Hello everyone – Happy Friday!
Most of my update tonight focuses on requests for the existing and any prospective board candidates who aim to foster unity, transparency, inclusivity, and harmony within our district and community.
In addition to this, I would like to share the following:
- The video of May 21st meeting – A community concerned over MHUSD leadership, its trajectory, transparency, and financial stability. Also our teachers celebrated and recognized for their hard work. Public comments starts at 00:16:40.
- MH Times article highlighting the County letters and the County Superintendent request for a detailed sound financial plan.
- Upcoming Dates:
- Friday May 31st - Board Retreat (in the last retreat session, Superintendent Garcia's performance was reviewed). 1pm-4pm at the FACE center (80 W. Central Ave, Morgan Hill, CA 95037). Zoom link here. Agenda not posted yet.
- Tuesday June 4th (I will update on this more next week) - LCAP and budget public hearing. Location: 15600 Concord Circle. Morgan Hill, CA 95037. LCAP 2024-2025 has not been published yet. Request the district to release the draft to the public for review.
- Tuesday June 18th - Regular Board Meeting. Agenda not posted yet. Zoom link here.
Requests for the existing and any prospective board candidates who aim to foster unity, transparency, inclusivity, and harmony within our community:
Board Policy 3100 specifies “Membership of the district's budget advisory committee is determined by the Superintendent and may include representatives of each of the [listed] groups.”
The committee’s responsibility is to advise on budget allocations and expenditures, a role that could potentially conflict with the Superintendent’s authority to enter contracts/expenditures under $100K [Pursuant to Education Code 17604 and Board Policy 3312(a), the Superintendent or designee (employees identified ed in Bd.Ed. 2021-22 Reso. No. 043) has the authority to enter into contracts with a value up to$100,000 on behalf of the District. These contracts must be subsequently ratified by the Board]. Consequently, the selection of committee members should not be under the purview of the Superintendent. The Superintendent’s ability to choose committee members seems to contradict the committee’s impartial duty to offer budgetary advice.
- ACTION: The present and future MHUSD Board should endorse and back a policy change that requires parents/community in the Budget Advisory Committee, complete with term limits ASAP.
Bringing more financial awareness and capacity leads to better financial planning and prevention of destabilizing cuts. According to an opinion in SF Standard (a center leaning media source) bringing financial training into the Board/leadership may need to become mandatory and there are available resources.
Echoing the sentiments expressed in the May 21st board meeting, the importance of parents engagement and transparency in the curriculum cannot be overstated. This is crucial in fostering a community built on trust and respect. This becomes particularly significant in the context of Math and English, where we have observed a consistent decline in test scores. I have elaborated on this in a separate update.
- ACTION: Establish a Curriculum Advisory Committee with term limits with required parents/community participation.
Incorporating our families input and parents of MHUSD students without outside influence or involvement of special interests, is only going to strengthen our community and lead to success of our students.
Some parents have chosen to demand transparency from the district through the Opt-Out solution, a proposal put forth by IP-SV (Informed Parents of Silicon Valley). In a district environment where parents frequently feel uninformed, it opens the door for external groups to utilize their nationwide resources to assist local families. However, seeking local transparency through a national platform could lead to unforeseen & undesired outcomes.
I am convinced that this issue of transparency and engagement can be addressed by the suggested Curriculum Advisory Committee and locally.
Let's continue the momentum in bringing financial stability, transparency and sustainability to our district leading to success of our students. Thank you!