League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Alameda County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Donn Lee Merriam Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Emery Unified School District

The questions were prepared by the LWV Berkeley/Albany/Emeryville and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. The new Local Control Funding Formula moved many decisions about allocating funding from the state to the local school boards; how well has the District followed the spirit of the Formula in identifying what our children need? Would you change anything in the process of developing the Local Control (LCAP) budget for next year?

I see the new local control funding formula, if effectively implemented, as a positive change that will greatly benefit our District. The current Governing Board, as part of the state requirements for Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) implementation, has collaborated with major stakeholders and from that produced a list of areas that need the District's focus. The areas I feel that are of critical importance to our District that I will make a priority to see their successful program implementation are as follows:

College Prep/Vocational Training/Life Skills/Mentoring/Tutoring/Curriculum/Counseling/Parental Involvement/Teacher Training/District Communications/Physical Education/Fine Arts

The board has an amazing and one time opportunity to manage the local control (LCAP) budget as it pertains to the new Emeryville Center for Community Life (ECCL). We need to do this right and that includes more effective communication between the District and the Community that would better aid the success of these initiatives. As a member of the governing board, I would work hard to ensure the board establish more efficient external communication, critically evaluate all current and new to be developed plans, and closely support the execution of these programs to ensure they are seamlessly incorporated into the new Emeryville Center for Community Life (ECCL).

2. How well has the District done in introducing the Common Core standards and methods in classes K-12? What improvements would you recommend or do you anticipate for the coming year?

From various sources, it's become apparent that we're behind in implementation of the common core standards. As for improvements, the district is currently spearheading a three day workshop for teachers in order to better understand the program. Although this is a positive start, I would work with my fellow colleagues and the Superintendent, Dr. Rubio to insure additional efforts were employed in getting back on track.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 15, 2014 16:29
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