District Accountability Committee (Nov 5)

District Accountability met on Nov. 5th.  Topics covered were:

Reviewed the Districts Improvement Plan and made recommendations regarding section 4 - Parent Engagement to include activities for various parent groups (ELL, SpEd, GT) and community partnerships (ASU & TSJC) as well as discussed ways to keep parent engaged through all school levels.

Discussed Parent Teacher conferences and the results of the pre-scheduling at OMS.  Brainstormed on ways to improve the process further including the recommendation that all teachers be available for PT conference along with a discussion on ideas to make this happen.  More discussion on this topic at the next meeting.

Discussion on the use of funds the district received for the sale of Boyd & Evans.  BAC recommended textbook purchases and will continue this discussion at the next meeting as well.

September DAC

The first District Accountability Committee (DAC) Meeting was held on Tuesday 9/4.  We are in DESPERATE need for more parent involvement on this committee.  This is the committee that can make the most impact in the district as it involves all the schools and has the ear of the school board too.  The charter of the accountability committees is to measure the adequacy & efficiency of the educational program.  We also handle issues that arise building or district wide.  Building Accountability Committees (BACs) feed building level information to the DAC.  Please consider joining us at our next meeting on Oct 1st at the school district offices (next to the Middle School) from 5:15 - 6:45.

Key items from this month's DAC were:

•  3-5 Parent Drop off loop graveling (1-1/2" gravel, 4" deep) is only a few days from final approval and will be completed prior to winter weather.  Cones are placed daily to delineate the drop off area and a duty teacher assists with crossing the bus lane.
• School Lunch times have been extended, two serving lines are being run and lunches are mixed grades. This is improving the issues at lunch.  More tables have been ordered (in addition to the ones already received) to accommodate the larger Kindergarten class this year.
• DAC priorities on School Budget:

o   Keep class sizes in line with district guidelines - K-2 is running average of 21.5 students/class (K-20.3, 1st-21.6, 2nd-22.4).  Added one Kindergarten teacher to handle additional class size.  3-5 is running an average of 22.6 (3rd-22.4, 4th-22.7, 5th-22.1).  Requested additional data on OMS/AHS class sizes.

o   Don’t cut specials - more elective offerings at OMS/AHS than previously.

o   Make technology updates at OMS/AHS a priority - new computer lab being added to AHS.  Funds from sale of Open High will go directly to OMS/AHS technology needs.

• Parents Needs Assessment - the Unified District Leadership Team reviewed the Parent Survey sent to all parents in May of this year.  Three items were added to the district improvement plan as a result of this survey:

o   Welcoming Environment - the district will create a welcoming environment for all parents

o   Restructuring of Parent Teacher conferences - to include pre-scheduling appointments

o   Additional training/information on Power School

Each School Building Accountability committee will use their building's data to create actions on those 3 items as well any individual school items based on the survey.  Copies of the survey results will be available to the DAC & BACs by the end of the month.

DAC selects next years officers on Monday

The District Accountability Committee (DAC) meets at 5:15 on Monday May 7th at the District Offices (209 Victoria Ave) and will be selecting officers for next year's DAC.   If you're interested in being a more involved, this is a great opportunity to do so.  The DAC meets just once a month for 1.5 hours and is THE PLACE to know what is happening at ALL the schools!    We encourage you to show up at Monday's meeting (the last of this school year) to see what it is about and sign up to help out next year.

Coleen Astalos (DAC Current Vice Chair)

District Accountability Meeting (4/9)

District Accountability Committee (DAC) meeting was held on Monday, April 9th:

- Parents Needs Assessment drafted by A-PAGE to gather input on parents needs on behalf of the Unified District Leadership Team went before the DAC. Some minor changes were requested. Parents can expect to get this survey in the mail towards the end of the month to be returned before school ends.

- DAC has requested that the district consider implementing a 1-5 rating scale evaluation at the end of each PLC day to gauge the effectiveness of that days PLC activities.

- Sale of Evans resulted in $1,175,000 for the district. This is a one-time thing and the funds have not yet been spent. Capital improvement projects will be looked at along with supplementing cuts that may come from the state level. However, the funds can not be used for anything that would require sustained levels of future funds (such as salary increases).

District Accountability Meeting (3/5)

District Accountability meeting was held on 3/5 at Ortega Middle School.

Data from the A-PAGE parent survey as well as calendar input from each of the buildings teachers was presented to the Calendar Committee. The district stated up front that they would not consider a 4-day student week and that any discussion on that topic would need to be school board driven, not parent/teacher driven. The drafted calendar will be presented to the teachers on 3/7 at their PLC and will not be provided to the DAC until after that time. The calendar will go to the school board for approval on 3/19.

The K-5 BAC report included a request for bids for gravel for the 3-5 overflow parking lot and an update that the extra lunchroom tables arrived with one being broken upon arrival.

The OMS BAC requested ideas for Parent/Teacher conferences from the DAC. Two suggestions were provided: 1) Job Fair type format – all teachers in cafeteria so you can see who is available. 2) Have Principal network with other principals to find out how it’s done at other schools.

District Accountability Meeting (2/6)

The District Accountability Committee met on 2/6.

- The calendar committee for the next school year calendar has been established. Teacher input has already been requested. A-PAGE drafted a survey to request parent input and the DAC approved sending a paper copy of the survey home with parents. Watch for it late this week from your children. Parent input will be provided to the Calendar Committee for consideration along with teacher input.

- K-5 gravel for overflow parking lot is being pursued by Mr. Alejo.

- The district website was reviewed and comments from the DAC review incorporated into the website. Webmaster contact information was added to the bottom of the main district page to direct any comments/corrections on the district website.

- District budget review and current year spending is in line with the percent of the school year that has elapsed.