Alameda school board faces potentially challenging future

Candidates devise stratagies to deal with lack of funds, low test scores among minorities

By Susan McDonough, Alameda Times Star, October 29, 2004

The three winners of Tuesday's school board race will inherit a district that is house rich and cash poor. Having won voters' approval of a $63 million school construction bond in March, district administrators are now busy spending it.

Measure C will pay for new playgrounds and heating and air-conditioning systems, among other things, and eventually a new primary school on the city's growing West End, district facilities manager Bob DeLuca told school board members this week.

Meanwhile, this year's budget for curriculum and salaries could end up about $750,000 in the hole, recent reports have shown.

"We are fiscally challenged educationally, and my priority is to maintain services when we are in that condition," said Bob Reeves, current board president.

Reeves and incumbent Janet Gibson are seeking re-election next week, while board member Barbara Guenther terms out.

"We need to continue the effort of meeting state standards and ... graduating our kids," Reeves said.

He and other school officials have been lobbying lawmakers in Sacramento for more equitable state funding, he has said.

The average school district in Alameda County receives about $4,875 per student annually, according to district records. Alameda Unified, on the other hand, receives about $4,595 per student.

On the surface, the disparity might not seem huge, but administrators say it hurts, and the school district has been trying to build political will both at home and in Sacramento to fix it.

In the meantime, Reeves warned that some major cuts might be inevitable.

Gibson, a teacher who will retire in June, said cuts in personnel may make the most sense fiscally because salaries constitute a significant portion of the budget.

School board candidates David Forbes and Bill Schaff, who are running a joint campaign, have positioned themselves as a team with a shared vision that advocates being "proactive" over making cuts.

The two have asked state Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, to introduce a bill extending current budget relief for California school districts another year. A bill that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed July 27 allows school districts to maintain lower budget reserves only through the current school year.

Forbes and Schaff say an extension would provide temporary relief until more Bayport homes are built on the Island's West End, bringing the district potentially millions of dollars more in developer fees.

"These aren't unwinnable solutions," Forbes said.

The developer fees the school district charges builders, though, have become a point of contention with the city.

City Manager Jim Flint has questioned the district's formula for arriving at the fees, and last year the city sided with Alameda Point developer Catellus Corp. in a lawsuit over the fees that was ultimately settled.

Nevertheless, the relationship between the district and folks at City Hall remains strained.

"They just do not communicate," said school board candidate Karin Lucas, a former three-term City Council member and retired attorney.

"Somebody just needs to say, 'We have to resolve these things,'" Lucas said. She said she is running for the board to repair the district's relationship with the community and the city.

Another potential money maker for Alameda schools is Measure A, a parcel tax passed in 2001 that raises almost $2 million annually for schools. The tax sunsets in 2006, and the school board will be asked to consider extending it, perhaps even raising the yearly $109 parcel tax by a few dollars.

Forbes and Schaff, who met while working on the original parcel tax measure, said they would consider renewing the tax if the climate will bear an increase.

"If the $1.8 million (a year) goes away," Forbes said, "it's going to be brutal."

The duo have built an interesting campaign, sharing campaign literature and filing identical candidate statements with the city clerk. They said they will bring a united force to the five-member school board, which critics say simply tows the line for Superintendent Alan Nishino.

"At the end of the day, the board has to hold the superintendent accountable. The board has to be the one held accountable," Forbes said.

Another candidate, Vernice Boone, had his own original approach to the elections this year. The retired substitute teacher also is on the ballot Tuesday for the Hospital Board and City Council races, in addition to the school board.

Boone dropped out of the council race to focus on the school board this summer, although he has kept out of sight in recent months, making only a select few public appearances.

He said this week he is still in the race, with substitute teachers as his priority.

Perhaps more challenging than balancing the budget or any other issue facing the future school board is the growing achievement gap between Alameda's African-American students and their white and Asian peers, despite steady advancement overall at schools.

An average of only 20 percent of African-American students scored at or above proficiency in the most recent round of tests, while an average of 56 percent of white students and 58 percent of Asians tested proficient in math and English language skills.

The reasons for the disparity have perplexed educators for at least a decade, but board member Janet Gibson said the board can't sit back.

"We want this addressed," she said. "It has to be a major emphasis."

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Last modified: Ocotber 29, 2004

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