By Lori Bledsoe
For The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — The June 14 meeting of the Alpine Union School District Board of Trustees included the presentation of a PTSA co-sponsored workshop, the adoption of a new budget, approval of a GATE and wellness plan, and a vote to recommend rejection of State Bill 1437, which is in committee right now.
     PTSA President Lori St. Pierre discussed sponsoring a workshop to encourage parent involvement. These workshops will be led by Fred Becker, a speaker who promotes a ‘back to the basics’ approach to teaching and parenting. The workshops are planned to begin in October. A fee will be assessed for the workshops to help cover the costs.
     Ann Pierce thanked St. Pierre for her leadership in this matter, and Mary Wiggens added, “Parent involvement makes a huge difference in students’ lives.”

District budget
     District business manager Rob Turner presented the new 2006-2007 budget plan, highlighting the fact that the budget can only be estimation at this time, and it is important to note that actual figures can be better assessed once an accurate enrollment is recorded. This will be reported in October.

Gifted and Talented Education
     Assistant Superintendent Bill Cudog, who is also Chairman of the GATE Committee, presented the Gifted And Talented Education plan. His presentation included a power point slideshow detailing the GATE committee’s plan to integrate differentiated teaching into the classroom forum, cluster the GATE identified students and further teacher collaboration.
     These important first steps will allow teachers to encourage, motivate and work more efficiently with the quick-witted and high achieving GATE students.
     The board also approved the district wellness policy. The Wellness Committee produced this policy over the past year, adopting the California state mandates and tailoring them to our district. This policy limits the amount of fat and sugar that may be present in the foods that are provided by the schools as well as the amount of physical activity that students are required to participate in.
     AUSD Superintendent Greg Ryan said that passing this policy is about regulating what the school district employees provide to students, and not what is provided by parents.

SB 1437
     A discussion on the new State Bill 1437 was opened by Steve Hunyar who brought a resolution to the board to sign and send to Governor Schwarzenegger. This resolution states that the Alpine Union School District does not support passing this new bill. 
     SB1437 is a bill drafted by Democratic Senator Sheila Kuehl, that revises the state education code to prohibit instruction, or the adoption of any instructional material, that reflects adversely on persons due to sexual orientation. It also requires the “age appropriate” study of the role and contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to the social science course of study that covers the contributions of men, women and groups to development of California and the United States.
     This bill states that “no instructional materials shall be adopted by any governing board for use in the schools that, in its determination, contains any matter reflecting adversely upon persons because of race or ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality, sexual orientation and religion and any sectarian doctrine contrary to law.
    There is concern that California’s social studies and history textbooks, for grades K through 12, would have to be rewritten to revise the characteristics of people described in history to include race or ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality, sexual orientation, religion and occupation — a potentially expensive proposition.
     When board members were presented with this resolution, discussion ensued on whether the AUSD school board wanted to take on these politics.
     Scott Barr and Ann Pierce both were in agreement that SB1437 was a Sacramento issue, and it was premature to address at this time as the bill is struggling to get through committee. It has been reported that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto the bill if it comes across his desk.
     Ryan said he also felt that this bill will undergo several revisions, and it is important to see how things proceed before the board formally takes a stand.
     SB1437 has been the subject of many protests in Sacramento and has even caused the governor’s office to set up a telephone poll to better understand the needs and desires of the people.
     The resolution that Hunyar proposed, states that AUSD does not support SB1437, and was approved with Barr and Pierce opposed.
     The board’s formal recommendation for rejection of the bill will be forwarded to the governor’s office.
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