Gary Howard is a candidate for Castro Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board of Education in 2014. Castro Valley Matters reached out to all candidates, asking them for a statement

The Future of CV Schools

This is an exciting and challenging time. We have terrific schools, but we will have to work creatively to keep them that way. The decisions we make, as a community, in the next year or two will set the course for our schools in the next decade. I look forward to that process.

So how do we get there? We have lots of issues: implementing the Common Core, understanding the Local Control Funding Formula, and completing the next Local Control Accountability Plan. Hard as these things seem right now, they will pass within a year or so. In the meantime, we cannot lose sight of the bigger picture. What do we want our schools to look like in 5-10 years? What are our educational goals and what facilities and funding do we need to achieve those goals, now and in the future? Those are the key questions for our district. Here are some of my thoughts.

Educating students. Clearly, this is our primary responsibility. The Common Core has brought many innovative teaching strategies, and the LCAP helped us focus our resources. But what else should we do? How can we close the achievement gap? Expanded kindergarten and summer school are proven ways to improve educational opportunities, and the summer school classes at Chabot and Marshall were huge successes. Redwood High School is expanding its on-line classes to allow students to take classes not now offered in CVUSD. Career readiness is also important: not all students go to college. Should we add ROP classes or make it easier for students to get to the main ROP campus in Hayward? We also have significant and growing needs in our special education classes and the Adult School.

Community organizations can also play a significant role. For example, the Castro Valley Educational Foundation has brought scientists into the classrooms, sponsored summer enrichment classes, and supported other academic opportunities for students that complement their classroom learning.

Facilities. Many ideas for enhancing the learning environment depend on improved facilities. Although we have significantly reduced interdistrict transfers, we could still use more classrooms. For example, even if we wanted to expand the kindergarten day at our non-Title 1 schools, we can’t do it because we lack classrooms. These matters are complicated further by aging facilities. We have furnaces near the end of their useful lives and roofs that leak. The good news is that we have increased the maintenance budget, and we are developing a master facilities plan. We continue to improve child nutrition. Organic fresh fruits and vegetables are available in every cafeteria, and salad bars are open to all students without charge. We can do better still in many of these areas.

Funding. New educational opportunities and facilities cost money. Proposition 30 brought welcome new funds, but the LCFF focused part of that funding on traditionally underserved groups (i.e., socio-economically challenged, English language learners, and foster children). Castro Valley has fewer of these students than surrounding districts, and so, we will get less funding. Thus, it will be a challenge to retain our experienced teachers and staff when others are offering higher salaries. Future funding for ROP and adult education are unclear right now. Finally, new facilities and even the maintenance to keep what we have are well beyond our budget. In fact, 80-85% of our budget now goes directly to salaries and benefits.

Thus, to get the schools we all want, we will have to continue to excellent financial management of the last decade and look for new possibilities. Do we need another school bond? Do we need a parcel tax? Those are the tough issues that our community will have to think through in the near future.

These are just some of the issues in this challenging and exciting time. With careful planning, we can continue to insure that our schools are the best they can be. I believe I can offer a new and critical but constructive look at all of our systems that will complement the outstanding experience on our school board. Help me to continue this critical work.

For more information, please visit my website. Thank you!