Welcome Back to School

August 2012

Centralia's magic day for the beginning of school is Wednesday, August 29th. You still have a few weeks with your children and friends to get to the beach, have a summer picnic and just relax before the new school year begins. District staff has been working this summer to close out the last school year and prepare for the new school year and your child’s return. School offices will open to the public for registration on August 20^th from 8:00 -11:30 a.m. and 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Classroom lists will be posted on Tuesday, August 28^th after 5:00 p.m.  If you have a kindergartner, please remember to bring their birth certificate and immunization documents. Further information can be found on the District website at www.cesd.us. 

Funding continues to be a significant issue for public education. An on-time budget was passed but the entire budget hinges on the success of the November election. Governor Brown’s initiative would raise the state sales tax by a quarter cent for four years and income taxes for residents whose incomes are over $250,000 for seven years on a sliding scale. The other initiative is Our Children Our Future backed by Molly Munger and PTA. The Munger/PTA initiative would raise the income taxes on nearly all Californians for 12 years, with the biggest increase on the wealthiest Californians. Triggers and cuts are already projected at $457 per student if neither ballot measure passes. For Centralia, if the initiative fails, our projected cut is $2 million per year. For 2012-13, we have successfully negotiated furloughs days for all bargaining groups in order to undergo these tough times. Fiscal uncertainty and instability continues and we must work together to overcome these challenges. The District is committed to working with all groups to educate and provide information about the two ballot initiatives.

The Curriculum and Instruction Department has been busy working with teachers preparing next year’s calendar and working on transitional kindergarten and common core standards to be implemented in 2014.  We have been notified that test scores will not be available until August 31, 2012. 

Human Resources is pleased to report that we have been able to offer positions to many of our laid off employees.  As changes occur due to resignations or retirements, we have been regularly posting these job opportunities. Please be sure to call our job hotline at 714-228-3163 or log on to EDJOIN at www.edjoin.org to check on open positions if you are interested. 

Our maintenance, operations, custodial and transportation staff have been very busy over the summer with various projects including much needed parking lot repairs at Dysinger, Centralia and San Marino, and striping at all other sites. We have also replaced roofing at three sites; Dysinger building 6, Los Coyotes multipurpose room and Walter Knott Education Center buildings 2 & 3.  In addition, exterior painting will be done at Buena Terra and Dysinger Schools. All repairs were funded from facility funds.

The Food Services Department continued to serve thousands of free meals to students throughout the Centralia School District and surrounding communities through the Seamless Summer Food Service Program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. For the second summer in a row, this program gave families an opportunity to ensure that their children continued to receive healthy meals throughout the summer. This summer the Food Services Department has been working diligently to ensure that their menus are in compliance with the new Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.  The biggest change that you may notice with the new regulations is an increased offering of a wide variety of vegetables available on a daily basis. It is important that parents re-apply for free/reduced meals by October 10, 2012 in order to continue to receive those benefits for the 2012/2013 school year. Due to the fact that eligibility guidelines change each year, all parents are encouraged to apply for free and reduced meals regardless of their application status in previous years. Forms for free/reduced lunch may be obtained at your school office and the district office.

The Technology Department has been installing computers, projectors, net books, and other technology purchases. They have also been busy cleaning projectors, upgrading memory, and updating District, site and teacher web pages.  Two new systems of community communication are in the process of being implemented:  School Messenger replaced our ConnectEd calling system, and School Loop will replace our current website provider.  The website transition will occur site by site over the course of the next several months.  

I look forward to an amazing school year.  I thank you, our dedicated parents, for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Diane Scheerhorn, Ph.D.

Superintendent