At the Piru School Site Council (SSC) meeting on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Dr. Michael Babb, a director with the Ventura County Office of Education presented a brief introduction on the roles and responsibilities of School Site Council as mandated by the State of California Education Code Section 52852. This Code specifies who can serve on the Council, what the Council is responsible for, and how they shall carry out their duties. Currently a majority of the members of Piru SSC are serving for the first time. It appears timely that Dr. Babb did his presentation now, this late in the school year. Several parents and community members used their public comment time to inquire about how the Piru SSC has been operating over the past school year and the records of their decisions. No responses were provided at this meeting.

What is School Site Council?
The California Education Code (Section 52852) mandates that a School Site Council, (SSC) is a planning and advisory committee that is made up of at least ten (10) members. A SSC must include an equal number of teachers/staff and parents. For a ten-member group the make up of the group must include the principal, four teachers or staff members, and five parents. The teachers and staff at the school elect the teacher and staff members of SSC, and the parents elect the parent members. The SSC with more than ten members, can include community members that are neither parents nor employees of the District if it so chooses. Dr. Babb emphasized that the structure of the Council is important as it ensures a balance in influence over decision making, and that the “principal has one equal vote” to the parent members. And that the principal does not lead the group, but instead should provide any requested information to the SSC so that they can make decisions accordingly. Babb also reminded parent members that they are there to serve the “interests of all children” which attend the school. SSC is one of the ways that schools meet the State guidelines which mandate parental involvement in order to qualify for and receive particular (supplemental) funds.

School administrators must often take an active role in recruiting parents to serve on the SSC. Piru Elementary school sends a notice home with students during the first days of the school year. In contrast to this, Fillmore High School sent a notice out in its parent newsletter dated April 2010 asking for nominations for SSC for next school year (2010-11). With a clear goal of having the new SSC in place by August of 2010. This allows the group to meet and begin the important role of SSC prior to the school year beginning. It is vital to the success of students that parents take an active role and volunteer.

What does a School Site Council Do?
According to the California Department of Education: “The California Education Code requires School Site Councils to: 1. Measure effectiveness of improvement strategies at the school. 2. Seek input from school advisory committees. 3. Reaffirm or revise school goals. 4. Revise improvement strategies and expenditures. 5. Recommend the approved single plan for student achievement (SPSA) to the governing board. 6. Monitor implementation of the SPSA. According to the California Department of Education website, “The purpose of the Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) is to raise the academic performance of all students to the level of state achievement standards”. Based on our State’s Educational Code (Sections 41507, 41572, 64001) and the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) each school must combine all plans involving state and federal funding into one comprehensive school plan. Currently, all of the elementary schools in Fillmore Unified School District are performing below the States minimum achievement standards, meaning they are all in “PI” (Program Improvement) status. All School Site Councils are responsible for reviewing the data, and assessing their school plan to see if it needs to be changed. At this Piru SSC meeting, principal Mrs. Leticia Ramos presented a draft of a proposed SPSA for next school year (2010-11) to the council members for their review. Ramos indicated that the plan would be finalized and taken action on at the next meeting, to take place sometime in June, and that the final approved plan should be placed online so that the community can easily view it. This draft plan has not been made widely available to the public, and this is the first time that several parents and teachers have heard of it.

Dr. Babb’s presentation highlighted three main aspects of what a SSC does. First SSC has the role of assessing student achievement and progress. He suggested that it is important for SSC to “continuously monitor…[and use] achievement data to analyze [the] instructional program”. He recommended that SSC members review “several sources of data to analyze [the] instructional program” in order to see the best picture of how a school is meeting it’s goals. Babb listed the California Standardized Testing and Reporting results, API (Academic Performance Index) scores, and CELDT (California English Language Development Test) results, as all good sources of information for SSC to review and assess in order to determine if the current plan is working for the students. All of that data is publicly available online at the California Department of Education’s website (www.cde.ca.gov).Second, Dr. Babb emphasized the role of the SSC in reading and allocating budgets. He instructed that the SSC should be applying what was learned from assessing student progress to make decisions of how money should be allocated for educational programs and facility improvement. And lastly, Babb mentioned the role of the SSC in reviewing the Core instructional program at the school. The SSC has the ability to “judge whether [the instructional program at the school] is working” and to suggest changes as needed.

Dr. Babb also emphasized that the SSC should be aware that there are very detailed requirements regarding how State and federal money is used at a school. And so, SSC must maintain detailed records showing the process of all decision making that takes place, especially where it comes to funding. Dr. Babb stated that the public “meeting minutes must document the process” used to determine where funding will be spent. Should the State or Federal government ever do a compliance review, they would review the public records of the meetings to ensure the process was in accordance with the law. During this meeting, no discussion, process or allocation of funds, budget or spending took place. The Piru SSC did hear from Mrs. Rita Avila during public comment regarding meeting minutes and a records request. Avila, a Piru school parent, brought her request for a second time that previous minutes and records of funding decisions made by the Piru SSC during the current (2009-10) school year be presented to the public as an agenda item, and be available for public review. She is asking that it be an agenda item so that the public can comment on it, and receive responses at that time from the Council members. Avila specifically mentioned records of decisions related to the hiring of new administrators at Piru Elementary School. Avila is asking where the money came from for the new hiring since the District has to lay off several teachers, and how the hiring meets with the school plan to improve student achievement. Assistant Superintendent of Fillmore Unified School District, Ms. Katy Hadley did take this opportunity to respond directly to Ms. Avila and let her know that the items are available at the district office for review. Following the meeting, Mrs. Avila explained that she feels that FUSD has been stonewalling her search for transparency by imposing a charge for copies of this public information. She claims the SSC is in breach of the Greene Act and FUSD in breach of the Brown Act when imposing a charge for public documents to parents of children attending the school.

Contrary to Dr. Babb’s emphasis on detailed records and assessment of student progress, there appeared to be no discussion at this meeting regarding student achievement or of the current school plan, or budget allocation for this current school year.

A Piru Elementary School teacher for more than 20 years, Mr. Chris Pavik inquired during public comment about funds that had previously been mentioned at a faculty meeting. Approximately $49,000.00 in categorical funds was available for the School Site Council to allocate towards educational programs since the beginning of this calendar year. Mr. Pavik mentioned that he was aware of about $10,000 being allocated for after school tutoring programs, but that he would like to see records of how the remaining money was used for the students. He requested that the item be placed on the agenda of a future SSC meeting.

What type of funding does the SSC get to make decisions about?
School Site Councils oversee the budget and use of all Categorical Funds that the school receives from the State and Federal government. Categorical funds include money received to benefit low income students, English learners, Advanced Placement programs, and American Indian early education, just to name a few. For example, The School Improvement program provides categorical funds to schools, which aim to improve both their facilities, and educational programs in order to meet State achievement standards. Districts with qualifying schools receive the payments throughout the school year, and the School Site Councils at each school plan for and allocate the money towards facility and program improvement as described in their school plan (SPSA). According to the California Department of Education, during the 2009-2010 school year FUSD will receive at total of $225,562.00 (final payment coming in June 2010) from the School Improvement program alone. The School Site Council at each school that qualifies will get some of that money to fund programs according to their school plan. Each SSC is responsible for keeping detailed records of how this money has been used. Any community member has the right to view this information, and the School with support from the District is responsible for making the information easily available to all members of the community. And according to Dr. Babb’s presentation the SSC should have detailed records regarding the process they used to determine how those funds were spent.

How can I get involved with School Site Council?
Contact the school’s principal and let them know that you are interested. Piru Elementary School sends notices home early in the school year to parents letting them know that SSC elections will be taking place. If you have trouble finding out about SSC meetings, or you feel that you are not welcomed, contact the School Board and District office and notify them. All public schools are required to not only allow, but to encourage and make it easy for parents to be involved in their children’s school, this includes participating on SSC.

Spanish speaking parents may want to participate on ELAC (English Learner Advisory Committee) at their children’s school. ELAC advises the SSC regarding the progress being made by English learners at the school, and any changes or improvements needed in the program to benefit the students. ELAC also advises on how funds for English Learners, Migrant and Title II funds should be used at the school.

Contact your local school to find out how you can get involved.