Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Paso Robles Joint Unified School District

I am a problem-solver, and believe that my teaching experience and work in each branch of our District has prepared me to serve on the Board during this period of major budget cuts. We have two ways of approaching the $2.7 million dollar reduction to District income. First, the certificated and classified groups, Administration and individual programs can fight for their "piece of a shrinking economic pie", grabbing what they can at the expense of the others. Or, we all can work together, collegially, toward the same mandated primary goal: SUPPORTING A WELL ROUNDED EDUCATION FOR OUR CHILDREN.

To do this, this district will need to:

1. Develop Better Communications:

We need to develop better communications between the parents, teachers, support staff,administration at the site and district level, and the school board. Everyone in the district will be affected by these budget cuts. It is necessary to coordinate with all of the "stake-holder" groups that will be affected and get their input and ideas about HOW and WHERE to implement the budget cuts, and WHAT the consequences of such cuts will have in our classrooms. Parents should be an integral part of these discussions as well, as THEY have more "at stake" than any other group!

2. Protect the Elective Classes!

We must protect the Sports, Music, Drama, ROP and other elective classes at our school sites. These programs are essential for a well rounded education and must be continued. Not all of our students will be going on to college. How is our District preparing them for the job market? This district is first rate when it comes to teaching academics, but what of the other aspects of life? We are not all gifted in the same way. Our children must have the opportunity to explore different learning experiences to help them "find their way" into self-supporting adulthood, and our elective classes help them with this.

3. Develop Alternative Funding Sources

If we are to continue servicing the needs of our students as well as we presently do, we need to actively look for alternative funding sources. This will mean "thinking outside of the box" and will take flexibility. We've recently spent a large sum of money to re-roof our high school. Could we have worked with a solar company, as a San Diego school district did, to have the roofing replaced, solar panels installed, and a twenty year service agreement signed? That District got new roofing and its care for twenty years while lowering their electricity bills. Could we do this too? Such alternatives need investigating.

4. Review the Structure of District Administration

Could the structure of the District administration be modified to save money while becoming more effective? Many site administrators think so, and want more responsibility for their own schools and what happens there. They mention that the layers of bureaucracy impede their ability to run their schools as effectively as they could. This situation should be examined.

5. Keep our Excellent Teachers and Administrators

Finally, our district has a basic problem that, over time, must be addressed. The California Teacher's Association reports that San Luis Obispo county, in the area of teacher and administrator wages, is the second poorest paying county in California. We are losing top-notch school administrators to other districts where they receive significantly higher salaries. As one superintendent put it, "When you pay third tier rates, you get third tier administrators". New teachers can't afford our housing market and are moving elsewhere. Of my 27 student teachers, only one teaches in this district. Other similar school districts around the state are paying around ten thousand dollars a year more than what this district is paying. This district needs to become competitive in the job market once again if we expect to draw the best educators to our schools and classrooms. With our existing budget crisis, this will be a long-term challenge we can address in small incremental steps.

So, our district faces some harsh problems. I would like to be on the Board to help solve them. Tim Gearhart