School Attendance Review Board - October 9, 2017

On Monday, October 9, 2017 from 8:00-10:00 a.m., Carl Corbin of School and College Legal Services will provide educators and interested community members a workshop on the regulations regarding School Attendance Review Boards and share updates on schools addressing chronic absenteeism.

School Attendance Review Board Recognition Program 2017-18

All schools are invited to participate in the 2017-18 Model School Attendance Review Board Recognition Program sponsored by the California Department of Education in cooperation with the California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance. Please see the attached letter from Tom Torlakson and review the CDE SARB web page for more information.

"Escalation" Screening and Conversation - October 24, 2017

On Tuesday, October 24, 2017, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., Marin County Office of Education and the One Love Foundation present Escalation, a powerful workshop that teaches participants about healthy and unhealthy relationships.  This event is for students and adults.

Equal Access to Public Education

Under Federal law, State and local educational agencies are required to provide all children with equal access to public education at the elementary and secondary level.  Recently we have become aware of student enrollment practices that may chill or discourage the participation, or lead to the exclusion, of students based on their or their parents' or guardians' actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status.  These practices contravene Federal law. Both the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education write to remind you of the Federal obligation to provide equal educational opportunities to all children residing within your district and to offer assistance in ensuring that you comply with the law. 

Also noted on the Immigration Documentation and the question: should a district inquire into the immigration or citizenship status of a student or parent as a means of establishing the student's residency in the district?

Answer: No.  Immigration or citizenship status is not relevant to establishing residency in the district, and inquiring about it in the context of establishing residency is unnecessary and may have a chilling effect on student enrollment.

Anticipated Crossing Guard Reduction for 2018-19

Based on information provided by the Transportation Authority of Marin we are anticipating an approximate net reduction of 22 crossing guards for the 2018-19 school year. A sub-committee brought this forward to the Superintendents in February of 2016, and now the impending reduction is less than a year away.  Attached is the Ranked List of TAM Marin County School Crossing Guard Locations. Due to a variety of factors the total number of school crossing guards funded through TAM are anticipated to be reduced from the current 82 to approximately 60 effective in the Fall of 2018. TAM staff will meet with affected school sites and outline options early in 2018. These factors include:

• An overall reduction in funding, beyond the base Measure A funds that are the core funding source for crossing guards, with temporary funds from a Federal Safe Routes program being exhausted and the fixed Vehicle Registration Fees have less purchase power over time.
• Elimination of additional guards funded from Measure A funding beyond originally allocated amounts over the past several years. Temporary increases were made to address specific sites and concerns that Public Works brought to TAM for assignment, which are not sustainable at current revenue levels.
• Increased operating costs to maintain paid guards willing to work a "split shift" in the morning and afternoon along with increases in the Marin County Living Wage.
• A pedestrian count and scoring system to determine ranking for crossing locations is conducted every 3-4 years, and will be conducted again during the 2017-18 school year to determine ranking for guard assignments staring in the Fall of 2018
• Attached is a copy of the current ranking based on the last count, with double line (on page 2) between the 60th and 61st ranked crossing guard sites as an example of where the cut off would be for funded crossing guard locations in the Fall of 2018 under the current rankings, and solid bold line (on page 3) between the 82nd and 83rd guard location noting the cut off line for currently funded guards.
• Those crossing guard sites that have a "Note 4" are locations that have guards that are paid for by the School District through a reimbursement to TAM.
• So there are currently actually 90 crossing guard locations (82 funded through TAM, and 8 funded through Districts)
• The cost per paid guard location is approximately $16,800 annually.
• A "volunteer guard" program has been explored, which would cost $4,000 - $4,500 per location, if the volunteer has 100% participation. These costs would go up if a guard did not report, called in sick, etc.
• The new ranking will be available to distribute to schools starting in January or February of 2018 to prepare for the transition and reduction.
• The overall reduction of guards is anticipated to cause significant concern in our communities, particularly for those locations that have had funded guards that will not be funded moving forward