School board honors Jagielski with Vision Award

DOWNEY - "DUSD's vision in the area of culture," so began assistant superintendent for educational services Dr. Jerilyn King-Brown in presenting the superintendent's Vision Award to student services director Dr. Robert Jagielski Tuesday, "rests on three components: first, on respect, caring, trustworthiness, fairness, integrity, responsibility, and good citizenship - the ethical foundations on which our district is built; second, on the principle that the district has no institutional biases toward any race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, as well as on the fact that there are intense and unified efforts to ensure acceptance of individual differences and to advance appreciation of diversity; and third, on a belief that a supportive and nurturing environment promotes feelings of belonging, worth, and competence in every person in our district."She then wove Jagielski's personal and professional qualities into elements of Jagielski's years of service with the Downey Unified School District, noting his vision, compassion and innovative leadership in all the things he touched, emphasizing his decisive roles in such documented "positive" outcomes as the rise in students' attendance, reductions in dropout rates, the establishment of summer make-up classes, etc. "I have been Dr. Jagielski's immediate supervisor for over six years, and I am very proud of him," said King-Brown. Jagielski's family was in attendance. The former Gangs Out of Downey president also directs the True Lasting Connections Family Resource Center. Meanwhile, the members of Downey High School's CIF Southern Section (Division VI) wrestling team and head coaches Miguel Soto and Monico Enriquez, as well as assistant coaches Roger Rios and Adrian Enriquez, were recognized. Likewise recognized were the members of Warren High School's girls' CIF Southern Section (Division VI) water polo champions and head coach Josie Cordero and assistant coaches Janine Boutte, Gabriel Martinez, Stephanie Rosero and Mark Zuniga. In other action, the Board: •Gratefully acknowledged every bit of cash and in-kind donations from a variety of sources to benefit students and programs at the district, worth, as board member Barbara Samperi actually took the trouble of counting, over $16,000 - donors included the Rio San Gabriel PTA ($8,000), Porto's Bakery (some $6,500 worth of baked goods), Eleanor K. Eck ($1,000), MVE Transport, Soroptimist International of Downey and Pat Heineke; *Approved/ratified routine district business, including payment of convention and conference expenditures and other fees; payments for special education placements; purchase orders by the purchasing department; the issuance of payroll orders for hourly, overtime, and Civic Center performed by classified personnel, Adult School, and Food Services; B warrants covering the month of January, 2011; agreements with educational institutions for the latter to provide instruction services, including student teaching, specialized teaching, and special education; the agreements between the Downey Adult School and several clinics/medical groups for the latter to furnish practical training in the medical assistant, medical billing and coding, pharmacy technician, and phlebotomy technician programs; the renewal of an annual contract in one instance and a second year renewal of bid in another, to provide specialized services/products; a change order to a purchase order for a food product; accepting as complete fencing, concrete, electrical, and roofing work performed by various contractors; adjustments downward and upward as the case may be to the General Fund restricted budget and the Adult Education Fund unrestricted budget; the approval of the declaration and sale and/or recycling of district surplus property, while abating the income to the General Fund; a purchasing department transaction; the destruction of disposable district records (in this case Class 1, 2, and 3 records); and personnel items until subsequent action is taken by the Board; *Endorsed the six candidates (no DUSD delegate among them) to represent Region 24 (which includes DUSD) in the 2011 California School Boards Association delegate assembly ballot, the delegates to serve two-year terms starting April 1, 2011 thru March 31, 2013; the term of delegate Donald LaPlante who has represented DUSD expires in 2012; *Approved the special education settlement agreement regarding OAH case no. 2010080270 and authorized payments as set forth in the agreement (no further details provided): *Approved the revisions to Board Policy (BP) and Administrative Regulation (AR) 1221 on the 'Use of School Facilities' *Approved revisions to AR 3111, 2011-12 School Calendar: *Approved the schedule of regular board meetings for the 2011-12 school year; *Approved the lease agreement with Brookshire Partners for the use of a piece of property located in Downey and owned by DUSD; *Approved the proposed meal price adjustments for the 2011-12 school year, to meet new federal regulations requiring that meal prices be adjusted , effective July 1, 2011, to no less than the federal meal reimbursement rate; this means a reduced price co-pay of $0.25 for low income students will be collected starting next school year; otherwise, the adjusted price structure will be as follows: elementary grades breakfast (from $1 to $1.25); secondary breakfast ($1.25 to $1.50); elementary lunch ($1.50 to $1.75); middle school lunch ($2.00 to $2.25); and high school lunch ($2.25 to $2.50); *Ratified the abolishment of a handful of no-longer-deemed-essential instructional positions at three locations and the establishment of new comparable-scale positions, usually with limited terms, assigned to different schools and the Student Information Systems office; *Approved the proposed change to the basic function of Custodian, as delineated in a submitted job description, effective March 9, 2011, as well as the changes to the duties of 'Senior Accounting Assistant'; *Adopted Resolution No. 201011-08, 'Resolution to support placing a revenue extension measure' on the June 2011 ballot, in effect adding its voice to the call for a five-year extension of existing temporary tax increases to avert a further "calamitous" erosion of funds to schools; such a revenue extension "will protect our schools and students by making education a priority in our state," the resolution states; *Adopted a resolution (No. 201011-09) to "decrease the number of certificated employees due to a reduction or elimination of particular kinds of services" in Adult Education; to be terminated at the end of the 2010-11 school year as a result are two Arc teachers and two 'Office Skills' teachers; *Received the 2010-12 Second Period Interim Financial Report (as of Jan. 31, 2011), and approved the positive certification that DUSD "can meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the 2010-11 fiscal year"; and *Endorsed the actions of the superintendent on student cases. The next meeting of the Board will be at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12 at the Gallegos Administrative Center, 11627 Brookshire Ave.

********** Published: March 10, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 47