Board provided an update on the LCAP
Board approved a (preliminary) balanced budget
Facilities improvement at Torrey Pines is delayed
LCAP Update
Every three years our school district must create a “Local Control Accountability Plan”, or LCAP, where we describe how we will spend supplementary state funding meant to assist students with extraordinary needs, such as English language learners or foster students. In our case we are provided a little over $5 million in this type of funding.
We are entering the third year of the three-year cycle, so this update was to report on progress towards the agreed LCAP goals.
The goals in our current plan are not well thought-out. For example, the very first goal is to: “Identify and address inequities in current district and school systems, programs, policies, and practices to ensure every student has equitable access to educational programs to meet their postsecondary goals.”
I believe that goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. I’m not sure this goal meets any of these criteria. I’ve asked several times for examples of systems, programs, policies, or practices that hinder equitable access to any of our educational programs, but I haven’t received anything.
Here is an example of an alternative goal I would like to see. “Each of our schools improves its rank among the top 200 public schools in California on standardized math tests.”
With our new Superintendent starting soon, I am hopeful that we can do a much better job of selecting LCAP goals for the next three-year cycle.
District Budget
The Board reviewed an updated draft budget for our District for the next three school years.
In the past our Board has not been fiscally responsible. Our District has had a structural budget deficit (spending more than our revenue) for many years running, and we will have one again as we close out the 2022/23 school year. As a result, our financial reserves are well below target levels, even after the state of California has provided one-time grants to top-up reserves.
The draft budget proposed for next year shows a slight budget surplus of about $2.5 million. This is a step in the right direction if we can hold on to that surplus as the year unfolds. The primary risk is that the teachers union has asked for an off-cycle raise for this coming school year. As a reminder, we have a three-year contract with the teachers union that covers this next 2023/24 school year, the final year of the contract. However, our Board (against my strong recommendation) agreed to allow the teachers union to ask for more money this coming year, and thus we are required to negotiate pay for this third year of the contract.
Only time will tell if we can keep to our current forecast of a balanced budget or fiscal surplus.
Torrey Pines Athletic Facilities
For many months district staff has been working on board-approved modernization and new construction plans for certain athletic facilities at Torrey Pines High School. These include projects such as new bleachers, scoreboards, new turf, refurbished tennis courts, and the construction of a swimming pool, among other things.
The current plan is to complete the athletic field upgrades in Phase 1, upgrade the locker rooms and other improvements in Phase 2, and build a pool in Phase 3. Before this meeting, I understood that we had a plan to sign a contract by the end of the year to begin construction of the pool at TPHS. At this Board meeting we were told the contract to build the pool will be delayed to perhaps March 2024.
All these projects have been approved by the Board, and at this meeting staff was asking for approval to enter into contracts to complete the first of three phases of the project, which includes the improvements to the athletic fields. Approval of the final contracts for phases 2 and 3, including the contract for the swimming pool, will come later. The aquatic facilities project has been on the books for nearly a year, and various designs have been discussed and reviewed by many individuals.
Unfortunately, our Board decided to delay the approval of even the first phase of work on the field upgrades.
Of course, not everyone will be happy with every decision, but as I have asked many, many times across many different decisions, “whose decision is this?” The answer usually is, it is up to our School Board. It is our decision what to build and where to build it. Of course, we want and do receive public and staff input, but at the end of the day the decision is up to the Board.
The Board, however, tabled the matter to a future meeting due to one comment about turf and lights. I tried as much as I could to find a compromise solution that would keep us on track. For example, I suggested that we authorize the administration to enter into the contract, but if they saw any issues given the discussion and public comment that they could come back to the Board if necessary. I couldn’t get the Board majority to agree to this. At the end of the discussion the Board voted 3 – 2 to not authorize the contracts for Phase I, with Trustee Anderson and me voting against this delay.
The next morning the head of the District’s facilities planning group sent an email to the Board stating that because of the Board’s lack of action, the project will now be delayed, and the new field renovations will not be completed in time for the start of the softball season.
This is unacceptable and must be fixed. I have asked Interim Superintendent Douglas and Board President Viskanta to create a special Board Meeting ASAP to review this decision to delay such a large and important project.
I fully expect that we will have a Special Board Meeting soon to try to get this back on track. If we don’t, the girls softball team, the boys baseball team, or anyone who uses any of our sports fields at Torrey Pines, may be impacted.
Unless there is a crisis that needs immediate attention, delays and “kicking the can down the road” for time-sensitive project management schedules is bad practice. Yes, we want to be thoughtful, but we need to acknowledge that delays cause problems. John Addleman, Executive Director, Planning Services, has a full staff. He and his staff spend every day, all day working through all of the issues surrounding construction projects, including planning and construction of modernization projects at schools; Prop AA Bond Program; development and update of facilities master plans; coordinating land acquisition; identification of funding sources; coordinating applications for state and federal funding to assist in financing of modernization projects; obtaining state and local approvals for all construction projects on school facilities; and integrating technology infrastructure projects with the facilities master plan. In addition, as part of their planning process, he and his staff talk to all stakeholders including district leadership, site leadership, athletic coaches and liaisons, elected officials and employees from municipalities within the district geography, parents and other interested community members. It is not credible to suggest that they have not done their homework or talked to all relevant parties by the time they bring a project to the board for a vote. I’ve been told before to “stay out of the weeds” and “don’t micromanage the district.” Delaying this vote is about as weedy and micro-managing as I can think of.
I believe we should do what it takes to get the FULL athletic project at TPHS (including the pool) contracted and built ASAP. In the meantime, we must wonder why some people do not want a swimming pool built at Torrey Pines. A Board Trustee has publicly stated that “staff cautioned the Board that all phases may be subject to unprecedented cost escalations which could require further evaluation of the bids and remaining project scopes.” What exactly was meant by this comment? Also, there was a last-minute request to pull the contract to hire a site consultant for the pool in the north part of the district. Who made that request and why? Our community pool committee has been begging to begin fundraising to help with maintenance and other costs, yet our board has not allowed them to fundraise. Why are they blocking this effort?
I have asked that discussion of the Torrey Pines swimming pool be added to the agenda of the next Board meeting. We need the members of our Board to either say they support moving forward with all due speed, or they don’t want a pool. This is not the time to hide from our leadership responsibilities. The Board needs to speak clearly and with conviction so that our staff has clear direction. If the staff is working with the current understanding that a pool will be built at Torrey Pines, but there are quiet plans to “kill the pool” at all costs, let’s have a direct discussion about this sooner rather than later so we don’t waste staff time, or give the public and our aquatic families, including 750+ aquatic athletes, false expectations.
I support the building of pools at Torrey Pines and La Costa Canyon High Schools. A few years ago, we ran into a lucky windfall of money available for capital spending due to our bond refinance. We have the ability to finance two pools, but the window is closing. If we don’t secure these contracts to build the Torrey Pines pool this year, we likely never will.
If you are in favor of building swimming pools in our district, let the Board know how you feel.