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California Continuation Education Association Council of District Representatives Minutes Meeting Location: Los Angeles Meeting Date: October 8, 2004 Approval Date: Not Approved
CCEA CDR – October 8, 2004 – Los Angeles, CA
Seating of Representatives - Introduction of Guests Janet Knoeppel President Minutes of Previous Meetings Minutes are in front of everyone & have been posted on web
site President’s Report Originally I thought this would be a short meeting, although much has come up in last month. This is an era of concern for continuation education. A prime example was the blindsiding that occurred when many continuation schools were notified that they were entering Program Improvement status. End Result: Because we were notified and began to take action right away, Bill Padilla of CDE has recommended that ASAM schools have a waiver this year on their API; however, the 95% participation rate for CAHSEE still holds. Next year, you need to make 560 on your API. Dennis Fisher of CDE noted that without input from the field and CCEA, the change from CDE would not have occurred. One handout is a highlight on Program Improvement. Fuchsia noted that this is another thing that shows what CCEA does for you. Janet explained that this is a prime example of what a lobbyist does for us. We invited one of the people who works for Bill Padilla to come to this meeting and explain to us more about this issue, but he was unable to attend. In regards to ASAM, API, etc., you may have been hearing from others, "what good is the ASAM?" You need to tell them that this is still the State measure. In the last EdCal, you can see ACSA went with a contingent to Washington DC. So, at the last PSAA meeting we continued our discussions at finalizing the ASAM. We have been at it for six years. Hopefully, we will have it completed before another six years. Some of the people in this room have not put their ASAM data into the system, and we need to do this as soon as possible. Jim Caswell noted that we can’t get into this years reporting system because there are still too many people that have not reported. Often times, there has been a change in administration, and the new administrators don’t know how to report. Dennis noted that in the packet, there is an explanation of the indicators and the reporting system. Review of the overall rating system – i.e., three scores in immediate action = Status III; argument is whether a schools should be in Status I if not all three scores are commendable; Most of the field agreed that it was not going to work – issue was carried over to the next PSAA meeting. West Ed is trying to get State Board to buy into statistical validation. ASAM will be the method by which the State of California will judge your growth. We are beginning to work on the plan regarding a contingent of continuation people to go to Washington DC and explain more about alternative schools and the value of the ASAM. Make sure that you test 95% on CAHSEE (85% on STAR). The federal government in USA Today, President commented, "It is good legislation and I am not going to change it." The STAR test is too often blown off by students. It is not tied to anything that has meaning. In response to the question of whether the State has even looked at a valid statistical N for low numbers. Many schools may test as few as 6 kids, and some may really not take it seriously. You need to make sure of your numbers and that your students did try when send your test in. Then, if somebody at CDE makes the decision that a student did not try, you need to appeal. It is all very confusing, but we all need to hang in there – ask your questions – we will weather this storm. Membership is going great—already we are almost caught up with last year. As to our conference this year, Pat Hopkins was going to chair; however, she is retiring at the end of this month, so Tom Campbell will chair and the conference is in good hands. Things are in pretty good shape. More of a report later. Urge everyone to have a mini-conference in your district, even if it is hard to get everyone out. Janet is happy to go to district meetings and mini-conferences if she has enough warning and calendar is free. Fuchsia agreed to take Lynn’s position as CCEA treasurer (Lynn got a job at comprehensive high school). She is looking for someone to train. If you know of anyone who might be interested, let Janet or Fuchsia know. Vice-President’s Report Model School Applications are due November 3rd. This year model school applicants will be responsible for reimbursement for visitations. It will be a set fee (probably $300). We want to keep the visitation fee the same for everyone. Treasurer’s Report The CDR reimbursement form is in front of everyone. Please give the form to Fuchsia today to get reimbursed today. Membership – we have 390 professional members & 57 school memberships already. That is a real source of excitement. District 11 is soaring! Everyone must have gone back after the conference and told everyone to join now before it goes up to $50 in January. When you fill out your membership, both school and professional, make sure that people fill out the CCEA district. To get a reimbursement today, you must be a professional member (paid). Everyone on CDR must be professional. Make sure members indicate whether they are new or renewing (so they can get plaque). Make sure that when you use credit card on application, include the 3-digit ID number from back of card. In the newsletter, if you got 5 new members, you get your own personal membership free. The proposed budget for next year is in front of you all. We usually have a cash flow and detail. This will be done later and mailed out. Discussion of budget: (Fuchsia) Projected membership and income will go up from the numbers we have thus far. Motion for approval: Barry Lietz; Second: Georgeanne Fulstone-Pucillo (Passed) Secretary’s Report Newsletters went out (hard copies) When we mail these out, we mail 1,500 to 1,800 which cost about $1 each between postage and printing. The problem with the hard copy is that we send out 4 per year at ~$1,200 per issue. This is lots of dollars and lots of work. When it is ready for printing, it goes to printer – and then to the back of line. We would like to experiment with an on-line newsletter. At start of each year we will send out a hard-copy with an appeal for membership and articles of enduring value. Then each six weeks, we would send out an electronic newsletter. It would go out in two formats. Email newsletter and a link to get one. We could send out 10,000 per month for $19.99. It also takes a fraction of the time to put together the electronic newsletter in relation to hard copy. End of year we will try to put out a more extensive magazine style report. It could contain pictures of model schools, award winners, etc. Go out to all schools and also legislators and ratcheting up professional image another level. Challenges: Getting accurate email addresses for everyone and other people who don’t use email. Total costs should balance out, or worst case scenario, less than $1,000 more. Would need to limit circulation. Several members expressed concern, thinking of the little guy who is not as connected to the organization as we are, the newsletter is the only concrete thing they receive for their check each year. An electronic newsletter would allow more information—more often. Mark Telles noted that he would like to see the 1st copy out by September 1st to use with the Boards and other schools. Past President’s Report Everything you have heard up until now would be in my report. There are two areas of particular concern. Each district has a disk that has the responsibilities of district officers. You can download them into your own documents. One other area—in old business—will wait until then. Webmaster’s Report There has been a great increase in hits on the CCEA website. There were about 100 online conference registrations Over 100 new members have joined online Please update your officer’s information. Also please update the school directory information. We are looking into a "member’s only" section of the website Tri-District Representative Reports Marion St. Amant - New Tri-District Reps will meet with Marian because she has been so successful. Marion is working with District VI to get started again. District XI is doing very well with Bob Meier. They are loking for 250 members. Dan Plough – New President left state & Carol Robb will help District VIII in doing it. Talked with Doug Paulson to set up Principal’s meeting in District IX. Dennis Fisher & Janet Knoeppel will be coming down. District X will be having Principal’s meeting on October 20th at El Camino HS. Georgeanne Fulstone-Pucillo - District I, II, & XII. District XII has a flier and pamphlet in handouts regarding At-Risk Conference at Tahoe. Good conference. District II has tentative district meeting in early November. District I has winter conference in late January on Mendocino conference. Bill Chapman – Looking forward to meeting with Marian. District IV will be having six meetings and send Janet an email with dates. District IV will give a scholarship to every school that has 100% membership. District III – still don’t know what is going on there. Carol Robb - Liaison from CTA – Carol is a member of the CTA Alternative Education Task Force CTA has been very supportive of us in the past CTA Board has 3 continuation school people Janet noted that many districts are trying to negotiate continuation high school class sizes at same size as rest of district.
Old Business
Report on Statewide Data Survey for 2002-2003 For last year, Gerry & Jim have been working on the Statewide Data Survey report. They have revamped the old report that died in the early 1990s, but have realized that much of the information contained in that report is time consuming to collect. We have simplified report and it is now a simpler one-page report. We would still like to have email addresses of all continuation school staff. The data survey form will be on the website. When questions come up, email them in, then a FAQs section will be added to the website. Tri-District Reps should be calling Presidents to make sure that Data Surveys have been completed. Also need emails for entire staffs of each school. (Bill Chapman) Breaking Ranks & Breaking Ranks II really does help us, particularly in relation to class size. (Gerry) There is a big difference between teaching the class and teaching the students. Class size doesn’t make a difference if you are teaching the class - it does if you are teaching the student. (Dennis) Intensive guidance and counseling is part of "Teaching the student" – there should be systematized guidance. Request from legislative office to put this in Model Continuation HS Report on Educational Options Coordinating Council On May 4th, the Governor sent us greetings. He commended Alternative Education for serving over 750,000 students. This is also a reason why we need data so quickly—we need data for power in numbers. A group of CCEA Board Members is planning to go back to Washington D.C. to talk with some people who could help us. We need to know the facts and figures. Educational Options is focused very much on ASAM & PI Dues Increase The increase in dues appears to have had a positive effect on membership. Membership is up in the early part of this year, possibly as people try to avoid paying the higher membership cost. Sponsors We need to find out which vendors are on our campus in order to leverage discounts & scholarships. Recruitment Packet Email #1: (10/15/04) Explanation of what CCEA is Link to member sign up Link to website Recruitment Packet Educational Options Month Letter Membership Applications District Newsletter Letter from Dan Executive Director Potential new position to provide long-term stability to organization (Bob Meier) What would be the difference between lobbyist and Executive Director? How can we be thinking of this when we are supposed to be in such poor financial condition? (Dan Plough) When dealing with corporate structure, there needs to be a consistent, dedicated person to communicate and fundraise. (Dennis Fisher) In getting grants and other fundraisers, this person’s pay would come from extra revenues. (Janet) What we need is a motion to investigate this as to whether we go forward with this in next few years. (Bill) What about their expense account - that could be huge? (Janet) I think that there are many questions to be answered about this, and that in any case, it is worth investigating. Motion: (Dan Plough) We first should get a job description and cost analysis for position of Executive Director. (Motion passed) Need to have a committee that investigates and comes back - doesn’t go to Constitution Committee until this gets approved. Report on 2004 State Conference Handout on the 2004 conference financial situation Some problems with hotel, but all in all worked well Goal was to make ~$100 per person – and they landed right on that Able to bring in same amount of money with significantly less people Thanks to Marion – drove down every time there was a meeting Need to start watching out-going costs…more people are paying for conferences by themselves Conferences meet requirement for NCLB professional development money—strands over time, etc. o Align staff development in strand with conferenceo District conferences due the same thingo Argue that there is a year-long professional development focused on strand
Break for Committees
Committee Reports: A. Standing Committees 1. Constitution & By-Laws (Bob Meier, Gerry Catanzarite) Second Reading of Dues increase, first brought up at Spring, 2004 CDR under New Business o (Wording) In CDR District Charter§ III. Duesc) As of January 1, 2005, individual professional dues will be $50. Discussion of CCEA becoming a 501 (c) 3 – Non-profit organization o Currently has an EIN, which is not as useful as a 501(c) 3§ Application process could take 12-18 months§ Costs involved include a $500 filing fee and attorney feesPositives: § Could apply for grants§ Much more credibility with donors§ Tax write off for members§ CCEA could act as an umbrella for schools seeking grantsNegatives: § Costs of setup§ Increased reportingDiscussion: § How can we bring all the members of this body into the final decision before the next CDR?Motion: John Lupini; Second: Bob Simmons to authorize the executive board to investigate non-profit corporation status, including up to $2500 for investigation. This information will then be e-mailed to all CDR members for a final vote. This proposal will include a final dollar amount to carry out the filing and re-organization. (Motion passed) 2. Legislative (Jim Caswell, Peter Birdsall) Discussed accountability for CAHSEE (who is bound by it) Discussed effects of AB 825 Block Grant implementation Discussed effects of William’ Settlement complex of legislation 3. Advisory/Liaison (Kathey Abney, Dennis Fisher, Carol Robb) Discussed how to better bring all of the Educational Options programs to the table o Please let Kathy Abney know if there is information to be passed on to ACSAo CTA has lots of programs available which could benefit continuation schools and CCEAo Explanation of the work of the Educational Options Coordinating Council4. State Conference: (Tom Campbell, Vic Whitaker) Sacramento conference is well organized and proceeding nicely 2005 – Sacramento at the Doubletree Hotel There are a great many special events planned for this year’s conference, including a keynote speaker, art contest, essay contest, and a shift in the order of ceremonies. B. Ad Hoc Committees 1. Awards (Dan Plough) Awards for State Teacher of the Year, Classified, Administrative and Support Employees of the Year will follow the regular format. Please help getting nominations in with plenty of lead time this year 2. Membership (Marion St. Amant) Discussed how to get more membership in the organization o Need to market the organization better, using incentives such as cups, mugs, etco LAUSD sells their organization as a familyo When recruiting, the place to start is with the principalo Conference registration needs to have a larger discount than the membership feeo Need a "Member’s Only" conference activity or item3. Nominations and Elections (Fuchsia Ward)
California Department of Education Report – Dennis Fisher Discussed refinements and improvements to the Model Continuation High School Program o Largest number of model schools are currently certifiedo Excellent quality of continuation schools is being noted within this programo CDE is appreciative of the cooperation between CCEA and CDEWent over developments with regards to accountability measures Discussed the value of CCEA’s close relationship with the Department of Education, demonstrated by the swift action when many schools were declared underperforming. The situation was resolved due to the actions of the CCEA and its lobbyists.
Lobbyist Report – Peter Birdsall Several things to pass out. Members should end up with four items: Right now things are very quiet in Sacramento. Attention has now shifted to CDE for implementation of bills that have passed. The main current focus of attention is on presidential election. AB 825 consolidates categorical programs into block grants o Signed by governoro Effective in 2005/06§ This year, everyone got growth and 2.41 COLAo Continuation High School Revenue Add-on§ Generated by continuation ADA - no requirement that it is spent on continuation education§ Recommended putting it in the Pupil Retention Block GrantAB1012 Interrogation of students without parents o Vetoed by Governor due to concern of it interfering with regular and needed communication between law enforcement officers and studentsWilliams Settlement o Provides for State assistance to ensure that all students receive equal access to an appropriate, free educationGovernor vetoed a measure to include Career-Technical Education information in the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) o However, his language makes it clear that he supports C-T programso His administration will be proposing to improve & increase the number of C-T coursesAudit Committee Report – Bill Chapman Largest income is produced by membership; next highest income produced by conference. o Largest expenditures include Legislative Lobbyist, Model School visits, Newsletter.Satisfied that all records are correct and well kept
New Business
Future Conference Dates and Locations – Vic Whitaker 2006 – Los Angeles 2007 – Sacramento 2008 – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) o Janet expressed concern about the 500 room block for Los Angeles because of the possibility of people driving in.Increase in Mileage allowance – Janet Knoeppel The federal government’s mileage allowance is now $ .375 per mile CCEA’s allowance is $.34 per mile o "We should go right up to the cap"Motion to raise mileage reimbursement rate as of April CDR (this is second reading): Karlene Dockery; Second: Kathy Abney; (motion passed) District Reports All Districts turned in reports for information to the organization Fiscal Reports – IRS Report Bank Balance as of last CDR Meeting – April, 2004 Income Total since last CDR Meeting – April, 2004 Expenditure since last CDR Meeting – April, 2004 Current Bank Balance – Most recent statement Comments/Announcements Possibility of having a State Essay contest for students at newly named model continuation high schools. o Winner might read essay & receive plaque at conferenceo $250 scholarshipArt show with a silent auction at the conference There is a plan for CCEA officers to make a lobbying trip to Washington D.C. to push alternative education’s agenda with lawmakers. Janet and Dennis will do a traveling road show for administrators. Contact them to set a date for your District. Adjournment – 2:14 p.m.
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