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CSEA agreement reached: TTUSD and the Classified School Employees Association (CSEA) have reached an agreement for the 2012/13 school year. The agreement partially addresses the budget reduction target for this area of the $1.8 million budget reduction for 2012/13. The major pieces of the agreement include two furlough days and a freeze in step advancement on the CSEA pay schedule. The balance will be made up in staff reductions. The agreement includes negotiated concessions which decrease costs for the 2012-13 fiscal year; the estimated savings is $187,000. Dickinson noted these concessions are for 12/13 only, so those savings will technically bounce back the following year. CSEA ratified this tentative agreement on Monday night; TTUSD board approved on Wednesday night. This is another example of working together to come up with a solution that is best for our kids. It wasn’t easy, and I know it has financial impact for all individuals involved. I want to recognize that CSEA really took a leadership position and worked collaboratively with district negotiators. The CSEA negotiation group included Christine White, Jessica Alb, Jeanie Blount, Bob Gunter, Mark Fisher, and Glen “Skip” Piechocinski, Bert Alcaraz-Ochoa, and Deb McKechnie for CSEA; the TTUSD negotiation group included Tom Gemma, Nanette Rondeau, Corine Harvey, and Steve Dickinson.
Listening and Learning continues… My “Listening and Learning Tour” has been such a valuable experience for me, and I’ve really enjoyed meeting so many people this way. This week I made a presentation to Silicon Mountain Group, a group of technology professionals in the Tahoe Truckee region. They invited me to share my vision of technology in education for the school district. Because my vision has not actually been shared with the district yet, what I did present was my background in technology initiatives and some ideas I have. I shared some of the past programs I’ve been associated with and I also talked about all the different ways technology professionals such as this group could possibly help in partnership with schools. Many different professions were represented and the presentation was very well received. Also this week I presented at Sunrise Rotary, where I did my introductory presentation, including my philosophy and vision for education in general.
New science standards: This week, drafts of the new science standards were released. A group of states coordinated by nonprofit educational organization Achieve Inc. is developing “Next Generation Science Standards” based on the framework in order to create the foundation for all students to have a solid K-12 science education. I think this is very exciting because science is one of those areas that afford many opportunities for a cross disciplinary approach to education – engineering and business, for one example. The first public draft of these new standards was made available this week. That draft and more information about that process can be found at Achieve’s website at nextgenscience.org.
Shattered Dreams at NTHS: Next week the Shattered Dreams program will take place at NTHS Thursday and Friday. This is an extremely powerful program for our kids that takes place every two years, and brings up topics that we teachers, parents and adults in supporting roles can consider and discuss with the kids. As we approach the end of the school year, with the many opportunities for celebration, it is important for parents to have conversations with kids and for us at the schools to continue to reinforce that message of a safe, drug- and alcohol-free graduation and end of year. Other events to highlight this effort include a parent presentation at ACMS next week.
Vaccinations before the start of school this August: As you recall last year, there was a concerted effort to get secondary students vaccinated for state requirements. This year, incoming 7^th grade students will be required to have the TDAP. It’s an important step to take to make sure your children are vaccinated – not just for school requirements, but also in terms of general health. Thank you for helping us in this effort.
Calendars for next year, 13/14: School year calendars are now posted at www.ttusd.org. Start and end dates for next year and 13/14 as well as major vacations are included on these calendars. The minimum day schedule is also posted. Of note, we did look at how the minimum days fell district wide this year and next year will not be on the same schedule. Next year, they will be better aligned to vacations and more effective for PLCs and for implementing state standards.
Staff Appreciation Weeks: Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and Day of the Teacher. Each school site had their own special events honoring teachers including luncheons, coffee and pastries, and other creative ideas. I saw incredible celebrations for our talented teachers and I’d like to thank the PTOs and other groups who made it all possible. I was lucky enough to participate at Truckee Elementary where I served breakfast to teachers. This is a nice way to annually recognize all that our teachers do for our kids and for our community. Next week is Classified Employee week – join me as we honor and celebrate all those who support the work that goes on in the classrooms. Without them we would not have lunches, busses, safe facilities and so much more. Thank you to all our staff, certificated and classified!
Open Houses Continue: There are still a few Open Houses coming up – mark your calendar if your child attends any of the following schools:

North Tahoe School: May 22, 6 p.m.
Tahoe Lake Elementary: May 23, 6 p.m.
Glenshire Elementary: May 24, 6 p.m.
Kings Beach Elementary: June 7, 6 p.m.

Don’t forget, the Truckee High School drama presentation Godspell is going into their final weekend with a performance at 7:00 p.m. both tonight and tomorrow (Saturday); the theater opens for seating at 6:30 p.m. Adults are $15.00, students are $10.00 and tickets are available at the door.

Thanks for your support. If you’d like to email me with any comments or suggestions, my email address is rleri@ttusd.org.

Rob Leri
TTUSD Superintendent and Chief Learning Officer