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Del Mar Union School District briefs
“We want to publicly express our appreciation and gratitude for her service to the foundation over the past several years which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the district,” said McCroskey. Olson will leave her post effective Sept. 15 and is now working part time to help to board in achieving a smooth transition. In an e-mail sent to board members and district officials Olson reflected back on her efforts over the years. “Looking back, I am especially proud of delivering over $800,000 to the district schools this year, generating an impactful [sic] $1 million in income to the foundation and managing and reducing our overhead down to $150,000,” stated Olson. “ I am also pleased to have generated record-high participation rates at most schools from our appeal/spring push and our all-new gala concept. In the four years as executive director, I have led efforts that have resulted in over $4 million in income and produced 12 events delivering combined over $700,000 in net profits.” During its 2005-06 school year, the foundation took in more than $1.1 million in funds with Olson at the helm. However, in the fall of 2006, two parents representing Ashley Falls School in Carmel Valley resigned from the foundation’s board of directors, citing irreconcilable differences with the group’s leadership. Janette White Shelton and Bonnie Haase resigned in late September on the heels of the Sept. 11 resignations of two other parents, Alison King and Cathy Swindlehurst, who were representatives of Carmel Del Mar, and stepped down in objection to what they characterized as rigid leadership and a persistent lack of transparency. The nonprofit organization was facing a series of complaints by a group parents who expressed concerns with the foundation’s management style. According to the foundation’s president Bob Gans, the board will discuss how to fill the position in the near future, and will coincide with a comprehensive strategic planning review that has occurred over the summer in which its results are up for review at the foundation’s Aug. 2 meeting. The board voted to approve a waiver to modify the hours of employment for the new Sycamore Ridge Elementary School music teacher from 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. to 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The change in hours is to allow for an after-school band program—approved as a pilot effort at this point—conceived by Sycamore’s principal Emily Disney as a way to provide certain students a comprehensive education in music without having to miss out on their core curriculum courses. Stephanie Lomax, the school’s new music teacher, is coming from Canyon Crest Academy where she worked a similar schedule (9:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.). Students will have the chance after school to practice more on their instruction without the daily distractions that come with regular school day. In accordance with bargaining unit contract rules, a waiver is only approved and then considered by the board if 75 percent of the members part of the teachers’ association support it and, in this case, according to Disney, the waiver was unanimously approved by the Sycamore staff. The board also voted to approve the acceptance of the Early Intervention for School Success Grant in which Del Mar Hills Academy was one of 35 schools in the state and one of three in San Diego County to receive the award valued at $30,000. The school will receive $10,000 annually from 2007 through 2009. According to the staff report, the grant is “…designed to support professional learning communities with the use of appropriate and differentiated learning experiences for students in the early grades.” Enrichment funding The board agreed to adopt a policy regarding additional enrichment funding for the 2008-09 school year. The policy will allow school sites to hire two additional enrichment positions beyond the district’s already established enrichment allocation and that the dollar amount for each of these certified positions be set at $68,000 until the 2007-08 collective bargaining process is finished when the board will be able to adjust the amount to reflect changes in compensation and health benefits. In regard to the policy, the board also set a deadline of May 1 for fund-raising groups generating funds for the additional positions to pay the district’s business department. Last spring, the board agreed to the policy and in June it directed staff to draft an interim policy that will allow for groups like the education foundation and the PTA to map out successful fund-raising plans during the 2007-08 academic year. With the amendment of several sections, the board voted to adopt the district’s goals and objectives for the 2007-08 school year and will take a closer look at the priority of each with every member personally ranking their importance, which will be up for discussion during a special meeting in August at which time the board will attempt to come to a consensus on its Top 10 goals and objectives as a way to provide more specific direction to district staff. Some of the 30 outlined goals and objectives include completing construction on Ocean Air School, creating a “move-in and occupancy process,” reviewing and updating the district’s current emergency preparedness plan at all eight school sites, and implementing a world language immersion program at one or two sites that will begin August 2008. Playing fields The board agreed to take a closer look at the fees the district collects from athletic organizations using its playing fields as it relates to their nonprofit vs. for-profit status. The move was in response to an electronic letter by Dr. Doug Politoske who posed the question that a private, for-profit group, such as the Kurtis Swanberg Riptides baseball outfit, should be charged the commercial rate of $35 per hour any time it uses the district’s playing fields and not just when it hosts its camp. Currently, Swanberg pays $5 per hour for practices and games, which is also the rate the district charges recreational leagues. Facilities report 
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