Daily Journal : "Finances top concern for Redwood City School District candidates"

By Lea Cuniberti-Duran

Article published by the Daily Journal about the Redwood City School Board Candidates. http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=116894

Financial accountability with greater transparency was on the mind of four hopefuls running for two four-year seats on the Redwood City Elementary School District.

There seemed to be little competition for the two seats with only board President Maria Diaz-Slocum and Trustee Hilary Paulson on the ballot until the last day. Parent and local business owner Lea Cuniberti-Duran and Jack Hickey, Sequoia Healthcare District trustee who already announced his 2010 candidacy for a seat on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, filed on the last day. Last week, the four candidates spent an hour in the Daily Journal offices discussing their thoughts on problems facing the district. Conservative financing while expanding programs seemed to be a consensus among the incumbents and Cuniberti-Duran while Hickey made a goal of downsizing the district.

Larger class sizes and reduction to many programs began in the Redwood City Elementary School District this year as part of a two-year budget reduction totaling $10.7 million. The financial situation is not expected to be better in the coming years. Each candidate offered different ways for dealing with the declining funds.

Newcomer Cuniberti-Duran had a couple of ideas for raising money. First, she supported a grant writer. Such a position was reduced in recent budget cuts, a move Cuniberti-Duran thought should be reversed allowing the district to aggressively pursue additional money. Secondly, the district could save money by creating one calendar, rather than two drastic start dates the district currently uses for the year-round and traditional school calendars. She felt the district could more wisely invest and save the money it has by learning from neighboring districts that spend less but produce higher test scores.

Diaz-Slocum and Paulson both noted another parcel tax attempt may be coming.

But Diaz-Slocum noted the district should focus on finding funding through partnerships with businesses or local organizations.

Paulson said maintaining the reserves would be an important part to allow the district to handle mid-year cuts, which have yet to be announced but are widely anticipated amongst education officials.

Hickey had a different approach including having the district assertively go after the state for IOU money, which the district previously thought it lost. More importantly, Hickey said closing a school would save much money. Budget cuts meant larger class sizes, meaning eliminating the need for some teachers. Continuing this trend, Hickey argued, would result in the need of less classrooms and justify the closing a small school like John Gill Elementary. Doing so would eliminate the cost of a principal, electricity and other costs that go along with running a school. Simultaneously, the district could lease the site to generate money.

These financial ideas and assurances was the top priority for each of the candidates.

The other goals were less uniform.

Paulson wanted to continue the academic achievement growth the board had been successfully achieving in recent years. Diaz-Slocum agreed hoping to focus on the achievement of all children.

Cuniberti-Duran wanted to focus on making neighborhood schools a more viable option for families. In some instances, not having a preschool or after-school option at a neighborhood school drives parents to go to private schools. She argued investing in meeting those neighborhood needs or offering a viable alternative could keep parents from placing children in private schools instead of local public schools.

For Hickey, creating a property tax credit program, similar to a voucher program, combined with the elimination of class-size reduction were important goals if elected.

Redwood City has a unique student makeup with a variety of ethnicities and a families spanning the economic spectrum. Communication could be used to better bridge that gap, said Cuniberti-Duran, Paulson and Diaz-Slocum. Some work in the area has already began with a district-wide group for Latino parents and a phone service which allows the district to call parents and send a message in Spanish.

Hickey suggested having the district partner with a company to offer computers to family at a discounted price. Families would pay for the computers, but such a program, he explained, could help all in the family learn English.

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=116894