and 8, expanding each year
until it serves grades 7 through 12 by 2012. Its focus is college
out that three charter schools are successfully operating within with the district.
Despite his presentation of concerns, the accs voted to rec-
ommend approval by the sbe at its next meeting. The petition
went to the sbe for consideration at its March 11-12 meeting. But the path leading to board approval had a twist.
The sbe met on March 11 and in open session had a two-
preparatory curriculum.
hour discussion about the petition to establish Western Col-
(accs) a month before the board decision, Brown noted that rusd
then denied again by the Placer County Office of Education. Four
Addressing the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools
already offers 17 advanced placement courses, and graduates 97
percent of its students, with 65 percent of graduates having completed the a-g requirements for University of California admission. The accs is charged with reviewing charter petitions before
they are passed on to the sbe. accs members are appointed by the board, with the exception of one member who is designated
legiate Academy in a district that had twice denied it and was board members voted to approve and three voted against. The vote was not enough to meet the six votes needed to pass. It was
decided that the petitioner would come before the board again
in May, a date past the deadline specified by Proposition 39 in order to open a charter school in the next school year, fall 2009.
Then, according to an article in the Placer Herald, sometime
by the superintendent of public instruction, but is deemed ap-
between the failed approval on March 11 and the second day
Brown outlined district and parental concerns about the
wsca Executive Director David Patterson occurred. According
pointed by the board as well.
petitioner’s expectation to be housed on a district high school
meeting on March 12, a discussion between board members and to the state-published Preliminary Report of Action Taken, “On
day two of the meeting, President Mitchell urged the board to reconsider its vote on the matter.” The board approved a motion
to reconsider the previous vote of March 11, which board counsel advised is permissible under Robert’s Rules of Order. After
The XYZs of California School District Debt Financing
some deliberation, the board then voted to approve the petition in a roll call vote of 7-1.
Stunned by what Brown called “backdoor maneuvering,”
Rocklin usd filed a writ in court to have the decision nullified.
That action and disputes about facilities for the charter school have
led to a contentious relationship between the district and the charter operator, with a lingering threat of litigation by both parties.
The experience has left Superintendent Brown frustrated by a
State Board of Education he says turns a deaf ear to district concerns. We are proud to present The XYZs of California School District Debt Financing, Third Edition. The XYZs has been revised to reflect the many changes that have taken place in the world of school district debt finance since the publication of the second edition in 1996. To obtain your free copy of this publication, please contact publicfinance@orrick.com. For more information, visit www.orrick.com/public_finance.
“Their zealousness to bring more and more charters onto
the playing field has resulted in their loss of understanding of the legislative intent as to the purpose of charter schools. Now
anyone, for any reason, need only put a rough outline together addressing minimum criteria (assurances and elements) and the state board routinely stamps its approval,” he said.
“We spend months reviewing petitions before we make a
decision (to accept or deny) and the board spends limited time
reading the analysis of one Department of Education staff member. The state board is imposing its will on local jurisdictions. That just doesn’t feel right,” Brown said. z z z
orrick, herrington & sutcliffe llp los angeles new york orange county pacific northwest sacramento san francisco silicon valley washington dc
36 | California School Business
www.orrick.com
Linda A. Estep is a freelance writer based in Fresno, Calif.
Fall 2009 | 37
38 | California School Business
Fall 2009 | 39
40 | California School Business
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Fall 2009 | 41
42 | California School Business
feature
PANDEMIC FLU REDUX Are your schools prepared?
By Julie Phillips Randles For the past five years, Jeannie Goobanoff has been
As she continued to track the path of, and response to, the
training school leaders on what to do should a pandemic
swine flu, many of her warnings to the school industry came to
it came to pass.
in days, not weeks or months, and that’s what happened. It was
strike the state and shutter schools. Suddenly in spring 2009 “When it first started I heard about the case in San Diego
and I started watching,” said Goobanoff, the recently retired
fruition. “I had always said in our training that it will happen scary,” Goobanoff recalled.
This spring’s h1n1 virus closed nearly 40 California schools
loss prevention director for Redwood Empire Schools Insurance
and netted about 140 missed school days. By mid-June, the
mentation Team. She followed the spread of the virus online and
first global flu pandemic in 41 years.
Group and chair of casbo’s Professional Development Imple-
through the news media. “I kept thinking, ‘it’s actually happening.’ My eyes were bugging out.”
World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic – the The relatively mild infections from swine flu that crept
through the state in the spring provided districts and county
Fall 2009 | 43
PANDEMIC FLU REDUX offices of education with an opportunity to put their pandemic
“The messages were consistent, and that was a total suc-
preparedness plans to the test.
cess,” said Goobanoff. “Schools should use these procedures all
and in late July projected that up to 40 percent of Americans
any kind of illness transmission.”
But health officials predict a resurgence of the flu in the fall,
could get the swine flu this year and next. This just as k-12 schools prepare to start the new academic year and a vaccine for the virus is not expected until long after school starts.
H1N1 round one The first cases of the h1n1 virus, or swine flu, were found in one
the time. If they just make it standard procedure, it would limit According to Linda Davis-Alldritt, school nurse consultant
for California’s Department of Education, it was aggressive
planning with the Department of Public Health beginning in 2005, and table-top exercises and Web casts shared with local
districts about proper pandemic response, that allowed things to run smoothly.
“We were all speaking the same language. We understood
child in San Diego County and another in Imperial County on
each other,” she said. “We were able to get information out in a
public health officials. By April 28, the first school was closed.
new information available. We also, through the (state) superin-
April 24. Within hours, school closures were being pondered by
When the virus arrived in California, health officials had
to rely on data from Mexico, which indicated the illness had a
high level of severity, according to Dr. Howard Backer, associate
secretary for emergency services for the California Health and Human Services Agency. With few details on the epidemiology
timely manner, update our Web site and quickly make links to
tendent’s e-mail system, got messages out to all districts and counties, and we used that system during the height of the outbreak.”
Fiscal impacts
of this particular flu, the agency initiated “a very aggressive
The nearly 40 school closures statewide related to the h1n1
case” of the virus, according to Backer.
lines. However, in August, Education Secretary Arne Duncan
policy of closing an individual school when there was only one
This school-by-school closure approach deviated from the
state’s plan. “Our original policy that was in place from earlier planning was completely different,” Backer said. “It was based
on the assumption that it would begin overseas, that we would
have information on severity before it got here, and the plan was
virus did have something of an impact on districts’ bottom announced that schools will get help paying for the costs of coping with the flu from $260 million in federal money distributed to communities.
do understand that there is a huge burden on the community
Schools should not be making their own plans based on their own ideas. Coordinate with your county superintendent and public health at the county level.
health, interventions are always a balance between benefit and
Visalia Unified School District had a single school closed for
to close all schools at once when it got to the state.”
Instead, the virus started in our own backyard and the
severity was unclear, “so we adopted a modified policy of indi-
vidual school closures,” Backer said.
He added that the agency was “aggressive in school closures
in the beginning” and then backed off when it became evident that widespread closures may not be necessary. “We were fast in
arriving at a policy and implementing it quickly,” he said. “We
when kids are not in school. The important thing is that in public unintended consequences,” Backer said.
The message With the h1n1 virus in the south state and spreading, and the number of school closures growing daily, the message put out
3 1/2 days. Fortunately, the closure was ordered after Period 2
attendance reporting had been turned in, said Christine Statton,
chief financial officer and a member of casbo’s Financial Services r&d Committee, minimizing the potential fiscal impacts.
Statton reminded fellow cbos that had the closure occurred
prior to Period 2 reporting, the district would have to file for an
by public health departments and filtered down to schools was
attendance accounting exemption from the state. If the closure
to school or work if you are sick.
for attendance purposes, but likely should still be considered for
three-fold: wash your hands, cover your cough and don’t come The message was right on target, experts agreed.
44 | California School Business
occurs after the Period 2 reporting, the waiver is not required instructional minutes reporting, she advised.
cbos should also keep in mind that the exemption can be
notice of the closure and were not waiting at their bus stop in
the way to go, Statton said, in case the district experiences higher
Having dealt with a closure, Cleveland has some advice to
filed for one school or districtwide. A districtwide filing may be
the morning.
than usual absence rates due to fear at sites that have not been
share with those who might face closures in the future. “Make
send kids for three or four days,” Statton said.
incident happens. Communicate with all business departments
ordered closed. “We had parents at other sites choosing not to A dip in districtwide attendance numbers can impact some
funding mechanisms that are based on annual attendance, such as lottery funding, she reminded.
At Berkeley Unified School District, casbo member Javetta
Cleveland, deputy superintendent, business services, noted a few ways the district was affected financially during the two-day closure of an elementary school.
sure you know what actions you are going to take before the and the sites, and then implement the closure professionally and expedite it well.”
A high school closure in San Marcos Unified School District
where casbo member Gary Hamels is the assistant superintendent, business services, also raised some minor fiscal issues; nearly all were related to personnel.
While the closure was ordered for students on a Monday,
Take, for example, the topic of employee pay. Teachers
arrangements with teachers who were expected to still come to
released due to the closure were not paid. Other than a loss of
returned to work on Tuesday, after custodians, with assistance
were paid despite the closure, but hourly employees who were service, Cleveland said there was no significant increase in costs or savings due to the school closure.
Transportation employees were also impacted. While at
first busses were re-routed to leave the closed school out of the
schedule, it was later decided that drivers should cover the route
on the first day of closure to be sure all students had received
work had to be handled. In agreement with the union, teachers from food services personnel, had cleaned the site.
The only real additional costs came in form of increased
cleaning supplies, Hamels said.
San Marcos usd also saw an increase in absences in the days
following the closure with absence rates nearly double the usual.
Fall 2009 | 45
PANDEMIC FLU REDUX Polish your plan For years, districts and county offices have been told to put a specific pandemic response plan in place. The arrival of swine
flu put those plans to the test in areas where school closures were
ordered, and may have prompted those districts that never quite
• Update your contact list and communication plan with cabinet-level employees. Then, be sure you have that contact
information easily accessible. Reaching cabinet members was crucial in Berkeley usd when a school closure was ordered over
a weekend.
got around to formulating a plan to do so on the double.
• Determine a policy for employees’ return to work. In some
the headlines, Backer said. “This is helping us advance pandemic
or more, teachers left town. When schools re-open sooner than
The recent outbreak brought pandemic planning back into
preparedness, which is generally useful for any large-scale emergency.”
In fact, the recent pandemic is being hailed as an opportu-
nity for awareness – and action; an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
districts where schools were expected to be closed for a week
expected and some employees are out of town, will you handle employee absences as personal leave or vacation time?
• Create a policy for employees whose school remains open,
yet their children attend a school that has been closed. Address what kind of leave they will receive.
Don’t have a plan? “They are missing such an opportunity,”
• Decide how to best communicate about school closures
advantage of this opportunity right now, they are going to be
unexpectedly. Find out now how to manage instant alert phone
Goobanoff said of those agencies that don’t. “If they don’t take
doomed. They won’t be able to handle it, and they won’t recover,” she warned.
The recent pandemic is being hailed as an opportunity for awareness – and action. For districts that have a plan in place, let the pandemic serve
as a warning to polish it up. “If you see a part of it that doesn’t
with parents and employees. Closures often come swiftly and
messages which may have to be sent out to assorted stakehold-
ers, and in multiple languages. Then, err on the side of overcommunicating.
• Review the established k-12 emergency plan checklists at the California Department of Education Web site and make sure your district’s safety plan is in alignment.
• Start thinking now about establishing homeschooling plans including telephone or Web-based instruction.
Facing the flu season While the illness from this spring’s h1n1 virus was mild in most
work, make it work,” Goobanoff said.
cases, health experts can’t say for sure what the virus will look
how to protect your employees, prevent the spread of the virus
mutates in coming months.
“This is an excellent time to review your plan and to decide
and to make sure that you have a connection with the local health
like in the upcoming flu season. It all depends on if the virus “Pay attention to what you are being told by public health
department,” Backer added.
departments,” Goobanoff advised. “Schools should not be
that districts should add to their pandemic preparedness plans:
with your county superintendent and public health at the
The pandemic dress rehearsal did dredge up a few issues
• Assign a news monitor – with information on the virus and outbreak locations frequently changing, assign a single person
in the district to monitor news coverage and public health Web sites.
• Establish a policy that addresses illness among school board
making their own plans based on their own ideas. Coordinate county level.”
And keep tabs on updates from the Department of Edu-
cation which is currently reviewing its response to the spring pandemic.
“We are going to take a hard look at what worked, and what
members. What happens if multiple members have the flu and
didn’t work,” Davis-Alldritt said. “One of the things we learned
• Create a plan in case school closures occur near or during
confirmed cases and who was dismissing students and who
a quorum cannot be present?
the time of scheduled state testing, as was the case this year.
Because state testing rules are restrictive, determining how to
handle testing that is waylaid by an emergency is crucial, and changes to the schedule may require an application for a waiver from the state.
46 | California School Business
is that we need a streamlined mechanism for schools to report wasn’t. But based on feedback we’ve had from county offices and districts, things went very smoothly.” z z z
Julie Phillips Randles is a freelance writer based in Roseville, Calif.
SAVE THE DATE! C A SBO
sacramento APRIL 16-19
Fall 2009 | 47
Ca
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48 | California School Business
out & about
The Professional Development Committee and CASBO staff gather at the May PDC planning meeting in San Diego. (Front row l-r) Erika Sizemore, Christina Aragon, Brenda Boothe, Jodi Jackson and Molly McGee-Hewitt; (back row l-r) Tish Koch, Brian Lewis, Michael Johnston, Tim Zearley, Steve Bolman and Vincent Christakos.
(l-r) Members of the Council on Professional Development, Herb Calderon, interim superintendent, Victor Valley Union High School District; and Margie Brown, assistant superintendent, facilities development, San Ramon Valley Unified School District, pictured at the CPD May planning meeting in San Diego.
Taking a break from the Associate Member Committee Meeting in Sacramento in June are (l-r) Raelene Walker, fringe benefit consultant, American Fidelity Assurance Co. Educational Services Division; Sean Baum, senior account executive, Vangard Concepts Offices; and Janet Kendrick, Central California area manager, American Fidelity Assurance Co. Educational Services Division.
(l-r) Marilyn Cleveland, attorney, Miller, Brown & Dannis; and CASBO President-Elect Renee Hendrick, executive director, business services, Orange County Department of Education, pictured before the June board meeting in Sacramento.
Strategic Planning Implementation Team leaders (l-r) Art Schmitt, G. Wayne Oetken, Georgene Neher, Jeannie Goobanoff, Tish Koch (strategic plan facilitator), Michelle Fort Merrill, Gary Pickavet and Todd Butcher (standing) meet at the CASBO office in May.
Please send in your Out & About photos from CASBO events along with the names of the people in the photos and the event where the photo was taken. Digital photos may be sent to jjackson@casbo.org.
Fall 2009 | 49
CASBO book club
Book pick shows leadership can come from all levels For fall, the CASBO Book Club selection is “The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization,” by John C. Maxwell. Maxwell, who has been teaching leadership for 30 years, in this book seeks to answer the question “How do I apply leadership principles if I am not the boss?” He suggests that you don’t have to be the “main leader” to have an impact on an organization. In fact, Maxwell contends that good leaders cannot only lead their defined followers, but can learn how to lead their superiors and their peers. He uses this book to present specific principles for what he calls “leading down, leading up and leading across.” Real-life stories and analogies are used to illustrate Maxwell’s principles, and each section of the book contains questions leaders should be asking themselves in order to improve their performance. By applying the principles put forth in the book, Maxwell asserts that readers will expand their influence and ultimately become a more valuable team member. “The 360 Degree Leader” was voted best business book of the year by Soundview Executive Book Summary subscribers. Join your CASBO colleagues in learning how to lead effectively, regardless of your position.
50 | California School Business
firstperson
CASBO Professional Development‌your advantage in critical times Molly McGee-Hewitt, CAE CASBO Assistant Executive Director, Professional Development
Daily, I hear from casbo members about how the current fiscal crisis has
impacted almost every aspect of their professional lives. You have to lay off
key personnel, assume additional job duties and responsibilities, lose valuable services or tools needed to do your job,
management is a noble profession as
recover. The professionals who have
in order to serve children we must work
their education and training will be in the
well. One does not trump the other, and in tandem with cooperation and respect. World-class schools demand world-class professionals at all levels.
With that in mind, our members face
and professional development training
many challenges. Just as teachers need
Doing more with less has become the
to meet student needs, our members need
has been eliminated from your budgets. norm, rather than the exception.
Our members are the backbone of
the California public schools. You keep school districts, county offices of education and other educational agencies operating. Facilities are open, maintained,
and managed. Students have access to
continuing education to empower them professional development to enable them to provide their services with efficiency
and excellence. Continuing education is not a frill. It is a necessity.
casbo recognizes that the current
fiscal crisis will not last forever. We will
weathered this storm and continued
forefront. casbo’s goal is for every member, at all levels of school business, to be recognized as outstanding professionals
with excellent training and preparation
for their jobs. casbo members are dedicated professionals who will enable both sides of the educational house to weather
the current economy and prepare for success in the future.
casbo Professional Development is
your advantage in critical times. We stand with you and for you.
materials, food services, health services and transportation. Teachers can teach because the tools and facilities they need
are ready for them. You and I know this, but what about the rest of the educational community and general public?
My work with c a s b o and my
unique perspective. I began my career
in education as a classified employee, later worked as a classroom teacher and as a district office administrator. I even
served on a school board for a period of time. I believe in public education and I
believe in the people who make it possible. At the same time, I have seen evidence of the divide between the business and the instructional sides. I have never
understood the divide or the lack of respect that seems to accompany it. Teaching is a noble profession. School business
sudoku
history in public education give me a
answers on page 57
Fall 2009 | 51
Driving resources to the classroom
With budget restrictions growing tighter, now is the time to look to PARS for cost-saving retirement plans to achieve fiscal savings while helping you drive resources back to the classroom. Contact us today and let us develop one for you!
Retirement Incentives CSBA GASB 45 Solutions Program Alternatives to Social Security
800.540.6369 ext 127 www.pars.org Š 2008 Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS). All rights reserved
52 | California School Business
The California School Boards Association, in association with Piper Jaffray & Co., has partnered with the California Association of School Business Officials, and enhanced the Certificates of Participation program.
û Fixed and variable interest rate options û Flexible prepayment provisions û Capitalized interest û Flexible repayment schedules û Low cost of issuance û Education Code 17406 financings
California School Boards Association
3100 Beacon Blvd. | West Sacramento, CA 95691 | 800.266.3382
Fall 2009 | 53
54 | California School Business
advertiserindex 403b Investment Advisors
Construction Management
Cooperative Purchasing
ZUK Financial Group (888) 488-8480 www.zukfinancial.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Roebbelen (916) 939-8319 www.roebbelen.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Cooperative Purchasing Network (713) 744-8133 www.tcpn.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Accounting, Auditing & Financial Services
SGI Construction Management (626) 395-7474 www.sgicm.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
U.S. Communities www.uscommunities.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Keenan & Associates (310) 212-0363 www.keenanassoc.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Consulting / Advocacy
Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co LLP (909) 466-4410 www.vtdcpa.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
School Innovations & Advocacy (800) 487-9234 www.sia-us.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Vicenti, Lloyd + Stutzman LLP (626) 857-7300 www.vlsllp.com Please see our ad on pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 & 54
Consulting Services
Architects
GASB 45 Solutions (916) 371-4691 www.csba.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
WLC Architects (909) 987-0909 www.wlc-architects.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
School Services of CA, Inc. (916) 446-7517 www.sscal.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bond Counsel
Vicenti, Lloyd + Stutzman LLP (626) 857-7300 www.vlsllp.com Please see our ad on pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 & 54
Jones Hall (415) 391-5780 www.joneshall.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Contractors / Construction Management Bernards (818) 838-7923 www.bernards.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Drapes & Blinds American Blinds & Draperies, Inc. (510) 489-4760 www.americandrapes.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-35
Emergency 24 Hour Services American Technologies, Inc. (800) 400-9353 www.amer-tech.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Eye Care VSP (800) 852-7600 www.vsp.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Faucets and Fittings Chicago Faucet Co. (847) 803-5000 www.chicagofaucets.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Financial and Human Resource Software Smartetools (760) 242-8890 www.smartetools.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Fall 2009 | 55
advertiserindex Windsor Management Group (888) 654-3293 www.infinitevisions.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Financial Consulting Services PFM Financial Services (800) 891-7910 www.casbo.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Financial Services Piper Jaffray & Co. (800) 876-1854 www.PJC.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 & 53 RBC Capital Markets (213) 362-4138 www.rbccapitalmarkets.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Legal Services
Retirement Benefits
Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo (562) 653-3200 www.aalrr.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Public Agency Retirement Service (800) 540-6369 #127 www.pars.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Jones Hall (415) 391-5780 www.joneshall.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Risk Management Services
Miller Brown & Dannis (562) 366-8500 www.mbdlaw.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP (413) 773-5494 www.orrick.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Mandate Reimbursment
Willdan (800) 424-9144 www.willdan.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
School Innovations & Advocacy (800) 487-9234 www.sia-us.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Stone & Youngberg LLC (800) 447-8663 www.syllc.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Network Solutions & Servers & PC Solutions
Fire & Water Damage Restoration American Technologies, Inc. (800) 400-9353 www.amer-tech.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Furniture Virco Manufacturing Corp. (800) 813-4150 www.virco.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover
Healthcare Services/Insurance California’s Valued Trust (559) 437-2960 www.cvtrust.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Insurance Services ASCIP (562) 403-4640 www.ascip.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Schools Excess Liability Fund (SELF) (916) 321-5300 www.selfjpa.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Self Insured Schools of CA (SISC) (800) 972-1727 www.sisc.kern.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 American Fidelity Assurance Co. (866) 523-1857 www.afadvantage.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Janitorial Supplies & Maintenance Equipment Hillyard, Inc. (800) 365-1555 www.hillyard.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
56 | California School Business
Sehi Computer Products, Inc. (800) 346-6315 www.sehi.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
On-Demand Operations Management Software SchoolDude.com (877) 868-8021 www.schooldude.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Program Management Capital Program Management (916) 553-4400 www.capitalpm.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Program/Construction Management Seville Construction Services (626) 204-0800 www.sevillecs.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Public Finance KNN Public Finance (510) 839-8200 www.knninc.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 RBC Capital Markets (213) 362-4138 www.rbccapitalmarkets.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Stone & Youngberg LLC (800) 447-8663 www.syllc.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Rentals of Modular Buildings Mobile Modular (925) 606-9000 www.mobilemodularrents.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Schools Excess Liability Fund (SELF) (916) 321-5300 www.selfjpa.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Roofing Systems and Repair The Garland Company Inc. (800) 321-9336 www.garlandco.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
School Bus Sales Service & Parts Creative Bus Sales (800) 326-2877 www.creativebussales.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
School Construction Northern California Carpenter’s Regional Council (510) 568-4788 www.nccrc.org Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Services/Utilities The Southern California Gas Company (800) 427-6584 www.socalgas.com/business/rebates/onBillFinancing.html Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Software Educational Resources (800) 852-8266 www.edresources.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Student Information Services Eagle Software (888) 487-7555 www.aeries.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Student Safety Seats C.E. White Company (239) 218-7078 www.cewhite.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Transportation Tyler Technologies (800) 433-5530 www.tylertech.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Wheelchair & Occupant Securement Systems Q’straint (954) 986-6665 www.qstraint.com Please see our ad on page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
advertiserindex
sudoku
BASIC DESIGN
American Blinds & Draperies, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-35 American Fidelity Assurance Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 American Technologies, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 ASCIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Bernards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 C.E. White Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 California’s Valued Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Capital Program Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chicago Faucet Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Creative Bus Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Eagle Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Educational Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 GASB 45 Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Hillyard, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Jones Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Keenan & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 KNN Public Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Miller Brown & Dannis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Mobile Modular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Northern California Carpenter’s Regional Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 PFM Financial Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Piper Jaffray & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 & 53 Public Agency Retirement Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Q’straint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 RBC Capital Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Roebbelen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 School Innovations & Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 School Services of CA, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 SchoolDude.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Schools Excess Liability Fund (SELF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Sehi Computer Products, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Self Insured Schools of CA (SISC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Seville Construction Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 SGI Construction Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Smartetools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Stone & Youngberg LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Cooperative Purchasing Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Garland Company Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The Southern California Gas Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tyler Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 U.S. Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Vicenti, Lloyd + Stutzman LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 & 54 Virco Manufacturing Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover VSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Willdan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Windsor Management Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 WLC Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 ZUK Financial Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CHILD RESTRAINT
AD PAGE INDEX
STUDENT SAFETY SEAT ™ C.E. White’s renowned Child Restraint Seat is available as an integral part of the new 3-point Student Safety Seat™. This double-duty design gives you safety and versatility.
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417 Kibler Street • New Washington, OH 44854 • 419.492.2157 Fax 419.492.2544 • www.cewhite.com
The California School Boards Association partners with highly qualified consultants to provide districts/county offices with a comprehensive one-stop, low cost GASB 45 Solutions Program. We have a GASB 45 compliant
from page 51
and an Internal Revenue Service approved Section 115 trust.
1.800.266.3382 | www.csba.org
Sponsored by: Piper Jaffray & Co. Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) U.S. Bank Institutional Trust FAF Advisors CSBA and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association
Fall 2009 | 57
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My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group. There is much less competition. ~ Indira Gandhi
68.3% In 2007-08, 68.3 percent of public school students in California graduated, up from 67.7 percent last year. The adjusted four-year derived dropout rate for the same school year is 20.1 percent, down from 21.1 percent last year.
22
MILLION Nearly 22 million school days are lost annually due to the common cold alone. Source: Centers for Disease Control
In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. ~ Eric Hoffer
Source: California Department of Education
Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it. ~ Rosemary Brown
Approximate percentage of the U.S. population that attends or works in schools. Source: U.S. Department of Education
58 | California School Business
Š CASBO 2009
20%
Offered through PFM Financial Services LLC CO-SPONSORED BY CASBO AND ACSA
Fall 2009 | 59
60 | California School Business