Minutes from March 20, 2012

 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Open Board of Directors Meeting

San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive San Bernardino, CA 92408

Minutes

Present:  Don Averill, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Ann Bryan, Rachelle Bussell, Ken Coate, Bill Easley, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, Ed Lasak, Neil Macready, John Mirau, Charlie Ng, Tom Nightingale, John Prentice, Ty Schuiling, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Shelli Stockton, Phil Waller, Stan Weisser and AJ Wilson.

Guests: Robbie Broedow and Larry McCallon
Announcements: 1) There will be a Inland Empire Economic Forum held tomorrow Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 8 a.m. to noon at the University of Redlands Orton Center.  The information from this and other regional forums in the state will be presented to the legislature and the Governor at an Economic Summit to be held on May 11 in San Jose.  There is no cost to attend this forum.  2) Please Rsvp if you have not already done so for the Vintage Rail Car event that will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2012.

M/S/P: Minutes of the March 13, 2012 meeting

Neil Macready introduced David Haglund, Director of Education Options, Riverside Unified School District and Chairman, Education Forward.

David Haglund is the Director of Educational Options for Riverside Unified School District and is the Chairman of Education Forward.  He oversees school programs that provide non-traditional learning opportunities to students in grades K-12 such as community based, virtual and home schooling.

Over one million high school students in the state attend schools that do not offer enough of the courses required for entrance to the state’s universities and colleges.  The existing California law creates barriers to prevent students from taking courses outside their districts, including online courses.  The California Bill of Rights Initiative removes those barriers.

Education Forward is a nonprofit group that is working to reform California’s public schools.  They are addressing a need in California to provide access to courses that are required for entrance into higher education by creating The California Student Bill of Rights Initiative.  The Initiative is proposed for the November 2012 ballot.

It provides students with unrestricted access to courses required for admission to the state’s colleges and universities, in the classroom and online.

  • Allows students to take online courses offered by any school district regardless of student residence
  • Requires online courses to be taught by credentialed teachers and approved by the University of California
  • Creates a California Diploma, which certifies to higher education, employers and the government that the student has passed all courses required for admission to Californians’ state colleges and universities
  •  Allows students to accelerate and/or customize their education
  •  Potentially saves local school districts hundreds of millions of dollars annually and could also reduce long term demand for school construction funding.  Source: California Legislative Analyst

California is rated 50th of 50 states that provide online learning.  The general public is already online with banking, bill paying, shopping, etc.  We need to utilize our technology to bring public education into the 21st century so we can compete in the global economy.

A Q & A period followed.

Meeting adjourned at 8:32 a.m.