Position paper

By Jim Gagnon

Here's my thoughts on concerns facing MUSD and my take on them.

I don't think like a politician.

By nature, I'm a problem solver. As a software architect and entrepreneur, it's what I've done my whole life. While one might think of these as technical or business concerns, both really boil down to organizing and appealing to groups of people, and dealing with the inevitable difficulties that result. While at first blush one might consider these political actions, I've never approached organizing my peers that way. I use notions of shared goals and common good while making the journey as enjoyable as possible as my motive forces.

The Mendocino Unified School District has just this kind of goal: the welfare and education of our children. As a father of two small children, nothing less is acceptable not only for the benefit of my children but also my community. To help the district do this requires the ability to listen, innovate, and actualize -- skills that I've demonstrated in the past and am eager to apply to the district's challenges.

The Budget Situation

A number of factors are working together to make the district's budget situation difficult. First and foremost is the never-ending California budget crisis. The pressure to reduce funding to the schools has been relentless, and currently the district is threatened with the loss of transportation funds by the trigger cuts.

Secondly, population demographics has been working against the district. Student populations have been declining for a decade and the trend show no sign of reversing. Part of this is due to the echo of the WWII baby boom (boomers' kids having kids) has finally worked its way through the system. Part of this is because of the collapse of the timber and fishing industries, long the linchpins of the local economy. And finally part is the high cost of housing in the Mendocino area. Put it all together and you have the family unfriendly formula that we see today.

I believe there are ways the district can enhance its revenues. First is to take advantage of the eScript program (http://escrip.com/program/about.jsp) and let the community's buying power contribute to the schools' bottom line. Second is to look at the district's resources and find new ways to apply them. I'm doing just that by co-ordinating a group of high school students interested in computer programming and channeling their talents to produce a piece of smartphone software that can be sold and the proceeds going directly into the district's coffers.

Facility Maintenance and Transportation

With forty nine acres of land and seven major building complexes, maintenance and ground's keeping is full time job for the district. One site in particular, the HIgh School, is particularly troublesome. An old collection of buildings exposed to the full brunt of the Pacific weather, it apparently requires more maintenance than the other building sites. Compounding the issues that many of the district's buildings are remote, so if additional supplies are needed for a repair that usually means the crew must visit again another day.

Transportation and bussing are another large expense for the district, and is one directly affected by the California budget situation. Should the threatened trigger cuts take place, the district could lose about $190K which would have to come out of the general fund. It's a difficult situation, but I feel we need to wait to see how redistricting affects the legislature's make-up; if the deadlock in Sacramento is broken, we may have a lot more flexibility than the situation today.

The Mendocino Rec Center

The financial world has a term for the condition one finds the MCRDP's (http://www.mendocoastrec.org/) finances: train wreck. I have a lot of sympathy for the current management; most of them aren't the ones that made the fatal decisions that have wrecked MCRDP, but it's their problem. I understand the decision has been made to close down the CV Starr aquatic center within the week, a loss to all living in the coastal area.

As MCRPD also runs the Mendocino Rec Center (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mendocino-Rec-Center/109468599078120), their weak finances threaten to take Mendo down with it. This is of concern to MUSD for two reasons: MUSD is the landlord of the old Mendocino school that houses the rec center, and MUSD must hold the community's children as its highest priority. It simply won't do to have the kids released from school at 2:30PM without anywhere to go.

Fortunately, the Mendocino community has realized the dire situation concerning the Rec Center and have formulated at least two separate plans to continue its operation should the MCRPD completely fail. I actively support each of these fall back plans and intend on closely monitoring the situation to ensure the Rec Center is a community resource for a long time to come.

Math Competence

As it stands today, half of all graduating high school students need to take remedial algebra upon entering college. We can do better than this, and we have done better in the past. Math is important, and the reasons why we have this problem today reach far beyond Mendocino and into Sacrament and its statewide policies and procedures. It will take five to ten years to fully correct this situation, and will require organizing with like-minded districts and affecting change at the state level. As a holder of a minor in Math and a near-daily user of applied mathematics, I understand the importance of math skills and lament how we're sending our kids off today. I vow to make fixing this a priority.

If you would like to know more about me, please check out my (out-of-date) resume at http://jimgagnon.net/resume or google "Jim Gagnon Abacus Concepts". Or simply talk to any of the parents of school-age children in Comptche. Finally, please feel free to email me at jim@electgagnon.com to talk issues or arrange a phone call.

Jim Gagnon