PVSD News October 14, 2019

Portola Valley School District Parent Newsletter

October 14, 2019

Measure Z and Parcel Tax Oversight Committees

Our two oversight committees (Bond – Measure Z and Parcel Tax – Measure O) held their separate meetings earlier this month to review the 2018-19 expenditures. An outside audit firm audited the financials and the partner was present at both of the meetings to answer the committee’s questions.

An unqualified (or clean) audit opinions were issued for both measures. Information on the agenda and materials can be found on the district’s website . The Parcel Tax Committee will present its report to the Board on the October 23 meeting while the Bond Committee will do so at a future board meeting.Click here for more information about the Parcel Tax and here for more information about Measure Z.

Quick Links

District Website: http://www.pvsd.net/

Email : superintendent@pvsd.net

Corte Madera School

Corte Madera Calendar

Ormondale School

Ormondale Calendar

PVSD Board of Trustees

Karyn Bechtel

Brooke Day

Jeff Klugman

Kimberley Morris-Rosen

Message From the Superintendent

Dear PVSD Families,

It is a pleasure to serve as superintendent in a community that values its schools. Here in Portola Valley School District, we have highly-qualified and dedicated teachers and staff, top-notch academic programs and wonderful parents who are engaged and supportive. Outstanding academic programs and quality school facilities go hand-in-hand. We are already updating our classrooms to support a 21st-century learning environment and now we need to continue to support our teachers and academic programs.

As the Board looks ahead and makes decisions about protecting the quality of education in our schools, we value the community’s feedback and participation. Please read the enclosed information about the District’s budget and potential local parcel tax renewal measure. You can provide feedback by mailing the enclosed card or by completing the survey online here. Please respond within the next two weeks. We also invite you to attend our upcoming board meeting on November 20 when the Board will consider the parcel tax renewal measure.

Roberta Zarea, Portola Valley District Superintendent

Wildfire Preparedness in PVSD

Thank you, PVSD families, for your patience, flexibility, and support during the recent PG&E Planned Shutoff and Red Flag Warning which led to one day of school closure. As I stated in the email sent on October 10, PVSD is in constant communication with local fire, law enforcement, neighboring Districts, and the County Office of Education regarding potential power outages, red flag warnings, and safety conditions in our area.

In the event of power outages, teachers are ready to continue instruction without the use of electricity, all toilets on campus can operate without power, fire alarms have backup batteries, and we are initiating our school protocols regarding campus safety during power outages so that the academic day continues as normal as possible.

Phones, public announcement systems, and fire alarms would be affected if power were to be off for an extended period of time (fire alarms are battery supported for 12 hours). There are protocols in place to support phones (two landlines at each site, walkie talkies, and cellular), PA (walkie talkies) and fire alarms (“Fire Watch” human-led fire watch procedures).

While remaining open for students is the best scenario for student safety, there are a few adjustments that everyone should be made aware of:

If an evacuation order or warning is issued we will push out information from our SchoolMessenger app, PV Forum, and Twitter. We will make every effort to update our PVSD and school websites with current information as it unfolds.
If there is no power and you need to reach the school or district for an urgent matter, the only form of communication will be to call our landlines:
Ormondale: 650-529-2090
Corte Madera: 650-529-8555
PV District Office: 650-529-2076

The Woodside Fire Protection District recommends that residents update contact information at pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours.

Also, remember to sign up to receive notifications during urgent or emergency situations, please sign up for the San Mateo County Alert System.

To reassure you, Portola Valley School District has experienced these types of events during the last several years. Our administrators are in the process of developing a comprehensive wildfire evacuation with the Woodside Fire Protection District to plan for wildfire safety in PVSD. We are planning a parent meeting in the very near future to discuss the critical issues related to wildfire preparation, evacuation, and communication - information to follow.

PVSD Students Show Improvement on CAASPP!

On October 10, 2019, the California Department of Education released the spring 2019 CAASPP results for districts across the State. PVSD students’ academic performance is truly outstanding. We are a community with exceptionally talented and hard-working students, staff and parents. PVSD students with disabilities made significant gains in both ELA and Mathematics.

In Portola Valley School District, in all tested grades, 87 percent of students met or exceeded California’s English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA) standards- an increase of 3% over last year, and 83 percent of students met or exceeded standards in Mathematics - down 2% from the previous year. Click here to read more.

Great Shake Out Earthquake Drill

This week our schools will participate in the annual Great California ShakeOut, the largest earthquake drill in U.S. History. Everyone will practice how to “drop, cover and hold on,” and teachers will discuss the importance of earthquake preparedness with our students. This is the chance for us all to practice what to do during earthquakes to reduce injuries.

Earthquake preparedness is the responsibility of all Californians and we encourage you to also discuss earthquake readiness with your child and others at home, to take steps to get prepared, and to participate in the ShakeOut. Click here for more information on earthquake preparedness.

Tell me what’s on your mind!

Please send any questions or comments that you have for Superintendent Zarea.

Thank you for taking the time to share!

PORTOLA VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

4575 Alpine Road, Portola Valley, CA 94028

Phone 650-851-1777 | Fax 650-851-3700

http://www.pvsd.net/