Questions from the Press, Nov. 2, 2023.

This past week, I received questions from the Press Democrat/Sonoma Index-Tribune regarding  Sonoma Valley Unified's attendance and enrollment. As these are critical questions given our work on realignment as a District, accurate data is at a premium. The information provided cited by the newspaper directly disagrees with State and County level data from SVUSD. We have, as trustees, been notified of continuing serious problems with the financial and demographic data provided by our District, which the newspaper was cautioned by me concerning in the presentation of this article. I provided the below information to the reporter, and the article as produced eliminated all of the context, as well as the graph provided to SVUSD regarding enrollment and attendance produced by the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE).  Below is the original information provided to the newspaper. 

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Q. [C]omparing the totals the district provided in 2022 and 2023 with the Davis Demographics report, Davis Demographics projections were lower by 99 students in 2022 and 244 students in 2023. I’m trying to understand 1) why SVUSD’s enrollment decline the past two years has been less than expected and 2) why the enrollment declined by only 12 students from 2022 to 2023.

The data provided by the Sonoma County Office of Education confirms the trend reported by Davis Demographics, as does the data reported by the California Department of Education. I have confidence in Greg Medici, the Deputy Superintendent of Business Services for SCOE, who delivered a report on this subject on September 16, 2023, to the SVUSD board, and the graphic prepared by Mr. Medici is attached. I similarly have confidence in the data produced by the California Department of Education via the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, commonly referred to as CALPADS. This system serves as the foundation for California's K–12 education data system by maintaining individual-level data including student demographics, course enrollment, student achievement, English learner status, and other student-related data.

Regarding the information you cited, its author was Adrian Palazuelos, and his separation agreement prevents me from commenting on him or on data he provided to the Index-Tribune/Press Democrat. As for the data in the spreadsheet you sent, there is no name on that data, it does not state from which system the data was drawn, and it lacks the foundation necessary to be treated as reliable. SVUSD has a long history of producing inaccurate data, starting with 13 straight years of projecting declining revenues that never materialized, with budget misses now regularly approaching 20%. I will continue to rely on SCOE and CDE data and will not consider the spreadsheet you sent in my analysis. I deem it unreliable and believe the voters should, too.

Questions from the Press, Thursday, October 12, 2023.

On Saturday, October 7, Sonoma Valley Unified conducted a study session of its special education programs.  I received questions, per usual practice, from the Press Democrat/Sonoma Index-Tribune. Answers are below. 

I've uploaded the pdf of the presentation, because I think this is something the public should be able to review over time. There's handwriting from me on the document, noting that the parent surveys only reach parents whose children are receiving services, which I compared to searching only under streetlights for lost keys. We need to hear from parents whose children aren't receiving services, but should. 

Further, I wrote "insular minor," a reference to footnote 4 of Carolene Products. (United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938) 304 U.S. 144 [58 S. Ct. 778; 82 L. Ed. 1234].) That footnote points out that "discrete and insular minorities" that cannot expect the normal protections of the political process deserve a heightened standard of review. In Sonoma Valley, while 2/3rds of our students are Latinx, 2/3rds of our voters are white, the type of situation I think contemplated by the court in that case. 

Photo this time is of Margie at a recent soccer practice. Without further ado: 

1-5. (answered together): Why was the meeting important? What do you feel were the main findings presented? What are some of the problems the district is having in addressing the needs of special education students? What are some specific steps that need to be taken?

Sonoma Valley Unified consistently directs Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions (which Special Education is a part of) towards white students at double (Speech/Language Impairment) to nearly triple the rate (Specific Learning Disability) it does for Latinx students. This is a wildly disproportionate allocation of resources, suggesting that Sonoma Valley's structural racial discrimination problem is being replicated in the administration of its special education program. I believe this is almost certainly due to under-identification of Latinx students; I am not persuaded there is any "over-identification" of white students.

 

Our District needs to identify those students who SVUSD should have known require services (our "child-find" obligation). The existing data suggests that we are failing to pinpoint at least 50 Latinx students who require Tier 2 and Tier 3 support. If the prevalence of Speech/Language Impairment and Specific Learning Disabilities is akin to that in our White population, the number in our Latinx community could reach as high as 350 missed students. Based on my experience reviewing student disciplinary files as a trustee over the past seven years, which is often where the unidentified students are revealed, I estimate that the actual figure is likely between the two numbers, probably around 170-190 students, equating to approximately 10-15 students per grade.

 

To provide those services, Sonoma Valley Unified should fully implement Universal Design for Learning ("UDL") strategies. These form the cornerstone of our multi-tiered systems of support ("MTSS"). Our Tier 1, our general education program, serves as the initial instructional approach and is expected to address the needs of approximately 85% of students. Our Tier 2 supports, partly administered by our special education department, are designed to support roughly 10%, whereas the remaining 5% should be obtaining Tier 3 support.

 

Overally, Sonoma Valley Unified is a wealthy basic aid school district that nonetheless exhibits poor performance across a range of measures. This situation is unusual, considering that rich districts like Sonoma Valley make up only about 9-10% of the approximately 1100 districts in the State, and are anecdotally known for their good results. Likely, the persistent poor performance despite ample resources is linked to how many students are not receiving the services they deserve. I believe this has probably led to behavioral issues that fester over time, as students are not being educated in a fashion consistent with their rights under the law.  

 

Further, the situation has been exacerbated by a footprint that is too large for the current student population, which has declined nearly 35% in the past decade. Realignment is urgently needed to focus resources on our at-need students. Spreading out Tier 1 implementation across too many sites, while not effectively supporting any of them, robs Tier 2 and Tier 3 of the resources to identify and serve students who are at need.

6. Would you like to say anything else?

On a personal note, I had a very hard time reviewing this information, and anyone who would like to view the Youtube video of our meeting is welcome to go and see that. I do not apologize for my emotional reaction. This is a situation that should shock our consciences. We all should be upset, together, to see that this situation has been allowed to develop, and to continue, for so long. Only concerted action will begin to address the situation and right the wrongs that have persisted without remediation, which will take action by the entire community. 

Questions from the Press, Friday September 22, 2023.

Per my usual practice, I have answered questions from our local newspapers below in writing. The subject of this week's questions concerns attendance. To underscore the importance of physical presence, the theme that runs through this subject, I have included a photo collage of my daughter Siena, with me as we recently attending a Taylor Swift concert.

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1. What was your overall impression of the content of the presentation?

Ironically for something that seems so simple, attendance is the source of the stream of benefits that flow from education. Empirical data on the point is beyond question. Further, school for our students is the place where they have permission to let what is within their nature be and allow it expression. In school, we affirm our students' struggles and encourage them to live rich, full lives. They learn every day that their lives are in their own hands, that each has a spiritual summons to be honored, and that when they miss days, they miss another opportunity to bring out their more developed selves to share. I hope every student feels that a day at school is an opportunity to be seized, not something given.

As a community-funded school district (so-called "basic aid"), Sonoma Valley's finances are largely unaffected by attendance. Our community is wealthy and successful, and our school district has been running surpluses for years and is solidly in the black. We care about attendance because it matters for our kids, not because it affects how much money is available. This common misconception should regularly be debunked, as it creates cynicism about why SVUSD cares so much about seeing our students every day.

2. In your opinion, what were some of the positive things in the report?

Our District is engaging in exactly the type of program I would hope it would implement to encourage attendance, and our very strong staff in this area, particularly Ms. Jillian Beall, has taken the academic research and translated it into a fun (indeed, sometimes hilarious) effort to encourage kids to be excited about coming to campus. Attendance Works' Attendance Awareness Campaign (which our staff has been implementing) underlines the need for a supportive and caring response with an emphasis on making students feel valued and establishing trust-based relationships. The campaign reiterates the importance of creating a secure, caring and engaging environment for learners.

Using a data-driven, solution-oriented approach is another essential aspect of this campaign. The welfare and health of students, families, and school staff is emphasized. Additionally, the campaign calls for a joint effort among the wider community, families, and schools to overcome entrenched obstacles to student attendance and engagement. 

Specifically, Sonoma Valley Unified employs a system called multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), which encompasses a variety of strategies aimed at promoting student attendance. The first level includes approaches such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), proactive communication through various channels, creating welcoming school environment, utilizing attendance data, conducting empathy interviews, and making phone calls home. 

The second tier consists of interventions that provide a more individualized approach, such as School Attendance Team Problem Solving Meetings (SART), forming belonging groups, promoting consistent two-way family communication, and regular monitoring of attendance. The third tier applies strategies for students with chronic absenteeism issues, which includes collaborative problem-solving, a program called Keeping Kids in School (KKIS), School Attendance Review Team Meetings (SARB), and conducting home visits.

At the core, though, our staff has managed to inject life into the program, by making it fun in the way experienced teachers know best. A small example was the theme days used to get kids excited and through the door in the morning. As a parent, I was particularly amused and gratified that they managed to do it without turning to "crazy hair day," which as the father of three daughters, has been something of an issue in the past. I include below the listing of the days, to illustrate exactly how our team is making this happen. 

 

3. What do you feel were some of the troubling things in the report?

What troubles me more is the information we received Saturday in our finances overview, rather than the information in the attendance presentation. There has been a significant deviation between enrollment and attendance for some time in SVUSD. 

Our attendance is, and has been for some time, about 2,800 students per day, as the below graph from Saturday's presentation showed. We have been narrowing the gap recently (to be expected with the transition from pandemic to endemic COVID), but the figures illustrate just how small the student population of our Valley has become. Sonoma Valley's enrollment peaked at 4,673 students in 2012, and attendance  at 4,022. The decline shows just how serious the issues are for our District in terms of realignment -- we are staffing a system designed for another era, and the entirely reasonble complaints from our teachers and staff regarding the waste that creates is a continuing issue I am committed to addressing for our community. 

4. Do you feel confident about the approach the district is taking to improve overall attendance and reduce the number of students who are chronically absent?

Yes. Staff are doing exactly what I would expect to narrow the enrollment/attendance gap and the objective data show that they are getting results.

5. How can the board help to improve overall attendance and reduce the number of students who are chronically absent?

We have made addressing this issue a priority for our staff, and in doing so, the board has exercised the leadership role the community expects of us. We, as board members, take attendance seriously. As a parent myself, I know just how hard it can be to encourage students to go to school sometimes. From a tired high-school-aged teenager to a stressed-out middle schooler, to a slightly-under-the-weather first grader, all of whom I support on a regular basis. In that capacity, we are doing what we have advocated. Finally, the most important thing we, as a board, can do, having set the direction and being in the process of ourselves following the advice, is to let our staff implement the program they have devised with fidelity -- which I think is happening.

6. Would you like to say anything else?

No, thank you. 

Bus Driver Shortages and the Baumol Effect.

William Baumol
Namesake of Baumol Effect

In an August 17 article for The New York Times, Colbi Edmonds covered the critical shortage of bus drivers in the Jefferson County Public School District, in Louisville, Kentucky, that threw the first day of school into chaos. With the district encompassing around 100,000 students, this resulted in children mistakenly misplaced or stranded without transportation, creating near-panic levels of anxiety for parents. The Superintendent, Marty Pollio, acknowledged that bus driver scarcity is a nationwide issue, and pledged to work to resolve it, considering options such as a wage increase.

Edmonds is correct in pointing out that Louisville is not the sole sufferer of the bus driver crunch. Numerous school districts are grappling with similar predicaments due to reasons like insufficient pay, hard hours, and the after-effects of the pandemic. For instance, the Tampa, Florida, school district still has 203 driver vacancies even after the school year has begun. Other institutions have resorted to public transportation or last-minute hires, highlighting the intensity of the problem.

At the commencement of the 2023-2024 school year, the Sonoma Valley Unified School District (SVUSD)—where I serve as a trustee—has also faced a lack of bus drivers, as reported by Dan Johnson in the August 18 Sonoma Index-Tribune. This shortfall critically impacted high school students' transportation. Despite the district's advertising for four full-time openings with a fairly competitive hourly wage ranging from $22.51 to $24.83, recruitment efforts have been met with little success, as noted by Superintendent Dr. Jeanette Chien.

Compensation inadequacies and work-hour incompatibilities contribute to the driver shortages surfacing throughout the nation. SVUSD has sought assistance from Sonoma's city manager, David Guhin, in addition to reaching out to the Sonoma County Office of Education, neighboring districts, and private entities to help with staffing. Fellow trustee Celeste Winders encouraged applicants to explore the full-time openings, promising competitive wages and impactful roles in facilitating students' success.

Despite these efforts, as noted in the New York Times article, a comprehensive solution appears distant. The job's negative factors, including often low wages and occasional confrontations with parents or students, reduces its appeal. Erica Groshen from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations suggests increasing pay as a direct solution. Jefferson County use of AlphaRoute, though, a routing software, actually made the impact of driver shortages worse. As those knowledgeable of the Baumol Effect are aware, there are few productivity gains available for jobs, like nurse, teacher, and school bus driver, that hinge on the quality of interpersonal connections, and the cost of such employees will continue to rise. These industries must compete for labor with those sectors that do see productivity gains, simply to continue to offer the same level of service.  Hence, for struggling families, the seemingly distant prospect of a return to regular transportation for schooling remains a continuing concern.