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Issue 81
Common Questions and Comments from Public Forums
HUSD’s community forums have been well attended and very productive in
the past few weeks. We thank all participants for their thoughtful
contributions. Upon review we have posted the information from these
forums on the district web site (www.husd.com).
Listed below are responses to some frequently asked questions and
concerns.
Q: What do I do if I have an idea about the current budget crisis?
A: Tell us. All ideas are forwarded to the appropriate committee or
individual.
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Contact us in the following ways:
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Send an e-mail to our central clearinghouse at
communication@husd.com.
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Phone the Superintendent, Kay Shultz, at 431-3488.
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Mail an idea to the Communications Committee, HUSD, 1028 Prince St.,
Healdsburg, CA 95448
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Use the suggestion box at each school site.
Q: I made comments and suggestions and haven’t heard anything back.
A: We are gratefully accepting all ideas and suggestions and are
considering each as we determine which are the most likely to be
successful. This review of frequently made comments and questions is our
first effort at replying to your input. We will consider each suggestion
and publish responses like this over the next few weeks. If you made a
suggestion and want a specific response, please resubmit it in any of
the ways mentioned above along with your contact information. We will
respond as quickly as possible.
Q: Why are there so many small districts in Sonoma County? Why don’t
they combine?
A: Districts have historically developed as communities grew and a need
for local control of education arose. Windsor is a good example of this.
They were part of our district for many years until the early nineties
when the community wanted to assert their right to local control of the
educational processes for their students. Combining (or splitting)
districts requires approval of the voters for the affected areas which
is sometimes difficult to get. For example, during the unification of
our district into a K-12 from two (K-6, 7-12) districts required that we
separate out West Side and Alexander Valley schools in order to ensure
support from those segments of the community.
This is a problem for our county, however. It is more efficient to run
districts with more schools and larger student populations. The problem
becomes one more of politics than of efficiency. For example, how many
people in Healdsburg would vote to Join Windsor Unified School District
relinquishing control of our schools to Windsor even though that is more
efficient? Also, Healdsburg is one of the only districts around with a
large retiree long-term liability that would be inherited by any
district that joined us.
We have small districts because, generally, the population in any given
area wants to have local control and accountability. Combining districts
requires a political will that sometimes isn’t present due to
differences in districts on many levels.
Q: Why isn’t there more publicity about the school district?
A: We used to publish the bi-annual Unified News newspaper insert filled
with stories and information highlighting staff and programs, but due to
staff shortages we stopped publishing it. We also created a series of
informative brochures about each school and we publish a School
Community Connection bi-weekly column in the Healdsburg Tribune. Now we
are working on a new publicity campaign highlighting the district’s
outstanding programs and staff.
Q: Where does the money coming into the district go? Where does it come
from?
A: We encourage you to read the summary of revenues and expenditures.
The figures from the last 2 years are available at each school office
and at www.husd.com.
Q: What’s going to happen to current school programs as a result of the
proposed budget cuts – especially at HHS?
A: Our top priority is keeping the current programs in place in the next
school year. We are forming several subcommittees to resolve the various
problems. We welcome you to join and/or provide your input. Information
about joining is available at www.husd.com.
Q: Why isn’t the state fully funding our schools?
A: California is currently working its way out of a severe budget crisis
and school funding has suffered dramatically in recent years as a
result. We are working with legislators to keep them informed about our
current situation. One of our subcommittees, our Legislative Action
Committee, is working to put more pressure on legislators to correct the
current situation. Find information about this committee at
www.husd.com. We urge you to
participate by contacting local, state and federal representatives. A
letter is available at the district office and if you sign it we will
fax it for you.
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