The Healdsburg Unified School District School Board of Trustees has a busy agenda on tap for its next regular meeting on Sept. 15.
The board will consider taking action on amendments to the district’s COVID-19 protection plan and will consider approval of an agreement with Maxim Healthcare Staffing for assistance with COVID contact tracing and testing.
District staff will also provide updates on student enrollment and staffing, the Acosta Educational Partnership, high school courses and among other topics, the unaudited budget for this fiscal year.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. and will take place at Healdsburg City Hall at 401 Grove Street. Masks are required for attending the in-person meeting, however, folks can also watch the meeting live on Facebook.
Student learning topics/Equity and school culture
This section is chalk full of agenda items, including a board consideration of the approval of several amendments to the district’s COVID protection plan.
COVID-19
Many of these amendments, such as changes to quarantine rules and guidance on masking, were discussed during last month’s board meeting, however, there are a few new amendments based on state health department guidance regarding school based extracurricular activities.
According to a statement from the California Department of Public Health dated Sept. 1, “Masks are required for all persons while playing all indoor sports, unless wearing a mask during play has been determined to pose a choking hazard by a well-recognized health authority, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
For the playing of musical instruments where masks cannot be worn, the recommendation is to play outdoors.
To view the full department of public health statement included in the agenda packet, click here.
Due to the need for support on COVID testing and contact tracing, the district needs to partner with Maxim Healthcare Staffing, which would come with an hourly fee of $45.
Ideally, the company would provide a certified nursing assistant, medical assistant or EMT.
Enrollment
District staff will also discuss district enrollment, which has been declining over the years.
According to district data, the average class size for grades K-2 is 16.8 and the average class size for grades 3-5 is 19.17. In grades 6-8 the average class size is 23.5 and for high school class size is about 24.7.
Acosta Educational Partnership
Erin Fender, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, will discuss with the board the possibility of continuing the partnership with the Acosta Educational Partnership, the group that has been working with the district for a year, “to strengthen the connection between our schools and the larger community, particularly our Spanish speaking community.”
Acosta has provided districtwide professional development, training sessions and consultation on working to create some sort of equity curriculum.
Acosta is a professor at the University of Arizona and has taught high school history and ethnic studies in California before moving into the college system. Carlos Hagedorn of the educational partnership, is based in Napa and has worked in Napa County through the Legacy Youth Project.
High school curriculum
The school board of trustees will also consider approving the 2021-22 PLATO/edmentum credit recovery course list for Healdsburg High School andMarce Becerra Academy.
According to the agenda item report, “The administration and staff collaborated to choose two new courses for students to recover 11th grade seminar credits. Those courses are, Personal & Family Finance (10 units over two semesters) and Workplace & Internship Readiness: Preparing for work and life (5 units over one semester).”
Fender will also provide an update on revisions to designated English language development, however, this topic will be a discussion only item.
Other notable agenda items
Before the unaudited budget presentation, the board will review a few other agenda items.
These include consideration of approval of the revised certificated substitute teacher pay rates for 2021-22 and consideration of approval of the turf field project at Healdsburg Junior High School.
School business/budget
Debbie Odetto, the district’s director of business services, will provide a report on the 2020-21 unaudited actual budget.
The first interim budget report was approved by the board in December 2020. The second interim was approved in March 2021 and the estimated actuals for 2020-21 were approved by the board in June 2021.
Odetto’s report will highlight key points of the 2020-21 actual revenue and expenditures.
