Santa Monica, a Lifelong Learning Community

• Improved Communication and Accountability:
  The 07/08 school year saw the long overdue and much needed comprehensive upgrading of the district’s website. You can now find the budget and full staff directories for the district and every school site at www.smmusd.org/.  School Accountability Report Cards (SARC) are also available online for every district school.
   
  The district also partnered with the PTA Council, and Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) to present the second Annual State of Our Schools report (http://www.smmusd.org/StateofOurSchools.htm) in both Malibu and Santa Monica.
   
  World Class Public Schools communication efforts began with the district partnering with PTA Council, the Teacher’s Association, and SEIU to host the first ever Public Schools Week, Fall and Spring editions of the World Class Public Schools newsletter, and monthly emails to the community from the superintendent. More information can be found at www.worldclasspublicschools.org
  
  
• Fiscal Management
  The district completed contract negotiations giving a 3% raise this year to teachers, classified employees, and administrators. The employee raises reflect efforts to maintain the attractiveness of our district for top quality candidates.
   
  The fiscal situation continues to be difficult due to inadequate state funding combined with threatened reductions and state funding volatility. However the district has managed to build its reserve to more than $10 million, the highest district reserve ever. That’s a good thing because the district will have (and need) that reserve to soften the blows coming from the continuing state budget fiasco.
   
  Local voters demonstrated their strong support for our high quality public schools by passing Measure R which renewed two parcel taxes that were set to expire.
   
  On April 28, citing “the district's substantially improved financial performance and financial flexibility,” Standard & Poor's increased its bond rating of the District by two notches to AA from A+.
  
  
• Special Education
  The path to restructuring SMMUSD’s Special Education program so that all children and families feel respected, included, and valued has been difficult and painful. However, since the Lou Barber Independent Evaluation of Special Education was released in April, much work has been done.
  
      • Significant personnel shifts have been made at the District level.
      • The moratorium on settlement agreements and confidentiality clauses has been re-affirmed and strengthened.  
     • The District, PTA Council, and SEDAC (Special Ed District Advisory Committee) co-sponsored a great workshop from San Ramon Valley (SRV) Unified School District on building an inclusive Special Ed department.
      • The Board of Education, working with the Superintendent, has repositioned special ed under Chief Academic Officer Sally Chou rather than as a separate department.
      • The District is looking into bringing in an outside mediator and/or creating an ombudsman-type position to help mediate conflicts within the IEP process and is consulting with SRV to better understand the job description and duties of their Special Needs Liaison position.
      • The Board has also taken action to form a Design Team of community stakeholders to work with an outside facilitator on re-designing the special ed program, including quarterly reports, with the main focus on improving the IEP process, teacher/staff recruitment and retention, and programming and placement for special needs students.
  
  These actions and the processes and personnel they will put in place, will hopefully set our district on the path toward establishing a supportive, transparent, and collaborative Special Education Department. Stay tuned.
  
  
• Partnerships & Facilities
  Ms. Talarico and the Board of Education have partnered effectively with Santa Monica College to increase the articulation between the high school curriculum and college requirements, the availability of college credit classes for high school students, the availability and quality of pathways to careers for high school students interested in college certificate programs, to expand summer school offerings, and to re-turf the John Adams playing fields. With the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, they have worked to expand the annual high school job fair including related pre-job fair seminars and trainings, to develop internships with local businesses for high school students, and mentors, and are piloting an exciting new project for AP classes to help solve real world business problems once the students have finished with their AP exams. A thrilling partnership opportunity with the City of Santa Monica is the collaborative and joint planning in process now regarding facilities plans for both the Samohi campus and the Civic Center campus. This is a wonderful opportunity that can have enormous benefits for our students and the entire community. The Samohi campus and other sites in the district are being re-considered and modernized with funding from Measure BB. From what I hear, sites across the district are happy with the architects they are working with and good results are expected.