The 2021 Student of the Year Award goes to CATHERINE LAI, a senior at Ann Sobrato High School. Her teachers describe her as a “talented, focused, reliable and responsible student, viewing school as an opportunity for growth and self-enrichment.” She is a Junior Auxiliary Volunteer at a local hospital and member/officer in Sobrato’s Red Cross Club. As President of the Peer Tutoring Program, she has been instrumental in coordinating, recruiting, training and managing over 25 tutors and 40 students twice weekly, all via ZOOM! Catherine has a passion for biology and understanding the human body, which has led her to position herself for a career as an Orthodontist or Obstetrician. Although she enjoys the technical elements, Catherine is also genuinely interested in caring for people with empathy and kindness. Catherine’s GPA is 4.5, among the highest at the school which is ranked in the top 7% of high schools in the state and nation. She achieved a score of 670 on the math portion of the SAT when she was in EIGHTH GRADE and was the recipient of the John Hopkins Center High Honors Award for Talented Youth. It goes without saying, that Catherine will excel in her academic endeavors but she will also be a focused, hardworking and compassionate member of whatever community she finds herself in.

The attached document lists the contracts executed by the Superintendent or designee for the month of December 2020.

For the last several years the City of Morgan Hill and the District have been collaborating on the planning for the future of the Corporation Yard. With the adoption of the 2017 Master Plan the City of Morgan Hill’s vision for park expansion at Community Park shifted and the planned expansion was reduced significantly. Knowing that additional park space was not planned onsite, the City of Morgan Hill and the District began looking into future space needs which culminated in the hiring of Griffin Structures to prepare a Space Needs Analysis. The results of the Space Needs Analysis were shared with the Board on November 3, 2020.

The District continues to express an interest in purchasing a portion of the site versus continuing to lease from the City of Morgan Hill. Purchasing a portion of the site would allow the District to leverage capital facilities funds and reduce ongoing operational costs from the General Fund. Staff from the City of Morgan Hill and the District are working to identify a recommended option for long-term/permanent joint use of the existing site versus the long-term plans for development of a new site. If the option for continuing with a joint site at Edes Court is recommended the following next steps would occur:

1. Begin more detailed design on joint planning of the site layout and a phased development plan
2. Analyze parking impacts to Community Park upon buildout at existing site
3. Develop recommendation on potential future sale of a portion of the site to the MHUSD
4. Develop a funding plan for the phased development of the site

Staff recommends approving the Fifth Amendment to the Corporation Yard Lease between the City of Morgan Hill and the District which will extend the current lease until June 30, 2024 with the option to further extend the lease until June 30, 2026. Staff continues to plan with the City of Morgan Hill for a long-term/permanent solution as discussed above and the current lease contains terms which would allow the District to purchase the property, without penalties, once that stage of planning is reached. 

For 2020-21 the lease is $90,255 which is funded from the General Fund. The lease amount is adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.

In accordance with public contract code, a bid notice was placed in the local newspaper (San Jose Post Record) for two consecutive weeks.  Bids were received on January 21, 2021. District Staff analyzed the bids for compliance and determined the lowest bidder who presented a responsive and responsible bid.

Staff requests approval of DRP Builders, Inc for the total bid price of $3,981,000. The price includes owner approved change order value allowance.

Name Bid Rank

DRP Builders, Inc $3,981,000 1

Otto Construction $4,724,160 2

101 Builders $4,817,213 3

Strawn Construction, Inc. Non-responsive

*All bids must conform to the bid specifications in order to be deemed responsive. If a bid variance is not material the bid may still be accepted; however, the bid can not be accepted if the variance is deemed material (i.e. affects the amount of the bid or gives a bidder an advantage or benefit). 

The items are obsolete: 

1976 Chevy 1 Ton VIN CCL336Z139104

2010 Ford Van VIN 1FTNE2EW4ADB03531

Bus #50 VIN 1FDJE37M6PHA41613

The California School Boards Association reports that every year, 200,000 new teachers are hired in the United States. Of those, 10% leave the profession by the end of the first year, nearly 30% leave teaching within three years and nearly 50% within five years. The annual turnover rate for all teachers is 20%, which is higher than many other professions. At the same time, fewer prospective teachers are entering the training pipeline, a decrease of 75% over the last 12 years. The turnover rate in Morgan Hill over the last few years has been 9-12%.

Despite shortages, especially in high-needs areas such as Special Education, BCLAD, math, and science, the goal of Morgan Hill Unified continues to be the recruitment of top talent for our students. This recruiting season, we will be participating in the following virtual fairs and events.

 
Principals and Director of Special Education will assist with these efforts to bring the best possible talent to join the Morgan Hill Unified School District team for the 2021-22 school year.

In addition to attending the above recruiting events, Human Resources maintains close relationships with the following universities and organizations by accepting student teachers and interns and by sending information about recruitment and open positions.

Brandman University
Cal Poly State University
Concordia University
CSU, Chico
CSU Monterey Bay
CSU, Stanislaus
Fresno State University
Grand Canyon University
San Francisco State University
San Jose State University
Santa Clara University
Stanford University
Sonoma State University
National University
UC Santa Cruz
University of Phoenix
Western Governors University

Our job openings are also posted early on platforms such as EdJoin, CABE, and LinkedIn. Hiring managers work closely with Human Resources to interview viable candidates in a timely manner. Contracts are offered throughout the spring and summer.

California law (see Government Code language below) requires that items to be negotiated be “sunshined,” or brought to light for the public, and that the Board of Education provides an opportunity for public comment before approving the opening of such negotiations.  

Per Board Policy 4243.1, "After the public has had an opportunity to provide input, the Board shall adopt its initial proposal at a public meeting."

Attached are contract openers with Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers.  Following the acceptance of these openers, MHUSD will also submit openers at the next board meeting, after which the teams for MHFT and MHUSD will begin negotiations.

Government Code Section 3547.
(a) All initial proposals of exclusive representatives and of public school employers, which relate to matters within the scope of representation, shall be presented at a public meeting of the public school employer and thereafter shall be public records.
(b) Meeting and negotiating shall not take place on any proposal until a reasonable time has elapsed after the submission of the proposal to enable the public to become informed and the public has the opportunity to express itself regarding the proposal at a meeting of the public school employer.
(c) After the public has had the opportunity to express itself, the public school employer shall, at a meeting which is open to the public, adopt its initial proposal.
(d) New subjects of meeting and negotiating arising after the presentation of initial proposals shall be made public within 24 hours. If a vote is taken on such subject by the public school employer, the vote thereon by each member voting shall also be made public within 24 hours.
(e) The board may adopt regulations for the purpose of implementing this section, which are consistent with the intent of the section; namely that the public be informed of the issues that are being negotiated upon and have full opportunity to express their views on the issues to the public school employer, and to know of the positions of their elected representatives.

Government Code Section 3547.5.
(a) Before a public school employer enters into a written agreement with an exclusive representative covering matters within the scope of representation, the major provisions of the agreement, including, but not limited to, the costs that would be incurred by the public school employer under the agreement for the current and subsequent fiscal years, shall be disclosed at a public meeting of the public school employer in a format established for this purpose by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(b) The superintendent of the school district and chief business official shall certify in writing that the costs incurred by the school district under the agreement can be met by the district during the term of the agreement. This certification shall be prepared in a format similar to that of the reports required pursuant to Sections 42130 and 42131 of the Education Code and shall itemize any budget revision necessary to meet the costs of the agreement in each year of its term.

The Governor’s Budget proposes a one-time non-Proposition 98 supplemental payment of $2.3 billion. Recall that the 2020 State Budget Act included a requirement for the State to make one-time supplemental payments equal to 1.5% of General Fund revenues, up to $12.4 billion, beginning in 2021–22 and then subsequently increasing the minimum guarantee, beginning in 2022–23, to 40% of General Fund revenues. However, the Governor’s Budget proposes to repeal the supplemental payment obligations in their entirety and instead proposes a 2021–22 one-time payment of $2.3 billion (outside of the Proposition 98 guarantee of $85.8 billion) in recognition of the extraordinary costs associated with distance learning and reopening schools safely.

Positive elements of the Governor’s Proposal include:

• 2/3 of cash deferrals ($9.2 billion) restored
• 3.84% COLA proposed for 2021-22
• $4.86 billion to address learning loss
• $315.3 million for teacher development
• $305.5 million in new special funding

The Governor's Proposal has some serious shortcomings. Most notably, the $2.3 billion earmarked for expediting the return to in-person instruction lacks Legislative authority. It is important to note, this is a budget proposal and has a long way to go before it is enacted into law. The Governor's Safe Schools for All proposal carries questionable timelines for districts across the state, as these deadlines are expected to be reached well before this proposal will become law.

Despite tax revenues exceeding expectations, 1/3 of the cash deferrals remain. An additional $3 billion should have be included in the budget to avoid districts having to borrow cash to offset these delayed payments by the State.

The Governor’s proposal also does not include broadband access to close the digital divide that has been exacerbated by the need for distance learning. Lastly, there is no extension of the hold harmless on funding for declining enrollment districts. The hold harmless provision expires at the end of 2022-23, and is commonly being referred to among school finance officials as “the cliff year.” The loss of revenue will come in a single year, but will have the magnitude of a funding reduction of two years.

The attached presentation contains further details on the potential impact of the Governor's Proposal on Morgan Hill Unified School District. It is worth noting that the January budget is simply the start of a six month negotiation process between the Legislature and the Governor prior to the enactment of a state budget in mid-June. The Governor’s January proposal provides direction to the District on what initial assumptions should be used in developing next year’s budget and the Governor will update these assumptions when the May Revision is released.

There are several purposes for these reports:

• To provide a review of the District’s financial condition at periodic intervals during the fiscal year
• To provide a status report to the Board of Education and the public of the financial condition of the District
• To determine necessary budget revisions as a result of current or projected financial information
  • The interim reflects adopted, revised and projected budgets
  • The second interim report reflects financial and budgetary status as of January 31, 2021

Attached is a summary description of each of the restricted non-general funds and a spreadsheet summarizing the budgeted amounts.

A Superintendent Search webpage is now linked to the District's website and can be accessed here: https://www.mhusd.org/superintendent-search-2021. As the process continues, new information will be added to the webpage. 

The Superintendent Search agenda item will continue as a standing item on the agenda on the Regular Agenda for discussion as needed.