GROSSMONT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION REPORT

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GROSSMONT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTBLUE RIBBON
COMMISSION REPORT

• ACTION PLANS
• APRIL 1, 2004

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Embark on an effort to achieve a One School
Concept.
1.

• The District will accurately identify the number
  of different core programs in math, language
  arts, science, social science, etc. and will
  report that information to the Board of Trustees.
  By April 1, 2004 the District will develop a
  written plan on how it will proceed toward its
  goal of achieving a more uniform curriculum over
  the next 7 to 8 years, throughout the textbook
  adoption cycles.
• The Director of Curriculum and Curriculum
  Specialist are working with subject area teachers
  to develop curriculum guides and textbook
  adoptions that are aligned with the California
  Standards. A written report will be provided to
  the Board in April. (Jim Peabody) Timeline
  April 1, 2004.
• Due to consolidation of staff this report will
  not be given until summer or early fall
  (Jim Peabody) Timeline October 1, 2005.

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Develop short-term and long-term District goals.
3.

• The District will develop a new District Mission
  Statement with appropriate educational goals.
  Each division, department and school will develop
  educational objectives, which support the
  Districts Mission Statement and educational
  goals. The District and schools budgets will
  reflect the Districts Mission Statement,
  educational goals, and objectives.
• Once a final draft of the Districts goals is
  accepted, another session will be held to refine
  the mission statement. Several budget workshops
  will be held to ensure that the District stays
  solvent and can meet its educational goals.

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Multi-year budgeting.
15.

• The Assistant Superintendent of Business Services
  will implement a multi-year plan that will guide
  the District in eliminating deficit spending.
• Project completed. (Bob Cornelius) Timeline
  June 30 2004

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Each school should be given an agreed upon
organizational plan (i.e. one principal, two vice
principals, four counselors, one teacher per
thirty students, etc.), curriculum plan, and
processes as a starting basis that supports the
mission of the GUHSD. The principal may then
apply for and justify any additions, deletions or
changes. The core objective here should be what
is reasonable, customary and effective.
21.

• The District will develop an administrative
  formula for school staffing.
• The District is in the process of developing an
  organizational plan and will in part, rely upon
  the recommendation of FCMAT to recalculating
  staffing formulas prior to making recommendations
  to Cabinet and the Board of Trustees. (Brian
  Smith) Timeline April 30, 2004.
• Two comprehensive reviews have been completed by
  FCMAT. Reports will be delivered to the District
  in April 2004. (Warren Williams)

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Analyze the impacts of using online course for
ADA.
24.

• The District will purchase and/or develop
  distance-learning programs for high school
  students in alignment with the California State
  educational standards.
• ITS staff has worked with two school sites,
  Chaparral and Mount Miguel, to identify and
  implement online support for existing courses.
  These resources will be made available
  District-wide as part of the Performance Profile.
  Arrangements have been made to investigate and
  implement online courses for school year
  2004-2005. The High School Pupil Success Act will
  provide a framework for delivering to each
  teacher a customized learning plan for every
  student via the Performance Profile. (Warren
  Williams) Timeline June 30, 2007.

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• Dear Online Classroom Pilot Program Applicants
• Thank you for your application to participate in
  the AB294 Online Classroom Pilot. It took only 4
  minutes for the first 40 eligible schools to be
  submitted. While not all of the applicants will
  be participating in the program, there is still
  the opportunity to grow distance learning
  programs to meet the needs of your students.
• Official letters of confirmation will follow
  shortly.
• Online Classroom Pilot Program Participants
• Grossmont Union High School District - 5 Schools
• Please contact me if you need additional
  information.
• Wayne Shimizu
• California Department of Education
• Education Technology Office
• wshimizu_at_cde.ca.gov
• ph. 916.322.5894

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Prepare Organizational charts District-wide and
begin to add workload and processes to them.
28.

• Each high school and division and department will
  develop an approved organizational chart. The
  organizational chart will be posted on the
  Districts web-site.
• Organizational charts have been completed of all
  District divisions and school charts will be
  completed by February 1, 2004. (Warren Williams)
• All charts are completed and will be standardized
  by June 2004. (Warren Williams)

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Every job in the District must be defined and
given a productivity measurement and/or load
amount.
29.

• The Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources
  will rewrite the Grossmont Union School District
  Job Descriptions in compliance with the
  Americans With Disabilities Act. The essential
  functions of each job will be clearly identified.
  Each job will be closely aligned to the actual
  job performed. Each job description will be
  successfully bargained with the appropriate
  association.
• Although classified jobs were reviewed and
  updated to include current job duties and current
  federal and state guidelines within the past few
  years, we have asked FCMAT to review all
  classified and certificated job descriptions as
  well. Adjustments will be made as needs occur.
  Certificated job descriptions are being reviewed
  according to the established timelines and as new
  jobs are created. Employee associations are
  consulted as is consistent with law. (Brian
  Smith) Timeline June 30, 2005

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Discussion should begin with the unions regarding
implementation of an Employee Suggestion Program.
32.

• This recommendation will be discussed with the
  Grossmont Education Association since this is a
  collective bargaining item.
• An employee suggestion program will be placed on
  the District website.

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Approve appropriate research to analyze how a
Student Retention or Customer Service could
positively impact the District.
33.

• The District will use existing codes to study
  ways of retaining more students. In addition,
  the District will use ROP and SDCOE trainings to
  improve customer service.
• A report was given to the Board at the December
  11, 2003 meeting about the flow of students in
  and out of our schools. In light of the data,
  the position of Drop out Recovery Specialist was
  also discussed and 14 employees have expressed an
  interest in being trained. (Jim Peabody) Time
  line June 30, 2004
• The fourteen employees have completed four
  courses and one employee is starting a pilot
  program. (Jim Peabody) Time line June 30, 2004

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Look into how a donation program and related
public relations campaign could be pursued by the
District as well as very possibly at the school
site level.
38.

• This concept will be taken to the Governing Board
  for discussion and possible approval for each
  high school.
• Fund raising efforts have been mobilized for the
  current bond campaign. (Catherine Martin)

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Certificates of Participation (COPs) should no
longer be considered a viable option for periodic
revenue enhancement/bridging.
43.

• The Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent
  of Business Services will not recommend that the
  Governing Board approve a future Certificate of
  Participation to enhance or fund a future public
  project unless no other funding process exists.
• This has been included in the March 2nd Bond.
  (Bob Cornelius)

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Delay future salary and benefit negotiations
until after the State budget is adopted and site
census counts are determined.
45.

• Failure to discuss these issues would constitute
  an unfair labor practice and would be in
  violation of the law. No salary or benefit
  settlement agreements will be entered into until
  after the student enrollment and the State budget
  has been determined for the 2003-2004 school
  year. The cost of health benefits for the
  employee has increased District-wide by 1.4
  million dollars effective January 1, 2004. This
  equates to 70 dollars per employee per month.
  The District fund, which would assist in
  defraying the cost of dependent coverage, has
  completely disappeared. This issue needs to be
  addressed in a spirit of mutual problem solving
  with the Associations or the District runs the
  risk of alienating its employees.
• Bargaining for the 2004-05 school year will begin
  during the summer of 2004, after the state budget
  is adopted. (Brian Smith)

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Hire a full time grant writer to assist those
needing help in grant writing.
49.

• The District will hire a grant writer when the
  budget permits.
• Currently, the District is contributing general
  fund money to assist Information Technology
  Services (ITS) in writing and monitoring grants
  for the District. The current amount of general
  fund money contributed will be transferred from
  the ITS division to the Educational Services
  division for this purpose. When outside
  consultants need to assist in writing grants on
  behalf of the District, this will be done in the
  future under the direction of the Assistant
  Superintendent of Educational Services. (Jim
  Peabody)

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Set highest priority on improving ADA, with
attention on determining the actual loss, and
strategies developed for recapture.
59.

• The District will establish its own Community Day
  Schools for GUHSD students and collect the ADA
  rather than send these students to the San Diego
  County Office of Education. The District will
  improve the process of enrolling students into
  Chaparral and reduce the loss of ADA. The
  District will establish alternative day schools
  (with different operating hours) and expand the
  choices for alternative education students. The
  District will continue to enforce the ten/five
  day absence rule to pass a course. The District
  will continue to report to the Governing Board on
  a monthly basis the ADA for each school in the
  District.
• The District has two community day schools with
  approximately 120 students. Every attempt has
  been made not to refer students to SDCOE schools.
  On rare occasions some exceptions have been made.
  We have developed an independent study program
  for students referred to Chaparral. They are
  enrolled immediately and work on appropriate
  material until they can start attending classes
  on the Chaparral campus. When we have the funds
  to add staff we will open additional community
  day schools and after hours alternative programs
  at comprehensive high schools. The District is
  still enforcing the attendance policy to receive
  credit in a course. (Jim Peabody) Timeline
  June 30, 2004.

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Expand Saturday Schools image beyond a
disciplinary chore of academic challenge and an
exciting learning experience.
62.

• A District-wide Discipline Committee (teachers,
  classified employees, and administrators) will be
  formed to investigate student discipline in the
  entire District. The effectiveness and
  appropriate use of referrals, suspensions,
  Saturday School, School Attendance and Review,
  early detection and intervention, campus
  security, electronic surveillance, armed police
  officers, tardies, detention, etc., will be
  reviewed.
• The District-wide Discipline Committee will meet
  this spring. (Jim Peabody)

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Review the present instructional program to see
opportunities to improve programs for the
non-college bound.
69.

• The District will review the present
  instructional programs for non-college bound
  students.
• The District is offering academies at several
  sites. They include Academy of Information
  Technology, Travel and Tourism, Health
  Occupations, Virtual Enterprise, Multimedia and
  Communications, Academy of Finance, Fire Science,
  Restaurant Services, Agriculture, Teacher Prep,
  Administration of Justice, Drafting Technology
  and Engineering. In addition, we offer ROP
  courses not affiliated with one of the academies
  at all of our sites. (Jim Peabody Terry Ryan)
  Timeline June 30, 2004
• Career Technical Education received a
  commendation from the Coordinated Compliance
  Review from the California Department of
  Education. It read, The District is commended
  for maintaining a robust vocational education
  program that includes business, building trades,
  woodshop, metal shop, and automotive repair, at a
  time when school districts abandon such programs
  without much hesitation.

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Undertake an individual student-tracking-system
as a performance base line, beginning with data
from the feeder school Districts and following
the student through to graduation, and including
an early-warning-alert-and intervention system
students get back on track.
71.

• This is in response to recommendations 70 71.
  (See the response to recommendation 63). In
  addition the District is working with
  Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College on the
  Cal-Pass Project which tracks district curriculum
  programs and can determine which curriculum
  programs are the most effective in teaching
  students necessary skills which are required at
  the various levels in grades K-16. The District
  will be working with the K-8 feeder districts
  over the next two years to get individual 8th
  grade student data transferred onto the GUHSD
  student database. This will allow the District
  to more accurately determine student academic
  placement and to better determine individual
  student educational needs in advance of student
  arrival into the District.
• The Performance Profile has been put into
  production. (Warren Williams Jim Peabody)
  Timeline June 30, 2005.

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It has been suggested that there may be certain
limitations or restrictions on using outside
funding sources to pay coaching/Athletic Director
stipends. The issue is outside funding sources
to pay coaching/Athletic Director stipends. The
issue is whether or not this is something that
has to be negotiated as part of the collective
bargaining agreement. Outside (Boosters) should
be able to pay stipends.
81.

• This is not really a recommendation it is an
  editorial comment on the Rhodda Act which
  established the collective bargaining process for
  school employees in the State of California. The
  law is clear that all forms of compensation for
  coaches is a term and condition of employment and
  is subject to the collective bargaining process
  and must be done through the exclusive bargaining
  agent (the Teachers Association). There is
  simply no way around this without violating the
  law.

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The GEF or other support organizations (booster
clubs) should be encouraged to promote a Hall of
Champions or Hall of Fame honoring graduates
who have succeeded in sports, business, fine
arts, etc. Marketing should include the sale of
advertising rights for school facilities.
However, high standards should be adopted before
such advertising is approved. Field or facility
naming rights should only be granted after
consultation with fund-raisers and/or marketing
personnel.
86.

• When the GEF is revitalized, the District is in
  support of a Hall of Fame or Hall of
  Champions and a Wall of Honor for those
  graduates who died defending their country. It is
  recommended that the District proceed with
  extreme caution in the sale of advertising
  rights.
• No change. (Catherine Martin) Timeline June
  30, 2004.

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Co-sponsor an overall Blue Ribbon commission
for East County to look into expanding and
improving fields and facilities, as well as
developing and funding programs for athletics and
arts.
91.

• The District will work to strengthen the existing
  relationship with various entities in East County
  to expand and improve athletic and arts programs.
• Meetings with agencies have occurred and will
  continue. (Bob Cornelius)

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102.
Research the possibilities of increasing early
retirement options through PARS, and/or utilize a
multi-bid process to compare other alternatives
(possibly in conjunction with the unions.)

• Early retirement incentives options will be
  explored.
• (Brian Smith) Timeline 2003-2004.

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The Grossmont Union High School District would
like to sincerely thank
BLUE RIBBON COMMISSIONERS For The Efforts They
Invested on Behalf of Students and the Community