Like most schools in the San Bruno Park School District, El Crystal is suffering due to the looming massive cuts as a result of the Governor’s proposed budget. However, no school stands to lose as much of its staff as El Crystal, who will also lose its sole support person.

While the positions will be back filled by other teachers in the district, the face of the school as well as its California Distinguished status hangs in the balance. Incoming teachers will have larger classroom sizes to deal with in addition to coming up to speed with the school’s technology cirriculum.

The California Teachers Association plans to feature the story in it’s periodical. The magazine reaches over three hundred thousand educators as well as prominent California politicians.

The story, written by Mary Ellen Flannery, can be found on the NEA website.

GDP 2010 Q1: +2.7%
GDP 2010 Q2: +2.8%
GDP 2010 Q3: +2.6%

Courtesy of Lawrence Yun, Chief economist of the National Association of Realtors

Please submit 3-5 jpegs of the type of work you wish to display by June 30th to Culture @ Arts Chair, Bardi Rosman Koodrin  at artika@earthlink.net. For more information contact Laura Baughman, Executive Director, San Bruno Chamber of Commerce, 650-588-0180 or laura@sanbrunochamber.com

“The Governor’s budget guarantees California’s recession will continue into the foreseeable future, as it will only create greater unemployment and further stifle our state’s ability to financially recover.  The Governor was wrong when he proclaimed we had a spending problem and he is wrong to propose a budget that decimates programs for our children and our most vulnerable.

When you propose to layoff teachers, close domestic violence shelters, and take away critical social services and healthcare, there is no doubt you have a revenue problem.  I have opposed and will continue to oppose all budgets that are balanced on the backs of our students, elderly and working poor.  We must clawback tax credits for corporations that abandon California, implement an oil severance tax like all other states, and ensure the wealthy pay their fair share. 

 For too long, we have allowed Republicans to keep taxes off the table.  Democrats need to stand strong and say draconian cuts to education and other critical services will not be tolerated.”

Yee has consistently voted against budget cuts to education, social services and healthcare, and has led the effort to save California’s domestic violence shelters.  This year, Yee is authoring legislation to allow the state to recoup or “clawback” tax credits given to corporations that decrease jobs or move out of the state.  Yesterday, SB 1391 was approved on a 3-1 vote by the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Senator Yee was a member of the San Francisco Unified School district board before his term as state senator.

The governor’s proposed budget will force cuts to over 29,000 teachers in California and a bevy of reduced services, such as increased classroom sizes, gifted education and library services. Districts across the state have been scrambling to bridge budget shortfalls by cutting back on positions and services.

Redwood City has announced 98 teacher layoffs, nearly one-fifth of the districts teacher population. Belmont-Redwood shores has announced 24 teacher layoffs prompting one ten year old student to donate her birthday party money in an effort to save her teacher. The San Bruno Park School district has recently approved the layoffs of over 20 teachers while the South San Francisco Unified School District approved the layoffs of 50 teachers in February.

UPDATED: Frank Pugh, president of the California School Boards Association had this to say about the Governor’s proposed budget, “How dare the state balance the budget on the backs of our children. Voters have voiced their concerns around education cuts and asked lawmakers to make education a priority, and yet the governor still proposes a budget that will severely affect every classroom, every teacher and every child.  We need a balanced budget that doesn’t depend on cuts alone. It is now up to the Legislature to remember that the most important capital we have is human capital.”

CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin added, ”It is impossible to justify why our state government chooses to disregard the importance of a child’s education and well-being. What is clear is that we can no longer wait for the state to act in the interest of our students.  In these dire circumstances, we are given no choice but to take drastic measures to fix our broken education finance system.”

While the report does stipulate that district should find a suitable alternative for the current Peninsula high school as well as the County Office of Education programs, the report recommends that the entirety of the 41 acre Crestmoor site to be declared surplus. This includes the athletic fields currently used by hundreds of athletes in various leagues. The committee does recommend that any future action by the governing board regarding the disposition of the Crestmoor buildings and grounds should reflect the community’s expressed goal of preserving open space and playfields.

As for the 3 acres of land on the current home of Hillsdale high school in San Mateo, the committee recommends that any dispostion of the land should be compatible with the surrounding low density residential neighborhood.

The committee has met it’s share of obstacles in producing the report. During a number of public hearings in both San Bruno and San Mateo, citizens representing both communities spoke passionately about the benefit of the sites to the students and outlying neighborhoods. Also during the recommendation process, former 7-11 committee chair and current San Bruno Park School District board member William ‘Skip” Henderson resigned from the 7-11 committee over a closed door meeting with a real property negotiator regarding the Crestmoor site. This was seen as a conflict of interest and Henderson stepped down as 7-11 committee chair shortly thereafter. 

The committee is scheduled to present its findings to the SMUHSD board of trustees on May 13. It will then be entirely up the the SMUHSD board of trustees to the declare the sites as surplus land. The board may take some, all or even none of the committee’s findings into its final decisions.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Posy Parade, which starts at Posy Park and ends at San Bruno’s city park.

The parade was first held in 1941 and was held as a “festival of flowers” patterned after the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena, California. As true to its original purpose, the parade is dedicated to children.

The parade has undergone many changes since it’s inauguration as a fund raising event in 1945. Despite these changes, some things have remained constant since the early days of the parade. A princess and her court are still elected and the Mayor still rides in a snorkel fire truck. Though the parade may not have the flair nor the crowds of days gone by, it is the city’s unique claim to fame.

View the official Posy Parade flyer, sponsored by the San Bruno Lion’s Club, here.

While the majority of the work will take place during the day, some work will take place at night after normal train operations have ended. Neighbors can expect to hear noise from heavy construction equipment. At times during the project, First Avenue between Pine Street and San Mateo Avenue will be restricted to local traffic or one-way traffic.

According to Caltrain, the $165 million grade separation project will kick off in the fall with the construction of a “shoo-fly,” temporary tracks that will take the train around the construction. The grade separation project will elevate the Caltrain tracks above San Bruno, San Mateo and Angus avenues. A new elevated train station between San Bruno and San Mateo avenues will replace the existing station. The project also includes three pedestrian underpasses, one at Euclid Avenue and Walnut Street, one at the new station and another near Sylvan Avenue, according to Caltrain.

A total of 191 parking spaces and a “kiss and ride” lot will serve the station at the former San Bruno Lumber site. In addition, Angus Avenue, which currently makes a sharp turn at the tracks, will be straightened.

Also included in the project are pedestrian underpasses with lighting, drought resistant landscaping and variable finished surfacing. Posy Park, located on the east side of the tracks at San Mateo Avenue, will also be improved. Caltrain plans to improve the park by adding a water feature and decorative street furniture. Handicapped accessible ramps are also planned for the project.

Questions can be addressed to the Caltrain Office of Public Affairs, 650.508.7726 or sbgradesep@caltrain.com.

The meeting opened with a presentation from San Bruno Park School district board members Kevin Martinez and Jennifer Blanco. Each delivered a short presentation on the upcoming Dia de los Ninos celebration in San Bruno City Park on Saturday, May 8^th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

Conduct of business included reports from the city treasurer as well as financial reports from the city’s financial director and city manager.

San Bruno city treasurer John Marty presented a quarterly investment report to the council. Of the city’s investment pie, $8 million dollars is invested in obligation bonds, $10.5 million in an independent investment fund and $16.7 million invested in the San Mateo County investment pool, managed by the county treasurer’s office.

In addition, Marty reported on the possible reimbursement of losses in Lehman investments to local agencies. According to the federal secretary of the treasury, it is not within the treasury’s means to make reimbursements. Further discussions regarding profits received from paid-in-full TARP funds which could be used to purchase Lehman bonds at par were discussed. Marty is awaiting further news from the county treasurer’s office on this possible option.

The city council was then presented a quarterly financial report from San Bruno finance director Edmund Suen. Suen reported that sales taxes were flat from this time last year and that the TOT, while showing signs of improvement over recent months, was down from one year ago at this time. Property tax was up this year over this period last fiscal year and the general fund, internal services funds and enterprise funds measured positively against last year’s performance.

San Bruno unemployment numbers remained in alignment with San Mateo County. The current unemployment rate of 8.5%, up slightly from 8.2% this time last year, was in line with the county’s rate of ~9%.

Proposed changes to the reserve policies were discussed with the board by finance manager Suen. Both the general fund and capital equipment fund reserves were discussed. The proposed changes to the general fund reserve to minimum 2months annual expenses or 16.6%. This minimum would allow for the excess fund to be worked back into the general fund for use. The proposed capital equipment reserve would cap at 50% of the total value of the city’s equipment assets. Like the general fund, this would open up excess reserve fund money for use.

All council members expressed concern over the proposed changes. “I don’t know that that’s enough,” observed vice-mayor Rico Medina. “I would like to see what other cities are doing to get an apples to apples comparison”. Mayor Jim Ruane agreed. “Two months is not enough for me” said Ruane.

Other matters that were discussed as part of the reports were the $1.3 million budget deficit. As part of the budget meetings last March, proposed budget shortfall strategies included personnel cuts, redevelopment loan repayments and ERAF reimbursements. These strategies will not bridge the budge gap entirely, leaving remaining $378k shortfall. Further cuts in city staff were discussed to balance the budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Lastly, an oral report was delivered by council member Ibarra regarding the annual San Mateo County progress seminar. The seminar, attended by Ibarra and council member Irene O’Connell, consisted of a day of breakout sessions. Topics included shared services, banking, education, water and social networking.

The next council meeting is scheduled for May 11^th.

Mandelkern has served as a trustee on the San Mateo County Community College District for several years and was present when the county lost $155 million in the Lehman collapse. He saw first hand how the loss of $25 million to the district affected the students and staff of San Mateo’s community colleges.

For these reasons, Mandelkern is running for the position of San Mateo County Tax Collector/Treasurer on the June 8th ballot.

Though the $155 million dollar charge off as a result of the Lehman collapse in September 2008 is only a small percentage of the overall pool, Mandelkern feels strongly that the loss is unacceptable.

“Other investors were exiting – San Mateo County just kept on buying,” he said. “We were just chasing yield.”

When it comes to San Mateo County’s property tax and revenue collections, Mandelkern believes strongly that the position should have a customer centric focus. “I think we need a strong advocate for the tax payers,” says Mandelkern. “We need good taxpayer services. The assessor, tax collector and controller should by easier for taxpayers to understand.”

Some of the proposed changes that Mandelkern has in mind if elected to the position would be to streamline the property tax reassessment process, initiate the yearly review of the county’s investment policy, increase revenues by auditing the land administered under the Williamson act, work with county judges to reduce fines in lieu of increased community service times and attempt reduce the $50 million dollar deficit at the County Medical Center by initiating revenue collection with the patient much earlier in the process.

Furthermore, Mandelkern believes that by benchmarking the county’s performance and implementing the best practices of other counties, the treasurer’s department can become even more successful.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Mandelkern.

When it comes to managing the pool of county money, Mandelkern does not believe in the status quo.

“As a business owner, allowing a single manager to handle over $100 million dollars at any time was never recommended,” he said. “At any time, the county has $2.4 to $2.6 billion dollars in the pool and only one person manages it.”

Mandelkern believes there are advantages to having a third party involved in managing the county’s pool. By outsourcing the pool management effort, Mandelkern sees an opportunity to save money in reduced fees as well as eliminate human error in the pool reporting process.

In addition, Mandelkern sees an opportunity to segregate the pool into varying degrees of risk in order align with customer’s needs. This would allow the pool participants decide which strategy works best for them. He believes the county departments and school districts are savvy enough to make their own choice.

“The county investment pool should strive for safety, liquidity and preservation of capital,” said Mandelkern. ”Business as usual just won’t cut it”.

For more on Dave Mandelkern for San Mateo County Tax Collector/Treasurer, visit his site at www.davemandelkern.com. He can be reached via email to Dave@DaveMandelkern.com.

Under current law, children entering kindergarten must be five years old by December 2nd of that school year. Simitian´s proposal would require that kindergartners must turn five by September 1st of the school year.

The bill aims to save $700 million annually in education spending due to the reduced number of students. SB 1381 would dedicate half of the funds to quality preschool programs for children whose entry to kindergarten would be delayed. The remainder of the funds would help alleviate California´s budget shortfall.

“I see this change as a win-win-win,” Simitian said. “Kindergartners will be better prepared to succeed, we´ll free up much-needed funds during a tough economic time, and we can help fund an age appropriate quality pre-school program. It just makes sense, educationally and financially,” he said.

Many educators support the proposed age limits, which will be phased in over three years beginning in 2012. Last year 289 teachers in San Mateo County signed a petition to Simitian requesting the change. A 2005 study by the Rand Corporation supported the notion that beginning the school year at an older age improves social and academic development.

But where does the savings come from?

While the bill does a good job of phasing the age requirement change and outlining the use of funds saved for purposes of expanding the preschool program, it does not detail specifics about how much will be saved by the change. Senator Samitian indicates an estimated savings of $700 million annually but provides no information on how that number was derived.

In other words, the deferred students do not disappear, they still enter the school system. Delaying their entry one year means does not mean the state gets to forget about them altogether, it just pays for them one year later. The bill will produce first year savings, but later savings will be neutralized by the incoming students who were previously deferred.

This bill, while supported by educators for the proposed age requirement change, smells like a funny accounting trick to generate savings for the state right now.

I must be missing something.