GO Board Watch: February 27, 2018
Welcome to GO’s School Board Watch for the meeting taking place Wednesday, February 28, 2018.
This week’s agenda includes the following key items:
- Structurally Balanced Budgeting
- Superintendent’s Update on Fiscal Vitality Priority
- Clean Drinking Water Resolution
- Blueprint for Quality Schools Work Plan Resolution
Budget
Structurally Balanced Budgeting
The Board will consider a new board policy that would direct the District to strive for all budgets to be structurally balanced. The distinction between a structurally balanced budget and a balanced budget is an important one. For a budget to be merely balanced, it only requires that revenues are projected to match expenses for that year. This can be accomplished by using one-time revenues to fund long-term expenses. A structurally balanced budget ensures that ongoing programs are funded with ongoing revenues and that one-time revenues are only used for one-time expenses. This creates greater stability in the District’s finances, so that disruptions to short-term or one-time revenues do not endanger core, ongoing programs and services.
Fiscal Vitality Update
Superintendent’s Priority: Fiscal Vitality
As of noon on Tuesday the 27th, the presentation had not been uploaded to OUSD’s site. Please check back later.
Board Governance
Board Policy Regarding Clean Drinking Water
The Board will hear a second reading of a proposed policy for clean drinking water in Oakland schools and early childhood centers. The most significant change from the first reading is that the policy would require that it be a fully implemented within 180 days of enactment, an extension from the 60 day requirement of the first reading of the policy. Additionally, the threshold for turning off access to water and immediately notifying family, staff, and administrators was lowered from 15 ppb to 5 ppb.
Facilities
Blueprint for Quality Schools Work Plan
The Board will hear a second reading of a resolution calling on the Superintendent to submit a phased work plan for the implementation of the Blueprint for Quality Schools. This work plan would include, among other things, the criteria for selecting schools for reconfiguration, staffing levels, timelines, guiding values, and expected outcomes. The newest version of this resolution has an added requirement that, “efforts shall be made to include all Oakland charter schools in community engagement and Blueprint conversations regarding neighborhood feeder patterns and efforts at quality school development.” The draft work plan is scheduled for adoption by the Board in a study session in June 2018.