Significantly more schools in San Diego are having their water tested for toxic lead than elsewhere in California, prompting local water officials to begin pressing for state reimbursement of steep testing costs. Since California began in January requiring water agencies to conduct lead tests for free at all schools that submit requests, 507 out of…
Monthly Archives: August 2017
Note from Eric Hall, President of EH&A: “We have invited one of the leading experts in school facilities to provide an introduction on am important study as a participant representing the National Council on School Facilities, Kathleen Moore has over 30 years of school facilities experience at the local, state and national level. She was…
Article written by School Services of California, Inc. During our School Finance and Management Conference earlier this month, we presented a slide on Senate Bill (SB) 96 (Chapter 28/2017). SB 96 was a budget trailer bill, which, among other things, made changes to the Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) public works contractor registration program. It…
A new study by the San Diego Taxpayers Education Foundation evaluates district transparency in more than 20 criteria, such as meeting agendas and minutes, annual reports, financial and performance audits, project descriptions and progress, and contact information. The study found that fewer independent oversight committees than last year at school districts in SD County are…
An annual ranking of America’s most and least educated places reveals a true split in California when it comes to educational equity, with six of its cities scoring in the top 10 and six scoring at the very bottom. San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara, taken together, scored third, while the area encompassing San Francisco,…
CDE is taking the concept of ‘inclusion’ one step further by merging the agency’s special education unit with the branch that administers most of the state’s instruction and learning programs. For decades, the CDE—like most state educational agencies nationally—maintained a special education division virtually independent from the rest of the department, with a manager that…
California, home to the nation’s largest agricultural economy, does little to ensure its schools follow federal rules requiring the serving of food produced in the United States, according to an audit released Thursday. The audit was prepared at the request of state lawmakers, who took an interest in school food after local farmers and food…
Unforeseen issues drove the cost to overhaul Encanto Elementary 30 percent over budget. The project’s contractor was facing financial problems at the same time of the cost increases; but the district is adamant that there’s no link between the company’s issues and the cost overruns. In the end, the project cost the district more than…
Accusing Sacramento’s political power barons of neglecting California schoolkids, former state schools chief Delaine Eastin jumped into the 2018 governor’s race in the fall vowing to shove the issue of education to the forefront of the campaign. Eastin’s done her part, at least, calling for increased funding for schools and lower, in some cases free,…
The Kern Community College District has three years to spend about $32 million — the majority of a $40 million bond it sold last month as part of the $503 million Measure J voters approved in November. If it doesn’t, the district will incur IRS penalties. While spending $32 million may not seem like a…