Answers to UDJ Questionnaire

By David "Dave" Johnston

The Ukiah Daily Journal asked each candidate to briefly answer a number of questions. Here are my responses.

Please answer the following questions and return to udjfeatures@pacific.net. Please limit each answer to 150 words.

1. Why would you like to be elected as a Ukiah Unified School District Trustee?

I grew up in Ukiah. I attended Ukiah Unified schools including Yokayo, Frank Zeek, Redwood Valley and graduated from Ukiah High School. I am a product of this community and I believe I owe the community a debt. I spent 14 years working in public education seeing first hand what worked and what didn't work. I'm a parent of 8 children and 5 ½ grandchildren. My children and grandchildren have attended, are attending or will attend public schools. I want my children and grandchildren to receive the best possible education. That education will serve them as they enter higher education or the world of work. They will depend it for the rest of their lives. I believe in the time I've served on the board that I have made a positive impact on the district. I would like the opportunity to continue to represent our community on the board.

2. Cite three things specifically that you like to achieve during the four years as a Trustee if you are elected?

The first priority is to raise student achievement. Our children only get one chance for an education. While our schools have been improving, the improvement isn't fast enough. Only about 42% of our students are at grade-level in language arts and 45% are at grade-level in mathematics. As a district, we need a greater sense of urgency in raising achievement. In these challenging times, the goal has to be to keep the district fiscally solvent. If we don't the State of California will step in and take over our district resulting in a loss of local control for a decade or more. Finally, I am eager to find a way to improve collaboration and communications in our district. I believe everyone shares a common goal of serving the children of our community. We need to find better ways to work together to improve the education we provide our children.

3. What, if any, would you change regarding the current administration if you are elected?

As one of seven board members, you have the opportunity to work as a group to improve the operation of the school district. While the district isn't operating perfectly by any means, I believe many positive changes have taken place during my time on the board. The administration's effort to align what happens in our classrooms with the strategies used by successful school districts is critical. If we are going to meet the needs of all of our district's students, those practices need to be implemented more widely and deeply in our district's classrooms. I believe we need a greater sense of urgency to increase student academic achievement for all of our students. Our students are getting an education today. They can't wait for the adults to get their act together. They need our best efforts to provide that education, which they will use for the rest of their lives.

4. Considering the ongoing budgetary issues, what would you do as a Trustee to help provide solutions?

The district is dependent upon the State of California for a large portion of its budget. While the district must approve a budget by June 30th, it often doesn't know how much it will receive in state funding until the state budget is passed, often after the school year has begun. The district needs to follow "hope for the best but plan for the worst" approach when it comes to the budget process. Some have suggested the district shouldn't worry about the about the worst-case scenario because it never happens. Unfortunately, to ignore the worst-case means you have to guess right each and every time. If the district were to ignore the worst case and then be proven wrong when the worst case scenario occurs, it is likely the district wouldn't have the financial resources to avoid severe, unanticipated cuts at best and would face a state takeover at worst.

5. Do you support the UUSD building a new district office? If so why? If not, what would you do differently and where would you spend those millions of dollars?

Yes, I support the construction of a new district service center. The trustees of the district have planned to replace its second former mortuary district office since 1998. The current facility is sub-standard and does not meet the needs of the district. Many staff members that should be in that facility are housed in other locations throughout the district because there simply isn't enough room. Those staff members deserve a decent place to work. Years ago the board set aside $5M for a new district office. Over time it was spent on school site projects. That money is no longer available to build a district office. In fact, since 1998 the district has spent about $100M on school renovation projects. Since there isn't any other funding available for replacing the district service center, redevelopment funds are the last available option if the district is ever to build a new facility.

6. How do you feel the UUSD's redevelopment funds should be used most effectively?

The vast majority of redevelopment funds come from the city redevelopment district. The boundaries of that district are a subset of the city limits. While the funds are intended to be spent within the those boundaries, the redevelopment board can make a finding that a particular project will benefit the residents of the redevelopment district even if the project is outside those boundaries but inside the city limits. This exception has been used to expend redevelopment funds to make repairs at Yokayo and Ukiah High. The funds are also limited to capital projects such as building construction. They are not available for salaries, benefits, supplies or other typical school expenditures. As a result, the funds should be used at sites within the city limits. The funds should be used for projects where there are no other available funds to pay for the project.

7. Prioritize the following issues: Classroom supplies, increasing teacher pay, new administration building, school reopenings, student test scores, class size, curriculum changes, increasing administration pay, avoiding layoffs, maintaining school facilities, building new school facilities.

It is difficult to prioritize these issues without additional information. For example, the district would only need to reopen schools or build new school facilities if our enrollment dramatically increases which isn't likely to occur soon. Additionally, there are different funds for ongoing expenses and capital expenditures that won't be reflected in this list. Some of the items don't clearly describe what you mean. For example, what expenses are you referring to when you list "Student test scores" as an item? Ignoring those concerns, I'll rank them as best I can.

• Student test scores
• Classroom supplies
• Class size
• Avoiding layoffs
• Curriculum changes
• Maintaining school facilities
• School reopenings
• Increasing teacher pay
• Increasing administrative pay
• Building new school facilities
• New administration building

I believe early interventions with students who are falling behind are critical to student success. Schools that are doing a good job in raising student achievement have a well-defined system of assessments and interventions so that as soon as it is determined that a student is falling behind, steps are taken immediately to re-mediate the necessary knowledge and skills. While UUSD is moving in that direction, there is much more that needs to be done to put in place such as system. I believe the district needs to do a better job of identifying and verifying the identification of students receiving services such as Special Education, English Language Development, GATE, etc. Frequently once a child is identified as special education or an English learner, those designations follow the student throughout their educational career whether or not they still need those services.

9. What do you think can be done to help teacher union and classified employee union relations with the UUSD administration to avoid further grievances?

Unfortunately, grievances can occur when two groups look at the same contract, read the same language, but come to different conclusions over the meaning of that language. Both sides know that they're right and the other side is wrong. That's why we have a grievance process. My hope is that we can find ways to make better use of the informal stage, the first step in the grievance process to resolve the issues before they get to the more formal part of the process. I believe adults can settle their differences if each side is willing to consider the other perspective and work together to find a solution that is mutually agreeable.

10. What would you like to see done with the currently vacant campuses in Redwood Valley and Hopland?

Of course the ultimate goal would be for the district's enrollment to rise to the point where we need to open them again as schools. Enrollment has improved the last two years, so perhaps we have seen an end to the trend of year after year declines in enrollment. In the mean time, I would like to see an educational or community organization that can make good use of the facilities enter into a lease to utilize it for programs that benefit our community. It is a shame that the buildings must sit idle.

11. Do you think it's important for each campus to have a health tech and nurse on campus during the entire school day and why?

It is important that students have access to appropriate health services such as that provided by district Health Assistants and Nurses. In an ideal world, we would have both nurses and health assistants available on each campus during the entire day. Unfortunately, the budget situation is far from ideal. At this point, the best the district can do is to provide the services that our students need with the limited staff that we are able to fund from current resources. Many districts have been forced to reduce staffing for school nurses and health assistants in recent years. When the board discussed the possibility of reducing health assistants last year, staff provided comparisons of the staffing at UUSD schools vs. other schools in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. UUSD compared favorably with those other districts.

12. Should it be mandatory that campus libraries be staffed with librarians and open to the students during the entire school day without restricted hours? Why?

No, it should not be mandatory. It is important for students to have access to the learning resources contained in school libraries, but budget realities do not let UUSD staff libraries at elementary and middle schools to that level at this time. Students at Ukiah High have access to their library with appropriate staff for the entire school day. While the hardworking Library Technicians that staff elementary and middle school libraries are only at each site for a limited time each week, teachers have access to those libraries throughout the school day. If they want their class to be able to access the library outside of their scheduled library time, the teacher can take their class to the library. Hopefully, as the district's financial situation improves or we find other resources, we can once again increase the number of hours that the libraries are staffed.

13. As budgets continue to be tight, where do you think the best areas are for savings money?

A little known fact about school finances is that 80-85% of their resources are spent on staff salaries and benefits. As a result, any time significant expenditure cuts are needed, layoffs have to be considered. There simply isn't enough in that other 15-20% to avoid layoffs entirely. During my time working in public education I learned that every program has people who support it. This idea has been reinforced during my time on the board. Any time you consider a program for reductions, there is someone who believes that program is the single most important aspect of the district. There are simply no easy answers for budget savings. All the easy decisions have already been made. The best approach involves the entire education community including staff, parents and community members working together to identify the cost savings needed to keep the district fiscally solvent.

14. Do you consider the district's relationship with its charter schools healthy? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, I believe the district's relationship with local charter schools is healthy. It certainly isn't a perfect relationship, but I have seen significant improvements in that relationship during my time on the board. The adversarial relationship that existed in the past did not serve the district or the local charter schools well. The district has an oversight role in ensuring that the charter schools remain fiscally solvent, provide the program they have promised and serve the needs of all of the students who attend. District staff takes that role seriously and do their best to see that the charter schools are treated fairly and professionally.

15. What does the UUSD do best? What does it do poorly?

The district has an outstanding staff. The staff members of the district are some of the most hardworking and dedicated educators that I have had the privilege to know. While we may not always agree on specific strategies, I am convinced that staff members want to provide the best possible education to the students of our community. I believe our staff members are connected to the community in a way not found in all public agencies or school districts. I believe the district is not yet meeting the educational needs of all students. While there has been improvement, too many students have not mastered the knowledge and skills for their grade-level as evidenced by their results on the California Standards Test, California High School Exit Exam and the CSU Early Assessment Program. As a district, we need to better prepare our students for higher education and the world of work.