It is recommended that the Board of Trustees take action to elect the following officers:

President

Vice President

Clerk

Trustee Representative

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES TAKE ACTION TO ELECT OFFICERS FOR 2021: PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, CLERK, AND TRUSTEE REPRESENTATIVE.

The following appointments will be made by the Board President: 

Secretary of the Board

Legislative Representatives

Liaisons to San Mateo City Council

Liaisons to Foster City City Council

Liaison to the San Mateo - Foster City Education Foundation

Liaison to PTA Coordinating Council

Liaison to the District Special Education District Advisory Council (SEDAC)

Liaison to the District English Language Advisory Council (DELAC)

Liaison to the Sanctuary Task Force

Liaison to the Equity Task Force

Liaison to “Home Room Committee”

Liaison to Communications Committee

Liaison to Labor Management Initiative (LMI)

Due to erosion and shifting of the soil, the slope on a walkway within the Meadow Heights Elementary School campus has exceeded that allowed by code. This has resulted in a safety issue and trip and fall hazard. Concrete steps need to be put in to solve the issue.  The stairs will be built between the wings of the school on a daily path of travel.

FIRST INTERIM FINANCIAL REPORT

Background

The District must file two interim financial reports with the state each year. Attached is the draft general fund summary of the First Interim report for 2020-21. This report includes actual revenue and expenditure information from July 1, 2020 through October 31, 2020, and projected expenditures through June 30, 2021. The District is submitting the First Interim Report with a positive certification, meaning it can meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year and the two subsequent years.

Revenue

Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)/Revenue Limit Sources includes: LCFF Base funding (primarily local property taxes), LCFF Supplemental funding, State Special Education funding, and Education Protection Account (EPA) from Proposition 30.

Federal Revenue includes: Special Education funding for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV allocations, CARES Act, and reimbursement for Medi-Cal billing. All Federal Revenue is legally restricted and subject to specific federal documentation and reporting requirements.

State Revenue includes: Lottery revenue, Mandated Block Grant reimbursement, After School Education and Safety (ASES), Tobacco Use Prevention and Education (TUPE), One-time discretionary funds for 2020-21, and the STRS On Behalf State Contribution (this is a paper only entry as STRS expenditures are increased by the same amount).

Local Revenue includes, but is not limited to: Parcel Tax revenue, Rental Income (includes leased site, field use and facility use fees), PTA donations, Safe Routes to School grant, and interest.

Carryover Balances

The changes presented at First Interim include adding expenditure carryover for district restricted programs. When the books are closed for the prior year, balances remaining in certain programs are eligible to be designated as restricted or deferred, and are carried over into the following year when they are reintroduced into the new budget at First Interim.

Expenditure accounts are increased with the addition of the carryover funds. The addition of these expenditures to the budget creates additional deficit spending at First Interim and throughout the year. The amount of the deficit will lessen when the books are closed and as actual expenditures are known.

Salaries

Certificated salaries vary from the original budget due to vacancies, leaves of absence, and staffing adjustments. Staffing changes were made between projected salaries and actual placement on the salary schedule for each new hire. The First Interim includes costs for salary schedule movement for years of experience and educational units (step and column) for certificated employees.

Classified and Management salaries are also adjusted to reflect actual costs of step and column increases for 2020-21.

Benefits: STRS and PERS Rate Increases

Health and welfare changes include the STRS On Behalf contribution. This expenditure is offset by a corresponding increase to state revenue.

STRS retirement rates are budgeted at 16.15% for the current year and 15.92% in 2021-22. PERS rates are budgeted at 20.70% for 2020-2021 and 22.84% the following year.

STRS and PERS rates are increasing over the next few years to address the unfunded pension liabilities of each retirement system. For STRS, the rate increases are set in statute and distributed amongst the state, employee contributions, and employer contributions.

PERS rates are set by the PERS Board and are adjusted annually. Employee contribution rates (for “classic” members) will remain at 7%.

Basic Aid Fair Share Reduction

The Basic Aid Fair Share began as a reduction to state categorical funding for districts that were Basic Aid funded in 2013-14. While the District was Basic Aid for a brief period, including 2013-14, the “Fair Share Reduction” is an ongoing annual reduction of revenue to the District in the amount of $1.74 million.

The District is Basic Aid, or Community Funded, for the 2020-21 school year and is projected to remain Community Funded through each of the years in the Multi Year Projection.

Upon Board approval of the First Interim Report, it is submitted to the County Office of Education for review and approval. Final submission is to the State.

The LCFF Budget Overview for Parents was established to increase fiscal transparency for stakeholders.  The LCFF Budget Overview for Parents is usually included as a cover to and adopted along with the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) in June of each school year.  Senate Bill 98 eliminated the 2020-21 LCAP requirement and changed the adoption date for the LCFF Budget Overview for Parents.  For 2020-21, the Budget overview for Parents must be adopted and submitted on or before December 15, 2020.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ADOPT THE 2020-2021 BUDGET OVERVIEW FOR PARENTS.

With the passage of Measure T, the School District will be undertaking many projects over the next decade funded by the Measure as well as other funds that become available to support projects identified in the District’s Facilities Master Plan for the New Decade as well as related projects. 

The vast majority of these projects will require review and approval by various State agencies.  Since school districts are established by the State as State entities, the improvement and addition of school facilities requires approval of a variety of State agencies depending on the nature of the project.  For example, the State’s Division of State Architect is charged by law with reviewing, approving and monitoring all public school facilities projects and the California Department of Education is given the responsibility by law for approving all new sites to be acquired for new school projects and for reviewing and approving the educational specifications for all new schools as well as existing schools in which school facilities will increase the existing facilities by a defined percent.

Because of these State approval and oversight responsibilities for public school facilities, the Legislature enacted and the Governor signed legislation many years ago which would enable school districts to exempt themselves by a two-thirds vote of the trustees of the school district from local jurisdictions’ planning, review and approval processes (California Government Code Section 53094) when the new and/or modernized facilities will be for the benefit of education and used for educational purposes.  It is important to note that the District will still need to obtain permits for Grading and Encroachment into the Public Right of Way where necessary for any specific project.

The attached Resolutions would, if adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Trustees, provide an exemption from the zoning and other ordinances respectively of the City of San Mateo, City of Foster City and the County of San Mateo for the projects in the Facilities Master Plan for the New Decade and other related projects as well as the Bowditch Measure X Phase II Project.  The Resolutions are very similar to those done in the past few years for the new school in Foster City (Beach Park School) and the Measure X projects in San Mateo.

Pursuant to State law, if the Resolutions are adopted, the Superintendent will provide notice of the adoption to the respective jurisdictions accompanied by the Resolution for that jurisdiction within 10 days of Board action.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVE BY A MINIMUM TWO-THIRDS VOTE RESOLUTIONS 14/20-21 (SAN MATEO), 15/20-21 (FOSTER CITY)  AND 16/20-21 (SAN MATEO COUNTY).