Black Oak Mine Unified School District

All students will be healthy, responsible, productive citizens, skilled workers, lifelong learners and contributors to their local and world communities. Superintendent Robert Williams, Ed.D. Director, Educational Services Drew Woodall Board of Trustees Steve DePue Jeff Shurtz John Foley Mel Allen Joe Scroggins

State of the District Dear Families, I have been on the Divide and Superintendent of Black Oak Mine School District for six months. Lori and I continue to find great things to do and participate in on the Divide. In this letter, Id like to share some information about the state of our district and clear up some rumors you may have heard. I will look forward to sending out this type of letter to share information about the district about twice a year. As I visit classrooms, talk to parents, community members, and staff I am very delighted with the great things we are doing for students in this district. I am impressed by our focus on learning every time I sit in a classroom or meet with teachers. In classrooms, students are attentive to what teachers are teaching and engaged in learning. In everything activity directed toward learning. Teachers have to participate in one hundred fifty hours every five years in order to renew their credential. Some of the training is done during the summer. Other training is provided during the school year. One example is the ongoing teacher training through Highly Effective Teaching strategies. Trainers have been working at Georgetown, Northside and Golden Sierra to create a system of consistent instructional strategies for all of our teaching staff. We have provided training for instructional aides and bus drivers in ways to positively deal with student misbehavior. These staff development efforts are just a few of the activities district staff participates in during the school year and in the summer. Ive already informed you about the boards decision to join Northside and Georgetown seventh and eighth graders together in a junior high located at the lower campus of Golden Sierra High School. That said, we also know there are some other big changes happening in the district. Foremost is the fact that our student numbers are declining. That was the driving reason for combining the seventh and eighth graders. We get paid on the number of students that attend the schools. This has been happening for the past five years and many decisions have to be made to address the loss of the funding associated with these dollars. The state has been cutting our funding at about twenty percent per year for the last four years. The federal government provided extra funding the past four years.

P.O. Box 4510 6540 Wentworth Springs Road Georgetown, California 95634 530-333-8300 (office) 530-333-8303 (fax) www.bomusd.org info@bomusd.org

Black Oak Mine Unified School District

All students will be healthy, responsible, productive citizens, skilled workers, lifelong learners and contributors to their local and world communities.

Due to the loss of funding, we have to reduce our staff. Ninety-two percent of our yearly income is used to pay salaries and benefits for our employees. Therefore, That said, Id like to clear up a rumor. The lay-off of teachers is directly related to the declining enrollment, not moving the junior high students. And the process for lay-offs as defined in Education Code and Government Code. We have a commitment to all of our employees. Most teachers and all classified staff (secretaries, instructional aides, custodians, etc.) have a contract through their unions with the district that we honor. We work within the contracts in all of our actions such as job assignments, hiring and lay-offs. We also follow. The process for lay-offs are well defined and established by seniority dates set by the first date of paid service to the district. There is a specific time line and process that we must follow, for teachers, from March 15th to May 15th when the board issues final notices. As we go through this process and keep a laser focus on all the information about where the budget will be for next year, everyone is anxious to get resolution.

P.O. Box 4510 6540 Wentworth Springs Road Georgetown, California 95634 530-333-8300 (office) 530-333-8303 (fax) www.bomusd.org info@bomusd.org