Challenges Ahead for Chico Unified

By Jann Reed

Declining Enrollment * State Budget & Public Education Funding * Facilities * New Teachers * Restoring Budget Cuts * Wellnes Policy

Chico Unified School District is still experiencing declining enrollment as fewer kids are born in the Chico area and other options for educating our youth are developed. Traditional public schools are faced with a new challenge today -- to market their educational programs and extracurricular opportunities in a competitive world of educational choices. It is my intention to provide leadership to continually look for opportunities and new avenues of learning to best prepare Chico's kids for their futures.

For years the debate has gone on in Chico about the best way to educate our 11-14 year old students. One of the first decisions I took part in on the school board was to approve the first K-8 school in CUSD. This decision has provided another educational option for 7/8 graders in a small learning community environment.

STATE BUDGET & PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING

Chico Unified receives the bulk of its funds from our state government which has been in a financial crisis for many years. As a community we must look for other ways to secure funds for our schools. Many California communities that place a high value on the education of their children have established a parcel tax. This tax fills the funding gap in state money and provides a community the freedom to establish its own spending priorities for educating its youth.

The state budget situation forced CUSD to engage in a work force reduction (layoff) of many teachers and staff. I do not believe this action accurately reflects the respect I have for all the employees in the District. I will work diligently to see that this drastic action does not happen again in CUSD.

The good news is CUSD was able to re-hire a majority of the teachers. Now that the state budget has been passed, staff positions are being analyzed and notification of job status for this school year will be determined.

FACILITIES

One of the challenges facing CUSD is the age of our school facilities. Developing communities in California boast state-of-the-art facilities as ours age in comparison. We must continue to maintain the existing properties and seek state dollars to make the necessary improvements to showcase our schools as the pride of Chico.

NEW TEACHERS

Many of CUSD's highly qualified and experienced teachers are nearing the end of their teaching careers. It will take careful consideration with focused leadership to be able to offer a salary and benefit package in these difficult economic times that will attract the best teachers to Chico Unified. The academic success of Chico's kids is directly related to the quality of the teachers employed in the District.

RESTORING BUDGET CUTS

It was a difficult task to eliminate many wonderful opportunities for kids from CUSD's offerings last spring. I promise to continue to look for ways to reduce our spending while also looking for ways to restore many of the programs and activities that were cut.

WELLNESS POLICY

I recognize the need to provide healthy foods in our schools and a wide variety of physical activities for all Chico's students as part of the District's intention to promote wellness as a policy. I will continue to be involved in this project at the committee level to define the Distict's goals.