Board beats students back to school

Meeting a week before the students return, the Board of Trustees of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District meet last Tuesday evening to review their own summer travels and to hear updates on several matters accomplished over the summer. Several new principals are now in place (see page 32), ready to welcome teachers back on campuses across the district next week, in anticipation of students starting school on Wednesday, August 22. (The Valley’s two charter schools begin classes a week later.)
Little business needed attention at the public board meeting. The anticipated presentation of the independent feasibility study being done for the new community swim center next to the high school was delayed until the board’s September meeting, to allow the consultant time to complete the presentation materials. The board did consider and approve various amendments to the contract with the teachers union.
About one-third of all students (1,500 out of almost 5,000 total students) will be tested for proficiency on the CELDT test this year, as required by the State of California. This is the California English Language Development Test, designed for students whose native language is not English.
Finally, the Sonoma Valley Charter School presented its 2006-2007 Annual Report. Director Nora Flood described the progress the school was making, including the recent start of construction on the school’s new multi-purpose “cafegymatorium.” The Board questioned the level of Latino students enrolled at the charter school. Mr. Alden Brousseau, president of the charter school’s governing board, noted that the school’s enrollment is determined by lottery among those who apply for admission, and that more Latino families are applying for the 25 kindergarten places available each year, as they become more comfortable with the school’s mission and educational opportunities.