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Indian Valley Record Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011 5A
PUSD, from page 1A
increase in the number of A's
and B's and a decrease in D's
and F's from one semester to
the other.
Oestreich said there had
been some wrong assump-
tions about the rigor of the
classes and that instructors
would be paying more atten-
tion to the application
process so that only students
who were prepared for the
classes would enroll.
At Quincy High, the online
program took the form of
credit recovery for students
who were missing credits.
Sixteen students took 25
classes for 130 credits, with
only one student failing to re-
cover credit-- a performance
that elicited applause in the
boardroom.
SB48: FAIR act
Noting that there was
much public "angst" and
"misinformation" about the
act, Superintendent Glenn
Harris presented board mem-
bers with a draft statement
about the recently passed
Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and
Respectful Act (FAIR).
The act requires public
schools to instruct students
about the role that lesbian,
gay, bisexual and trans-
gender individuals and
Americans with disabilities
have played in American and
California history. The law
makes curriculum and text-
book standards consistent
with longstanding California
law prohibiting the disparate
treatment of individuals
based on their sexual orienta-
tion or disabled status.
The proposed PUSD state-
ment basically says that the
district is bound by the law
and suggests that those who
find it controversial take the
matter up with their state
representatives.
Board member Bob Tuerck
said he thought it was an
appropriate statement to
make and that the law would
encourage tolerance and lead
to less bullying.
Member Bret Cook said
he was "disturbed" by the
"politicization of education"
and suggested that the act
raised issues that will likely
be worked out in court.
Although the board agreed
that it would be useful to
have the statement on the
district website and available
in hard copy, the act will
have no immediate effect on
instructional materials in the
district.
Harris explained that the
state is usually on a seven-
year adoption cycle for text-
books, but that process is
currently suspended. Accord-
ing to the Association of
California School Adminis-
trators, school districts "may
consider supplemental elec-
tronic materials or other
resources to assist in
updating their social science
curriculum."
Tea party denied
The PlumaszSierra Tea
Party Patriots previously
requested that its members
be allowed to distribute
pocket copies of the Con-
stitution to students for
Constitution Day.
Harris presented board
members with a draft re-
sponse to the group declining
its offer because the version
of the Constitution it wanted
to distribute contained
"several quotes from the
founders that appear to have
been chosen and included
with a high degree of
editorial licensing."
The response also points
out that the publisher, the
National Center for Constitu-
tional Studies, is "neither
apolitical nor religiously
neutral." "Further, the orga-
nization espouses, and
publishes materials in con-
formitywith, specific reli-
gious principles that are
not approPriately distributed
to public school students."
Harris noted that when the
materials were previously
distributed to students, he
received several complaints.
Tuerck, an attorney, said
he agreed both personally
and professionally with the
statement. "We don't want to
politicize our schools."
Board chairman Chris
Russell agreed, saying it was
a "tough" situation.
Cook. also an attorney, said
he agreed "lukewarmly,"
noting that there were some
"great quotes" included in
the publication, but he had
issues with the publishing
organization.
Harris encouraged the tea
party to explore• other ways
its members could contribute
to local schools.
Superintendent contract
The board approved a new
employment contract with
Harris. Tuerck opened dis-
cussion by saying he thought
Harris had done a good job
on fiscal matters, but there
were still some areas that
needed addressing, like
personnel issues. He said his
only hesitation was with the
length of the contract -- four
years
Cook said he, too, thought
the board should "err on the
side of caution" in regard to
the term of the contract. He
said he did not think he had
been on the board .long
enough to fairly evaluate
Harris' performance.
Terms of the contract:
--Term runs July 1, 2011,
through June 30, 2015; board
may renew the agreement for
an additional one-year term
each year beginning June 30,
2012.
Salary is $117,554.81 for
the 2011-12 school year.
--Salary increases or
reductions are based solely
on performance evaluation.
--The board is prohibited
from reducing salary to an
amount less that the previous
year's base salary.
--Longevity increases will
be awarded after each two
years of service at a rate of
4 percent of salaw.
--An unsatisfactory evalu-
ation will postpone longevity
increases until a satisfactory
evaluation is earned.
--The board will evaluate
Harris annually.
--Fringe benefits include
medical, dental and vision in-
surance -- the same as the
district's management team.
--Harris earns 12 days of
sick leave per year, which
may accumulate .from year to
year without limit.
'---Harris gets a fully paid
term life insurance policy
with a face value of $250,000,
with the district as the bene-
ficiary for the first $100,000.
--Expense reimbursement,
including lodging expenses
due to unsafe road condi-
tions, is covered; 'reimburse-
ment does not include in-
district travel/mileage; out-
side travel is reimbursed at
IRS rate.
--District will pay annual
dues for Harris's Association
of California School Adminis-
trators membership plus
$1,000 a year for dues/
membership in a local
service club(s) of his choice.
--Harris earns 27 vacation
days a year, with no more
than 35 days accumulated at
any one time.
--Harris acknowledges
that he shall be on call to per-
form duties 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
--Harris gets an $800/
month vehicle stipend.
--He receives a $60/month
cellph0ne stipend, which
goes to $90 if Harris gets
a data plan that includes
email.
Quincy elementary schools
The board approved an
$8,700 contract with architec-
tural firm HMR Architects
for a feasibility study that
looks at the costs and bene-
fits associated with each
elementary school site in
Quincy.
The analysis "is to be
used by the District to assist
in determining which of the
two elementary schools is the
more appropriate of the two
sites to remain open."
Harris explained to board
members that yes, the dis-
trict's facilities committee
was looking at sites across
the county, but the analysis
needed for the Quincy
elementary sites was more
detailed and technical. For
example, the sites have
access issues.
He said the report would
go to the facilities committee
to help it in its work. He
expected the study to be
complete by the end of
August.
COUNTY, from p~g~ 1A
kind of a situation. And I just
want to say. that I think in
those 39 years I probably.
haven't seen a more savvy
board all around," Fites said
during the public hearing.
"And I commend you for
your efforts, and Jack and his
staff, because we've never
had it tougher than this.
But somehow I have the
confidence that you are going
to get us through it. Keep up
the good work."
The budget cuts were nec-
essary because the county
has $1.4 million less to spend
this year.
Most of the lost revenue is
because of declining property
values. The county's property
tax revenue, is down $700,000
from last year, and more than
$1 million over the last two
years.
As a result, county workers
are expected to begin fur-
loughs in the near future.
The furloughs will be in the
form of a reduced workweek.
Employees will work four
nine-hour days with Fridays
off.
The sheriff's office, proba-
tion department and the
district attorney's office are
exempt from the furloughs.
However, those departments
were cut in other areas. The
sheriff's office agreed to cut
its budget by $250,000.
The three departments face
a substantial increase in
expenses when the state
begins transferring inmates
to the county correctional
system in October.
County employees will also
begin paying an additional•
$50 per month toward their
health insurance.
The county is expected to
save more than $400,000
through the furloughs and
insurance concessions.
General fund appointed
department heads have also
been instructed to furlough
and pay the additional in-
surance premium. That will
provide an additional $53,657
savings.
The department heads
affected are: county adminis-
trative officer, county coun-
sel, planning director, facility
services director, building
official, information tech-
nology director, agriculture
commissioner, human re-
sources director and museum
director.
The county has eliminated
105 positions since the reces-
sion began. At least three
more jobs will be cut in this
budgdt. A job was eliminated
in the county administrative
office, records management
and the facilities department.
Staffing will be reduced,
but not eliminated, in the
Chester, Greenville and
Portola branch libraries.
The county's fair staff will
take cuts across the board.
On Aug. 2, the supervisors
voted to issue layoff notices
to the fair's manager and
fiscal coordinator. However,
the manager has agreed to
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take a 50 percent pay cut. The
cut originally included the
manager's benefits. But the
board voted to retain the
benefits and plans to renego-
tiate the contract.
The fair's fiscal coordina-
tor and maintenance super-
visor will take 10 percent pay
cuts.
County travel was cut by 50
percent for a savings of
$35,OOO.
Tourism funding
In a reversal of its earlier
decision, the board decided to
budget $78,000 for tourism
and economic development.
The board previously elim-
inated all funding to non-
county organizations. How-
ever, after much discussion
Aug. 16, the board changed
its mind.
Supervisor Sherrie Thrall
praised the county's cham-
bers of commerce for work-
ing together.
"I see them doing so much
good work and coming to the
table for the first time. in
years, working together,"
Thrall said. "Now they are
working together, and the
first thing we do to them is
yank the rug out -from under
them financially.
"I have a hard time funding
anything outside of the
county when I see that we
are barely able to cover
the things that are the basic
responsibility of Plumas
County to provide to our
citizens. But, by the same
token, I do believe we have to
invest something."
Supervisor Jon Kennedy
questioned whether $78,000
was enough to accomplish
anything. But he said it was
better than nothing.
"We gave (the visitors
bureau) $150,000 forever,
and then zero. There was
no weaning-off process,"
Kennedy said. "It still seems
a little irresponsible for us to
just kick 'em out the door."
The board voted to put
Ingstad in charge of deciding
how and when the $78,000
would be appropriated.
Potential legal expenses
For the first time during
this budget process, the
county decided to factor
potential legal liabilities into
its 2011-12 expenses.
County Counsel Craig
Settlemire recommended
adding $450,000 to the budget
for legal costs that could come
due during the fiscal year.
The costs, which could be
much less than $450,000,
prompted the supervisors to
increase the general fund
contingency account by
$100,000.
Ingstad said additional
money fromthe county's $1.9
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be used ff necessary.
Rumor control
The county's libraries are
not going to close. Limited
hours? Yes. Closing?. No.
During the public hearing
about a dozen community
members gave heart-felt testi-
monials about the impor-
tance of keeping the libraries
open.
The board was presented a
petition with approximately
300 signatures in support of
maintaining library services.
After nearly 20 minutes of
listening to passionate pleas
to save the libraries, Meacher
stepped in. +=": '-
"Did someotie tell you we
were closing the libraries?"
Meacher asked the audience.
"Would you raise your hand
if someone told you we were
closing the libraries?"
Glancing at the raised
hands, Meacher quickly
insisted that the board has
never mentioned closing the
libraries.
"Never," Meacher said.
"Never, ever.
"I got calls saying 'why are
you closing our libraries?'
It's very frustrating. I don't
know who starts rumors like
this. I don't know what their
purpose is m our community
to start rumors like this,"
Meacher said. "Shame on the
folks who start these sorts of
rumors."
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