The K-8 survey sub-committee will be meeting on Wednesday, August 31 at 6 pm at our District main office (1108 Bissell, Room 228 in Richmond). Everyone is welcome to participate.

The plan is to have a survey draft to present to the full committee on Thursday, September 1. See email below and attached document for more information.

take care,
db (Fri, 26 Aug 2005)

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(Below is from an email from Dave Brown:)
Long time no email! I just wanted to let you know that Karen Pfeifer and I will be meeting soon to plan our next meeting of the Agenda for Change. You should expect an email soon about that meeting with some long awaited minutes from the past 2 meetings. I apologize for not taking care of that earlier, but I promise to get it done.

In the meantime, I wanted to invited you to The first meeting of the K-8 Study Committee. As you might recall, this was one of the issues that came up during our first two Agenda for Change meetings.

Everyone is invited to participate, regardless if you are a committee member or not. As chair of the committee, I will make sure that everyone has equal opportunity to speak and contribute throughout the process. The full list of committee members will be sent out early next week; I'm still waiting to hear from a couple of our constituent groups.

The subsequent meetings will be the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month from 6:30 to 8:00 pm (note the time change from the first meeting on the 16th). The location for these meetings will be determined soon. As a committee, we expect to be working through the first part of December.

For your information, I've attached the memo from Board President Glen Price regarding the formation of this committee. The memo discusses the proposed committee composition, timeline and issues to study. Of course, the committee can make revisions to this framework as needed.
take care, db

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Second meeting: Feb. 16, 2005 Wednesday • "Agenda for Change" second meeting. 6:30 pm. A committee created by new school board members, Karen Pfeifer & Dave Brown, to bring about change in the District and establish priorities for action. Location: Local One Office in Richmond, 4197 Lakeside Drive, Suite 170

Karen Pfeifer and Dave Brown would like to invite you to the first meeting.
Wednesday, December 1, 7:30 pm
Local One Office in Richmond, 4197 Lakeside Drive, Suite 170

We invite the entire community to study the issues and make recommendations to us. Some hot topics we know you want to discuss are:

• A community audit of the District's budget. Who shall do this, how soon and what do you need from us?
  
• Local control of schools. What does this look like and how shall we implement this reform?
  
• Non-budgetary management issues that will improve the District's functioning. Let's just make a list and get started.
  
  
• For more information, you can reach Karen at (510) 417-5896 or Dave at (510) 758-7077
• Karen Pfeifer karenepfeifer@ yahoo.com
  
• Dave Brown dbrown247@ yahoo.com

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Posted on Tue, Nov. 16, 2004

West County school board newcomers making noise

By Shirley Dang
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Before they even get sworn in next month, two newly elected West Contra Costa school board members have already started to shake things up.

Dave Brown and Karen Pfeifer, who start four-year terms Dec. 8, have banded together to launch a committee called Agenda for Change.

Three things they plan to discuss with the public at their first meeting Dec. 1 are a community audit of the district's budget, local control of schools, and solutions to "management issues" that are not budget-related, according a meeting announcement. Any recommendations the group produces would be taken to the board for action, Brown said.

The goal is to give staff, parents and students more of a voice in making policy, they say, and change the way the board relates to the public.

"That is not to say we intend to come in with magic wands on white horses and remake the board and the school district in a short period of time," Pfeifer said. "But we do seek direction from the community, and that's what this is about."

The board oversees nearly 33,000 students and a general fund budget of $248 million. Last school year, the board faced a $16.5 million budget shortfall and threatened to cut sports, librarians and music entirely.

During their campaigns, Pfeifer and Brown heard complaints from numerous communities, but suspicion about spending and management consistently cropped up, the two said.

"We all feel the lack of trust between the district and our students, parents, teachers, staff and community members," the announcement reads. "It has become clear that progress cannot be made in our district until these relationships have been repaired."

However, by forming a group that aims to reach out to the community, some say Brown and Pfeifer may be alienating key decision-makers.

To comply with open meetings laws, the sessions must exclude board members Charles Ramsey, Glen Price and Karen Leong Fenton or be posted in advance as a meeting of the board.

In fact, talk among board members outside a formal meeting is discouraged for this very reason, Ramsey said.

"That can be very dangerous," he said.

Ramsey questioned why Pfeifer and Brown formed the group at all.

"I don't know why they thought it was necessary. They're elected officials," said Ramsey, who chalked up the idea to a misguided motivation to improve the district.

"When you're new, you're enthusiastic and you feel like you have to do something different," Ramsey said.

Brown said he hoped that in time, the other board members would view the group's input as an asset rather than a divisive force.

"The board knows that Karen and I were elected to bring about change," Brown said. "I'm hopeful that the other board members see this as positive."

Pfeifer said the committee is simply a way for the community to meet their new representatives.

"Dave and I are newcomers. And this is a way for people to get to know the new guys on the block," Pfeifer said.

Reach Shirley Dang at 510-262-2798 or sdang@cctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Agenda for Change, a community group started by newly elected West Contra Costa school board members Dave Brown and Karen Pfeifer, will hold its first meeting

When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 (Second meeting is Feb 16th)

Where: Local One office, 4197 Lakeside Dr., Suite 170, Richmond.

For more information, call Karen Pfeifer at 510-417-5896 or Dave Brown at 510-758-7077.