January 14, 2005

ESUHSD NEWS BRIEFS

Leadership Public Schools

Local college prep charter school enrolling ninth, tenth graders

Interested in a tuition-free college preparatory high school option for fall 2005? Leadership Public Schools—East Side San Jose is a small college preparatory charter school that is currently enrolling students entering ninth and tenth grade in the fall.

This charter school offers a small school environment with small classes pursuing a college preparatory curriculum and a four-year leadership program. Talented and caring teachers, plus tutoring support before and after school, are additional benefits.

Information sessions will be held Thursday, Jan. 20; Thursday, Feb. 3; Saturday, Feb.12; Thursday, Feb. 17; Thursday, March 3; Saturday, March 12 and Thursday, March 24.

Thursday information sessions are from 7 – 8 p.m. and Saturday sessions are from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. at 1750 S. White Rd., San Jose, Calif., on the Mt. Pleasant High School campus, Portable 1216 on the southeast corner of the campus.

About Leadership Public Schools
Leadership Public Schools is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 to serve diverse students throughout California with a network of outstanding charter high schools.

In addition to the East San Jose campus, which was founded in 2004 and currently serves only ninth graders, Leadership Public Schools opened a charter high school in Richmond in 2003 and plans to open two additional schools in Oakland and Hayward in 2005.

Mark Kushner is the CEO and founder of Leadership Public Schools. Prior to founding Leadership Public Schools, Mark founded Leadership High School in 1996 and served as principal and executive director until 2002.

Leadership High, a separate and distinct organization, is one of the most successful charter schools in the nation serving educationally and economically disadvantaged students.

For additional information, call (408) 937-2709 or visit the Web site: www.leadps.org.

Applications due Feb. 11

Hispanic high school seniors earn chance to win educational grants

The search is on for Hispanic high school seniors willing to submit applications to win a Gold or Silver Medallion award in six categories: academic excellence, community service, engineering and mathematics, healthcare, journalism and sports. Friday, Feb. 11, is the deadline to apply for these prestigious awards.

Gold Medallion winners will receive a $3,000 educational grant and an opportunity to be one of six national winners, which includes an additional $5,000, a laptop computer and an all expense paid trip to the star-studded National Youth Award presentation Awards in Washington, D.C. The event will air on NBC in September during National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Silver Medallion winners receive a $2,000 grant. Apply online at www.HispanicHeritageAwards.org or pick up an application at Subway Restaurants.

South Evergreen School Issues Committee refines team’s vision

Discusses high school needs to be addressed

The South Evergreen School Issues Committee met Thursday, Jan. 6, to continue refining the team’s vision and purpose. 

“The group has discussed the high school needs that must be addressed, and at our next meeting, we will formalize a list of guiding principles to be used to evaluate options that can meet the needs,” said Lou Kvitek, president of the Silver Creek Valley Community Organization. 

While work progresses on developing a charter high school focused on college preparation and academic achievement for everyone, the guiding principles will help formalize the vision, providing a framework to evaluate details such as school size and sponsoring district. 

“This will ensure that all of the needed elements are brought together and that the solutions will successfully address the needs,” continued Kvitek, stressing that the guiding principles will be widely communicated to neighborhood groups throughout Evergreen.

“The current East Side Union High School situation threatens the community and brings risk to the economic development of south Evergreen, as executives and entrepreneurs who live in the area are leaving, due to the situation, and taking the jobs they control with them,” he added.

The team plans to communicate progress via a community meeting to be held in the early March timeframe and is developing an agenda. The meeting will address education issues that affect all of Evergreen, not just southern Evergreen. 

Councilmember Dave Cortese, who also attended the Jan. 6 meeting with his Chief of Staff Rabia Chaudhry, said, “I highly commend this group of citizens for taking the initiative to deal with core issues. I don’t think anybody will disagree that there are serious problems in the East Side Union High School District, and the clock is ticking. It’s time to put the district on the clock to address serious educational rights.”

Also attending the meeting were Evergreen resident Paul Robichaux, Kim Walesh from San Jose’s Office of Economic Development, Laurel Prevetti of the City Planning Department and District 2 Councilmember Forrest Williams.

ESUHSD budget estimated reductions for 2004-05

2005-06 task force meetings: Jan. 27, Feb. 2, 3

The East Side Union High School board of trustees approved the following “Revised board proposal supporting the First Interim Report to the County Office of Education” at their monthly board meeting on Jan. 13 and approved the total proposed reductions of $2,385,000 for the remainder of the 2004-2005 school year.

After approving the cuts with a 3 – 2 vote at the Jan. 13 meeting, the ESUHSD board of trustees received more bad news. It needs to cut approximately another $2.5 million from the budget by the Feb. 10 board meeting due to lower than expected summer school revenues and overstated recovery of supplemental hours due to a huge accounting error that misplaced a decimal.

2005-06 budget task force meetings
The Budget Task Force meetings focusing on the 2005-2006 school year will resume this month with stakeholder presentations at Evergreen Valley High School, 3300 Quimby Rd., San Jose, 95148, on Thursday, Jan. 27, Wednesday, Feb. 2 and Thursday, Feb. 3, from 6 –10 p.m.

Up to six different stakeholder groups will speak at each of these meetings to alert the district and the community of the value of their programs. For more information, contact the moderator Joel Herrera, one of the directors at James Lick High School, by calling (408) 347-4559 or e-mailing herreraj@esuhsd.com.

Estimated 2004-05 reductions

2004-05 Reassignment
(Estimated savings: $440,000)
Plan
12 Teachers on Special Assignments (Return to Teaching Assignment)
4 Managers General Fund
12 Teachers @ $30,000 = $360,000
4 Managers @$20,000 = $ 80,000
Timeline
Second semester of 2004-2005

Reduce Library Services by 50 percent
(Estimated savings: $180,000)
Plan
Reduce library services by 50 percent at all sites
6 Librarians @ $30,000 (savings)= $180,000
Timeline
Second semester of 2004-2005
Reduce Counselor Services by 10 General Fund Positions (Estimated savings: $300,000)
Plan
Reduce counseling services by 10 general fund counselors at selected sites
10 Counselors@ $30,000 = $300,000
Timeline
Second semester of 2004-2005

Reduce School Site by 1.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Classified Position:
(Estimated savings: $120,000)
Plan
Reduce 1.0 FTE Classified Position by two .5 FTE from the following: Technology Tech, Library Tech, Counseling Tech and Career Tech
Timeline
Second semester of 2004-2005

General Fund Budget Reductions
(Estimated savings: $950,000)
Plan
Reduce all General Fund ESUHSD budgets by $950,000 in supplies and travel
Timeline
Effective Jan. 14, 2005

Reduce Child Nutrition Budget
(Estimated savings: $120,000)
Plan
Reduce the General Fund encroachment by requesting an early termination as per food service contact with 60 days notice = $120,000 cost reduction
Timeline
Second semester of 2004-2005

Additional General Fund Energy
(Estimated savings: $125,000)
Plan
Shut off heat on all unused pools/include pool covers
Minimum savings of $125,000
Timeline
Second semester of 2004-2005

General Fund Employee Reduction
(Estimated savings: $100,000)
Plan
Board approved Resolution Dec. 2 to reduce classified management positions
Minimum Savings of $100,000
Timeline:
Second semester of 2004-2005

General Fund Legal Service Reduction
(Estimated savings: $50,000)
Plan
Reduce legal service fund by $50,000 for 2004-2005 school year
Timeline
Second semester of 2004-2005

Total Proposed Reductions: $ 2,385,000
Source: East Side Union High School District