San Dieguito Union High School DistrictCandidato para Síndico, Area de Síndico 5

There are three primary issues facing the district:  1) deficit spending, 2) lack of sustainable leadership, and 3) ever increasing class size.  

San Dieguito is deficit spending and tapping reserves. Budget projections predict that the district will continue to operate in the red this year and beyond. If this continues, there will be no need for a board as the district will need to borrow money from the state to meet payroll and thus fall into state receivership. If this happens, the state will send in an administrator to lead the district. This person is both governing board and superintendent with the elected board relegated to advisory status. To prevent this from happening one of three things must occur:  1) identify innovative ways to attract students who have selected other schooling options, 2) make informed cuts, or 3) and combination of the above. The option that the district takes should be based on a full audit of the district spending, existing instructional programs, needed instructional and student support programs, and a thorough understanding of where kindergarten through 12^thgrade education is headed. 

The second issue, lack of sustainable leadership, I suspect is tied to the first issue deficit spending. The superintendent must be given the backing and protection necessary to ensure that the district remains fiscally healthy while ensuring safe schools, the social and emotional wellbeing of students and staff, and providing the best possible education for students who will be part of the workforce into 2050. 

Addressing class size is an issue that the entire school community needs to address through the LCAP. Parents need to be present at LCAP meetings and have their voices heard regarding their priorities and district spending. The board’s job is to then listen to them while ensuring fiscal solvency. 

As an educator for over 25 years, teacher, principal of turn around schools, supervisor of schools, leadership coach (elevating schools to newsworthy and national status), tenured professor at San Diego State University establishing international leadership programs and an online program in educational leadership now ranked 11^thin the nation, I believe I have the skill sets to collaborate with all stakeholders to move the district forward and ensure that our children are prepared for the workforce of 2025 and beyond.

Charters are public schools and the vast majority, like district publics, are NOT for profit. I support charters that are NOT for profit. Just as there are good and not so good district public schools, the same holds true for public charters. Hence, I view public charters the same way I view public district schools. I believe that families have an obligation to seek the best educational programs and fit for them and this means having access to all schools within their reach. 

Charter schools were established as a way to incubate new ideas and spark innovation in schools as well as to heighten competition so that all schools could continuously improve. Charters also offer choice to families who are looking for different and personalized ways to meet the needs of their children. Choices that don’t require home schooling or private schools. 

Unlike some, I don’t believe that public charters are taking money away from public district schools.  Instead, I view that as a declining enrollment issue. One that must be examined by those experiencing declining enrollment to determine reasons why. For any school to exist today, it must meet the ever changing needs of students and stay current with the changing educational platforms and practices or it will cease to exist and this goes for public district and charter schools alike. 

Today there are a plethora of web-based educational programs for high schoolers. Many program offer complete courses with exceptional instructional delivery. Examples of full course web-based instructional programs include those from the popular Khan Academy. Khan can be downloaded to every smart device for free and has a suite of full online courses including AP courses. Another is the University of California online courses, known as U C Scout. These have to be used with a teacher either on site or through the UC system. Then there are a host of support programs that schools can use to support the personal learning needs of each student including Achieve3000, Desmos, Pear Deck, Vocabulary, NoRedInk, IXL, Quizlet, FlipChart, Duolingo, and on and on. Because just about every child has a smart phone or laptop the district is in a position to leverage technology to the max and personalize student learning. Purchasing devices for those that don’t have them should fall under the proper and intended use of the districts Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control Accountability Plan, so everyone should be covered. 

This requires a paradigm shift on the part of all public school systems, using time and space differently and transitioning teachers from dispensers of knowledge to facilitators of the same.. The time for personalizing learning, providing opportunities for children to have a balanced learning experience bringing back cooking classes, sewing, woodshop, music, arts and crafts is also now in this new space. Parents ultimately will decide which schools and which educational systems survive; hence we must all listen to our constituents and understand the shift that technology requires.  

No, attempting to curb school choice in the digital age is futile and regressive. Because of the myriad of online educational options and the right of families to home school their children, curbing choice initiative may backfire leading to a bleeding out of students. Many of you reading this remember the Corona Typewriter Company. The company had an opportunity to work with Acer Computer Company to move into the age of personal computers. Corona believed their product would outlast time, shunned the notion and today they no longer exist. San Dieguito School District must change with the times and pay attention to technological advancements as well as the numerous learning options available to families at ever increasing rates. The district must find a way to stay relevant and useful. Rather than curb school choice, it must find ways to out innovate it.  

The first and foremost school strategy for socially and emotionally healthy students is strong connectedness to school. Every student at every school needs to feel like they belong and have healthy relationships with both staff and peers. This leads to a reduction in discipline and behavioral issues because staff will know when to support scholars with the myriad of challenges that may arise. 

For this to happen, school leaders must first provide training and resources to ensure the academic and emotional wellbeing of staff. Then the entire adult learning community can together ensure the academic and emotional wellbeing of students. One cannot happen without the other. This is done by providing professional learning opportunities on how to develop and sustain positive learning environments as well as an evaluation system that allows teachers and administrators to demonstrate their impact on the learning environment.

As San Dieguito is deficit spending and changes have to be made, restorative measures is a way to address both discipline and behavioral issues as well as to ensure and sustain student and staff emotional wellness.  

Restorative practices is an emerging social science that studies how to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities.It is a strategy that seeks to repair relationships that have been damaged, including those damaged through bullying. For high schools today, this practice is quickly becoming the leading choice for behavioral intervention and addressing discipline issues. 

Lastly, PBIS or Positive behavioral Interventions a Supports is a way for schools to encourage healthy behavior and improve school safety.  It’s also a way for schools to decide how to respond to students who misbehave. With PBIS, students learn about behavior, just as they learn other subjects like math or science. The key to PBIS is prevention, not punishment. 

PBIS has a few important principles, but the most important to me are: 1) each child is different and schools need to provide many kinds of behavior support, 2) stepping in early can prevent more serious problems, and 3) how schools teach behavior should be based on research and science. 

School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions  is a framework or approach comprised of intervention practices and organizational systems for establishing the social culture, learning and teaching environment, and individual behavior supports needed to achieve academic and social success for all students.