League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
	Jeff Cutuli Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Cambrian School District

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. How would you determine that the schools are using federal, state, and local funds wisely and fairly and how would you report your findings to the community?

I believe it is imperative to have a business plan, annual operation plans, financial decision-making tools, and financial benchmarks in order to make smart decisions to spend funds. The business plan is the map that guides an organization to achieve its near- and long-term goals. The business plan weaves the organization's vision, hard data, and business assumptions together to chart a direction for the organization to follow. It includes revenue forecast, which drives the financial plan (pro forma income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statements, capital investment plans, etc). The plan documents the strategies (what we will do) and many of the tactics (how we will do it) to achieve its goals. The business plan is not rigid, but dynamic and an essential business tool to guide the organization. The annual operation plan exists to support the business plan from year to year, including revenue forecasts and costs. Likewise, financial models are valuable tools to enable decision-making that keeps the organization on financial track. Smart managers use financial models to assess the financial impact of "what if" business scenarios (change), to evaluate the return on capital investment (payback, net present value of facility upgrades), or to quantify risks (probability that we will attain the desired payback). I highly recommend and promote the use of financial models for financial decision-making. It saves assessment time and expedites smart and responsible decision-making. Financial benchmarks would provide valuable feedback of business management performance. In a similar manner that teachers grade students (A, B...F) and the state measures academic performance (STAR testing and API), financial benchmarks help our administrators to turn weaknesses into strengths and continuously improve.

I would propose to simplify financial reporting so that it is easier for the public to scrutinize and understand. Currently, the School Board publishes financial information (plans, budgets, monthly expenditures, capital investment proposals, etc.) in the attachments of the School Board Meeting Agendas, which are posted on the District's web site. In general, this information is easy for the public to access; however, it is difficult to read and interpret without guidance or dialogue. By design the current Board Meeting does not allow opportunity for two-way discussion with the public. Home & School Clubs are focused on their own programs and financial objectives and do not and, frankly, should not be responsible to present and respond to the details of the School Board's reports. As a Board Member I would encourage the use of a "town hall" meeting to invite real time exchange between the School Board, Administrators, and the public. I would encourage the School Board to promote video streaming conference (i.e. Skype, WebEx, Go-to-Meeting, etc) and messaging technologies to open channels of communication with the public.

At some level, the business plan, annual operation plans, financial plans, financial benchmarks, other business related documents, as well as academic reports and presentations should be available for easier access to the public for review and comment through the District's web site or blog. PowerPoint presentations, charts, and excel spreadsheets are not self-explanatory, therefore the Board and Administration needs to provide their written interpretation with data, reports, plans and presentations that they publish for public viewing. I believe the Board and Administration are responsible to facilitate exceptional communication with the public. The resumption of the Superintendent's Quarterly News Letter might be a good start to report financial performance, revive communication, and invite the public involvement.

2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students?

Yes and No. The 2009 Academic Performance Index (API) for the Cambrian District is exceptional with a score of 878 out of 1000. However, there is a performance gap between our demographic groups with the API ranging from 650 to 960. Clearly, we have students at both ends whose needs are unique and require different teaching strategies to achieve their potential. Accelerated programs are essential to keep our high achievers engaged and challenged. Likewise, our lower performing students may greatly benefit from other programs, for example: pre-school programs, smaller classes, reading focus, individualized educational services, parent resources, social thinking, or after-school support. I'm committed to help all children to be remarkable learners by supporting teachers creative freedom in the classroom and by finding the financial resources to provide more services.

3. Where do want the district to be 5 years from now? What steps should the district take to get there?

I want to see the academic performance gap shrink between our major demographic groups. We could do this by directing resources and recruit volunteers to mentor parents to more effectively work with their children from pre-K through 8th grade. Also, I would promote on-line or take-home summer school to minimize the loss in academic skills and knowledge over the course of summer vacation. Both supervised and self-study summer programs have helped students to maintain and advance their skills in reading, writing and math. It is common for students to be promoted to an accelerated class or skip a grade in math by pursuing a self-study summer studies.

Most important, I want to see the school district to be fiscally sound and responsible in order to keep our focus on our vision, mission, and core competence of academic excellence and safety. To do so, we need to apply financial models to help us make wise decisions under-uncertainty, create new revenues streams, improve assets management, adopt frugal spending habits, eliminate redundancies, install technologies to enhance student learning, make facilities improvements with quick financial payback, foster volunteerism, corporate involvement, and minimize the student-to-teacher ratio. If our current business plan is not sustainable, then let's develop and implement a new business plan that is tailored for our new economic reality and enables us to attain exceptional performance.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. Answers must not refer directly or indirectly to another candidate.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 29, 2010 14:06
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