A Response From The Schoolboard
Around 11am this morning I finally had the time to compile my own message to the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education. I received a response from Board member Denise Apuzzo about 90 minutes later. It is a long response, so I am not going to post it in its entirety at this time. I’ll leave out the 350 or so words telling me what a great parent she is and which of her kids did and didn’t go to Yosemite or Science Camp as not one iota of that is relevant to the discussion. Her response does, however, offer a little more insight into the nature of the problem we are facing-
First, let me get a few misconceptions cleared up. The School Board did not “cancel” this trip. As a matter of fact, the Board has approved Science Camp (inclusive) for all the sixth graders in the district. Individual schools are working on how to pay for and accommodate these kids.
You stated that there is no logical reason for taking this Yosemite trip away. This trip, like all field trips, must be approved by the School Board.
So, they didn’t cancel the trip, they merely refused to approve it. Semantics can make an interesting debate, but they don’t help with the actual problem. The problem is that the Board of Education is the only thing preventing the trip to Yosemite from occurring as scheduled. At no point in the message do I see a denial of this. Nor do I see any logicla reason for them refusing to grant the necessary permission. But lets get back to Ms. Apuzzo-
We were unaware of plans for this particular trip because we directed principals last year to plan for these types of trips (exclusive) to occur outside of the regular school year.
First off, how competent can this board be if they were unaware this trip had been scheduled? Every parent I spoke with this morning was aware of it. Every student I’ve spoken with has been aware of it. Information about the trip was given out at the ice cream social before the school year began, at the open house, and was sent home with students. Funds have been collected over the past six weeks, on campus fund raising has been ongoing for most of the school year, and a Saturday “rummage sale” has been organized and advertised for tomorrow. And yet, somehow, the Board of Education was unaware of all of this planning? How does that jibe with part 12 of their stated Philosophy(PDF file)-
A high level of communication, trust, respect and teamwork among Board members and the Superintendent, administration, teachers, and staff contributes to effective decision making.
Where was this high level of communication when the decision was made? Where was it when all of this planning and promoting was going on? But then, that’s just nitpicking, so let’s get to the meat of the matter-
There is a difference between Science Camp (which is open to all 6th graders in the district) and the Yosemite trip. The Yosemite trip, by design, is not open to all students. The fact that scholarships are available does not address the fact that only 54 students can attend. This is roughly 25% of the seventh grade class. If the class were offering this trip during Winter break, February break, Spring Break, or Summer, there would be no problem. I believe that there is no question that field trips are an enriching experience for our students. However, it is against Ed Code to offer any trip during the regular school session which cannot by design include all students. Over a year ago, the Board was informed by our legal Counsel that we were violating Ed Code with our policies. Ed code states very clearly that fees cannot be charged for activities that take place within the confines of the academic calendar, for labs and such that are part of an academic class, and for participation in sports, electives, etc… Fees can only be charged for PE uniforms and to replace books that are damaged or lost.
Last year 6th grade Science Camp was not “open to all 6th graders in the district“. At least not according to the paperwork that my daughter brought home. I was told that there were limited spots. While it’s true that only 54 students can attend the Yosemite trip the open slots only filled in the last few days. Where is the person claiming they’ve been shut out? There isn’t one. Speaking of phantoms…
Where is the section of the Education code that the Yosemite trip violates? Article 13 of the California Education Code is titled Excursions and Field Trips. The only part of this code that addresses exclusion of students reads as follows-
No pupil shall be prevented from making the field trip or excursion because of lack of sufficient funds. To this end, the governing board shall coordinate efforts of community service groups to supply funds for pupils in need of them.
No group shall be authorized to take a field trip or excursion authorized by this section if any pupil who is a member of such an identifiable group will be excluded from participation in the field trip or excursion because of lack of sufficient funds.
{emphasis added}
There’s nothing in there about the entire7th grade class having to be permitted to attend. It only says students may not be excluded because of lack of sufficient funds. And no one has! Ms. Apuzzo also asserts that thetrip would be fine outside of the academic calendar, but again, Section 13 of the education code seems to state something different-
The attendance or participation of a pupil in a field trip or excursion authorized by this section shall be considered attendance for the purpose of crediting attendance for apportionments from the State School Fund in the fiscal year.
If the trip’s not allowed during regularly scheduled school days then why is attendance being credited?
I also can’t seem to find where the “Ed code states very clearly that fees cannot be charged for activities that take place within the confines of the academic calendar.” But I do see where Section 13 directs the governing board to assist with fund raising to meet fees charged for trips.
Back to Ms. Apuzzo’s response-
Any field trips that take place during the school year must be open to ALL students. Yosemite is not open to all – the fact is that many low-income students don’t even bother expressing interest in attending events that they know they will not be able to afford. Many of these kids do not have families that are willing and/or able to help with fundraising. Here is a scenario to consider: if all 200 students received a scholarship to attend the Yosemite Institute, and came in with checks today, would they all be going? No, they would not be able to go on the trip because there is a limit on the number of students that Yosemite can accommodate at one time. How would we decide which kids get to go?
This is the biggest strawman of them all. The fact of the matter is that all 200 students have not asked to go, only 54 have. Any student who has expressed a desire has been well-informed (repeatedly no doubt) by Ms. Gallup that the funds would be found. We cna play the “what if” game all day and all night, but a lot more progress will be made should we deal with the reality of the situation instead of beaurucratic fantasies.
And, finally, we get to the ultimate defense of a undefensible actions: “I’m just doing my job” and finger pointing-
I made this decision because I take the oath I took when sworn in very seriously. I don’t just uphold the laws I agree with, or the ones that suit me, I agreed to uphold all the laws of the state. Our past practice was a flagrant violation of Ed Code. Our attorney made it very clear to the Board last year that we needed to overhaul our practices. We directed the principals to prepare for this. I don’t know if they just forgot about this, or dropped the ball, or were slow to get the word out. I am not sure what happened.
Well, the former didn’t hold up in War Tribunals and it won’t hold up for me either. I’ve been unable to locate a copy of the Board of Education Oath of Office online, but my guess is it has far more to do with honoring the state than with assisting our children in their education. And let’s not forget that this same oath was in effect when last year’s 7th grade class went to Yosemite. All that’s changed is one lawyer’s opinion – not the law itself.
And blaming the principals is no excuse either. The Board of Education is the organization standing in the way, not the principal. It is the Baord’s duty to oversee activities at the school so these types of things don’t happen.
Ms. Apuzzo concludes her letter as follows-
I am hoping that the teacher will be able to reschedule this trip to occur when school is not in session so that those 54 students can have this wonderful experience. I am also hoping that the schools will finally take to heart the directive to start planning this year for next year.
I hope you understand the logic behind this now. Please let me know your thoughts on what our next steps should be.
Ms. Gallup can not reschedule the trip. It is far too late for that and the Board has been repeatedly made aware of this fact. As for her final two sentences-
- Sorry, still don’t see any logic. Partially because you seem to be citing rules that are nonexistant and would be irrelevant iof they did exist; and partially because the simple fact that something is a law doesn’t make it logical.
- Your next steps should be the very steps we’ve been asking for all along – approve the trip and inform Ms. Gakllup of that decision as soon as possible. You might also want to hire new legal counsel and/or try reading the Education code yourselves. It is (surprisingly) written in fairly plain English.
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