Members of the public may address the Board on items listed on the closed session agenda. Speakers are limited to three minutes each (Board Bylaw 9323(5)).

Legesse v. Santa Rosa City Schools, et al.
Kanihan, et al. v. Santa Rosa City Schools, et al.

The Board will consider approval of the minutes from the February 25, 2017, Special Board Meeting.

The Board will consider approval of the minutes from the March 1, 2017, Special Board Meeting.

The Board will consider approval of the minutes from the March 8, 2017, Regular Board Meeting.

The Board will consider approval of the minutes from the March 15, 2017, Special Board Meeting.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to speak to the board on non-agenda items.  Comments on items that are on the agenda will take place during the discussion on that agenda item.  Members of the public may address the Board on matters within the subject matter of its jurisdiction. Please submit a Speaker Card to the Board Secretary prior to the meeting being called to order. Upon recognition by the Board President, please approach the podium. The Board shall take no action or discussion on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except as authorized by law (BB 9323(2)). Speakers are limited to three minutes each (BB 9323(5)). Should a member of the public have comments that pertain to a complaint against an employee of the District, the Board advises that the matter should first be pursued using the appropriate district complaint procedure (BB 9323(6).

All consent items are enacted by the Board in one motion, unless a Board member requests that an item be removed and discussed separately.  

The Board will consider approval of the absence of Board Member(s), if necessary, due to illness, jury duty, or due to a hardship deemed acceptable by the Board in accordance with Education Code Section 35120.

The Board will consider approval of the personnel transactions submitted. 

Staff is presenting Personnel Transaction items for Board approval.

The Board will consider approval of the vendor warrants submitted.  The attached warrant register lists all vendors for the period 2/24/17 through 3/9/17 for a total of $3,588,992.82. 

Staff is presenting the Warrant Register List for Board Approval.

Financially significant vendor warrants that highlight the largest check or invoice paid to a particular vendor:

Warrants (Current) - February 24, 2017 through March 9, 2017 = $3,588,992.82.
Warrants (Total 16/17 Fiscal Year) - July 1, 2016 through March 9, 2017 = $46,651,056.29.

The Board will consider approval of the donations and gifts submitted.

Parents, students, community members, and businesses make donations and give gifts to the schools on a regular basis. Donations come in the form of money, goods, or services. These donations are appreciated and welcomed by the schools and departments.

Donations received since March 8, 2017 = $18,886.96
District-wide donations year to date = $354,839.08

 The Board will consider approval of the contracts submitted.

Staff is submitting requests from various schools and departments to hire individual contracts or consulting firms to provide specified services.  For fiscal and learning impacts, see the attached summary sheet.

Contracts by Fund Source (Number of Contracts):

STEM Grant (1): $8,400

LCFF Base Funds (2): $125,000 

Fund 21 - Measure I (1): $15,950

Fund 21 - Measure L (1): $565,000 

Total value of contracts = $714,350

The Board will consider approval of the high school graduation assignments for 2017.

As part of their liaison assignments, the Board Members attend the high school site's graduation ceremonies to to formally accept the graduating class on behalf of the Board of Education.

In order to support Principals’ class schedules for the 2016-2017 school year, the Office of Human Resources is asking the Board to consider approval for the designated teachers listed on the attachment to teach outside of their credentialed area. This is a yearly reoccurring board item.

District site principals established their master class schedules for the 2016-2017 school year and have asked certain teachers to teach courses outside of their credential area. The teachers have signed consent forms acknowledging their assignments. The attached document identifies the provisions set forth in Education Code which will authorize teachers to teach outside of their credentialed area.

The Board will receive an update on the operations of the CNS program.  

This report is on the operational status of the Child Nutrition Services (CNS) Program at Santa Rosa City Schools. The realigning of CNS is to streamline the daily operations, efficiencies, and processes for data accuracy. While our financials show an overall decrease by 1.2% year-to-date (YTD) in general operating categories, this is primarily due to:

• The non-renewal of three contracts at the beginning of school year (Bellevue District, Bennett Valley, and Stony Point) totaling $402,266 or a decrease of 26.81% YTD;
• The in-district student meal contributions, National School Lunch Program (NLSP), is up by 1% and food cost decreased from 51.3% to 37%.

Food and supply costs are down from prior year by 8.23% and are currently lower than projected this fiscal year by 2.22%.  New practices and procedures are having a positive impact in Child Nutrition Services, and has resulted in costs decreasing while quality of food is improving.  More students are participating in the school meal program (NSLP) and in-district student participation has increased by 1% from the previous school year.  The goal is to reach an overall student participation level above 80%. 

The Board will receive an update on the Measure I and L Bond programs. 

Prop 39 General Obligation Bonds

A Prop 39 general obligation bond, approved by 55% local vote, authorizes bonds for repair, construction or replacement of school facilities addressing safety, class size, and information technology needs.

Bond proceeds will be repaid from a tax to be levied on the taxable property within the boundaries of the High School District and Elementary School District respectively.  Costs of issuing the bonds will be paid from the proceeds of the bonds and not from the general fund of Santa Rosa City Schools.

Measure I and L

In November of 2014, the Santa Rosa Community approved two Prop 39 General Obligation Bonds for Santa Rosa City Schools: Measure I ($175,000,000 - Santa Rosa High School District) and Measure L ($54,000,000 - Santa Rosa Elementary School District).  

Santa Rosa City Schools Bond Program is committed to:

• Providing a Safe and Modern Learning Environment
• Current and Reliable Technology and Labs
• School Repair Measures to Support Student Success

The Bond Measures can be used at our school sites to:

• Repair or replace leaky roofs
• Provide updated technology to prepare students for college and careers
• Repair or replace deteriorating plumbing, sewer, and electrical systems
• Repair or replace outdated heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems
• Improve access to classrooms and labs for students with disabilities
• Upgrade campus security, safety, and fire systems at all schools
• Renovate aging classrooms, science labs, restrooms and other educational facilities
• Modernize or replace aging facilities based on programmatic need

Bond Program Progress

Facilities Master Plan

To align our overall need and to create a process for identifying areas for bond fund expenditures, in January 2015, SRCS elected to create a comprehensive Facilities Master Plan (FMP). The FMP helps to identify and prioritize the facilities needs throughout our school sites. The FMP is a long range plan, 10-20 years, that identifies needs beyond the current bond funding capacities.

Through Facilities Assessments and Site Committee Meetings across Santa Rosa City Schools, a broad range of needs by facility were identified. Like many Districts in the Bay Area and across California, Santa Rosa City Schools faces a significant need for investment in its school facilities. This need stems from three different circumstances:

First, the majority of the District’s facilities were constructed in the 1950’s and 1960’s and are now 50-60 years old. Many of these facilities were well designed and constructed and can have many years of useful life into the future. However, they require a significant investment in modernization to make sure that they continue to serve the District.

Second, there is a significant need across the District to address what we would normally call Deferred Maintenance issues. These are periodic improvements that are needed to replace the equipment, materials and systems within buildings. This includes items like roofing, heating and cooling equipment, lighting, finish materials, paint, paving and similar items. Due to the severe budget cuts over the past decade, the state funding for Deferred Maintenance was cut as well as operation budgets. This combination of funding cuts resulted in a backlog of deferred maintenance issues.

Third, there are also a number of facilities improvements needed to address the needs of educational programs. This includes remodeling classrooms and other spaces to make more dynamic, flexible, high performance learning environments to support the changing pedagogy of education in the twenty first century. It also includes facilities to meet the needs of specific educational programs such as Full Service Community Schools, Career Technical Education, Next Generation Science Standards and many others. These needs have been evaluated and addressed through the Facilities Master Plan process.

Through the FMP process over $1,200,000,000 of need was identified to fulfill the plan. As noted above, the authorization for Measure I and L is $229,000,000. 

The Facilities Master Plan was started in January 2015 by Quattrocci Kwok Architects (QKA). A completed FMP was presented to and approved by the Board on April 27, 2016. At the May 11, 2016 Board Meeting, the Measure I and L prioritization plan was approved. Both the FMP and prioritization plan can be found at www.srcsbond.news.

Measure I and L Bond Sales

In February 2016, SRCS successfully sold Series A Bonds for Measure I and Series A and B for Measure L.

Amount of Bonds:

• Measure I Series A: High School District - $12,165,000*
• Measure L Series A: Elementary School District - $5,700,000^
• Measure L Series B: Elementary School District - $3,800,000*

*Series A (HS) and Series B (ELEM) – Short term bonds (3-year maturity) for technology projects

^Series A (ELEM) – Conventional Bond (19-year maturity) for facilities projects

In December 2016, SRCS successfully sold Series B Bonds for Measure I and Series C for Measure L.

Amount of Bonds:

• Measure I Series B: High School District - $50,000,000
• Measure L Series C: Elementary School District - $15,000,000

Total Bond Sales:

• Measure I: High School District - $62,165,000
• Measure L: Elementary School District - $24,500,000

Bond proceeds must be spent within three years of sale.  

Projects

Santa Rosa Charter for the Arts

• Phase 1 Construction of 3 new buildings and landscaping is in the final stages.
• Phase 2 for modernizing the remaining classrooms, MPR, and Library will begin the week of March 27.

Staff and Students will start the 17/18 school year at the modernized site.  

Technology Projects

• Devices
  • Teacher Laptops – All sites (Completed)
  • Office computers – Classified staff (Completed)
  • Chrome Books for student use – All sites (Completed)

• Infrastructure Upgrade Project
  • Initial wireless upgrades – All sites (Completed)
  • Core network equipment – District Office (Completed)
  • Data storage and enterprise backup solution – (Completed)
  • Network Cabling – All sites (~50% complete)
  • Network Equipment and full wireless implementation – All sites (~50% complete)

• Internet Connection / New Phone System

On May 11, 2016, the Board approved the submission of E-Rate applications for dark fiber services, internet connectivity and telecommunications services. (Item E-10, 5/11/16). All of our E-Rate applications for 2016 were approved. Funding for implementation of these services is a combination of E-Rate funds and Bond Funds split appropriately between districts. With implementation of these services, the District will benefit in following ways:

• Increased Internet Capacity/Speed – With the introduction of enterprise wireless capabilities and the additional devices for students and staff, SRCS has experienced a 5X increase in typical daily internet usage. Our approved applications will provide two Internet connections (District Office to Elsie Allen & District Office to SCOE) which will be load balanced to ensure business continuity and operational sustainability.
• Telephone service – This will provide phone service for our new VoIP phone system. This will remove three antiquated phone systems and provide a unified telephone system throughout SRCS providing a reliable phone system to all classrooms and office spaces.

Construction of these services has started.  Our Internet connection through Elsie Allen is expected to be complete in June 2017 with our connection to SCOE completing in September 2017.

Facilities Projects

As outlined in the FMP, the majority of our schools are 50-60 years old and in need of repairs. Facilities projects, for both Measure I and L, were identified through the FMP and brought forward to Board after completion of the document. With the enormous need, the Facilities Program is focused on providing “Warm, Safe, and Dry” schools. This is related roofing, mechanical (HVAC), and other needs at the school sites.   

Due to the nature of this work, it is primarily completed during summer breaks when staff and students are not present on campus.

• Summer / Fall 2016 included work to address paving issues, minor site work, and high need roof patching including:
  • Burbank Elementary – Slurry and Striping
  • Cook Middle School – Slurry and Striping
  • Carrillo High School – Slurry and Striping
  • Lehman Elementary – Slurry and Striping
  • Hidden Valley Elementary – Slurry and Striping
  • Proctor Terrace – Paving work to address drainage issues, Slurry and Striping
  • Start of Bathroom Reconditioning Project at High Schools (On-Going)
  • Roof Patches at several sites
  • Carrillo Grass Stadium Field

Currently, the Bond Program is preparing for Summer 2017. The estimated cost, for all Summer 2017 projects, is $20,000,000. Projects scheduled to begin include:

• Summer 2017 Projects
  • Slater Middle – Roofing*
  • Biella Elementary – Roofing* and HVAC
  • Monroe Elementary – Roofing* and HVAC
  • Piner High – Roofing* and HVAC
  • Hidden Valley Elementary – Roofing*, HVAC, and Structural Assessment / Recommendations for Rooms 1-6
  • Montgomery High – Rain Gutters and portable classroom reconditioning
  • Piner Athletic Field Lights
  • Carrillo Athletic Synthetic Field and Track Project

*All of our schools are in need of roofing repairs as evidenced by the wettest winter in 10 years. These sites were selected based on roofing assessments and the review of work orders for every site.  These sites were determined to have the greatest need for roofing repairs.  

Resources to Supplement Bond Funding

• Cenergistic – Education and behavioral energy reduction program
• Prop 39 (The Other One!) Clean Energy Jobs Act – Provides funding for energy efficiency projects
  • Level II Audits Complete – Elementary, Middle, High Schools & Charters
  • Energy Conservation Measures Identified
  • Energy Expenditure Plan (EEP) Process being developed
• PG&E Rebate and Special Programs Initiative
  • Applying for and receiving Advance Technology Rebates
  • Receiving $115,000 rebate for demand ventilation projects (Currently 5 Schools)
• State Emergency Repair Program (ERP)
  • Ensure funds are used appropriately to off-set bond expenditures

Through January 2017 bond expenditures:

Measure I (High School Bond): $14,359,439.48

Measure L (Elementary School Bond): $5,313,826.79*

Total Measure I and L expenditures: $19,673,266.27

*This figure does not include the majority of expenditure for the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. State Facilities Charter School Grant Funds and matching funds have been allocated through Fund 35 for this project. In future reports, these funds will be noted in Fund 21 expenditures.  

Currently, Both Measure I and L Bond program are concluding their annual audit. Once completed, the Board will be presented with the audit reports and documentation of all expenditures. The audit reports and expenditure summaries will also be part of annual Citizen's Oversight Committee report. These will come forward after the audit is complete. 

The Board will consider approving a Multiple Year (2017, 2018 and 2019) Viticulture Practices and Grape Purchase Contract with Jackson Family Wines, Inc. to purchase Chardonnay grapes from the Santa High School (SRHS) Agriculture program vineyard on Alba Lane. 

There are six acres of Chardonnay grapes planted on the Alba Lane site which will produce its fourteenth crop for harvest this fall. The cost to establish the vineyard, as presented in the 1999 Board report, was estimated at $135,000 over three years. All but $13,000 was covered by donations from the various community and business partners. The $13,000 needed to complete the well and pump was donated by the Santa Rosa High School Agriculture Boosters Club. The District took over maintenance of the well and pump on the property in 2002. 

Since the beginning of this program, Jackson Family Wines has provided extensive staff time at no charge to the District to manage, maintain and harvest the vineyard each year. Although the $1,375 per ton purchase price in this proposed agreement is well below the anticipated market rate of $2,500 per ton, staff considers these donated services to be invaluable to the success of the program, not only for grape production, but for the educational value to SRHS Ag Dept. students. In addition to the Jackson Family Wines contributions, significant support for the program is provided by the SRHS Ag Boosters and various other business partners. In accordance with the original Alba Lane Farm Plan adopted by the Board of Education in 1999, proceeds from the sale of grapes are utilized for maintaining the farm, supporting the overall SRHS Ag program and providing scholarships for agriculture students in the viticulture program.

Revenue Received from the sale of grapes in 2014, 2015, and 2016:

2014: $36,865.24
2015: $23,411.23
2016: $27,020.92
Total: $87,297.39

In addition to the general financial information provided above, the specifics of this proposed contract with Jackson Family Wines, Inc. includes a three year commitment to purchase the 2017, 2018 and 2019 crops at $1,375/ton, with the understanding that the District retains the right to request that up to two (2) tons be resold to the SRHS Ag Boosters for fundraising purposes.

As per the contract, the estimated tonnage per harvest is 20 tons. At $1,375 per ton, the potential proceeds are estimated at $27,500 annually. The contract also stipulates that an affiliated Jackson Family Wines company, La Crema, will provide picking and hauling services for each year's crop at no charge, an estimated $4,000 per year value at $200 per ton. 

These items are presented for informational purposes only.