In a rising tide of public response to issues within the Mt. Diablo School District, as well as the effects of the recent state budget cuts to education, stagnant teacher negotiations and a move by a group of parents to separate from the district, there has been much activity toward finding solutions. It seems that people are coming up with new and creative ways to effect change.

On April 12, a group of almost 50 parents and teachers informally met with MDUSD board members Paul Strange and Gary Eberhart at Rocco’s in Walnut Creek. The purpose of the meeting was to allow parents to ask questions of the two board members. Earlier in the year, the two called for the resignation of Superintendent Gary McHenry. They believe that public confidence needed to be addressed and was not being handled properly at the district-sponsored community meetings.

Finding the answers.

Describing the April 12 meeting as “the best meeting I have ever been involved with,” Eberhart called it “a community forum in its purest form. It felt good to listen to the questions and give answers.”

The meeting had been arranged by Clayton parent Catherine Myers as a way for parents to avoid the sense of defensiveness they had felt at the district meetings – which they believed did not allow for a casual exchange.

“There are serious fiscal concerns,” she said. “There appears to be a culture of non-cooperation and low morale that needs to be addressed.”

The meeting, scheduled to last 90 minutes, wound up lasting almost 3½ hours. A few parents had questions answered for an additional 45 minutes.

Eberhart’s wife Michelle, a 12-year district teacher and parent, shared her own frustrations and urged parents to unite to find solutions. Eberhart noted that the two board members are available to speak to any group who would like to hear from them.

“Clayton needs to have their own meetings so their needs can be addressed as well in anticipation of the Clayton Valley community meeting on April 29,” Myers added. (Parents who are interested should contact her at cathym0423@gmail.com.)

Meeting violation?

The remaining three board members expressed concerns during the April school board meeting about a group appearance potentially violating the Brown Act that defines when and how official board meetings can occur.

“The superintendent has an open door policy,” said board member Linda Mayo. “Parents and community members can present their concerns to the board at each noticed board meeting or study session. Individual board members are available by arranged meetings that do not violate the Brown Act, and, by telephone and email. Although change may not be publicly announced, action does occur more frequently than not.”

In the interest of fairness, Myers extended an invitation to the remaining three board members and has received a confirmation from April Treece and Dick Allen, to attend a similar meeting at 9:30 a.m. April 26 at Rocco’s. Parents are advised to check the mdusdparents.blogspot.com Website for changes and are strongly encouraged to attend and ask questions.

Protest letters to the governor.

Meanwhile, MDUSD Parents for Progress, a parent group headed by Doris Demirjian, arranged for a letter writing campaign to the governor protesting the budget cuts. The signings, held in the Monte Gardens Elementary library on April 14, allowed parents to type a personalized letter, using guides, or to sign a form letter. These were assembled, sealed in envelopes, stamped and mailed.

“Promises, promises, promises,” Demirjian said of the governor’s visit a few years earlier.

Kathy Enemark, one of the parents standing in line to write her letter, believed it was a excellent activity. “I hope this has an impact on how money is spent and the impacts on schools.” “At the end of the day, we had a box with 514 signed letters, in addition to the more than 100 form letters that parents and community members took home to sign and mail or share with their neighbors and friends,” said Michele Parisi, one of the other five co-sponsors of the project. “We will be organizing more activities.”

As a result of the governor’s budget cuts, Mt. Diablo has had to trim $14.8 million from the next school year’s budget. Statewide, the proposed cuts total $4.4 billion, although a “May Revise” could adjust that amount.

Redistricting support in Walnut Creek.

After issuing a terse admonishment to the county Office of Education for dismissing a redistricting petition, Walnut Creek Mayor Gwen Regalia promptly included it in the City Council meeting on April 15.

The petition, started by parent group Walnut Creek Schools Together Now, had sought to gain enough signatures to have the petition heard by the Contra Costa County Committee on School Organization. They cited concerns about the size of the Mt. Diablo district.

A meeting had been scheduled for April 9 but was canceled when the committee found a discrepancy in the maps used by the group, making an “illegal zone” through the creation of a non-contiguous district. In other words, a small island of homes had been left out of the plan to break from the Mt. Diablo district and that isn’t allowed under Education Code Section 35721. What chaffed Regalia was that the petitioning group relied on maps supplied to them by the county.

“The county schools department has the maps,” Regalia said. “Don’t they have current maps? They ought to have maps. The last change was made in 1938, when the Acalanes High School District was formed.”

Citing the legal language of the code, she said: “The petition is legally sufficient.”

The petition for redistricting has caused a furor amongst Concord residents of Crystyl Ranch and nearby Limeridge, whose choice of schools could be drastically affected. These areas are currently split, with some students attending Northgate High School while others are at Clayton Valley.

Last month, both the Concord and Clayton City Councils endorsed a rejection of the petition. However, the Walnut Creek council voted unanimously to approve the petition’s right to be heard. A date will be set by the County Committee on School Organization.

School march.

On April 17, parents, students, teachers and Cambridge Elementary site principal Marie Schirmer held a streetside protest over the budget cuts. More than 100 people waved signs at passing cars, as drivers honked their support. The Concord protest included many teachers and support staff who had been “pink-slipped.”

“Parents and families are so upset,” Schirmer said. “We don’t want to sit quietly and just take the cuts.”

‘It is a very scary time for me,” said first -year teacher, Saul Terriquez. At this time, the first-grade teacher will not be able to return.

This group, called the Cambridge Neighborhood Action Team, is an example of the growing waves of parent and school site protests.

New ways to communicate.

Over the last two weeks, a handful of parent-generated blog sites have encouraged parents, teachers and administration to open communications free of bias and burden.

It started with board members Strange and Eberhart’s blog (mdusd.blogspot.com). Northgate parents banded together with their own (nghsblog.blogspot.com), while MDUSD parents have a general blog (mdusdparents.blogspot.com) and still others have emerged.

Blogging allows a casual, rapid-fire posting of readership commentary. With sufficient traffic, blogs can help effect change.

The activities are first steps in a greater campaign to garner parent participation. Whether this will result in anything sustaining remains to be seen.