3 Parents filed separate Special Education complaints against the District.

Settlement 1: Parent requested an independent educational evaluation (IEE) in the areas of psychoeducational and academic achievement.  The District filed for hearing to defend its assessments.  The purpose of this Agreement is to resolve any and all issues regarding Student’s special education program through the 2021 extended school year at which time Student matriculated to high school

Settlement 2: Parents unilaterally placed Student in a private school.  The District maintains that it offered Student a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The purpose of this Agreement is to resolve any and all issues regarding Student’s special education to date. Parents and Student recently located out of the District.

Settlement 3:  Parents unilaterally placed Student in a private school.  The District maintains that it offered Student a free appropriate public education (FAPE).  The purpose of this Agreement is to resolve any and all issues regarding Student’s special education through the 2021 extended school year at which time Student will matriculate to high school.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVE THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $105,000.00

$105,000.00

On March 21, 2019, the Board of Trustees approved the contract for Rodan Builders Inc. for the New Gymnasium/Classrooms Project At Abbott Middle School, per bid on March 12, 2019 for $15,781,000.00.

The District, in working with Rodan Builders Inc., encountered a need for changes with items listed in the attached change order.

the cost of Change Order No.8 is $39,725.00, which is .25% of the original contract. To date the Change Orders 1-7 is $809,367.00, which is 5.13% of the original contract.

The new contract amount for Rodan Builders Inc. is $16,630,092.00, which is within the Measure X Budget.

On August 12, 2021, the Board of Trustees approved the contract for Colony Landscape Maintenance for the Turf Site Work Project at Beach Park Elementary School for the amount of $197,125.00. 

The District, in working with Colony Landscape Maintenance encountered a need for a change with the item listed in the attached change order.

The cost of Change Order No.1 is $10,05000, which is .5% of the original contract. The new contract amount for Colony Landscape Maintenance is $207,175.00, which is funded by Measure T.

On May 20, 2021, the Board of Trustees approved the contract for Reilly Construction, Inc., as one of Measure X Projects, regarding the Borel Middle School Existing Weight Room Project in the amount of $118,000.

The District, in working with Reilly Construction, Inc., District requests, necessary field changes, and corrections.

The cost of Change Order No. 1 to the original contract is $9,409.30 (7.97% of the original contract).

The new contract amount will be $127,409.30 within the Borel Middle School Existing Weight Room Project budget.

Measure X Funds 

$9,409.30

On May 7, 2020, the Board of Trustees approved HMC Architects, as the architectural firm for the George Hall Multipurpose Building Project.

Since then the scope of the project has been modified to include an additional estimate and increased accessibility improvements. The Architect will provide additional services related to added scope.

To implement the above services, HMC Architects submitted an additional service fee. HMC Architects services of $821,406.00 will be increased by (but not-to-exceed) $6,435.00, for a total of $827,841.00.

The voters approved temporary sales and income tax increases with Proposition 30 on November 6, 2012; and voters approved Proposition 55 on November 8, 2016 which allowed the sales tax increase to expire in 2016 while extending the increased income tax rates through 2030.

The revenues generated from Propositions 30 and 55 are deposited into a state account called the Education Protection Account (EPA). The EPA funding is estimated to be $200/ADA.

At the beginning of each year, the Department of Finance will estimate the amount that will be transferred into the EPA.  This revenue is included in the District’s multi-year projections.

EPA revenue funds will be deposited into the resource 1400, using revenue object code 8012

Along with the funding source came additional reporting requirements: 

Each year the Board of Education must approve a spending plan for the EPA money

1. The EPA funds cannot be used for the salaries or benefits of administrators or administrative costs.
2. The District must publish on its website the amount of EPA money received and how it was spent.
3. An annual audit will be required to verify that EPA funds were spent in accordance with the requirements of Proposition 30.The cost of this audit can be paid with EPA funds.

 Spending Plan:

The District plans to use 100% of the EPA funding for current certificated teacher salaries and related benefits. The estimated EPA for fiscal year 2021-2022 is $2,232,280.00

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 05/21-22 FOR EDUCATION PROTECTION ACT FUNDS AND PROPOSES THAT THE FUNDS BE SPENT ON CURRENT CERTIFICATED TEACHER SALARIES AND BENEFITS, AS PRESENTED.

The Appropriations Limit, commonly referred to as the GANN Limit, was established by Proposition 4 in 1979 and amended by Proposition 98 in 1989 and Proposition 111 in 1991.  Article XIIIB was added to the State Constitution and established limits on allowable growth in state and local government spending.  The Appropriation Limits allows government spending to grow at a rate no greater than the California per capita personal income inflation and the change in population. 

The District is required to calculate the limit each year according to prescribed formulas, make these calculations available to the public and present the calculations to the Board of Trustees for adoption by resolution.

Per the State Report, the Appropriations Limit for 2020-21 is $122,259,067.67 and the appropriations subject to the Limit is $121,399,048.79.  The amounts exceed the limitations by $860,018.88.  The Preliminary Appropriations Limit for 2021-2022 is $123,486,388.55.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 06/21-22 REGARDING THE ADOPTION OF THE APPROPRIATIONS (GANN) LIMIT FOR 2020-2021.

As the report indicates, the District's Adjusted Appropriations Limit increased over the appropriations subject to the Limit. There is an excess appropriations to notify the State for 2020-2021. 

The Board of Trustees has the authority under the provisions of Education Code Sections 39520, 39521, 39522, and 39523 to dispose of tangible surplus property if it no longer meets the needs of the District. Board Policy 3270 adopted June 5, 2014 describes the appropriate process for surplus and disposal of said property.  

The following property will be declared surplus to the needs of the District as it is inadvisable to repair and/or is obsolete: 

• College Park-- Disposal of obsolete computer equipment.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 7/21-22 AUTHORIZING CERTAIN PROPERTY SURPLUS AND AUTHORIZING THE DISTRICT TO DISPOSE OF IT IN ACCORDANCE WITH BOARD POLICY 3270.

Per Board Policy 3312, the Board may, by a majority vote, delegate to the Superintendent or designee the authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the District.  To be valid or to constitute an enforceable obligation against the District, all such contracts must be approved and/or ratified by the Board.  Contracts are available for review upon request in the Business Services department.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVE THE LIST OF CONTRACTS AND CONSULTANTS OF $45,000 and UNDER.

Board Policy 3314 states the following: It shall be the practice of the administration to present the Board of Trustees with copies of all warrant registers for information and review at each regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees. As Policies 3100 (budget) and 3110 (transfer of funds) provide criteria for Board authorization of all expenditures, both personnel and non-personnel items, prior to the actual payment of the obligation, warrants will be distributed to the vendors and employees after audit by the County Superintendent of Schools.

Education Code Sections 42631-36 requires the Board of Trustees approve all expenditures made by the District.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVE THE ATTACHED DISTRICT EXPENDITURES.

The San Mateo-Foster City School District is a K-8 educational organization tasked with providing high quality programs to over 11,000 children. We educate children from highly diverse communities. Our schools are characterized by their programmatic uniqueness and their local history. For these reasons, I believe strongly that establishing monthly Board & Community Workshops.

The current strategies we utilize to engage parents are limited to emails, automated phone calls, automated letters, and public comment at school board meetings. Much of the time, communication is one-way and minimizes the richness of parent/community voices.

The proposal included herein explains a new strategy called Board & Community Workshops (BCW). This strategy is equity-focused and will greatly increase parent involvement in the district. It will also create a path for Board members to talk openly with parents/community members without the contraints built into the system of Board Meetings which are governed by the Brown Act.

The SMFCSD prioritizes the safety of all students and staff. Administration strongly recommends that we communicate early and often when our local air quality becomes unhealthy.

SMFCSD Student Services officials monitor daily air quality conditions at 9am, noon, 3pm, and 6pm. Staff utilize information from airnow.gov which receives information courtesy of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

SMFCSD utilizes the School Air Quality Activity Recommendations created by the California Department of Education. Unfortunately, there is no statewide guidance regarding the identification of an Air Quality Index (AQI) number that woul result in a decision to close schools. Rather, each school district must use data from their regional air quality management district to determine the appropriate time to close physcial campuses.

One unique consideration in 2021-2022 is the growing concern regarding the Delta COVID-19 variant, the need to ensure air movement in indoor settings, the likelihood of classrooms eating/playing indoors, and the data indicating that poor air quality conditions are related to increases of COVID cases.

The SMFCSD is beginning the process of creating a 2022-2027 strategic plan. The district has not had a strategic plan since 2018. Establishing a strategic plan will result in the establishment of a five (5) year road map that will define the focus and work of the district.  The strategic plan will involve the establishment of a committee tasked with evaluating the district's vision/mission, greatest strengths, and greatest areas of need. This committee will be comprised of a diverse group of stakeholders including students (4), parents (6), teachers (10), classified staff (10), administrators (6), community members (4), and partner organizations (6).

The strategic plan process will involve numerous meetings that typically take place over a multiple month process. The result of the series of committee meetings will be  the production of a report for the December Board of Trustees meeting that identifies any recommended changes to the district mission and district vision; as well as the identification of greatest strengths and greatest areas of need.

On an annual basis, the Board of Trustees is required to approve the Unaudited Actual Financials of the school district for the prior fiscal year by September 15.  The District has presented the Board with the financial report for fiscal year 2020-2021 which has passed all state standards and criteria tests required for compliance with the State Account Code Structure and the California State Accounting Manual.  Following approval by the Board of Trustees, the Unaudited Actual Financial report will be filed with the County Superintendent of Schools for audit and review.

Assistant Superintendents are employed pursuant to individual written employment contracts approved by the Board of Trustees.  The term of the employment is from September 10, 2021 through June 30, 2024.

Dennis Hills is being recommended to be employed by the District as the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services beginning September 10, 2021 and ending June 30, 2024, at an annual salary of $223,352 prorated for start date after July 1, 2021 and number of work days. Thereafter, the District will provide a 5% increase after completion of each two full years of service, to be applied in the beginning of the 3rd, 6th and 9th years of service. The District and Assistant Superintendent retain the right to increase, but not decrease, the annual salary rate for any or all years of this Contract.

• September 23
• October 7 & 21