LOWER LAKE ?Consensus provided by the Konocti Unified School District (KUSD) board of trustees Wednesday in its budget process, will allow for the rescinding of all pink slips recently issued as precautionary to district teachers.
The consensus came during discussion of the Working Draft Zero Based Budget Model item concerning student services and English Language Development Services.
The item describes where such instructors are to be placed throughout the district. The item is to remain at its current status.
“If this passes, I could rescind every pink slip to every teacher we gave one to,” Superintendent Bill MacDougall said. “We had enough retirements to cover all the Reduction in Force (RIF) notices given.”
The board went line-by-line through the proposed budget with MacDougall requesting direction, at least, on the basic and non-controversial items, such as setting a school calendar.
A more detailed plan regarding alternative education was requested by the board. The priority programs and programs restoration plan was tabled for further exploration as well.
Trustee Mary Silva expressed concern in regard to the re-configuration of the district”s transportation plan. According to Dana Moore, director of classified services, there has been consistent deficit spending in transportation within the district.
He said that the KUSD typically receives about $700,000 for transportation from the state.
He said the additional $350,000 needed to fund transportation is usually allocated through the general fund. The idea behind the reconfiguration of bus routes is to put stops in heavily populated areas. Board policy states that kindergarten through eighth-grade students are not to be picked up within a mile of their school site. High school radius is two miles.
Moore said he determined the location of the new bus stops under a three-quarter mile radius for elementary school students. He said the new configuration evenly places bus stops outside that radius at about a half-mile apart.
Silva”s concern was not only for the safety of children, who she said may be walking to school alone and in the dark, but also for the potential loss of Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding. ADA funding is a primary funding source public schools.
She said that inclement weather, among other factors, may have a potential to decrease student attendance.
Reconfiguration of district bus routes is expected to be fully implemented by May 21. In the meantime, Moore will continue to follow the model and monitor student attendance.
The district will be conducting town hall meetings to discuss the proposed changes to the bus routes. Meetings are scheduled at 6 p.m. as follows: April 16 at Burns Valley School; April 17 at Pomo School; and April 24 at Lower Lake High School. (Discussion will include bus routes serving Carl? High School students.)
In other school news, California School Employee Association (CSEA) President Annette Fender brought to the board”s attention loss of revenues being experienced within the food service department. She said that the charging mechanism for student meals is flawed in that the system stops recording expenses when a student reaches a $200 cap.
She said when a student who qualifies for free or reduced meals does not fill out the proper paperwork the department begins to lose revenue once that $200 cap is met. She requested the board look into creating a policy to recapture those funds. Board President Anita Gordon thanked Fender for the information and indicated the subject could be an item of board discussion in the near future.
