for Larkspur-Corte Madera School Board
ENROLLMENT:
We have more kids! Our 2013/14 enrollment is currently at 2017/18 projections! Facility committees were formed in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In each case data given to these committees lead to different outcomes, first a new Kindergarten campus, then an upper and lower school at Neil Cummins (building costs were double at the San Clemente site per page 22 & 24 of the Facilities Master Plan under Administration/Facilities & Operations on the District Web Site), and finally, a third campus at San Clemente. In 2009 a consultant was hired to determine if parents were supportive of a bond measure, and they were! In 2011 we hired a demographer and put Measure A on the ballot. Construction plans for Neil Cummins and The Cove School were finalized in 2012.
My goal for future bond measures would be to speed up this process to help mitigate expenses and to provide relief more quickly to our school campuses, which have suffered due to the large number of students at each campus. The Cove School opens in 2014/15, approx. eight years after planning started... Also, due to higher density zoning passed by the Corte Madera Town Council, there are 180 apartments going into the old Wincup property. This and the project across from Hall are projected to add over 90 students to our District (see Demographer's projections for these two developments).
FACILITIES:
PHASE I: Prior to Measure A we had 45 classrooms at Neil Cummins. This included 24 rooms in wings A-C, 6 in wing D, and 15 in wings E-G. After Measure A, we will have 45 classrooms at Neil Cummins and the Cove School. 23 rooms in wings A-C, 6 rooms in wing D, and wings E, F, and G are to be removed because they are portables. The Cove School is scheduled to have 16 new classrooms.
PHASE II: The second bond measure is to add 4 classrooms to the Cove School and re-do Wing D from 6 classrooms into 4, for a net total of 6 new classrooms. Hopefully we can re-examine whether this will meet future requirements.
As a Board Member, I would like to see the Board propose two or three options with community involvement and have plans finalized with costs associated with the plan prior to putting a future bond measure on the ballot.
On a more disparate topic, I would like to examine the interest in building a gym or large multi-use space for the Cove School and East Corte Madera. I know this topic has come up in the past and I want to know how our community feels about this idea? I know a number of our after-school and athletic programs suffer due to the lack of gym and/or field space. Because gyms are expensive, I do not want to mislead voters, because I'm not sure if this can be accomplished in the next four years, but if the community wants one, I think we should work towards achieving it.
Why I'm running for the LCM School Board...
COMMUNICATION/CLARITY/TRANSPARENCY:
I would like to see more transparency around bond proposals, district budgets, and overall communication. I believe our District has worked on improving communication and a great deal is available on our websites now, which is great news! I would like to see our District websites be more intuitive, but having created my own web page for the first time, this may not be as easy as I would like it to be. Still, my goal would be to clarify categories and information on our web sites, and to improve the timeliness and accuracy of that information.
In addition, I would like for there to be improved communication with our teachers and parents regarding District decisions. For example, I could find nothing on shared spaces being added to Neil Cummins prior to the bond passing or construction beginning. The web site stated only modernization of wings A,B, and C and listed essential fire and earthquake safety upgrades etc. ...enhancing classroom technology infrastructure. While the finished product looks great, I don't believe the "shared spaces" were communicated to parents or teachers, and consequently I'm not sure they were desired or necessary. When you pour new foundations and add doors between the shared spaces, it costs more money and as a taxpayer, I want to understand how and why these decisions were made and whether it was the best way to spend our bond dollars? Are our teachers happy with their new classrooms? Is art now in the classroom, and if so, how does this affect our teachers time for planning lessons or working with smaller groups? How does sound work between classrooms? These are details that I would like to have communicated prior to construction to make sure there is agreement that this is the best possible floor plan for our schools, the most flexible, and the best use of our bond dollars. Nevertheless, the outside spaces look fabulous as does the rest of the campus, so we should be proud Hawks!
Finally, Board Members have a fiduciary responsiblity to their constituents, which include our taxpayers and the people that vote us into office. Therefore, it is critical that we be open to ideas different than our own, judge those ideas on objective measures and have the public weigh-in so that more comprehensive and thoughtful decisions surface. I will continue to ask the tough questions and not exclude or disassociate myself from parents who want to be involved with our schools. Our community is our greatest resource and my goal is to make people feel like they belong, no matter what their opinion...In education, I believe we call this Collaborative Learning!
What do I believe are some of the biggest issues facing our district?
I am running for School Board because I care about our schools and the quality of education they offer to our children. Good schools mean good neighbors. They help form community, especially if people understand the District's vision, because people get excited and want to participate in that vision. A good example of this is SPARK, which has grown from revenue generation of around $250k when I first moved into the district, to now earning over $1MM. They have successfully branded themselves; people now know what SPARK money goes toward, and people feel compelled to give because they can see their dollars at work. Likewise, our District has identified four to six key goals but we need to make sure people know what those goals are, what we anticipate the end result to look like, and then a road map of how we're going to get there. I will dedicate the necessary time and effort to make our District the best it can be. My goal is to have parents send their children to our school district because they believe it is the best education possible for their child. Our community will be proud!