Carolyn's Corner

May 21, 2004
The 2003-04 school year is slowly drawing to a close. With all the hustle and bustle that surrounds this time of year, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on what has happened to us and around us this year.

We started the new school year with a second ratification vote to agree to take four furlough days without pay to help the district balance its budget. With that agreement, our salary schedule increased by 4½% for the school year, short by 2% of what we had negotiated. The controversy surrounding the Board's original rejection of our offer in May to help still leaves a bitter taste in our mouths and trust is at a low level with the negotiation team when it comes to the Trustees.

"No Child Left Behind" sanctions and mandates colored most of our lives this year. With five of our schools in year three, Dr. Mays delivered the very unpopular message of "next year you could fall off the face of the earth!" Although the message was harsh, the reality seems to buy us one more year before the federal sanctions must be implemented. Due to the concerns for these schools, the district initiated school scans and focused walks at these sites, and eventually, at all district sites. They have been given mixed reviews by staffs, but the district's willingness to include me on all of these walkabouts has helped keep the anxiety levels down to a minimum. I expect that these will continue next year with more teachers participating in them. The upside is that the wonderful talent and dedication that we have throughout the district has been showcased for many to appreciate. As we finally got used to the district team descending on our classrooms, another hurdle appeared with the need for veteran staff to qualify as "Highly Qualified Teachers". The district has tried with our input to make the means to qualify as painless as possible. Most of you have filled out the forms and will be notified shortly if that is all that you need to do. Remember that there are no penalties if you don't qualify; it's just one more onerous requirement to add to the stress level. And finally, to look forward to next year is the news that PVUSD has been selected as one of the districts nationwide to be included in a study on the implementation of NCLB. Lucky us!!!

Controversy is always the name of the game here in PVUSD and this year was certainly no exception! We began the year with the naming of the new high school and the ensuing accusations of racism when the César Chavez name was rejected in favor of Pajaro Valley High School. Tempers flared again when the Board voted to relocate the Alianza Charter School to make room for the opening of PV High next year with subsequent plans to convert the site into another middle school. Tempers then erupted at one of the most disruptive and rancorous meetings in recent memory when the subject of reorganization was discussed by the Trustees. Because of the hostile, emotional atmosphere, they tabled the issue for a year leaving the subject gone but not finished. And now the naming of the new elementary school is becoming a heated discussion as community members are again lobbying for the César Chavez name. Time will tell how this issue is resolved.

PVFT did have some victories this year also. We have a three year calendar adopted by the Trustees which was accomplished with little stress or controversy. That is unique as the calendar always seems to spark heated debate. We negotiated a good retirement incentive which 75 of our colleagues have taken advantage of which helped us to avoid pink slips going out to staff. The district budget for next year looks healthier than expected, so we should see our entire 6 ½% raise reinstated onto the salary schedule with no furlough days to be dealt with. We have three new schools opening in the fall and the staffing of them seems to be going smoothly. And finally we have developed a professional, user-friendly website ( pvft.net ) to help disseminate information in a timely manner to all of our members.

All in all, it's been a long, hard, exciting and exhausting year for everyone. It's been the first year that I have served fulltime as your president which I have found rewarding and less frustrating as I have represented you at the district and site levels. I hope each of you has a relaxing and rejuvenating summer vacation enjoying your families, friends, and the things that you love to do. Next year will bring its share of controversies and challenges as always, but together we will meet them and come out successful. See you in August!

Carolyn Savino