Proposed Scope of Work

At the direction of the Superintendent, Mr. Schmitz will provide communications support for the district, including but not be limited to the following activities:

A. Manage Ravenswood’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts; and other social media platforms if we add then in the future, including:

1. In collaboration with the Superintendent & Strategic Pandemic Response Consultant, develop a monthly content calendar for anticipated social media posts
2. Create and post relevant content on core social media accounts at least three times per week, using topics and photos provided by the district
3. Respond to requests or questions posed via social media, and direct them to the relevant person to respond if needed
4. Monitor reach and impact of social media, report monthly to Superintendent, and recommend adjustments execution if needed

B. Create and format a monthly newsletter from the Superintendent to families and community members, based on topics and photos provided by the district. Coordinate with the Director of Student Services so the newsletter can be distributed to families via ParentSquare.

C. Update Ravenswood website as needed to align content with our current campaigns

D. Design graphics, flyers, banners, templates or other collateral materials as needed, if time permits

F. Draft letters or press releases as needed, if time permits Create and edit short videos for social media and web to further our campaign goals, if time permits; footage would be provided by the district (no in-person filming required)

G. Advise on any major changes to district branding, website structure, or communications strategy, if time permits

Ravenswood approved a bold strategic plan just before the pandemic. We remain committed and focused on advancing that vision as our community emerges from a year and a half of pandemic-related challenges.

To achieve our vision, we need our community and stakeholders to be engaged, supportive, and working in concert with each other. That level of coordination and engagement requires clear, effective, strategic communications.

The final Strategic Priority in this plan is to “work collaboratively and share responsibility for our core values”. In doing this, we have committed to “improve communication and create feedback loops and structures to communicate plans, results and successes with staff, parents, and the community at large.”

We are developing a comprehensive strategic communications plan to support our ongoing work. Within this larger strategy, digital media and graphic design are critical tools to engage and communicate with staff, families and the community. We need intentional, integrated and effective content for our social media, newsletters and website. This includes narrative, photos, graphics and/or videos that further our key messages and overall brand. Because social media requires regular monitoring and posting, this has to be done consistently and with knowledge of what types of content are effective in different contexts. Hans Schmitz is a former Ravenswood teacher and nonprofit leader who brings considerable experience and expertise with digital media and graphic design. He currently leads the digital media presence for a Manteca Unified high school, including extensive video design and production work since COVID began (e.g., virtual awards nights, virtual rallies, etc.).

Hans has also infused his digital media and design expertise into his teaching positions and courses. He was the 2020 Manteca Secondary Educator of the year, and currently teaches yearbook, broadcast journalism, video editing and beConnected English, a unique alternative to traditional English courses in which students build English skills through digital media and design, and learn to use social media as a networking and marketing tool, and how to influence others positively through these skills. He is skilled in (and teaches) many digital media mediums, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premier, Adobe Illustrator, web design, podcasting, blogs, vlogs, etc.

In addition to his knowledge of schools and strategies to effectively communicate with students and families, Hans understands Ravenswood’s history and context, and cares deeply about the success of the students and families in our community. He is currently able to dedicate approximately 8 hours/week throughout the school year to support Ravenswood with digital media strategy and execution.

Consultant’s billing rate is $50.00 (fifty dollars) per hour. There will be a maximum total of 376 hours over the term of the contract. Total maximum contract payments for the 21-22 school year shall be no more than $18,800 from the general fund already budgeted under the Superintendent's office for external contracts.

Tuition for each student:

Student A: $47,234

Student B: $53, 254

The summer release of the application is submitted each year and contains the district entitlements for each funded program. Out of each state and federal program entitlement, districts allocate funds for indirect costs of administration, for programs operated by the district office, and for programs operated at schools.

The Consolidated Application (ConApp) is used by the California Department of Education (CDE) to distribute categorical funds from various state and federal programs to county offices, school districts, and direct-funded charter schools throughout California. Annually each local educational agency (LEA) submits the release of the application to document participation in these programs and provide assurances that the district will comply with the legal requirements of each program. Program entitlements are determined by formulas contained in the laws that created the programs.

It is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the Consolidated Application (ConApp) as submitted.

There is no financial impact to the RCSD.

This MOU would allow for BGCP to continue to provide after school programs for all four of the Ravenswood District schools. This agreement is a continuation of a prior agreement with BGCP to provide these programs, slightly re-worked to ensure full compliance with ASES funding, which covers the entire cost of this program.

This agreement runs until June 30th, 2024 -- the term of the ASES grant -- although either party can withdraw at any time. The expectation is that BGCP will provide programming for 710 students across the district during the regular school year, as well as providing summer programming.  

Love Educational Services, LLC will perform the following virtual speaker series described as follows:

1. Session One: Keynote - (30 mins) We Gon’ Be Alright, But That Ain’t Alright: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

Dr. Love’s talk will discuss the struggles and the possibilities of committing ourselves to an abolitionist goal of educational freedom, as opposed to reform, and moving beyond what she calls the educational survival complex. Abolitionist Teaching is built on the creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists to demand and fight for an educational system where all students are thriving, not simply surviving.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn the concept and importance of culturally responsive and sustaining teaching and learning practices in the classroom.

2. Participants will examine the impact of America's racism on Black children and Black families.

3. Participants will engage with the ideas of abolitionist teaching to foster social justice classrooms and schools

4. Session One: Q&A Session (30 mins)

2. Session Two: Workshop (60 mins) Respect the Process: Examining Our Social Justice Perspectives

Through interactive activities, this workshop will help participants examine their own perspectives of their social justice work and ideas about diversity, privilege, and intersectionality. Participants will gain a better understanding of how institutional power that reproduces injustice, social exclusion, and oppression, despite our best e?orts, is embedded in our social justice work.

CSBA is the statewide education association providing governance team leaders with in-depth advocacy and policy analysis & provide platform services for the District's policies.

The Annual Subscription with California School Board Association (CSBA) & the CSBA's GAMUT module are as followed.

• CSBA membership dues: $8,898.00
• ELA Membership $2,225.00
  

The Module Annual Fees are:

• GAMUT Policy $2,495 (Existing Service)
• GAMUT Policy Plus $2,640 (Existing Service)
• GAMUT Meetings $4,438 (Existing Service)

Subscription fees for GAMUT Meetings will be $4,438 for the 2021-22 fiscal year (July 1, 2021- June 30, 2022). Subscription fees for GAMUT Meetings will be $5,000 beginning with the 2022-23 fiscal year, July 1, 2022.

The fee will be based on the number of participants who register to participate in the coaching program and is $500* per participant, regardless of the number of coaching sessions the participant attends. If fewer than 25 participants register, individual user rates are as follows:
1-14 participants - $800 per user
15-19 participants - $700 per user
20-24 participants - $600 per user

REF will be funding this pilot.

Ravenswood will continue the partnership for Stanford Live for the 2021-2022 school year to provide arts learning opportunities for students and teachers across schools.  Partnership activities include a teaching artist residency led by musical ensemble Quinteto Latino and guest artists, collaboration with VAPA teachers, performances at district meetings or parent and family events, and more.

Stanford Live is a valuable partner who supports our district wide work in Visual and Performing Arts, supporting learning for both students and teachers.

It is recommended that the board approve this MOU.

There is no cost to the district.

The Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative is a comprehensive effort to improve mathematics instruction and student learning.  SVMI serves schools and districts across California and throughout the United States.  Ravenswood has had a long-standing relationship with SVMI, and continuing our membership gives access to professional development opportunities, including the Virtual Summer Institute where we had 13 participants from our district across sites and grade levels.  Membership also includes access to online resources such as performance assessments, scoring materials and training tools, Problems of the Month, and classroom videos.

The mission of All Students Matter is to provide trained volunteers to support Ravenswood classroom teachers and literacy coaches.  ASM's almost 200 dedicated ASM volunteers have been going into the Ravenswood schools every week, in each school year, with a strong commitment to the staff, teachers and students of RCSD.  This year, ASM volunteers will support elementary teachers across our elementary school sites with literacy tutoring and hands-on science learning.

The Ravenswood City School District successfully and safely completed a rich, strong program  in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula and The Big Lift. We jump-started our learning for almost one third of our students over five weeks of fun, engaging, hands-on learning and enrichment. We are already planning for next summer, gathering feedback from all stakeholders and developing a playbook to guide summer programming next year. In October, once we receive beginning of the year data, we will share with the board the academic impact.

The Ravenswood City School District prioritizes the safety of its students and staff. This plan lays out Ravenswood's COVID-19 safety plan for the 2021-22 school year and reflects CDPH, CDC, and Cal/OSHA guidance. Given the continuing evolving situation with COVID-19, we can expect public health guidance will be updated throughout the school year. Ravenswood will update its practices to align with this guidance while protecting the health and safety of our students and staff.

This plan is based upon the guidance of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), San Mateo County Health (SMCH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Cal/OSHA as presented in the Pandemic Recovery Framework.

The Ravenswood City School District (“District”) and Ravenswood Teachers Association (“RTA”) agree to the terms of this “MOU” regarding compensation for summer professional development, extended day for elementary school sites, and additional stipends for the 2021-2022 school year. 

The parties recognize the need to:

1. Incentivize unit members’ participation in summer professional development;
2. Offer an extended day option to students during the 2021-2022 school year; and
3. Provide additional stipends as compensation for extra duties performed by unit members.

1. Hourly Rate for Summer Professional Development - Unit members returning in 2021-2022 shall be compensated for voluntary participation in summer professional development at an hourly rate of $100.
   
2. Stipend for Site Retreat and Book Study - Unit members shall be compensated for voluntary participation in summer professional development with a daily stipend of $1,000, up to $3,000, for participation in their school site retreat and site book study.
3. Monthly Stipend for Extended Duty - Unit members shall be compensated for extended day assignments with a monthly stipend of $500.
4. Instructional Leadership Team Stipend (Elementary) - Unit members shall be compensated for their voluntary participation on their school site Instructional Leadership Team with an annual stipend of $3,000.
5. Grade Level Facilitator Stipend (Elementary) - Unit members shall be compensated for their voluntary participation as a Grade Level Facilitator for their school site with an annual stipend of $3,000.
6. Department Lead (Instructional Leadership Team Middle School) Stipend - Unit members shall be compensated for their voluntary participation as a Department Lead for Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School with an annual stipend of $3,000.
7. Grade Level Department Stipend (Middle School) - Unit members shall be compensated for their voluntary participation as a Grade Level Department Lead for Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School with an annual stipend of $1,500 per department.
   

Management Salary Schedule, Level 6, Step 7 ($102,972).

Creating a Chief Academic Officer position will support the reorganization efforts of our executive team to improve the workflow and efficiency of our organization, to better identify the developmental needs of team members while providing opportunities to grow and build skills to improve performance and satisfaction.

The Chief Academic Officer will do this via identified essential functions such as:

• Supervise and direct through the director of curriculum and instruction the development and delivery of curriculum and instructional programs that incorporate district goals and support student achievement.
• Oversee instructional programs on an outgoing basis using input from teachers and principals, applied research, and student data to determine effectiveness and improve outcomes.  Recommend changes and adjustments where appropriate.
• Support assigned directors and administrators with the evaluation of certificated employees.
• Ensure that the necessary time, resources, materials, and technology to support accomplishment of education goals are available.
  
• Actively support the efforts of others to achieve district goals and objectives and campus performance objectives.

The Chief Academic Officer will support the progress of  strategic priority one to engage students with relevant, rigorous and standards-aligned instruction, supports and materials by taking ownership of several milestones under this priority. 

Under Public Employee Appointment:

In June 2016, District voters approved Measure “H”, a $26 million General Obligation Bond measure under provisions of Prop 39. Pursuant to the requirements of Prop 39, expenditures of proceeds from Measure “H” are required to be reviewed by a Citizens’ Oversight Committee for each fiscal year in which such expenditures occur.

The pandemic made it difficult for the Citizens’ Oversight Committee to continue meeting regularly. The COC has been reformed, and has met approximately once a month since December. The group has reviewed expenditures, audits, and interviewed district staff about expenditures during the 2017-18 Fiscal Year.

Based on these reviews, at this time, the Citizens Oversight Committee is prepared to make a report to the Board on its findings and activities with respect to Measure “H” expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. 

The COC continues to meet regularly and will update the board on the 2018-19, 19-20, and 20-21 fiscal years in the near future. 

In general, construction projects need to go through the City Zoning Process. However, the state's general code (section 53094) allows school districts - by a vote of two-thirds of its members to render a city or county zoning ordinance inapplicable to a proposed use of property if the site is intended to be used for classrooms.

All Five is investing $1-2m in renovating three portables along the edge of Belle Haven campus for their use. Because the District would like the option to use those portables again in the future, staff directed All Five to go through the Division of the State Architect (DSA) to approve the construction of those classrooms. If All Five had gone through City Zoning we would need to invest in bringing those classrooms up to DSA code if we would like to use them in the future. 

However, in order for All Five to not go through City Zoning the Board needs to pass a resolution exempting city and county zoning inapplicable.