It’s an unfortunate irony, but just one day ahead of California’s acknowledgement of the “Day of the Teacher,” the San Marino school board will make the difficult decision of determining how many — if any — of its 20 pink-slipped, non-retiring teaching and counseling positions it can rescind when it assembles for the meeting this coming Tuesday, May 12.
Facing an increasing budget deficit — worsened by the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis — the district’s decision on how many positions it can retain hinges on the success of the San Marino Schools Foundation’s “We Are San Marino” fundraising campaign.
“Seeing the outpouring of support from our community is inspiring,” said Erin Bilvado, president of the San Marino Schools Foundation. “Over 25% of our total amount raised has come from our community members whose children have graduated.”
Community engagement is a cornerstone for the public schools. The school board took an additional step toward increasing community engagement through a proposed legacy enrollment program. In a first-reading at its April 28 board meeting, this permit program would allow student enrollment into San Marino Unified schools for those children whose grandparents currently live within the district’s boundaries. Discussion as to the length of time for a grandparent’s residency in San Marino and whether or not these residents’ children needed to have attended San Marino Unified schools is still under consideration. The formal adoption of this policy is up for approval at the May 12 board meeting.
The board will also decide at the upcoming meeting how many and which of the 20 pink-slipped teachers and counselors will remain. Before this date, the Schools Foundation has made a plea to the community to help it raise $2.3 million, the sum total cost of the pink-slipped positions. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are still needed with only five days left in the campaign.
“Not a single one of us wants to lose any of these innovative, bright educators,” said San Marino Unified Superintendent Jeff Wilson. “Unfortunately, state and federal funding formulas penalize high-wealth areas like San Marino, forcing us to decide between fewer programs and teachers or raising local revenues to continue the excellence of the past. We need to help our kids by maintaining and growing the excellent VAPA [visual and performing arts], world language, and speech-and-debate programs and by maintaining our outstanding counseling programs that have been so instrumental in helping our students access the very best universities and helping maintain the mental health and wellness of our children. There simply is no other way to do it but to ask our community for support.”
As of Monday, the foundation has raised more than $460,000, which is the equivalent of roughly four teaching positions.
Students are also stepping up, donating their own money or doing whatever they can to bring awareness to the foundation’s campaign. Seniors at San Marino High School, many of whom would have been preparing for college, playing their final season of sports or performing in their last high school shows, have directed their efforts to raise money for their beloved teachers. Many have taken to social media to express their concerns.
“Our future is bright,” said James Lau, executive director of the foundation. “Many of these students have taken the initiative to rally their friends and families to support the campaign. It’s touching to see the Titan boys’ basketball team challenge other San Marino High sports teams or to hear members of the student choir sing their hearts out — all in the name of raising funding for our schools.“
The foundation is asking for 100% participation.
“Every dollar, regardless of size, will make a difference and move the campaign closer to its goal,” said Lau. “As pointed out by foundation leadership, students have been making $50 donations and community members have been mailing in $100 checks.”
The District and SMSF continue to encourage all to give so that they can reach this funding goal before May 12, the next regularly scheduled school board meeting. At this meeting, the board will decide the staffing levels for teaching positions that it can viably fund. The board is tasked with making this decision before the statutory deadline of May 15, the date by which school districts are required to notify teachers of their positions for the next school year. If the district votes to keep positions, then the district is obligated to pay for each of those positions through the school year, which includes salaries, retirement and health benefits. Should the SMSF campaign fall short, both the foundation and district are assessing whether this campaign can continue past May 12.
One option that the foundation board of trustees would need to vote on is to continue the campaign to raise $2.3 million through the summer. As the foundation continues to raise enough for each of the 20 positions, the district would be able to call back teachers by seniority and through other credentialing requirements to fill those positions. The more time that passes, however, there is an increased likelihood that these teachers will have secured jobs in other districts or at other institutions.
SMSF’s Campaign In Race Against Time
