Position Paper

Position papers are hard to write. If you think like a politician then you're always wary of the land mines you might be setting with each word. Many a pol has been brought down by their own utterances.

I don't think like a politician.

By nature, I'm a problem solver. As a software architect and entrepreneur, it's what I've done my whole life. While one might think of these as technical or business concerns, both really boil down to organizing and appealing to groups of people, and dealing with the inevitable difficulties that result. While at first blush one might consider these political actions, I've never approached organizing my peers that way. I use notions of shared goals and common good while making the journey as enjoyable as possible as my motive forces.

The Mendocino Unified School District has just this kind of goal: the welfare and education of our children. As a father of two small children, nothing less is acceptable not only for the benefit of my children but also my community. To help the district do this requires the ability to listen, innovate, and actualize -- skills that I've demonstrated in the past and am eager to apply to the district's challenges.

The Budget Situation

A number of factors are working together to make the district's budget situation difficult. First and foremost is the never-ending California budget crisis. The pressure to reduce funding to the schools has been relentless, and currently the district is threatened with the loss of transportation funds by the trigger cuts.

Secondly, population demographics has been working against the district. Student populations have been declining for a decade and the trend show no sign of reversing. Part of this is due to the echo of the WWII baby boom (boomers' kids having kids) has finally worked its way through the system. Part of this is because of the collapse of the timber and fishing industries, long the linchpins of the local economy. And finally part is the high cost of housing in the Mendocino area. Put it all together and you have the family unfriendly formula that we see today.

I believe there are ways the district can enhance its revenues. First is to take advantage of the eScript program (http://escrip.com/program/about.jsp) and let the community's buying power contribute to the schools' bottom line. Second is to look at the district's resources and find new ways to apply them. I'm doing just that by co-ordinating a group of high school students interested in computer programming and channeling their talents to produce a piece of smartphone software that can be sold and the proceeds going directly into the district's coffers.

Facility Maintenance and Transportation

With forty nine acres of land and seven major building complexes, maintenance and ground's keeping is full time job for the district. One site in particular, the HIgh School, is particularly troublesome. An old collection of buildings exposed to the full brunt of the Pacific weather, it apparently requires more maintenance than the other building sites. Compounding the issues that many of the district's buildings are remote, so if additional supplies are needed for a repair that usually means the crew must visit again another day.

Transportation and bussing are another large expense for the district, and is one directly affected by the California budget situation. Should the threatened trigger cuts take place, the district could lose about $190K which would have to come out of the general fund. It's a difficult situation, but I feel we need to wait to see how redistricting affects the legislature's make-up; if the deadlock in Sacramento is broken, we may have a lot more flexibility than the situation today.

The Mendocino Rec Center

The financial world has a term for the condition one finds the MCRDP's (http://www.mendocoastrec.org/) finances: train wreck. I have a lot of sympathy for the current management; most of them aren't the ones that made the fatal decisions that have wrecked MCRDP, but it's their problem. I understand the decision has been made to close down the CV Starr aquatic center within the week, a loss to all living in the coastal area.

As MCRPD also runs the Mendocino Rec Center (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mendocino-Rec-Center/109468599078120), their weak finances threaten to take Mendo down with it. This is of concern to MUSD for two reasons: MUSD is the landlord of the old Mendocino school that houses the rec center, and MUSD must hold the community's children as its highest priority. It simply won't do to have the kids released from school at 2:30PM without anywhere to go.

Fortunately, the Mendocino community has realized the dire situation concerning the Rec Center and have formulated at least two separate plans to continue its operation should the MCRPD completely fail. I actively support each of these fall back plans and intend on closely monitoring the situation to ensure the Rec Center is a community resource for a long time to come.

Math Competence

As it stands today, half of all graduating high school students need to take remedial algebra upon entering college. We can do better than this, and we have done better in the past. Math is important, and the reasons why we have this problem today reach far beyond Mendocino and into Sacrament and its statewide policies and procedures. It will take five to ten years to fully correct this situation, and will require organizing with like-minded districts and affecting change at the state level. As a holder of a minor in Math and a near-daily user of applied mathematics, I understand the importance of math skills and lament how we're sending our kids off today. I vow to make fixing this a priority.


If you would like to know more about me, please check out my (out-of-date) resume at jimgagnon.net/resume or google "Jim Gagnon Abacus Concepts". Or simply talk to any of the parents of school-age children in Comptche. Finally, please feel free to email me at jim@electgagnon.com to talk issues or arrange a phone call.

Jim Gagnon

A debate is on!

Here's the notice I'm sending out about the coming discussion/debate. Hope you can make it.
***

School Board Candidates' Debate

The two candidates for the Comptche seat of the MUSD school board, Michael Schaeffer and Jim Gagnon, invite you to join in a moderated discussion and debate on issues facing the Mendocino Unified School District and community at large. Questions and discussion topics will come from the audience.

The discussion starts at 7PM Wednesday November 2nd at the Comptche Community Organization Hall (the Grange).

We welcome your attendance and questions.

PS: If you can't attend, you can email your questions to our moderator, Chuck Wilcher, and he'll be sure to ask them. We're going to try to record the debate and make it available on the web afterwards.

CCO location

CCO Facebook page

Endorsements

I'll be putting these in a new Beacon ad I'll be running until the election, but I'll let my readers know now who feels strongly enough that I would be a good addition to the school board that they're willing to endorse me. They are:

Nancy Gardner, Mendocino Businesswoman
Janna Hansen, Comptche Schoolteacher
Judy Stavely, Teacher (retired)
Shanti Bischop, advocate and parent

While I heartily thank all of the above, I especially want to thank Janna. She is the sole employee of the school district willing to openly support me, even though the incumbent is almost universally disliked among the district's teachers and employees. She has the kind of strength and bravery I like to associate with residents of Mendocino county.

The League of Women Voters

Just a short note this time as I work on my position paper, which I should be posting later this weekend: I had hoped to debate my opponent, the incumbent, in a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters. However, after nearly a week of not returning my phone calls the League has finally told me that they will not hold a debate on the board seat I'm contesting. As this is the first contested seat in eight years, this stance is unbelievable and frankly indefensible.

I had always grouped the League of Women Voters as one of the good players in American politics. Having the Mendocino chapter of the League ignore its responsibilities in this manner leaves me surprised, disappointed and a bit angry. I try not to be cynical, but it's painful to have a bubble burst like that.

I must confess I've committed the blogger's cardinal sin: starting a blog and then stalling after a single entry. Forgive me, as I underestimated the demands of running against an incumbent. Time has suddenly become precious, but I will strive to do better.

This entry is about my first foray into campaigning: the Open House circuit. Each school in the Mendocino Unified School District (MUSD) opens its doors for parents to come, meet the teachers and staff, and see the facilities. The district has five major schools/campus areas: Comptche, Albion, Elk (now closed), the Grammar School (K-8), and the High School Complex. I went to every single one.

Albion

First was Albion School. Albion is a K-3 multi-grade school (like Comptche) where all the children learn together. My experience with Comptche school has made me a big fan of the multi-grade approach, so I was eager to see the approach taken at Albion. With a gravel parking lot and plain exterior, Albion School doesn't look like much, but upon entering you're greeted with open spaces and soaring ceilings. Originally designed for two teaches, Albion's enrollment has dropped so much since last year that they're down to one teacher, Suzanne Wells.

Suzanne struck me as a teacher's teacher with that blend of tolerance and wisdom necessary to successfully run a multi-grade school. Even though I was the only one without a direct connection to Albion, she welcomed me with open arms and allowed me to participate in the discussion of issues facing the School. Scheduled right after the end of the school day, it was heartening to see so many engaged parents present. The volunteer effort at Albion is really strong this year, with a lot of pride taken in their large and lush garden.

Also present at the meeting was the new principal, Jason Morse and District Superintendent David Miller. Both came early to the open house, stayed the entire time and interacted freely with all the parents. It was noted by all, and was a pattern they repeated at each and every open house.

Comptche

Comptche open houses are old hat for me as I've gone to every one since 2005. This year is a bit different as the teacher Janna Hansen really claimed the school as her own and cleaned out the stuff accumulated over the years by previous teachers, though she was careful to preserve the kids' art, time honored traditions and procedures, and of course the hand-rung school bells. Attendance was lower than Albion's and previous years, but I attributed that to the lateness of the open house (6PM). Of the parents I was the only father present -- not that unusual.

With the loss of a school aid due to budget cuts, Janna and Dani (the long time aid) have a lot more work on their hands, but fortunately because of a robust volunteer effort from the parents the school continues to hum along.

The Grammar School

This was the second open house I've attended and the first for the new principal Jason. Jason has made quite the splash here in Mendocino with his Vermont sensibilities and ways. Of special note was Jason's vow that after three weeks of school to have each and every of the ~330 students' name's memorized, a task that he came agonizingly close to accomplishing (he says he had a lot of problems remembering the first graders' names). He won my approval by taking the 5th grade class (Sophia's grade) that was 37 students in size and breaking it up into two classes. I had a lot of experience with this glut of students last year in Sophia's 4th grade and that year's class size of 35 was oftentimes a lot for the teacher to handle.

Sophia ended up in Robin Curry's class, so after the initial staff introduction I went to Robin's room, sat in my daughter's desk and listened to what the material 5th graders would be learning and Robin's approach to teaching it to them. I had heard a lot of good things about Robin, and I wasn't disappointed. Robin strikes me as a good teacher to enhance Sophia's strengths while aiding her with her weaknesses. I know Sophia enjoys Robin's class and looks forward to each and every day at school, even though 5th grade has the reputation as the "nose to the grindstone" year of elementary school.

The High School Complex

Mendocino High School is actually four schools in one, and the open houses here end up the open door week. As I have seen the main high school before, my interests this evening were to visit the Community High School and to meet with the Math teacher who's also teaching Computer Science, Tom Sosnovec.

Upon entering the main building, I almost immediately run into Gail Dickenson, the principal, who's hurrying off to give the evening's opening speech. I've met Gail at School Board meetings, so I tag along, chatting and watching her work the crowd of students she meets along the way. To a almost full auditorium she discussed the details of the evening and how achievement scores have been steadily increasing for three-four years now. Mendo High has a reputation as a very good college prep high school, with (if memory serves me correctly) 36 out of 39 seniors last year headed off to college. The only dark spot was a stubbornly low competency rate on mathematics which is stuck in the low 40th percentiles. After Gail's talk, I said "hello" to Dave Miller who laughed when he saw me: apparently, him and I were the only ones to attend every single open house this year.

As the teachers' time is regimented, I have a little time to kill before I can attend one of Tom's sessions, so head on over to the Community High School. I must admit I didn't know what to expect when I entered the Community High School, but was pleasantly greeted with a large open air atrium reminiscent of a college student union, with classrooms branching off to the sides. A fair number of Comptche people attend the Community HS, but they're confused about why I'm there tonight as my daughters are a little young for high school yet, at which point I let them know about my candidacy for the School Board. All in all, the Community HIgh School struck me as a multi-grade approach to higher grade learning and left a favorable impression on me.

Next I'm off to Tom Sorenson's class. Tom teaches Math and Computer Science at the main high school and is the point man for a little project I've crafted. Like most school districts in California, MUSD has had to deal with declining funding from the state and has been forced to cut the pie up in ever smaller pieces. I believe that I can actually generate additional revenue for the district by tapping the energetic young brains at the high school to build a smartphone application, which the district would then sell. It's a safe bet that practically every decent high school in America has at least a few students that once they get a taste of computer science they surpass the curriculum and then start running circles around their instructors. Having built several successful software packages, I should be able to offer them the challenge they need while simultaneously offering them an experience they won't be able to duplicate until after college, and in the process making some money for the rest of the school district.

Tom is totally on board with the idea; turns out he has three second year comp science student in dire need of a challenge. We're in basic agreement about approach and parameters, so we set up a time during class for me to meet the students and start the creation of a new piece of software, with the students driving the creative process. One thing I did notice is that expectations are low; Tom and the others involved really only expect enough money to come in to buy new uniforms and such. When I pitched the idea to the School Board, I did say that it's impossible to predict a given piece of software's annual income ahead of time (especially when I don't even know what kind it will be), but that an amount anywhere between four and seven digits can be expected. I guess what they don't realize is that an average piece of software has a lifespan between three and five years (longer with updates) and that revenue range can be expected every year. As I plan on doing this student software effort every year for as long as I can, after a few years of this it should turn into a nice piggy bank for the district. My personal goal is to eventually exceed the revenue the district gets from its internet service provider MCN.

The School Board's Presence

One notable observation that came out of all the open houses is that I didn't see a single school board member at any open house. Now, the Grammar and High School affairs were pretty large affairs so it would be easy to miss someone, but there was no mention made of their presence either. I was both surprised and disappointed, and vow not to do the same: should I get elected, I will attend as many district open houses as I can. I learned a lot at each and every one, and as each year is different would expect the same going forward.