Dear MTUESD Community,
Welcome back! We are so excited to start the year! There is so much positive work that has already been happening to support our students for success. We are excited about the new site leadership teams of Sara Tuthill and Jessica Handgis. Taking on a new school site can be a daunting task, but these ladies have worked hard and the office support staff has done a great job gearing up.
I just want to clarify that the vaccination rule is not the district’s. That is a state requirement. I understand most of you have them in and that is greatly appreciated. For those that don’t, we do not start your child in school until we have them. We have a fabulous nurse that can support you in that endeavor. Reach out to Logan Robbins at lrobbins@mtwain.k12.ca.us with any questions.
I know that you’re seeing that our class sizes are larger. We understand that it is different. People ask me why it is different from years past? And I will respond to you that in your past, we lived outside of our means and that is why the district has been struggling for so long. Our type of district that is not basic aid AND needs to be staffed on a model of 30 to one. That doesn’t mean that every class has 30, it means that 30 students are needed outside of special education for each teacher across the site. I know it’s a shift and I know it’s hard. We have created some intervention staff to provide extra support at both sites. If I could change it folks, I would. We didn’t get our Measure A passed and we also didn’t get the community schools grant. The way you affect change in the state for a little district like ours is to raise your voice and reach out to your elected officials that they need to provide us some relief and unrestrict the ELOP funding.
What I am confident is that the staff will do a really great job with your students. I celebrate our STAFF and the partnership we have together. Whenever I talk about staffing and money, I just always want to remind people that there are separate buckets of money that are restricted. We spend money on facilities because we have that restricted money to do so. I’m not taking money out of the classroom and away from kids. I hope you enjoy how nice the sites look. Last year when I started, my goal was just to have the sites clean, and this year, the Custodial and Maintenance staff have really made it SO THE SITES ARE POLISHED, and I am very proud and grateful for their hard work.
The beginning of the year stack of forms is headed your way. The stack needs to be returned, please. It is super important that on that income eligibility form you list everybody in your household. The more we can demonstrate the need for assistance, the more funding we will receive for our district. Nobody looks at those and they aren’t reported in your individual files. It is simply one number as part of many numbers we compile in a big old report. Help us, help our budget by being diligent about filling out that form.
You may have heard the buzz about the Altaville School for Independent Study. I am super excited that Dr. William “Bill” Redford is gearing up a redesigned independent study program for the district. This is to serve grades five through eight and will be an alternate schooling method for students. My goal isn’t to take students that we already have in our system, but to attract many of the families in our area that prefer a homeschool model and give them really dynamic support within the district. The program was featured this week in the Calaveras Enterprise.
The playground retrofits are well underway at Copperopolis with the Mark Twain playground to follow. This will wind down the last of the immediate facilities improvements. We have plans in progress for the replacement of the modular bathroom out on the Mark Twain fourth through eighth grade yard. This restroom has been condemned for a number of years. Our goal is to add a staff restroom into that building in a separate restroom for supervision and also to provide staff and students a much more accessible facility. More news to follow on that. Of course, when you submit plans for something like that, it triggers new requirements like adding an EV and other things. These are all things we don’t have the money for, but if you want to do the improvement, you are required to do so.
I want to give a shout out to ACBA and Emily Anderson Mucks for coordinating the Farmers Market at the park. I was privileged to tend the Farmers Market Bar on Friday night for Soroptimist, an organization that benefits scholarships for girls and women, and it was great to see so many of our community out enjoying the fellowship, great products, and music. A fun evening all around! Parking is a little challenging, but it’s worth the effort for a really enjoyable Friday evening.
Regarding traffic, I know it’s a mess. I want to thank all the public agencies and Mayor Mike Chimente, who have been advocating for collaboration with Cal Trans on the traffic flow. The Highway Four improvements are beautiful. My biggest caution to you is please give some extra time and be very aware as you drive to school. We have a lot of kids that walk and are on bikes, so please GO SLOW.
On a final note, I will just say our IEP calendar is full. We have a percentage of students with special education needs identified that is much higher than the state average. What that means is that we have impacted services and calendar dates for meetings. It is very difficult to manage so many meetings and all of the providers that need to be in the room with the parent/ guardian during that IEP. If you are assigned a date for an IEP, we request that you do your very best to honor it. It may just seem like one meeting to you, but it’s one of 130 meetings for us. Please help us, help all students by attending your IEP meeting as scheduled.
We are so delighted to be in partnership with you for our students. It’s always a great day to watch them with joy and excitement join their class for the first day.
Sincerely yours,
Louise Simson, Superintendent
650-996-3290