The Race Is Almost Over: Vanguard Speaks with School Board Candidate Sheila Allen

This year has fewer students enrolled.  In fact, when compared with last year’s enrollment numbers: K-6th has 72 fewer; 7th-9th is short 39 from last year; 10th-12th is 30 fewer.

“Because Davis is not growing…[or has] virtually no new growth or new housing, really, we anticipated that there was going to be a decline in enrollment.  So, we opened up to the inter-district, and now we have between 170 and 200 students.  We don’t let them come in unless we’re sure we have a space for them in a classroom…Once we take them, then we’ll promise them, if they want, they will be able to stay with us through graduation. 

“Although, in the last two years, we have experienced that in the elementary K-6th, there has been the greatest percentage decline of our intra-district students.  There has actually been a smidge of growth in our Junior High to Senior High.  The students in the upper grades…we don’t ask in particular why is it that we have more in that area than in the lower ones—because you would think that the same number of student would be coming through our system.  We’re finding that our new local students coming in are in the upper division level.”

The thought behind why this is happening derives from the theory that, because housing is much more expensive in Davis, people with younger children can’t afford to live here.  Perhaps it is the people who are farther along in their career that are able to purchase a home in Davis and the Davis school district and continue to make an income.  As far as the school district goes, this drop is nothing to be alarmed of, it is a naturally occurring wave due to the people living in the district.

Sheila Allen, along with all the candidates, focuses very much in the achievement gap.  One way to address this issue is the Local Achievement Data System, which was purchased in the summer of last year. It has the ability to do small longitudinal tracking based on: STAR testing, individual grade books of teachers (so that if desired, there is the ability to look deeper and compare with other schools in specific courses, for example), and parent connect. 

Ms. Allen explained, “Parent connect is where parents get a password so that they can get in the system and take a peek at the teacher’s grade book.  It’s not just that you get the report card at the end of the quarter, but you can see as you’re going along ‘Ok, how did they do on this test?’ or ‘Is the homework being done?’  It’s really a good tool for family follow up and family discussion.”

Ms. Allen, being very in favor of the system, agrees with the superintendent that the “teachers understand the data, and that they utilize it.”  This way the district can tell if the data is something that works, or if it’s something that they should continue to use.  There are opportunities for teachers in what are called PLC’s (professional Learning Communities).  Here, they can sit down and talk to together to see what strategies work and what strategies don’t. 

Ms. Allen also stated that the PLC’s can help teachers pinpoint “a group of students not performing [well], and develop strategies to try and reach them.” This system carries high hopes of helping decrease the achievement gap.  It is a way to dig down into the data and identify who it is that is not doing well and what kind of different and additional support is needed.

Sheila Allen is also very strongly in favor of universal preschool, meaning everyone has access to preschool.

“West Sacramento has universal preschool.  It has a tax on local businesses that help to fund it.”  Everyone ages 3-4 has access to preschool, and there’s enough slots for everybody.

Ms. Allen was a First 5 Commissioner for Yolo County for 10 years and Proposition 10, which taxes 50 cents for cigarettes, collects the money from the state and divides it out to the counties by the number of live births for the previous year.  This is done so that there is a proper amount of funding for the child population. 

The funds can only be used for children ages zero (pregnant mothers) through five (Thus the name, First 5 Commission.)  Now that the economy isn’t very good, first five is funding basic things such as child care, and social services.

But, there is a new law going into place.  The date to attend kindergarten will change from December 1st to September 1st, 2010.  This will cause problems because there will be more students then, who will be eligible for school and ready.  Ms. Allen wants to work with community partners, because there are some very good preschools in town, to try and get Head Start back in Davis.

Head Start is federally funded and proven highly effective.  It helps to close the achievement gap for students before they get into schools and targets low-income families. This could help the Davis district preschool stay full, since it isn’t always full, and help create better ties with the private preschools.  It’s a good way to get everyone on board with what kind of information a kid needs to know before going into kindergarten.

“It just makes so much sense”, stated Ms. Allen, “because it’s a proven model preschool that’s already funded.  Just think, we close the achievement gap before they start school, we won’t even need to worry about it once they’re in high school.  There’s even more clear data about how that achievement gap starts in the very beginning…with any preschool experience…[even] beginning skills…[such as] colors, literacy skills, and how to hold a pencil are important.”

Clearly, Sheila Allen’s passion lies with early childhood education, ages K-3 are very important for a student’s development. 

Ms. Allen said, “if we can get to them early, then it’ll solve a lot of our problems.” 

Any funding from the state for class size reduction in K-3 is something Ms. Allen is hoping for.  Students need to learn how to read in 1st and 2nd grade, and math comes along in 3rd and 4th, if the students are not caught up, which is a common flaw in an overly high student to teacher ratio, then the AP classes in high school are only available to a small amount of students. 

Sheila Allen is also hoping to close the achievement gap.  She stated, “if we can solve it in Davis, we can solve it anywhere else.  I want every kid to be the best they can.”

Because of budget issues for now, there needs to be a way to cut back on money and spending without compromising the quality of education for the students (which is why Sheila wants to start with the Head Start Program, since the money is already there from the federal government.)   But until more talk of parcel taxes, there is the money saving power of green energy.

There have been approved photovoltaic systems being implemented in the districts.  For those who are unaware, photovoltaic means that electrical power is generated by taking solar radiation and converting it into current electricity using the machinery (semiconductors) that reveal photovoltaic effect.

With budget cuts clearly a giant and ongoing fear, and a continuously sluggish economy, these systems are an eco-friendly and sustainable way of saving the district money over time.  The first year alone would save $33,788. 

In a thirty year time period, $13 million dollars will be saved, that is, according to Ms. Allen, if the district buys out the systems (which will become an option after 15 years). 
Ms. Allen stated that if the numbers add up right, it will be something the district may want to partake in. 

Ms. Allen’s most rewarding success is graduation, “everything that we do culminates on that plate.  Off you go into the world…It’s really an honor.”

This round, if Sheila Allen is elected again, she will be standing on stage and shaking hands of two of her three own children. 

This is Samantha Lynch reporting.

Editor’s note: The Vanguard will be interviewing all four of the Davis School Board candidates for a second time in the next few weeks.