La Jolla High School Governance Committee
Report on Meeting of December 17, 2002
 
 
In attendance:
Administration:  Dana Shelburne
Classified: Shirley Moak
PTA Reps: Melissa Cunningham, Jane Jones, Patti Nussbaum, and Kathleen Steele
Foundation Rep: John Boller
Students: Alex Fortes and Soraya Gheissari
Teachers: Steve Grant (for Oscar Rodriquez), Leigh Hallenbeck, Kerry Johnson, Carole LeCren, David Mika, and Joanne Wainscott
SDEA Rep: Ken Davis
Guests:
 
 
1.  Call to Order:  Carole LeCren called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.
 
2.  Minutes:  The minutes of November 26, 2002 were approved with corrections.
 
3.  Agenda Items – OLD Business:
* CPUs and Blueprint Money:  Dana Shelburne reported that William Pickering will be looking into our budget and seeing what, if anything, he can make of it.  We will wait for a report from him.      D. Shelburne also reported that the District foresees a $70 million budget shortfall.  Patti Nussbaum asked about the GATE and Special Ed numbers form the Budget Department’s Final Allocation sheet (distributed at the 11/26 Governance meeting).  D. Shelburne stated that the Gate numbers have a predetermined cap, and Special Ed have their own way of calculating numbers.
 
* Discipline Committee:  There was nothing new to report from this subcommittee.
 
* Master Schedule Sub-Committee: The first meeting was held on December 3, 2002.  Some topics discussed were class size, new courses, and current course offerings.  Carole LeCren asked for input on where this group should go from here.  Some issues included: course wish lists and minimum enrollment for courses. D. Shelburne reported that some possible new courses for next year include AP Environmental Science, Ethnic Studies, Film as Literature, Astronomy, and Geography.  Steve Grant suggested a process be created for the addition of new courses.  (Create wish list and prioritize it, seek interested faculty to teach the course, analyze costs, and assessment of master schedule impact by administration/counselors)  P. Nussbaum offered to take this issue to the PTA for input.
 
* List of Governance Issues: Tabled.  Carole LeCren and Kathleen Steele to work on this list on their own.
 
4.  Agenda Items – NEW Business:
* 9I Budget:  D. Shelburne asked the group to make a decision on the allocation for the 9I – Peer Enrichment Program Budget (previously 4M).  As recommended by Shirley Moak, it was decided that the allocation of $17,280 would be divided equally between the “Inservice Day to Day Visiting Teacher Program” and the “Conference Fees/Local/Site Dir and Supervision Program.”   Any future questions regarding reallocation of these funds will be directed to C. LeCren and she will email the group.
 
* Projected Reductions:  The District faces a large financial shortfall and Principals have been asked to make cuts to help with this.  Some of the cuts will be in the athletic programs.  D. Shelburne reported that there will be no gas reimbursement for winter and spring sports, no new uniform purchases, a reduction by 50% for all supply budgets for sports, and reduced tournament fees.
 
* PTA Newsletter:  The issue of printing the PTA newsletter was discussed.  D. Shelburne stated it was not his intention to force the PTA to find a new printer, but that our current copying machines are extremely overloaded and will need to be replaced much sooner than we thought.  Kathleen Steele stated the PTA newsletter is a school newsletter and should therefore be printed at the school.  Melissa Cunningham added that the newsletter accounts for only 3% of the total LJHS printing.  Other ideas raised were to offer the newsletter by email or post it on the website.
 
 
2:30pm:  It was moved and seconded that the meeting would continue for another 15 minutes.
 
 
* Spring Open House Format:  It was decided that this topic should be brought up at the next department chairs and staff meetings.  Things to consider: What are the goals for this day? Could it be done on a minimum day where teachers stay in their rooms and parents walk around visiting?
 
* Moratorium on Vacation Homework:  D. Shelburne mentioned that he reminded teachers of this at the last staff meeting.  Carole LeCren will send an email to all staff reminding them not to assign new group projects, or assign new large assignments over break.
 
* Bev Greco’s Contract:  D. Shelburne asked the group to decide whether or not to extend Bev Greco’s contract as our “staff developer.”  It was moved and seconded to do so.
 
 
 
Meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
 
 
Next Meeting:  January 28, 2003