Community Collaborates with School District, City, County and Local Businesses to Publicize the Dougherty Valley Preschool Round-up Survey Windemere, Gale Ranch, and Bridges residents have united to start a grassroots movement to help the San Ramon Valley Unified School District (SRVUSD) ensure that Dougherty Valley (DV) residents with children ages 0-4 years old participate in the District’s preschool round-up survey. An online survey link, authorized by Mayor Wilson, is also located on the City of San Ramon’s web page.
Printed surveys can be picked up at any of the 4 DV elementary schools, the San Ramon and Dougherty Station Community Centers, the San Ramon and Dougherty Station libraries, and at several different local businesses, such as My Gym, Connect1 Verizon Wireless and P3 Party Place— all around the San Ramon Marketplace.
It is ESSENTIAL that ALL DV residents complete and return the survey to help the District better plan the future capacity of our four new elementary schools: Coyote Creek (CC), Hidden Hills (HH), Quail Run (QR) and Live Oak (LO).
As of mid-April, only 464 out of approximately 7,110 housing units have completed the survey. In order to reach as many of the qualifying DV residents as possible, we are asking all media outlets (newspapers, websites, magazines, tv, etc.) to publicize the survey and to explain the importance of everyone’s participation.
287+ Dougherty Valley (DV) Elementary School Diversions Possible For Fall 2008
72 kindergarten students and 287 overall DV elementary students (as of April 4) are projected to be diverted from their home elementary schools for Fall 2008, with more students expected to move in over the summer. Two years ago, in March 2006, a group of Windemere residents asked the SRVUSD to get an actual count of the number of preschoolers living in the DV, rather than relying on generic, possibly outdated projections. At that time, the District assured community representatives that the DV was going through “growing pains” like all new developments and the overcapacity was a “bubble” or a “pig in a python” which would resolve itself shortly over time. Furthermore, the District stated that two additional elementary schools were being built (QR and LO), which would relieve the overcapacity problems. However, based on the fact that all four elementary schools have been completed; three of the four schools held kindergarten lotteries for Fall 2008; and the fact that the DV is considered a “phenomenon” with regards to the higher than expected percentage of families with young children moving into the community, the District recently agreed to conduct a preschool round-up survey during the months of April and May, as suggested by DV residents.
Overcapacity May Increase as New Dougherty Valley (DV) Homes Continue to be Built
DV elementary schools are the largest in the District, built to master plan capacity of 900, which allows for 150 students per grade. As reference, on February 28, Live Oak had 192 participants in its kindergarten lottery and ended up with 46 on the wait list. Eventually a total of 11,000 homes will be built in Windemere, the Bridges and Gale Ranch. According to the December 10, 2007 Dougherty Valley Oversight Committee (DVOC) report, DV housing units were approximately at 65% buildout, yet the schools are at 100% buildout. Our community fears overcapacity problems are likely to worsen as new homes continue to be built.
Why Does Overcapacity Already Exist in New Dougherty Valley (DV) Elementary Schools?
Data collected from the preschool survey can be used to verify the accuracy of the District’s original projected enrollment as determined by the student generation factors: assumed to be 0.079-0.519 student per household unit. For the breakdown by grade, see Table 7.2-2 below, taken from the San Ramon General Plan (pages 4-5 from online link http://www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us/gprc/images/chap7.pdf):
Do I Live in the Dougherty Valley?
Anyone living in the 94582 zip code is considered to be a DV resident. Many families who just moved to the area do not even realize they live in the DV, and unless parents have a child ready to enter kindergarten, they are usually unaware of the overcapacity situation in the schools.
Are My Children Currently Affected By These Problems?
Since 2003, overcapacity in DV elementary schools has been an on-going problem at Coyote Creek, Hidden Hills and most recently, Live Oak. When some Hidden Hills and Coyote Creek residents first moved into the area 4–8 years ago, they could not have imagined being in a lottery situation and yet their oldest children were recently put on the wait list at their perspective schools. Even if your oldest child is already enrolled in a DV school and the younger one will receive sibling priority, these children STILL need to be accounted for since they will fill a kindergarten space. This is why EVERYONE with a child age 0-4 years old needs to participate in the survey today.
Has the District Taken Steps to Address the Dougherty Valley (DV) Overcapacity Situation?
On April 9, two SRVUSD Board Members, President Greg Marvel and Clerk Bill Clarkson, spoke at a Town Hall meeting at Live Oak Elementary to answer community questions. Over 100 residents filled the MPR to hear their responses and the meeting ended with a Q&A session. Furthermore, since March 2006, Superintendent Kessler has been willing to listen to community concerns and he has made every effort to include the Windemere residents in the planning and discussion process. Once the District learned there would be 46 kindergarten students on the wait list at Live Oak, Assistant Superintendent Brown and her staff worked quickly to open an extra kindergarten class for Fall 2008. In addition, the facilities department rapidly implemented a few of the residents’ suggestions, such as the online survey and distributed survey flyers to preschools in the area. Our community greatly appreciates all the hard work and efforts put forth by the District, but we feel the District is like the little Dutch boy: merely using his fingers to plug holes here and there in the leaky dam. Until we know how much water the dam holds (or how many preschoolers live in the DV), how can the District effectively plan for the future?
Why the Grassroots Movement to Publicize the Survey?
Currently the SRVUSD’s main priorities are dealing with the State’s budget cuts, so the community is taking the initiative to assist with publicity and extra distribution coverage of the round-up flyers. In the past, the District has relied upon possibly outdated projections to estimate the number of preschoolers. Many of the DV parents planned ahead and moved here when our children were still toddlers because of the excellent reputation of the schools. We strongly believe it’s in our children’s best interest for the District to do the same and plan ahead for future elementary school capacity needs.We want to do everything possible to ensure the District has a ballpark figure of the number of preschoolers currently living in the DV. Therefore, we would appreciate the media’s help in disseminating the information below:
The School District is conducting a Preschool Round-Up for all children ages 0-4 residing in the Dougherty Valley. During the months of April and May, Facilities staff will be collecting information from parents to assist in projecting the number of students entering Kindergarten at Coyote Creek, Hidden Hills, Live Oak, and Quail Run Elementary Schools in the Fall of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Please participate via the online survey by visiting the SRVUSD website at www.srvusd.net
Click on the “Pre-School Round-up!” link under the “News and Announcements” heading in the left-hand column. If you would like to printout a hard copy for distribution, there’s an online printable pdf as well.
To go directly to the online survey, please visit:
http://survey.srvusd.k12.ca.us/survey/TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=552
How Can I Learn More About This Situation?
Please see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the next page or join the Yahoo! group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/windemereowners/
School District Preschool Round-up Survey FAQ
Q: Who should participate and when is the deadline?
A: Dougherty Valley residents with children ages 0-4 years old are requested to complete the SRVUSD’s Pre-School Round-up Survey during the months of April and May. Facilities staff will collect information from parents to assist in projecting the number of students entering Kindergarten at Coyote Creek, Hidden Hills, Live Oak and Quail Run Elementary Schools in the Fall of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Q: Do I live in the Dougherty Valley?
A: Everyone residing in the 94582 zip code is considered a DV resident.
Q: Why should I participate?
A: Overcapacity in DV elementary schools has been an on-going problem since 2003 at Coyote Creek, Hidden Hills and most recently, Live Oak, which had 192 participants in a kindergarten lottery for 150 spots. 4–8 years ago, when some Hidden Hills and Coyote Creek residents first moved into the area, they NEVER imagined being in a lottery situation— yet their oldest children are currently on the kindergarten wait lists for Fall 2008. Even if your older child is already enrolled in a DV school and the younger one will receive sibling priority, these children STILL need to be accounted for since they will fill a kindergarten space. By completing either the online survey or mail-in survey, your information will provide more accurate data so the District can better estimate future capacity needs.
Q: How do I determine which year my child will start kindergarten?
A: Please note that these are just general guidelines and parents know their children’s capabilities best.
Child’s Birthdate Year to Begin Kindergarten
December 3, 2003–December 2, 2004 Fall 2009
December 3, 2004–December 2, 2005 Fall 2010
December 3, 2005–December 2, 2006 Fall 2011
December 3, 2006–December 2, 2007 Fall 2012
Q: What if I decide to hold my child back a year before entering kindergarten?
A: That is perfectly fine because the year you record on the survey is NOT set in stone. The District recognizes that as the time actually approaches for your child to begin Kindergarten, you may decide to hold your child back a year. This is why the survey also requests your child’s birthdate.
Q: Why does overcapacity already exist in our new elementary schools?
A: The Dougherty Valley schools capacity was estimated based upon projected student generation factors (SGF)* of:
Grade Levels Single family Multi family
K-5th grades 0.519 0.079
6th-8th grades 0.172 0.058
9th-12th grades 0.187 0.087
The District’s original projections assumed an average of about 0.4-0.7 student per household would be attending K-12th grade during any given year. *Data taken from Table 7.2-2: Projected Enrollment in San Ramon from the San Ramon General Plan 2020 – pages 4-5 from online link http://www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us/gprc/images/chap7.pdf
Q: How can I help with the DV community’s grassroots efforts?
A: 1) Forward the online link to everyone you know who lives in Windemere, Gale Ranch or the Bridges:
http://survey.srvusd.k12.ca.us/survey/TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=552
2) Printout hard copies of the survey flyer and drop them off at your children’s extracurricular activities, preschools, play groups, etc.
3) Talk to parents around your neighborhood and at the parks and encourage them to participate.
4) Join the Yahoo! group to keep informed about the issues:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/windemereowners/
5) Please contact DV1voice@yahoo.com if you'd like to help.
Thank you very much.
We greatly appreciate your help.
Friday, May 2, 2008
San Ramon Valley Unified School District's Dougherty Valley PreSchool Survey
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Fall Carnival Coming to Neil Armstrong School
Neil Armstrong Elementary School in San Ramon (2849 Calais Dr.) invites you to join us at our Fall Carnival on Sunday October 21st from 11:00am – 3:00pm. There will be Delicious Food, Awesome Games & Spooky Fun for kids and parents of all ages. So come and help raise money in support of PTA programs and services throughout the year!
If you are hungry, you will definitely enjoy our fabulous BBQ lunch with your choice of Italian Sausage, Hotdogs (turkey/chicken), Chili with Fixins', Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Fresh Baked Pumpkin Pie, Popcorn, Churros & Funnel Cakes!
We have tons of fun activities planned including: A Giant Inflatable Double Slide, Super Tiki Climbing Wall, Colossal Obstacle Course Challenge, Fortune Telling, Hair Painting and a variety of fun Carnival Games. Our mascot "Neil the Eagle" will be there too!
We are looking forward to lots of fun!!
Read all about the San Ramon Tribune online newspaper. Feel free to submit your announcements and news articles for consideration for publishing.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Government Lobbyists, Good or Bad?
Momma's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Lobbyists
For many years now, I have been the proud holder of jobs that my parents found very difficult to explain to their friends. Now, when a well-meaning acquaintance asks "what does your daughter do?" they try to explain that I help people understand how to communicate with elected officials. Invariably the response is "What? She teaches people how to lobby? Good heavens, she's not a lobbyist herself, is she?" Apparently, being a lobbyist is right up there with being a convict, especially these days.
But is lobbying really that terrible? Before you utter a resounding "yes", let's look at what a lobbyist does. According to that wonderful resource Dictionary.com, a lobbyist is someone who tries to influence public officials to take one position over another on a particular issue. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? I'm sure some of you are thinking "well, no, but that doesn't adequately describe all the terrible things that those lobbyists do in Washington, DC."
Before we start casting stones, however, consider for a minute that the vast majority of these lobbyists are working on issues that you might actually care about! For example, are you a member of AARP? Do you contribute to the Sierra Club? Do you own a car and have an AAA membership? All of these organizations use funds from their members to hire "lobbyists" in Washington, DC. In fact, you, yes you, might actually be acting as a lobbyist in your daily life. Have you ever called up a city agency to express the need for a stop sign in your neighborhood? Have you signed on to a petition or letter from a professional organization that was then sent to elected officials at the state or federal level? That's lobbying, my friend, pure and simple.
Yes, I know. That's different. You're expressing your views on public policy because you really care about an issue. Those evil lobbyists, however, are paid to express opinions that they don't necessarily believe. They use all kinds of bribery to get officials on their side.
The truth is, some people are paid for this work. Some, like citizen advocates, aren't. Some employ a number of tools, such as fancy dinners, fundraisers and, as we've heard in the news lately, fully-paid trips to exotic locales as part of their lobbying efforts. Some don't. Some professional lobbyists actually are really terrible people that peddle their influence in as sleazy a manner as possible and are an embarrassment to the profession. The vast majority, however, are people who truly believe in a cause and have found a way to marry their personal interests with their professional life. They are hired to lobby on causes they really care about, from access to health care to city planning to protection of animals.
I'm often asked "what's the difference between lobbying and advocacy?" To me, it's a simple matter of the audience. People who are supporters of a particular cause or position are "advocates". When those people start seeking to influence public officials to take one position over another on those issues, they are "lobbying." It doesn't matter whether they are paid or unpaid, whether they are in DC or "outside the beltway", or even whether they are sleazy or not: when one person seeks to influence another, that's lobbying. We can condemn the tactics and strategies they use, but let's not condemn the entire practice.
Really, if you think about it, there's no escaping lobbying. In fact, it could probably be considered the world's oldest profession. I know that some people honor another profession with that title, but if you adhere to the whole "Adam-and-Eve-in-the-garden-with-the-snake" perspective on the world, what was the snake but a very highly successful lobbyist? I'm sure he made all kinds of claims to Eve about the wholesomeness of apples and the general benefits that could be expected from apple eating. Perhaps he was evil – or perhaps he was just trying to get a little peace and quiet in the garden.
And in answer to the question that my parents always wrestle with – no, I am not a professional lobbyist, although I do occasionally "lobby" on a personal level. But I wouldn't be ashamed to admit that I was.
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Stephanie Vance, the Advocacy Guru at Advocacy Associates, works with associations and businesses that want to impact public policy through effective advocacy techniques. You can learn more about her and her work at http://www.advocacyguru.com
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