BOE Meeting for March 13, 2007

1. Employee of the Month

Background: Each month the District honors an Employee of the Month. This month we recognize:

Trevor Spalla, Campus Supervisor, Lincoln Middle School

Strategic Significance: Goal #12 Communications and Community Engagement

Strategic Significance: Goal #5 At Risk Students

3. Proposed Board Policy 5141.25 Availability of Condoms at High Schools

At the November 28 BOE meeting, the AHS student research team presented their research findings in a report titled: Students Helping Educate Everyone on Sexual Health (SHEESH). The project question was: Why are some Alameda High School students engaging in unprotected sexual activities? The primary methodology used to examine this question was a survey. After receiving parental permission (parents of 20 students opted out) 359 students participated in the survey. Here is a recap of their findings:

For 100 students here is a breakdown of sexual activity:

• 76 students had not engaged in sex
• 15 students who engaged in sexual activity used protection
• 5 students who engaged in sexual activity used protection most of the time
• 4 students who engaged in sexual activity used protection sometimes
• 1 student who engaged in sexual activity never used protection

The research team presented eight recommendations:

1. Condoms should be available at Alameda High School or at the School-Based-Health Center WITHOUT a prescription so that students are able to access them when they need them, especially since sexual active students said they would be more likely to use condoms if they could get them at school.
2. The school should be sure teachers are trained on how to discuss sex-related issues with teens so that they don't feel uncomfortable if students ask questions, and they will know where to refer them for more information.
3. The AFS School-Based Health Center should advertise more and remind people they are here so that students will be more aware of the services. They should do more than just presentations to freshmen once a year - maybe they should create posters, etc.
4. Have a school-wide assembly with information on sex and protection that is run by students because students both get their information from and feel most comfortable talking with their peers about sex-related issues.
5. Train a group of students to do peer education on sex-related issues because students are willing to talk and listen to people their own age.
6. Make health education brochures more available and visible on campus.
7. Have themed day or week set aside at Alameda High School to talk about and raise awareness about sex, abstinence, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, and protection. For example, a poster campaign, quick facts, and/or PA announcements.
8. Teachers and curriculum should be very clear and precise about which methods protect against STIs and pregnancy and which do not so that students are properly informed.

In an Email dated December 12, members of the student research requested that a clarification be posted to better reflect their position regarding recommendation made at the meeting. Here is the text of their Email:

"Thank you for having us at the School Board meeting and for accurately portraying on your website what we believe to be a very important topic for teens. We realize that there is a clarification that we'd like to make about our recommendation. We would like condoms to be available to students only after they receive education on how to use them properly."

Since that time, a task force has met on numerous occasions. This task force made up health educators, AUSD school administrators, district office support staff and parents developed the proposed policy being presented.

ISSUE: On November 28th, 2006, a presentation was made to the Board of Education by the Student Research Team at Alameda High School wherein they presented their research findings regarding high school student perceptions about health needs of their peers. Their research was guided by methodology taught to them by health professionals at the University of California at San Francisco, and their student surveys revealed concerns of their adolescent peers regarding existing difficulties in gaining access to condoms and condom education to protect them from both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. A formal request was made by these students at that time to have AUSD consider allowing the Alameda Family Services Student Based Health Centers facilitate condom availability and education. At that time, the Board of Education directed AUSD to convene a task force to research other the policies of other California school districts with regard to condom availability and to draft a policy for the Board’s consideration.

PROCESS: The AUSD Condom Availability Task Force was convened at the Board of Education’s request to garner stakeholder representation and to conduct research on the issue of condom availability. The team included AUSD’s Director of Secondary Education, Principal of Island High School, a health educator working at Alameda’s School Based Health Centers, the Director of the AFS School Based Health Centers, and the President of the Alameda Parent Teacher Student Association. These representatives met frequently in the months of December, January and February. During that time, the team conducted an extensive literature review on the subject of condom availability in high schools. This research revealed clearly that condom availability in high schools does not increase sexual activity among teens but does accomplish its stated ends, namely increased education of students regarding taking precautions to protect them from both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Local health agencies were contacted for their recommendations on condom availability, and input was sought from local political representatives regarding their opinions on the matter as well.

Policy language was drafted based on review of state law and best practices of other school districts. The team vetted the language of the policy draft with other key stakeholders, emphasizing the importance of input from AUSD families as well as that from qualified health professionals, educators and students themselves. The PTSA President shared the draft language of the proposed policy at AUSD PTSA meetings at Alameda high schools to ensure that parents were made aware of the issue and had input to the policy, as was clearly emphasized as a goal of the Alameda Board of Education.

RESEARCH: Subsequent investigation into the practices of other districts was conducted, and ongoing inquiry revealed that there is indeed sample policy language from the California School Board Association in this regard. Condom availability is made possible through adopted board policies in Oakland Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District, Berkeley Unified School District, and Los Angeles Unified School District. All these aforementioned districts recognize the health needs of the students they serve, and thus all have adopted condom availability policies to uphold California state law safeguarding rights of minors 12 years or older to access of guaranteed health services that will protect them from both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Research was conducted regarding the sexual activity of adolescents and their risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. National and local statistics were reviewed, and in particular the task force focused on local statistics that reveal the following alarming data:

• 25% of adolescents of ages 15-17 years report they have been sexually active, both in the Bay Area and in California as a whole.
• Almost two-thirds of all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are contracted among youth aged 15-24 years.
• Over 2000 cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea are diagnosed yearly among Alameda County adolescents aged 13-19 years.
• Between 2002 and 2004, chlamydia was the most common STD and gonorrhea second most common in Alameda County and California.
• Chlamydia is widespread among youth who are sexually active, accounting for over 75% of all STDs annually among all ages. Referred to as the “silent epidemic,” the majority of these infections (as well as those of gonorrhea) are asymptomatic.
• Of all counties in California, Alameda County has highest incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea for females aged 15-24 years.
• National research shows that 33% of young women will become pregnant at least once before they reach 20 years of age.
• Teen pregnancy statistics in Alameda County reveal that 7% of births were mothers aged 19 and under, around 1500 per year in 2001-2003.
• Teen births are not a good measure of teen pregnancies however: statistics bear out that just over half of teen pregnancies result in births while 35% end in abortion and 14% in miscarriage.
• Teen mothers in Alameda County have the highest risk of having a low birth weight baby compared to older mothers who face less risk of on-time prenatal care and related birth complications.

The aforementioned statistics are alarming and show a need for increased condom education and availability in schools. Untreated, these diseases result in serious health consequences (including pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, tubal pregnancy, and increased risk for HIV infection and transmission in both males and females). Both chlamydia and gonorrhea can be cured easily and their long-term consequences can be avoided through early detection and treatment with antibiotics. Indeed, condom availability would help ensure prevention of STDs and pregnancy in the first place. Moreover, there is currently scant research on the recent national epidemic of Human Papillomavirus (HPV), but we do know now that approximately 20 million people are currently infected with HPV. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection. About 6.2 million Americans get a new genital HPV infection each year. This STD is also often asymptomatic, but there is now clear correlation between HPV and onset later of cervical and genital cancer. Clearly experts recognize that increased efforts at condom education, availability and use could benefit teenagers as well as all people in as much as prevention of this disease and all STDs is imperative for the health and wellness of our local community as well as the nation as a whole.

Regarding the concern that increased efforts at condom education and condom availability will lead to increased sexual activity in teenagers, an extensive literature review on this topic was also conducted. Many studies have been done nationally, and there are many examples of research showing that high school condom education and availability do not lead to increased teen sexual activity but instead promote abstinence and safe sex for high school students who in their personal adolescent development are encountering important decision-making about personal sexual activity.

The Board approved the Availability of Condoms at High School policy.

Fiscal Implications: None

Staff Recommendation:

Based on the AUSD Condom Availability Task Force’s research into this issue, it is now formally recommended that high school students be afforded the opportunity to seek out appropriate sexual health education and have access to preventative measures to assist them in both pregnancy and the contraction and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. In the spirit of California state law that safeguards minors’ access to counseling and health services in this regard, AUSD now recommends that we allow high school students to meet with designated qualified health professionals if they choose, gain access to voluntary education about condoms, and be provided with condoms to address issues both of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Strategic Significance: Goal 5: At-Risk Students, Goal 9 Student Involvement and Engagement, Goal 10 Safe Schools and Goal 12 Communicaitons and Community Engeagement

Background: Given our continous decline in enrollment, AUSD selected Lapkoff & Bogalet Demographic Research to develop a housing forecast, student yield study, district-wide enrollment forecast, and a sub-area enrollment study. They conducted a study in late 1990s so they can use that information along with current information to create a more accurate report.

Staff presented the demographic study (1.4Mb PDF) along with a Powerpoint presentation. The Powerpoint presentation revised the summary table to lower the expected loss of students for 2006-2011 from 144 to 20 students. The projections changed to acknowledge the approval of Alameda Landing project which will bring 300 homes to the area.

The Executive Summary from the report is below:

Executive Summary

Between 1997 and 1999, AUSD enrollments grew by more than 300 students, to a total of 10,750. However, the pattern reversed, and between 1999 and 2006, K-12 enrollments declined by 899 students.

Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) is a complicated community in which to study enrollment trends and patterns for the following reasons:

• Closure of Alameda Naval Air Station and its reuse have affected enrollments.
• In 2004 and 2005, a very large apartment complex (Harbor Island Apartments) that held about 500 AUSD students was refurbished. Tenants were evicted and about half of these students left Alameda public schools.
• Some parts of the District have experienced significant housing and population growth during the last two decades.
• Test scores vary within the District, and that appears to be related to different demographic patterns within Alameda. Schools with higher API scores seem to attract students. On the other hand, Chipman Middle School now has “Program Improvement” status, meaning that parents have the option to send their child to a different school, one with higher test scores.
• Future housing growth is likely to have a substantial impact on enrollments, but the timing of that development is very uncertain.

To understand this complex array of factors, we have divided the District into subareas that allow us to isolate and thus account for special events that have affected enrollments. We show the historical enrollment changes in each subarea, and forecast enrollments by subarea. Districtwide forecasts result from the summation of subarea forecasts.

Map 1 and Table 1 show the way in which we divided the district into subareas. Table 1 shows enrollments changes between 1997 and 1999 and between 1999 and 2006 for each of these subareas. As mentioned above, since 1999, AUSD enrollments declined by 899 students. Several trends by subarea emerged during the 1999 to 2006 period:

• Enrollment increases were experienced in Bay Farm Island and the area East of Park Street on the Main Island.
• Enrollment decline was experienced in the central part of the Main Island, between Park and Webster Streets.
• The most pronounced enrollment decline occurred in the western part of the Main Island outside the former Naval base (between Webster and Main Streets, south of Atlantic Avenue); this area declined by 509 students because of the eviction of tenants before conversion of Harbor Island Apartments to Summer House.
Another 216 students were lost from other parts of the subarea.
• Mixed enrollment changes were experienced on the former Naval base. On the one hand, enrollments declined in North Village Housing (the older Coast Guard Housing, which was abandoned) and in Marina Village (newer Coast Guard housing). On the other hand, there were enrollment increases farther west, as Alameda Point Collaborative provided homes for disadvantaged families.
• The number of out-of-district students increased by 75 between 1999 and 2006, somewhat offsetting the overall enrollment decline. Enrollments in all of these subareas are tracked in Table 1. For more information about enrollment changes by school level and subarea, see Table 5 (on page 51).

Forecast Results

Ten-year forecasts of enrollments from each subarea were produced. During the next five years, between 2006 and 2011, overall enrollment is projected to drop by 1ju students (subsequently revised twice and presented as 20 at the BOE meeting). Enrollment increases are anticipated from Bayport, from new housing on the Northern Waterfront, and in the area East of Park Street on the Main Island. These enrollment increases, however, are more than offset by projected declines in Bay Farm Island, Central Alameda (Park to Webster), and non-military West Alameda (between Main and Webster Streets, south of Atlantic Avenue). One of the potentially biggest impacts on future enrollments is housing development on the former Naval base and in the Northern Waterfront area. These two developments are likely to generate more than 1,000 new AUSD K-12 students. However, there is great uncertainty about the timing of the development. Redevelopment of the base has been postponed many times. After it begins, AUSD should count on a stream of new students that will probably last for many years. In the forecasts presented here, we have assumed that some development on the Northern Waterfront begins in 2009, but starts in earnest in 2012 and that base redevelopment will begin in 2015. We have indicated enrollments specifically from new development in the forecast tables, so that the reader can easily modify the forecasts to assume that development occurs sooner or later.

The number of students from new housing has a large impact on the forecasts. Without housing growth, K-12 enrollments would decline by 450 students during the next 10 years. Our forecast of students from new housing, which assumes that development will actually occur, partly offsets that decline. As a result, we expect K-12 enrollments to decline by 190 students during the next 10 years. Most of the decline is concentrated in the next five years.

Contingency Planning

We have provided a set of forecasts that represent our best estimate of future enrollments in the District and its subareas. However, it is very likely that actual enrollments will differ somewhat from these forecasts, especially within relatively small subareas of the District and for years relatively far in the future. This is because random variation affects small populations more than larger ones. Also, for every year that we add to the forecast, the greater the chances are that unforeseen changes will affect enrollments. The District might consider planning to accommodate the enrollments forecasted here, but have contingency plans for enrollments that are 10 percent higher or lower than forecasted. In our experience, this kind of contingency planning will prepared a district for almost any eventuality during the forecast period. It should be noted that elementary forecasts after 2010 are more uncertain, because no birth data are available for kindergarten enrollment forecasts (2005 is the last year for which we have birth data).

Implications for Facilities

Currently, AUSD has substantial excess capacity at every school level. The excess capacity is projected to increasing during the next 10 years as enrollments decline. The eventual construction of housing on the former Naval Base and the Northern Waterfront will increase enrollments and occupy some of this excess capacity. However, the construction process itself will take at least a decade, once planning is finished, and before that time, there is no sign that the current excess capacity will be needed. Current excess capacity at the elementary level is nearly 500, at the middle school level it is more than 600, and at the high schools level it is 400 (or nearly 700 high school capacity if Island High and ASTI are included).

While district-wide there is excess capacity, there is a shortage of space in the elementary schools East of Park on the Main Island. Also, Alameda High has more attendance area residents than capacity, and Lincoln Middle School is close to having more residents within its boundaries than capacity. The District’s excess capacity is concentrated primarily in Central and West Alameda. Ultimately, AUSD’s facilities will be located well, because the redevelopment housing is located in the Central and Western areas. For now, however, there is a mismatch between where students live and where facilities are located. At least some of this might be corrected with attendance boundary realignment, and we recommend that the District consider doing this once Fall 2007 enrollments and residence patterns can be analyzed.

Private School Enrollment History

Fiscal Implications: The demographic study was estimated to cost $60,000 to $90,000 when the contract was approved in September, 2006.

Staff Recommendation: Receive

Strategic Significance: Goals #1-12 All

5. Measure C Construction Update

Background:

Phase II (Miller, Lincoln, Alameda High School, Earhart and Haight)

Lincoln is complete. Minor punch list items is being completed.

Earhart - Project is complete expect for lighting in Multi Use Room. It will be completed this month. Punch list items being worked on.

Haight is on schedule. All structural work complete. Finish items being done.

Alameda High School had two more sets of six classrooms completed.

Miller first phase is complete. Will resume work during summer.

Phase III (Paden, Otis, Edison, Washington and Lum)

All drawings have been revised due to the changes in budget and re-approved by DSA. Projects will bud in March. We have to develop a plan to complete the projects over the summer and in the evening.

Phase IIIa Historic Alameda High School

Retro fit under design. Currently reviewing budget to reevaluate and revise the project scope.

Phase IV (Chipman, Bay Farm, Franklin, Woodstock and Longfellow) & Phase V (Wood, Encinal, Adult School and Woodstock CDC)

These projects are currently under design. We are planning to move the Chipman restroom upgrade and exterior painting to this summer. The remainder of the work will probably occur next summer.

Technology has spent approximately $3,500,000 on infrastructure and computers.

Total Measure C Expenditures so far are almost $42,000,000. We also have spent $8,900,000 of State Modernization/Growth funds.

Strategic Significance: Goals #10 Safe Learning Environments

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Last modified: March 13, 2007

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