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San Diego County, CA November 2, 2004 Election
Smart Voter

We Need to Revise Our Strategic Plan to Address Our Triple-Threat

By Jayne Chaffin

Candidate for Board Member; Del Mar Union Elementary School District

This information is provided by the candidate
The current strategic planning process is flawed because it has left our school district without specific plans to deal with our "triple-threat" - our most pressing three issues that have long gone unaddressed by the current board.
I've worked in business for over 20 years and have developed and managed innovative programs that serve the healthcare needs of children. This business experience has taught me how to identify challenges and how to overcome them. I'm also a parent and a community volunteer with lots of experience in our school district.

What is our "triple-threat?" It is the combination of our three biggest threats and how we address them that most affect our ability to succeed for our children:

Threat 1 - Attaining Curriculum Standards

  • How and when will we achieving compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act?

  • How and when will we achieve academic success for the 20% of our students who currently do not pass the STAR exam?

Threat 2 - Uneven Geographic Attendance Growth

  • What are the attendance boundaries when schools # 7, 8 and possibly 9 are opened? What changes are expected when and who will be affected? (my son will go to school # 7 and we are happy with that)

  • When will Del Mar Heights and Del Mar Hills schools attendance drop below critical mass and what will be done about it? Should we close one of the schools?

Threat 3 - Unpredictable School Funding

  • School funding is unpredictable in the foreseeable future and could bring sudden changes in our funding. How will we maintain our core curriculum and continue to improve our academic achievement if funding is reduced by 5%, 10%, 15% or 20% (the 20% scenario is if basic aid is removed)?

  • When and at what level will our financial reserves become insufficient?

As a new board member how will I protect our children's educations from these threats? I will immediately seek support from my fellow board members to identify and adopt plans to address them. This will require revising the current strategic planning process and focus our attention on only these three for now. This new process will seek to obtain the best possible information and planning necessary to develop a solid plan and then submit it to our community for thorough review and comment. Our process should seek plans that include key assumptions, detailed descriptions of actions to be taken, timelines, measurable benchmarks and accountabilities. Each plan will be presented to the public for discussion and community-wide input before the Board deliberates and adopts plans that affect our children's future.

Our school board needs to revise its strategic planning process to address the three most critical threats to our success - to our children's success. That's why we need new blood on the board with fresh perspectives, business experience and who are truly vested with children in our schools.

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ca/sd Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 27, 2004 09:28
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