DUSD wary of more possible budget cuts

DOWNEY - The DUSD Board conducted its midsummer meeting Wednesday instead of its usual Tuesday schedule and, with the majority of teachers and students off campus and the spirit of summer pervading everything, had no reason to dwell on any item on an abbreviated agenda that contained nothing more than routine matters anyway.Boardmembers Willie Gutierrez and Don LaPlante, though, weighed in on the state budget that just got passed. Gutierrez said the line item cuts and tweaking made by the governor "may not be the end of it," that we may still have to wait awhile before we can discern the budget's full impact. LaPlante concurred, and repeated his tirade against some of the state's policy and budget indiscretions. He cited, for instance, the waste of funds associated with the state's fiat that new history textbooks be adopted every seven years. He said the outline of U.S. history doesn't change from Independence Day till, say, the Civil War, so the seven-year change is just "a waste of money," oftentimes only benefiting fawning book publishers. In this, Boardmember Barbara Samperi also heartily concurred, suggesting that historical updates can be used as supplements only to the textbooks already in place. In other action, the Board: •Accepted cash donations of a) $2,000 from Carpenter Elementary School PTA in support of the school's student field trips; and b) $20,000 from Kaiser Permanente; $1,589 from Lewis Elementary School; $650 from Carpenter Elementary School; $474.56 from Old River Elementary School; $362 from the Price Elementary School fifth grade class of 2009; $282.11 from the Ward Elementary School Teachers/Staff Club; $200 from Price Elementary School; $200 from Robin Martin; $50 from Downey Church of Religious Science; and $20 from Kathy Dawnele and Ronn W. Guier, to be used in support of the TLC Family Resource Center; •Approved the payment of expenses for convention and conference attendance; •Ratified the general agreement with Devereau Texas Treatment Network for the 2008-09 fiscal year (July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009), which will provide special education and/or related services to LEA (local education agency) students with exceptional needs; •Approved the payments for special education placements covering Feb. 6-June 30, 2009; •Approved purchase orders by the Purchasing Department; •Approved the payments for hourly, overtime, and Civic Center work performed by classified personnel, Adult School and Food Services for the month of May, 2009; •Ratified B warrants; •Ratified the legal service agreements, to be used on an as needed basis only, with law firms Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo (effective April 1, 2009-June 30, 2012), as well as with Breon & Shaeffer (July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010); •Ratified the agreement with Educational Consulting Services to provide services for the Saturday School Attendance Recovery Program, effective July 1, 2009-June 30, 2012; •Ratified the contract for consultant services related to the requirements of the California General Industrial Storm Water Permit, as part of the California School Monitoring Group, with Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE), effective July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010; •Ratified the contract for transportation services (to individuals with exceptional needs) with LACOE effective July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010; •Ratified amendment No. 1 to the contract for consultant and coaching services with LACOE, effective Jan. 1, 2009-June 30, 2010; •Approved the 3-year agreement with School Wise Press for school accountability report card services, using software and IT, for 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11; •Approved the successor agreement with the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles for the Downey Family YMCA for the facilities and service child care programs at various DUSD school sites, effective. Sept. 1, 2009 through Aug. 31, 2014; •Ratified the agreements between Downey Adult School (DAS) Career and Education and Malu Calderon-Norton, DDS, Inc., The Children's Dental Center of Greater Los Angeles, Dental Care of Cerritos, Rebecca Irene A. Pena, DMD, and Smile Burst Dentistry, to furnish practical experience to students enrolled in the Dental Assistant program; between DAS and Marilou G. Cruz, M.D., and Ragaa Z. Iskarous, M.D., to furnish practical experience to students enrolled in the Medical Assistant program; between DAS and Healthpoint and Santo Tomas Medical Clinic, to furnish practical experience to students enrolled in the Medical Billing & Coding program; between DAS and California Pharmacy and Rivera Pharmacy, to furnish practical experience to students enrolled in the Pharmacy Technician program; and between DAS and Azusa Way Family Medical Center, Consultorio Medico Latino, Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care, and Para Latino Medical Center, to furnish practical experience to students enrolled in the Phlebotomy Technician program; •Accepted the 2008-09 annual report for the supplemental counseling program (including CAHSEE results) for middle and high schools pursuant to Assembly Bill 1802, as a condition of funding; •Approved the bid renewals for the purchase of produce products with ASR Food Distributors, Inc., of Commerce, and for the purchase of bread products with Gold Star Foods of Vernon, for the Food Services Department, to be charged to the Food Services fund; •Approved the change orders involving work done by various vendors/service companies as needed by Downey Adult School and Special Education Department, and for Warren High School's new library, classroom building and modernization projects, as well as Downey High School's new classroom building ("B") construction; •Accepted as complete electrical, roofing, fencing, backhoe, paving and concrete work performed by various contractors; •Approved routine personnel items until subsequent action is taken by the Board; •Approved the abolishment of one vacant nursing specialist position effective July 29, 2009; •Ratified the establishment of two new limited-terms position with duties corresponding to the current classification of Intermediate Clerical Assistant, assigned to Categorical Programs and Food Services; *Reviewed the proposed revisions to the Uniform Complaint Procedure, the Intradistrict Open Enrollment, the Identification of Child Abuse and Reporting Procedure, the Fees for Class and Lab for Adult School students, the Regular Part-Time Employees and Substitutes, and the Jury Duty and Subpoena program-all for updating purposes, all to be brought back for approval at the next meeting; •Approved the addendum to the Restated Employment Contracts for the superintendent, asst. superintendent of business services, asst. superintendent of instructional services, and asst. superintendent of personnel services, extending said contracts to June 30, 2013; to prevent any misunderstanding, LaPlante made sure it was clear to all that no raises were involved in these contract renewals; and •Endorsed the recommendations by the superintendent on waivers for all indicated student petitions, including the action taken on Student Case No. 200809-69. The next meeting of the Board will be at 5 p. m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25 in the Gallegos Administration Center, 11627 Brookshire Ave.

********** Published: July 31, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 15