Agenda Item
F.02. Year of the School Volunteer: 2009-10 (Revised) (Evans)
Meeting:07/28/2009
Category:F. OPERATIONAL MATTERS RESERVED FOR THE BOARD
Agenda Type:ActionPreferred Date:
Fiscal Impact:YesAbsolute Date:
Dollar Amount:$5,000.00Budgeted:Yes
Budget Source:Community Relations Unrestricted
Agenda Item Content
RECOMMENDATION: Approve designation of 2009-10 as the Year of the School Volunteer in the San Diego Unified School District.

FISCAL IMPACT: $5,000 transferred from the Board of Education unrestricted consultant account to the Community Relations account for the purchase of posters, materials and printing costs associated with this proposal. Budget string: 5542 00000 00 4301 2150 0000 01000 1122.

BACKGROUND: The San Diego Unified School District is now in its most challenging economic situation in a generation. We have made serving the needs of students in the classroom the highest priority. Throughout the economic cycles,San Diego Unified has long benefited from thousands of volunteers. who Theyhelp the students and the schools through PTA, volunteers from business and industry, military groups, mentoring groups and many other organizations. Students within the district also reap the benefits of more than 1,500 business/community partnerships through the Partnerships in Education Program, now entering its 28th year.

To that end we have eliminated many central office and administrative positions. We are sending many of those people out to the school sites to work directly with children. In a time of crisis we must have “all hands on deck” working with the children.

Examples of partnership efforts include providing tutors and mentors, donating books, assisting students with science fair projects, participating on senior exhibition panels, being a member of the school site council, assisting schools with fundraising projects that support student achievement, sponsoring incentive and recognition programs for both students and teachers, and organizing job shadowing opportunities. Through these kinds of efforts and providing monetary assistance, partner donations of dollars, goods, services, and hours amounted to nearly $2,762,593 during 2008-09 (based on a 20 percent response from business/community partners to the Partnerships in Education End-of-Year Survey.)

In addition, 86 percent of school site volunteer coordinators reported that 27,111 parent and community volunteers logged more than 838,565 hours valued at $16,980,941. (The value for volunteer hours is based on the average hourly wage for non-agricultural workers in 2008 or $20.25. Source: Washington D.C., Independent Sector.)

Proposal:
For the benefit of our children we need to continue to acknowledge the parent, business and community volunteers’ efforts, provide support and work to increase the number of parents and community members participating as volunteers for our schools. Individual adult attention is a key contributor to student achievement and overall success in life. Activities in which volunteers can participate in range from tutoringhelping individual students to helping with a school garden to working with a school foundation.

Therefore, I propose that the Board of Education designate the 2009-10 school year as the Year of the School Volunteer in the San Diego Unified School District. With this action, staff would be requested to develop and implement programs that could include some or all of the following activities:

1) Identification of areas of volunteering at all school levels, both current and potential. This can range from mentoring students to helping at school events.This needs to be formulated by the appropriate administrative departments, as well as teachers, classified staffand parents and the abovementioned organizations. We must work closely with employee groups to make sure that we are supplementing rather than supplanting district staff.

2) Development of a “kit” that allows each school to easily recruit, sign up and assign volunteers to various projects. Each school’s needs will be different, but these materials can simplify it for everyone.

3) Kick-off Day for School Volunteers: A well-publicized day or 3 days – one for elementary, middle and senior high to accommodate parents with children at each level chosen by staff early in the school year (tentatively October 9, 2009) for a districtwide “Welcome Volunteers Day”/”Stand by San Diego Schools Day” at each school site. This will be a time for schools to showcase their campuses and to encourage parents, business partners, community organizations, community members and neighbors to come together to support one another in a partnership for learning. Schools could publicize this event within their neighborhoods and the district would provide city-wide publicity. The visibility of the event could be heightened by having the participation of local elected officials, TV news persons, prominent San Diego athletes and other local figures. Local employers could be informed of the importance of all San Diegans showing up at their nearest school that morning.

Parents can be given information regarding the Family School Partnership Act (California Labor Code Section 230.8), the law that permits parents, guardians, and custodial grandparents to take up to 40 hours off each year (unpaid or flextime) to participate in their child’s public school activities. Each school community could promote this event in their own neighborhood. Outreach could include increased participation by seniors (retired educators are already a great resource) and by college students and young professionals (who can be reached through social networking sites). Examples of community groups within each school community that may be invited to the event include:

• School partners/community volunteers
• Corporations and business owners
• Real estate agencies
• Non-profit organizations
• Community council members
• Neighbors
• Libraries and park and recreation facilities
• Fire and Police Departments
• Editor/staff writers for community newspaper
• Local colleges
• Faith-based organizations
• Senior citizen centers
• Service clubs (Optimist, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.)
• Military installations
• Professional apssociations

Current and potential volunteers could sign up at a beginning of the day rally at each school. Information on volunteer activities and brief tours of the school could be available. Schools could develop a volunteer “wish list” describing the volunteer opportunities that are available and post in prominent areas for visitors to view. Venues can be provided for students to share with visitors the positive activities occurring on their campus and showcase their accomplishments through entertainment, presentations, etc.

4) Marketing efforts for the event could include:

• Poster to promote the Year of the Volunteer

• District and school websites – would include an online “Volunteer Interest Form” that could be completed and submitted to schools

• Publicity about special events and volunteer examples


5) Recognition of successful volunteer efforts and sustaining the initiative could be
accomplished through:

• Ongoing sharing through school websites

• Expanding “Family Friendly School” activities to incorporate “Community Friendly” events and activities

• Principal for a Day scheduled for November 6, 2009 and sponsored by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

• Selection of “Partner of the Year” and “Volunteer of the Year” at the elementary, middle and senior high level.

This major push for community-wide volunteer participation is one of many factors that can increase community participation during the 2009-10 Year of the Volunteer higher than previous years and serve as a model for future years.

This effort will promote higher student achievement in 2009-10 and will lead to a greater sense of community ownership of our San Diego public schools.

If approved, a resolution will be presented at the first board meeting of the school year (September 8, 2009) declaring the Year of the School Volunteer and an announcement of the kick-off day.

[Originator/Contact: John Lee Evans, Board Member, 619.725.5550 johnleeevans@sandi.net]

volunteer bddocs item Draft #1.pdf


Created on 07/15/2009 at 12:17 PM by Melissa Hudson. Last update on 07/25/2009 by Josefina Viorato.