Kathi Wright - Special to the Sun

Wallace Cafetorium was the setting for the first KUSD Board meeting of the new calendar year, held Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

Routine items on the consent calendar received unanimous approval. Donations, always appreciated, benefitted Kernville Elementary School, Wallace Elementary School, and Wallace Middle School. All three of the schools received generous contributions from Edison International employee contributions, with both Wallace schools also receiving donations from Verizon Long Distance. The Family Resource Center received a heartwarming donation of 65 teddy bears, with an estimated value of $1,000, from the Condors and United Way-sponsored 'Teddy Bear Toss' at a December home game. The Mountain Region Spelling Bee was to be held at Kernville Elementary School on Wednesday, January 9. Local students David Mackey (the overall local winner), Jared Onstott, Savanna Whitaker, Brennan Jordan, Justin Steinberg, Michael Fuller, and Jett Williams were to join 35 other students from throughout the region for the competition. Good luck to all of you!

KUSD Superintendent Mary Barlow spoke of the governor’s budget proposal report. With unemployment on the rise, home sales and construction on the decline, and income tax revenues decreasing, there is much speculation about this budget report and its ramifications for education and schools. There may be 10 percent across-the-board cuts to education, which will negate COLA increases but should not directly affect the classroom.

The governor had previously stated this would be the 'Year of Education.' Any budget cuts will be taken seriously. Barlow remarked that there is nothing new to report on the Wallace Phase III project. She noted that enrollment is down 47 students from last year, and that the district will continue to assess the situation.

Stephanie Pope, Wallace Elementary principal, and Sammie Frazier presented their 'Arts Attack' program, which was adopted by the district in 2007. This is a program that brings Master Art to students in grade levels one through eight. There are six themes at each grade level. Each lesson is color coded, and teaches creative techniques (such as the foreshortening lessons in perspective, which can be seen in the hallway outside of the Wallace Cafetorium.) In this approach, the students not only learn a variety of 3D, line, color theory, texture, and the like, but a bit of art history as well.

Payroll and Personnel Director, Carol Mendoza, resigned her position and received approval for such at Tuesday’s meeting. Board member Myrna Sweeney submitted her Board resignation on Thursday, January 10. She has held this seat on the Board since 2006. (Each member serves for four years, but the seat vacancies are staggered so that there is an equitable mix of current and established members at any one time.) According to board president Tom Moore, the Board has a number of options it can take to fill this seat. They can appoint someone to fill the seat until the next available election, which in this case will be in November of 2008. Another option is to look back at the most recent board election and choose the person who held the next highest number of votes. It would also be possible for any interested party to come before the Board in open session, with resume in hand, and campaign for the spot. This conundrum could be decided upon by calling a special meeting, or it could be addressed at the next regularly scheduled meeting on February 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Wallace Cafetorium.