Commentary: School trustees are listening

The state’s financial woes and their impact on our local school system are by now well-established.
Everyone is impacted. Our students are being limited to core subjects rather than being exposed to a broader spectrum of programs critical for success in the 21st century. Our staff is challenged by the lack of resources we can make available. Massive cuts have been made in all areas, and more seem inevitable. Yet, we have been greatly encouraged by the people we’ve spoken to in the past two weeks — parents and community members alike have made it clear they are ready to talk about solutions that could protect our students’ education.
The Scotts Valley Unified School District trustees believe our decision on a path forward requires guidance from our stakeholders. We also realize that the only way to clearly understand the desires of the community is to seek them out. To do this effectively and comprehensively, we’ve launched a listening campaign, taking the issue to the streets, away from the board room and into the living room.
Scotts Valley has longstanding and well-established facility needs — we have a middle school whose infrastructure is exhausted, a high school with no library or technology center, elementary schools with no multipurpose rooms and a host of portable classrooms whose lease payments rob our general fund. Now, on top of that, the very foundation of our education program is in dire need of financial support.
We recognize the continuing horrid state of the economy and those among us who remain unemployed. Nobody wants to raise taxes, even under better circumstances, but we cannot avoid the conversation any longer. Determining the right amount of taxation, the right tax structure, and the right timing to support the right programs is no easy task. So we are asking for your input.
Over the next few weeks, we will be reaching out to our parents, business owners, city and county leaders, and residents who are retired or don’t have students in our schools. Our goal will be to answer any lingering questions you may have about the financial state of our school district and to get your feedback on our funding options.
As we meet with people, we are gathering a list of frequently asked questions to post on the district’s Web site (www.svusd.santacruz.k12.ca) to ensure that everyone has access to the answers.
For our listening campaign to succeed, we need your help in pulling together groups of people for us to talk with. Gather your neighborhood and your friends from near and far for a daytime or evening chat. We will come to share the information we have regarding our fiscal situation, parcel taxes and bonds, and then find out what you would or would not support, when, and under what conditions. We will try to have two trustees attend whenever possible, both to give the group access to multiple perspectives and to ensure that we report back to our colleagues without filters or bias.
If you can serve as a host, please contact any trustee to arrange a mutually agreeable date and time. You can contact us directly at [email protected] or [email protected], or you can find our e-mail and phone numbers on the district Web site under the “Board of Education” button.
We all look forward to having this series of conversations and making decisions that reflect the community’s highest priorities. Our goal will always be to provide an exceptional education for our children and our future.
• Michael Shulman is the president of the Scotts Valley Unified School District
board, and Allison Niday is the board’s
vice president.