ACBO Board of Directors

Friday, September 14, 2012

Record of the Meeting

  1. Call to order:

Members Present: B. Dowd, President; A. Gabel; F. Williams; J. Buysse; A. Suleski; J. Sharpe; T. Scott; E. Maduli; K. Blackwood; S. Rearic and J. Gordon by phone.

Members Absent: S. Coleal and T. Burke

Guests & Staff: S. Bray; Carol Horton; T. Tena; D. Troy; E. Skinner; F. Harris

Minutes: The minutes of August 3rd meeting were reviewed & minor edits were suggested.

M/S/C: It was moved (Gabel) and seconded (Williams) to approve the minutes as amended. Amended version will be posted to the web site.

Financial Reports: The newly re-formatted monthly financial statement for July was provided to members with the understanding that Kathy Blackwood, Treasurer had yet to review. Kathy will provide any format edits to Susan Bray; once format edits have been made, the final version of the report will be posted.

M/S/C: It was moved (Suleski) and seconded (Buysse) to accept the amended monthly financial statement report.

No other items were added to the agenda.

  1. Conferences and Training Programs

·  Fall Conference 2012: A report on the planning of the conference was given by the coordinator Jim Buysse who indicated that all was on track. Jim reviewed the conference line up with members who made some suggestions regarding which proposals might be considered for each of the time slots. Buysse distributed the following documents which were entered into the record:

o  Amended Conference Agenda

o  Summary of proposals received

  • Vendor Report

Members commended Jim on the quality of the conference line up and agreed to send table topics for networking discussions to Jim/Susan no later than 9/30. Members recommended that rather than as a conference sessions presenters, Joe Nation (Stanford) be asked to do a presentation regarding Pension Reform at the ACCCA/ACBO January State Budget Workshop. It was also suggested to tie in with the theme a flashlight with ACBO logo on it might make a good take away gift for attendees. It was also suggested that it a session be added to the conference line-up addressing impact of districts being placed on “show cause” by the Accreditation Commission given some of the districts recently sanctioned in this manner i.e., Cuesta, Redwoods and City College of SF.

For the ACBO “Members Only” session, Bonnie asked Board members to provide her with any agenda items or topic suggestions by October 5th. In regard to the meeting format, Bonnie will pull together an agenda to include, confirmation of a quorum of delegates present, introduction of ACBO Board members, regional and committee representative reports and a demonstration of the newly updated ACBO website. Bonnie reminded Board members that each District CBO will have a ribbon on their badges to identify them as the District delegate for any voting purposes. Delegates will also be asked to sign in when picking up their registration materials and the signature pages will be presented to Bonnie prior to beginning of the members only (i.e., all ACBO members without vendors) meeting.

  • Institute I: Kathy Blackwood and Susan Bray reported on the ongoing program for 2012 indicating that the first session was going smoothly with the largest class to date. Documents provided by Susan Bray were entered into the record including:
  • A preliminary event report showing $24,500 in revenue and an estimated $15,681 in expense for a net profit anticipate of $9,219
  • A composite attendee list showing all participants since inception of the first Institute training offered by ACBO through the fall 2012. Susan indicated that as much as possible her office will keep track of participants progression in their careers.
  1. Committee Reports
  • Facilities Task Force: Task Force Chair Carol Horton and member Ann-Marie Gabel provided a report of the task force. They noted the delay on refunds for capital outlay and supported the position of the Chancellor’s Office that districts need to file their claims on time to help move the process along and not negatively affect the cash flow for others. Horton noted that the new state architect Chet Widom is taking on the issue of closing-out of projects and is advocating for improvements in the field which will have an effect of reducing the backlog. He’s also bringing in architects and engineers to move forward with processing records and closing out open projects which is anticipated to result in final certification occurring faster than is currently the case.

Ann-Marie Gabel commented on Fusion noting that they meet quarterly to discuss issues in its regard including avoiding any increase on fees, and how to best serve the needs of districts. Discussion is also occurring due to the fact that there will be no new bonds for the next 6 years it might be a good time to transition to the 3-D Cloud system; streamline the FPP process; and, rebranding some categories and updating language currently being used. However, stressed Carol Horton, these changes need a process so that conflicts with the Chancellor’s Office are avoided.

Carol indicated that the Task Force agreed to suspend apportionment funding of new centers and colleges; however, not the approval process of centers. Discussion followed regarding the facilities planning process in regard to center approval and the funding of new centers and colleges coming out of apportionment before all workload revenue reductions are restored. Ann-Marie stated that there is already somewhat of a “disconnect” between the base allocation and funding of centers and colleges. The rule now is that Districts need 500 FTES to get approval for state capital outlay funding; but they won’t receive state apportionment funding unless they have over 1000 FTES. In a vote taken by the Task Force on 8/5 members decided not to change the current rule and practice.

Finally, Carol Horton requested the Board’s approval of the appointment of three nominees to the task force due vacancies:

o  Kuldeep Kaur (Yuba)

o  Steve Renew (Desert) and

  • Peter Hardash (Rancho Santiago CCD—if Theresa Dreyfus cannot do it)

M/S/C: Gabel, Maduli to approve the appointments as presented.

Fiscal Standards: Fred Williams reported that Sue Johnson agreed to chair the committee.

M/S/C: Williams, Blackwood to approve the appointment of Sue Johnson (Ventura CCD) as Chair of the Fiscal Standards committee.

Members asked for clarification on the mandates block grant and wanted to know if these funds would be treated as “restricted” or “unrestricted”. Fred indicated that the recommendation of the Committee would be forthcoming on this issue. Dan Troy stated that this is something that requires further discussion and resolution. It is anticipated that Fiscal Standards will resolve soon.

  1. Reports:
  • Chancellor's Office: Acting Chancellor Erik Skinner and Vice Chancellor Dan Troy were present to provide a report. Chair Dowd acknowledged and the Board applauded the appointment of Erik as Acting Chancellor. Erik responded that it will be a short assignment given the BOG’s plan to name the permanent Chancellor by Sept 20; however, he thanked the ACBO Board for the support and acknowledgment.

Vice Chancellor Troy concurred with the BOG’s decision to appoint Erik to the Acting Chancellor position and noted that today was Jack Scott’s last official day as Chancellor. Dan also reported that the deadline is approaching (on 9/30) for districts to notify the Chancellor’s Office if they intend to continue to file mandate claims or take the $28 per FTES. Districts need to get their letter of request in notifying the Chancellor’s Office of their intent, if not already done. Another deadline (on 9/15) is fast approaching for districts to request waivers related to the 50% law requirements. Members noted that it is anticipated that more districts will be filing waivers this year and years to come as the state’s fiscal crisis continues to worsen. Dan reported that regulation changes related to new centers are going forward for consideration at the October Consultation Council meeting.

Dan also reported that a new analyst, Lenin Del Castillo, at the DOF, replacing Ed Hanson, will be working with the Chancellor’s Office going forward. Dan also stated that the biggest issue being addressed right now by the Chancellor’s Office staff is the pending loss of accreditation and other challenges at City College of San Francisco.

Troy reported that the Chancellor’s Office requested and funded a review by FCMAT of the City College of SF and the initial report is expected to be public on Sept. 18th and all parties expect this report to provide devastating details for the District. The Board of Trustees for the District will be voting upon whether a special trustee will be appointed by them, which indicates they understand the seriousness of the situation. However, the Board of Governors is prepared to appoint a special trustee if one is not appointed by the District’s Board of Trustees. Dan also reported that City College of SF must present a plan for the ACCJC with an October deadline and another March deadline in regard to how they would wind down operations if they lost their accreditation.

Erik Skinner added that the District “put off 4 years of cuts and now they’re trying to do it in 4 months.” Members noted the district is already very light administratively with very powerful department chairs. It was also reported that they the District has not shown any improvement on recommendations from the last accreditation report completed (8 of original 14 have not been addressed) and additional recommendations were identified during the recent accreditation report resulting in the ACCJC placing the District on “show cause” sanction, which in effect means that unless immediate action is taken, the District will lose its accreditation by June 2013.

Dan also reported that Chancellor Scott talked about City College of SF at the recent BOG meeting in San Diego and it was sobering and not at all clear whether they'll make it, but more than anything, Chancellor Scott stressed the need for the local board to take decisive action. There are two issues, an issue of fiscal solvency and an issue of losing accreditation. Solvency issue is a little bit easier to resolve—a district Board of Trustees or the State can appoint a special trustee and re-negotiate bargaining agreements and other commitments; however, accreditation is not in the control of the Chancellor’s Office or the district.

City College of SF is required to submit a closure plan to ACCJC in March. Members discussed the Compton situation and agreed this is not the same type of situation and doesn’t provide as many resolution options. CCSF is simply too large to name a partner district or to be taken over by any one district. Also, there are culture changes and very serious solvency issues that other districts would not be able to take on given the challenges all districts have been faced with due to the state’s fiscal and budgetary crisis.

Board members agreed that an actual loss of accreditation for CCSF is a doomsday scenario. It was also reported that there are four members of the CCSF Board running for re-election in November. The BOG has called a special meeting first week of October to address the CCSF issue and overall, the BOG appears to be showing strong leadership on this issue.

Regarding other BOG actions, Dan reported that the Student Success agenda is marching forward and the BOG adopted enrollment priorities at their recent meeting. Acknowledging some “implementation issues” Troy anticipates no problem with the 2014 deadline. He reported that SB 1456 (Lowenthal) will rename & reposition matriculation and that the imposition of stronger academic requirements on BOG fee waivers will be well received in the State Capitol.

Regarding Prop 30, recent polling has it still at 54% for approval which is consistent with recent polling results. Opposition radio ads by Jarvis are now out, however, the Prop 38 ads are more concerning and it is still anticipated to be a tight race with regard to Prop 30 being successful on November 6th. Regarding student success initiative recommendations, there are still outstanding issues related to categorical funds and how that will be distributed. As reported earlier, Dan expects Fiscal Standards Task Force to weigh in and expect the funding methodology to be updated, but that is likely 2 years out and the process promises to move slowly. As always, the State Chancellor’s office will be looking for the CBO perspective as the process moves forward.

Regarding the FON Calculation, Fred Harris was reminded that at least one board member had concerns that the unique funding certification provided this year somehow should have influenced the FON calculation normally based on the Advance Apportionment. i This becomes an advance apportionment question: if the initiative does not pass, theoretically won’t the FON number come down? Fred responded that if November turns out badly, essentially we can make adjustments at P2. A follow up question was raised: Is the FON even on radar if initiative passes? It was agreed that this issue will be discussed further at a later time.

  • CCLC Report: Theresa Tena reported that the work group will meet following this ACBO Board meeting this afternoon and has a full agenda. The basic allocation is the perennial issue; as well, they’ll be talking about the consultation digest and discuss making recommendation. The group will then come back to ACBO Board and CCLC’s Policy Board prior to a first reading by the BOG at their November meeting.

One of the primary concerns for the League is, if Prop 30 passes do the proceeds which are coming from EPA so late in the year, actually materialize in the year? The main focus right now is to get Prop 30 passed and then address the cash flow issue from the EPA. Theresa also reported that the League will support the Chancellor’s Office 2013-14 budget request. With regard to Prop 30, Theresa reported that absentee ballots will out around Oct. 8; however, she cited what some feel is a lack of a focused strategy on the part of the Governor’s campaign effort to pass the Proposition up to this point.