While Monday’s City Council meeting dragged into Tuesday, until 1:30 a.m., the city fathers were determining whether they would share their hallowed halls for even one night with the School Board.
Hours later, the Tuesday evening School Board meeting began in Closed Session with such items as reinstatement of duly rehabilitated and recalcitrant children in Culver City schools (names and addresses to be kept secret, but results announced at the public session of the Board); possible litigation, and the first spark of labor negotiations with all employee groups.
The negotiations are prompted by six straight years of state budget crises.
Shortly thereafter, the School Board meeting rocketed into one of its most interesting moments, covering everything from Environmental Committees to high honors for the Middle School to alerting the District's three major unions of negotiations starting as early as the first week of August for one bargaining group, and ending by 9:30 on the same evening as it started with no boring parts.
Proceeding with Alacrity
Board President Steve Gourley virtually pitched a perfect game, getting his teammates and the fans home by 10.
Vice-President Scott Zeidman similarly kept Mr. Gourley and the Board moving forward like George C. Scott moving in to relieve Bastogne.
Three public hearings were aired concerning new labor negotiations, with various people, well-known and well-respected, hoping that someday, any day, the budget news would be more positive.
All three hearings were completed in 20 minutes. Negotiations will begin almost immediately in an effort to hammer down the numbers quickly, bring down the budget numbers, and comply with state law.
Mr. Gourley received a letter from the Los Angeles County Office of Education informing him that Culver City’s budget had been declared “qualified” by LACOE, which was telling the District for the second consecutive time that their parrot was dead.
Mr. Gourley said the letter had been copied to no fewer than six other people at the County Office, meaning that the County Office had five supervisors for every letter-writer. “What do these people do for a living, and how can they justify their salaries?” Mr. Gourley asked.
In the meantime, the Board managed to learn that their concerns about the use of restrooms at permitted school properties had been addressed by both City and District staff;
People were being regularly ticketed for parking in red zones in front on the Middle School and high school (enough that offenders were beginning to complain to the Board, which had insisted on stronger enforcement in the first place). Home Economics and Spanish electives had been returned to the Middle School.
Proposals already had been received from three professional search firms to recruit a new superintendent;
In the much-talked-about change of venue for Board meetings, to Council Chambers, it was noted that the City Council would begin working immediately on making a night available that did not conflict with any other city event for the Board to “try out” the Council Chambers.
Board member Patricia Siever commended President Gourley on his letter to the City Council, and she praised Acting Supt. Patti Jaffe for staying until 12:20 a.m. at the Council meeting to make sure the proposals passed.
The Middle School had just been selected as a model school (the only one on the West Coast) by the prestigious National Forum to Accelerate Middle /grades /reform .
The Anti-Bullying Task Force would continue as modified as would the District Community Arts Team.
A new Environmental Suitability Committee (member Karlo Silbiger's suggested name for the group) would be named almost immediately. Interested people with a passion for the cleaning up the environment were encouraged to apply. The positions and applications would be posted immediately.
A new oversight committee reviewing the proceeds and expenditures of the Measure EE parcel tax that passed last November. It would be subject to all the requirements for public meetings by the Brown (Government in the Sunshine Act).
In Private or in Public?
The primary excitement of the night may have been Mr. Silbiger’s attempt to make all committees subject to Board appointment and the provisions of the Brown Act. While there was no support for his motion, there was support by the full board to include the “Silbiger Amendments” to all of the Superintendent’s advisory committees not subject to the Brown Act. This was intended to satisfy Mr. Silbiger and his colleagues that proper notice and organization had been applied to all committees.
Similarly, as it appeared that the entire Board was ready to approve the Environmental Sustainability Committee, with a ganglion of politically correct memberships, Mr. Gourley stated firmly (in a quiet but articulate voice often heard in corridors, but seldom on the dais) that the Environmental Sustainability Committee, not be chosen for diversity but for passion for cleaning up the environment and saving energy.
He did want a large group of people singing Kumbaya at every meeting but rather a small attack team that would quickly take on these issues. While Mr. Zeidman, Ms. Siever and Kathy Paspalis all agreed with Mr. Gourley, Mr. Silbiger made a pitch to add a PTA member and a student. Mr. Gourley said the student could be picked from volunteers from whatever environmental clubs or classes currently existed. He added that there had to be a highly qualified, impassioned environmentalist on the PTA. Thus, the environmental panel was set at seven, with a provision that all committees would be reviewed for size of membership in next June.
Ms. Jaffe noted that California had just been accepted as a finalist in the second round of Race to the Top. In a review of enrollment and predicted enrollment, Assistant Supt. Ali Delawalla, showed weariness by referring to the federal program as “Race to the Bottom.” He pointed out how low California had dropped in the last several years, and its current nadir as a funder of schools nationwide.
Ms. Siever importuned on her colleagues to allow her to take the lead with respect to setting visions and goals for the District so as to be a beacon for the employees and students in the future.
While the majority agreed that Ms. Siever was perfect for this role, Mr. Gourley suggested he would be willing to hear her compilations on the night that the School Board finally got to meet in Council Chambers in an effort to make short work of both projects. With that, a grateful motion was made to adjourn, the School Board and the crowd filtering out of the scruffy District Headquarters.
