Dear MTUESD Community,
We are very busy with spring and summer planning. Reservations will be out shortly for summer school along with the information about programs. I am incredibly excited that we are partnering once again with Bret Harte and Chief John Parks to present the wildly popular fire camp. We are even expanding it into incoming second through fourth graders for a four-day camp, where kids can, pardon the pun, light the fire of a dream to serve in the fire service. Those dreams that you have when you’re little can be powerful motivators to persevere when things are hard. Part of our job is to be dream makers and help kids understand all that they can be.
Because I believe in the endless ability to do anything we set our heart to, I’m just putting out there I am looking for a donor to restore the Mark Twain track. We are right now safe with the dirt track that is compacted. The 20-year-old track was taken up because the surfacing was so failed that the large three-inch-deep cracks were a tripping hazard to kids, and we were having serious injuries. There is no possible way in our budget that we can restore that surfacing. I am looking for a donor or consortium of donors that can make a transformative difference in the PE experience for our kids and also for the whole community. Dreams can come true if we know the right people to ask. If I can support any kind of a presentation to a group or a person or take a walk on the track, let me know. My sister, who was an incredible fundraiser for a college and a cancer entity, used to have a saying “It’s always OK to ask and it’s always OK for people to say no”. But she often said there was somebody out there that said “yes”. What I’m asking right now is I’m looking for a yes. Budget estimates are not going to be cheap due to the prevailing wage requirements of public work jobs, and this is probably going to be in the area of $1 million. I can’t even get a bond passed for $65 bucks for four years in this community to prevent 36 kids in a class, so the ability at the local bond level I don’t think is realistic. How can we make this happen for kids or is it one more instance of our kids are left behind?
Roof work at Copper has been going really well. It was coordinated by Ken Malvini and Jessica Handgis and the contractors were able to do some work while students were on site and then the contractor took advantage of the holiday in January. Four roofs were coated and buttoned up against leaks. At some point, we’re going to have to address the roof on the Copper gym too, and we’re getting prices on that. The Copper track had a little bit of bubbling with all the moisture, and we have a repair in progress to restore that. That overall track is in pretty good shape.
In other news, those Battle of the Books kids did good! So proud of them and I thank the staff members that took the time to coordinate and accompany the kids to this event.
A shout out to our Saturday school staff. Drivers, Diane Gephart and Nate Norris that created the door-to-door student pick up and work service opportunities, Kel-Lee Felix and Maria Paz who oversaw the academic portion of the day, and I appreciate the parents that made their kids get out of bed. This is not punitive. This is meant for the kid to have an opportunity to reflect “Is my disruptive behavior that I’m doing really worth it? Is the N-word or an F-bomb in class really worth it? Is being disrespectful really worth it?” Based on our first Saturday school and the kids that attended, it appears that it’s making an impression. We didn’t have any repeat reservations from that group. This is not punitive–the kids get a Starbucks card if they’re appropriate and help with the program during the day, and what we want to do is just change their culture. It’s like a potato bin. You got one squishy one, it can affect the whole batch. We want our kids to be happy at school, but we also want them to be contributors and not be detractors. We thank our parents that are working hard with us to create a culture of expectation.
In other news, we’re coming up on that hard budget season where we do have to make reductions due to declining enrollment. I know this is upsetting. I wish there was a way for me to make more money. I can’t make more money. I can only manage expenses. If you have questions about programs or budget or anything, give me a call and I’m happy to support answering your questions or listening to your ideas.
Thank you for walking with us every day as we teach all student students to embrace that “Achievement has a hold on me!”
Sincerely yours,
Louise Simson
Superintendent
(650) 996-3290