Tattered book to be replaced; relations with classified
employees union is running smooth
Gilroy – Tattered Spanish books that one school official said were “literally falling apart in students’ hands” will finally be replaced.
During Thursday’s meeting the Gilroy Unified School District board learned that the reigning favorite out of five textbooks was the 2004 edition of “Realidades,” which is published by Pearson Prentice Hall. The group who reviewed and ranked the books was comprised of teachers, parents and students.
The board will not approve the adoption of the new textbooks until a later date since the agenda item was only slated for information and questions. But it appeared the board was happy with the choice since most members said they were relieved that the district was finally replacing ancient books that not only contained outdated information but were also deteriorated.
If approved, the district will purchase of 830 brand-new textbooks for Spanish I, II and II. Three of the five textbooks the panel of judges rated met the following criteria: adherence to national and Gilroy High standards, organization and sequence of vocabulary and grammar, visuals, activities that promote conversational Spanish, writing assignments to develop proficiency, selections and documents to aide in understanding Spanish-speaking cultures, accessibility of glossary and inclusion of varied supplementary materials.
The Spanish I and III textbooks were tested in classrooms and evaluations were completed by teachers, parents and students. With each book costing about $59, plus $6 for a CD-ROM, the total purchase before shipping is $53,965. With an estimated shipping cost of $10,000, the total increases to $63,965.10.
Jaime Rosso, who owns furniture stores, said he was puzzled by the high cost of shipping. The trustee said he often makes much larger shipments and the price is far less than $10,000.
Assistant Superintendent Jacki Horejs said she wasn’t sure why the price was so high, but that was the estimate the business office quoted. Horejs said she would look into it.
In other school news, the district’s classified union – which represents custodians, nurses, bus drivers and secretaries among others – and GUSD decided to reopen negotiation proposals regarding compensation, benefits and staffing ratios, for the 2006-2007 school year. The two parties have agreed to present their initial proposals jointly and attempt to come to a compromise.
Jim Fletcher, California School Employees Association president, thanked the district officials for their efforts during the process and said the willingness on both sides to find a common solution, reflects well on GUSD.
