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The start of school in the Saratoga Union School District has come and gone. But the district's board of trustees spent an Aug. 24 meeting preparing to make the school year as successful as possible.
Superintendent Lane Weiss said the district has a set of priorities for the year, including: professional and curriculum development; communication; developing an effective system to report budget information; performance evaluations; implementing new technology; and sustaining an atmosphere that promotes an organizational culture. While these goals are important, Weiss said he wants them to translate to enriching the learning experience of children.
"It's going to be a teamwork process," he said.
During the meeting, Weiss recognized the retirements of Anne Berger, district food services director, and Saratoga Elementary School kindergarten teacher Barbara Pon. Berger worked in the district for 15 years, and Pon leaves after seven years.
During the meeting, parents Yolanda Martin and Franchesca Contini voiced concerns with a new, modified minimum-day schedule that has been implemented districtwide. The pilot program lets students in grades K5 out of school early on nine Wednesdays throughout the school year and Redwood Middle School students out early on 14 days, giving teachers more after-school professional-development time. Martin said some parents were surprised and disappointed that after many problems with the schedule were brought forward last spring, the schedule was still altered and implemented.
"We are not in support of it," Contini added. "For some reason, our concerns were not taken into consideration fully."
Contini said some parents were under the impression that the new schedule was still open for discussion and improvements.
"It didn't seem like it was final," she said.
In response, Weiss said parents will have future opportunities to voice their approval or disapproval with the schedule, and should the program be found to not be successful, it could be recommended for discontinuation. Weiss also highlighted how the revised schedule has been communicated to parents through newsletters, fliers, meetings and the district's improved website.
"The board had to look out for the collective good of the community, and staff had to mitigate concerns," Weiss said.
On a more positive note, teachers in the audience were pleased that the board approved up to $40,000 in restoration of part-time positions that had been previously been cut, including custodial, gardening, secretarial and health staff.
The district's website is located at www.saratogausd.org, and the next board meeting will be held Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the district office, 20460 Forrest Hills Drive, Saratoga.
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