Features

The Berkeley Board of Education met for the last time Wednesday before breaking for summer. Board members will be back Aug. 22 for the new school year. 

Berkeley Unified School District superintendent Michele Lawrence thanked board members for their work in the 2006-07 school year and wished them a good summer vacation. Rio Bauce, who will be taking over from student director Mateo Aceves in the fall, was welcomed by board president Joaquin Rivera. 

The board continued the approval of the upgraded School Safety Site Plan to the next school board meeting. 

Measure BB approval 

Berkeley residents approved Measure BB to fund the district’s facilities department in 2000. The board approved the 2007-08 Measure BB plan Wednesday, which includes planned responsibilities and goals and provides a multi-year budget projection. 

The district currently has 26 sites and over 100 acres of land. Sixteen out of the 26 are K-12 schools and one is dedicated to the Adult School. A major portion of Berkeley’s public schools were built in the 1950s, but have gone through upgrades since then. Four schools were constructed over the last ten years with major new buildings added to Berkeley High School (BHS) and Longfellow. 

Board vice president John Selawsky noted at the meeting that accomplishments of the department included evaluation of the district’s heritage trees. 

The report also stated that trash and recycling expenditures were better organized and that more recycling was occurring. 

Small Schools Grant 

The board approved plans to apply for a renewal of the federal Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant that supports small schools at Berkeley High. 

The staff reports states that although the Berkeley High School small schools redesign has been successful since its inception, a lot of work still needs to be done. 

The SLC grant supports the development of the redesign at BHS. The small schools policy and comprehensive school site plan lays out a strong foundation for progress. Community members have also rallied behind the restructuring effort to close the persistent achievement gap at BHS. 

Small schools comprise one-third of the student body, but according to the Small Schools Guiding Principles half the students should be in small schools. Staff recommends the addition of at least one more small school to help lessen this shortcoming.  

According to the report, the racial achievement gap continues to persist at an unacceptable level. 

The last SLC grant along with resources from BayCES brought over $1.5 million to the district and BHS in support of the BHS redesign.  

Special education transportation 

The board approved partial implementation of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) recommendations on special education transportation. 

The team recommended that special education transportation management shift from the Special Education Department to the Transportation Department with regard to the operation of school buses. 

The team also recommended that the board “grant the staff the flexibility to utilize BUSD buses, publicly bid contracts, or a combination of both, to implement a revised special education transportation program sometime during the 2007-08 fiscal year.” 

This, the FCMAT said, could help reduce the district’s dependence on the number of taxi cabs being used to transport special education students. 

Other options to increase economic feasibility includes the purchase of additional buses, or entering into specific bids with district-approved external transportation vendors. 

Williams Case Settlement Report 

The Williams Case Settlement states that every district in California is publicly accountable to ensure that students have sufficient textbooks and instructional materials, safe school facilities and access to classes taught by credentialed teachers. 

Since Jan. 1, 2007, staff has received only one Williams case complaint about the lack of an evacuation plan from the second floor at King Middle School for two orthopedically impaired students. 

According to the report, “the risk management officer for the district has assessed the King facility and will complete an evacuation plan based on her findings.”