GILROY
– The Gilroy Unified School District took a first step Tuesday
night toward giving families the choice to move their child out of
his or her current public school in favor of one where students are
performing better.
GILROY – The Gilroy Unified School District took a first step Tuesday night toward giving families the choice to move their child out of his or her current public school in favor of one where students are performing better.
At Tuesday night’s regular school board meeting, staff unveiled a slimmed down version of existing district policy which will soon incorporate federal guidelines for setting transfer priorities within the district.
The matter was among the first issues heard by recently elected school board trustees who took their seats Tuesday night, following a swearing-in ceremony and special recognition of outgoing board members Richard Rodriguez and Lonna Martinez.
Rodriguez, finishing his third term, and Martinez, rounding out her first, did not seek reelection in last month’s school board campaign. David McRae and Tom Bundros now fill their shoes. Jim Rogers and TJ Owens, who were reelected Nov. 5, also took seats Tuesday.
The new board elected Jim Rogers as its president, a role the former GUSD administrator has performed the last year.
As for the transfer policy, trustees gave a draft version its first reading Tuesday and will likely approve the new language at their Dec. 19 session.
“The district still has its own policies for students who want to transfer, but the federal legislation will put in a priority above that,” explained Juanita Contin, the GUSD’s student enrollment coordinator.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, schools receiving federal Title I monies – funding earmarked to help disadvantaged students – must improve scores two years in a row. One Gilroy public school receiving Title I funds, Glen View Elementary, failed to meet that goal.
Previously, children with siblings at a particular school were given priority when trying to transfer to that site. In the future, even those children will take a back seat to anyone transferring out of an under-performing, federally funded school.
The district plans to have transfer priorities specifically outlined by February, but for now several elements of the new legislation remain vague. District officials are still not clear if schools will be required to create space for transfer students or if transfers will be granted admission only when space is available.
“The state is devising regulations that will direct us on how to implement the federal law,” said Assistant Superintendent Dom Galu.
In other business, trustees:
• Accepted a $543,000 school readiness grant. The monies will fund programs that help families with pre-natal to 5-year-old children better prepare for kindergarten.
• Approved a change in the 2002-03 district budget. The budget now includes an increase in projected revenue from the state by $456,000, a result from a jump in enrollment by 27 students.
