Modesto City Schools to hear about security, enrollment

MODESTO, Feb 25, 2013 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Modesto City Schools board will get a rundown tonight on recommended campus security measures and be told enrollment likely will drop a little more next year.

First, the board will get a report from Assemblywoman Kristin Ol-sen on a state constitutional amendment she co-authored that would prohibit the state from promising money to schools but delaying its delivery.

The practice became routine in recent years, in effect forcing districts to cover state cash shortfalls, "using education funding as a piggy bank," Olsen says in a fact sheet.

On security matters, the report focuses on locks, alarms and cameras used by the district, but proposes staffing changes to improve security overall.

Under the recommendations, an existing position would be upgraded to "security department head," and a full-time security technician and a locksmith would be added at a total cost of up to $190,000.

More than 2,000 classroom locks cannot be locked from the inside, as required during lockdowns. The district has more than 15,000 door locks, 30,000 alarm components and 500 security cameras. Making the necessary conversions and fixes will cost up to $1 million, according to the report.

A report on projected enrollment shows the district losing 93 students from its high schools and, even with recent boundary changes, Davis High shrinking further, to 1,303 students. Its teams will continue to square off against Modesto High, projected to grow to 2,367 students, and Enochs, expected to drop slightly to 2,395.

Junior highs are expected to grow by 16 students, and elementary schools should stay nearly level. The district projects that its attendance will drop overall by 82 kids to 27,993, plus special-education students, who are placed individually and not counted in this report.

In other matters, the board will: --Consider a proposal to name the football stadium under construction at Gregori High for Don Lan-phear, who retired in 2008 after 36 years teaching and coaching at Davis High --Vote on a second reading of a policy to end food sales by students, parents and organizations during the school day or half an hour before or after school --Vote on repaving the cracking blacktop at Everett and Garrison elementary schools. The Garrison play area has not been repaved since the campus was built in 1956. The estimated cost to replace both blacktop areas is $800,000.

--Weigh in on the district's Citizenship Committee recommendation that student leadership, athletics, and spirit or cheerleaders be changed to "co-curricular" activities, tied to a school course. The change would create uniformity across campuses and exclude citizenship from the criteria. The committee noted that 77 percent of all students fail to meet the grade point average required to be in activities. Only 7 percent miss the mark solely because of citizenship requirements.

--Give a first reading to changes proposed in the process of allowing supplementary -- potentially controversial -- films for specific classes. The changes include a mandate that reviewing committee members watch every film they vote on and that board members be given more time to review the films before being asked to make a final determination.

--Vote on mapping revised boundaries and 38 school site maps, incorporating aerial imaging and showing utility shut-off points. Cost is estimated at $65,000.

The Modesto City Schools board will meet at 6 p.m. in the staff development center, 425 Locust St. The agenda is posted at http://bit.ly/MCSmeetings.

Bee education reporter Nan Austin can be reached at naustin@modbee.com or (209) 578-2339, on Twitter, @NanAustin, www.modbee.com/education.

___ (c)2013 The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.) Visit The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.) at www.modbee.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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