Visitors and volunteers in the Castaic Union School District may soon use a new system to enter the district’s campuses, according to an item on Tuesday’s agenda of the Governing Board.
This visitor and volunteer management system from Raptor Technologies allows schools to track visitors, contractors and volunteers by scanning his or her U.S. government issued ID and comparing it against a national sex offender database.
The system then prints a badge that identifies the visitor, states date and names the purpose of the visit.
It also keeps a permanent record of the visit online to allow staff to know who is on site at all times.
The district is expected to use Safety Credits, or dollars available from the district’s Joint Powers Authority Self Insurance Risk Management Agency (SIRMA) property and liability coverage, to purchase the Raptor System.
This system is expected to cost a total of $10,793.
CSBA
In addition, the Governing Board is expected to nominate Board Member Stacy Dobbs to serve as the Region 22 representative on the 2018 California School Board Association (CSBA) Delegate Assembly.
This assembly “provides policy direction for the CSBA, elects officers and ensures that the association reflects the interests of school districts and county offices of education,” according to its website.
In her application, Dobbs said she was interested in becoming a delegate to ensure that the interests of local governing board and communities are represented at the state level.
“I believe I will be an effective representative because I have developed a positive working relationships with board members in our region through participation in our trustees association,” Dobbs wrote.
She also cited her flexible work schedule, strong organizational skills, experience on the SCV Trustees Association and involvement in the community as strengths in her application.
When asked about the biggest challenge facing governing boards, Dobbs stated that “inadequate funding, declining enrollment and charter school encroachment” as issues affecting all school districts.
“CSBA can help address these issues by continuing to lobby for adequate funding and drive ongoing conversations and advocacy efforts to find appropriate solutions to the aforementioned problems,” she wrote.
If selected, Dobbs would serve a term from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.
Interim Financial Report
The Governing Board is also expected to approve and certify the district’s first interim financial report, which details revenue sources, expenditure expectations and ending fund balances of various district funds.
Most of the district’s unrestricted revenue, 97 percent, is from its daily student attendance through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).
In the 2017-18 year, the Castaic District saw a loss of $400,000 from 2016-17 due to declining enrollment and minimum increases in the state funding formula.
This decline is expected to continue with a $300,000 loss in 2018-19 and a $700,000 loss in 2019-20, as student enrollment is projected to decline from 2,152 in 2017-18 to 1,996 in 2018-19 and to 1,926 in 2019-20.
The district is also experiencing additional expenses with increases pensions, from the State Teacher Retirement System (STRS) and Public Employee Retirement System (PERS), that are controlled by the state.
As a result, the district is considering staffing reductions during the next two school years to ease financial concerns.
“The overall framework of continued reductions will occur as long as the district’s enrollment continues to decline, state funding increases are minimal and mandated pensions costs continue to increase,” the interim report read.
Additional Agenda Items
- Elect the board’s new president, clerk and presiding officer
- Adopt the 2018 calendar of School Board meetings
- Approve of a transfer of funds, totaling $1,942,350, to the district’s U.S. Bank reserve account for the 2018 debt services payment
- Approve of Auto World Collision Center repairs to a maintenance truck
- Approve of Memorandum of Understanding with the Santa Clarita Valley Induction Consortium to provide a clear Multiple, Single and Education Specialist credentialing program
- Approve of contract with Andrea Sacca for braille services to help the Visually Impaired Department
- Conduct a first reading to adopt revised board policies and administrative regulations: Local Control and Accountability Plan; Tobacco; and General Obligation Bonds
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