Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Claremont Unified School District

CREATE ALTERNATIVE INCOME STREAMS INTO THE DISTRICT TO PROVIDE PARTIAL FISCAL INDEPENDENCE FROM SACRAMENTO POLITICIANS & BUREAUCRATS

The lack of money is the single biggest problem within our School District, yet no one within the District or on the current Board Of Education understands how to solve it. Kris Meyer is the only business owner running for a seat on the board and he has numerous proposed solutions as to how to solve this financial dilemma. Because of a lack of space, only a few of these solutions can be explained briefly below.

The first obvious solution is to do a better job with our current spending to ensure that the money we have can purchase more. Two solutions to this problem would be:

1. Convert Phone System to VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol): Many school districts are doing this to eliminate the cost of hundreds of redundant phone lines within the District and also the maintenance and programming costs that go along with such a system. A VOIP system would add flexibility & reliability to our current antiquated phone system and could potentially save our District hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in phone line, programming, and maintenance savings.

2. Register Students Online: Our current registration system is outdated, cumbersome, and a liability to the District. Parents currently spend approximately an hour (or more) per child filling out redundant multi-colored paper forms during the registration process. After these often times illegible paper forms are turned in, they must be deciphered and the information entered into the District data bases by various District staff members and / or volunteers. The paper forms are then filed. The chances for human error during this process are great and so is the cost. Our local AYSO and Little League organizations as well as virtually all colleges & universities allow their enrollees to register on-line. Our School District should too.

In addition to better spending, our District needs to create an outside independent revenue stream so that we become less dependent on the Sacramento bureaucrats. Kris Meyer has several ideas to create multiple independent revenue streams into our District. One of these plans involves technology. Kris Meyer's technology plan for the District as briefly described below not only enhances the ability for all children within the District to learn, it also has the potential to raise the annual compensation of the teachers in our District by several thousand dollars each without costing our District, teachers, or taxpayers additional money:

Technology Plan Overview:

1. Utilize Students to Capture Instructional Material: The existing video tech classes at CHS would initially video many and eventually all of the lectures by our teachers in particular courses. These videos, complete with audio, would be saved as "wave" files and stored on the District's web server.

2. Provide Students Online Access to Instructional Material: Each student in the District would be assigned a PIN number which would allow them access to view and listen to these lectures 24 hours a day + 7 days a week. This would permit students who were absent from class to catch up on their studies in each class. It would also provide a secondary learning solution for the many children within our District who cannot afford a tutor or who do not have available educated parents or older siblings that can help them understand their course work at home.

3. Partner with Teachers to Share Royalties on Instructional Material: The District would retain legal ownership of the aforementioned lecture video & audio files on their server to ensure 24-7 free access to the students within the Claremont Unified School District. The District would then license others for internet access to these lecture files outside of the Claremont Unified School District. The money raised by the outside access to these files would be available to the teachers within the District. The teachers will then benefit from the income generated from the videos and to thus promote their instructional creativity, content, quality, and value. The better the videos, the better our children learn and the more potential income our teachers can make.

4. Provide Laptop Computers to Each High School Student: Each incoming freshman at CHS would be given a laptop computer paid for by the District. The freshman would be able to keep their laptop until they graduate from high school and then buy the laptop from the District at that time for one dollar. Rather than carry around 30+ pounds of textbooks each day to class, each student would be given a single CD which contained all of the content of all of their required textbooks. The CD and their laptop computer would weigh approximately 6 pounds in lieu of carrying 30+ lbs of books. The purpose of the laptops would be to provide all students with the capability of accessing the District website and also to provide reciprocity between families of different income levels. A set of text books would still be available for students to check out from the classroom in the event they requested same. The laptops would be paid for by the District through a combination of 1) manufacturer discounts, 2) available grants, 3) textbook savings, 4) corporate sponsorships, and 5) private donations.

5. Utilize Students to Maintain Student Computers and Networks: A vocational class would be created at the high school, or expanded from Baldy View ROP, to maintain and repair the laptop computers to ensure proper operation. Each computer would be insured by a private insurance company against theft, damage, or loss (similar to the insurance available for cell phones) and the policy deductible would the responsibility of the student.

We can wait to see how much money the State is going to give our District each year, or we can be proactive and take better control of our own destiny by becoming partially fiscally independent. Considering the fiscal mess our state is in; depending on Sacramento for more money is a losing proposition. Diversification of a school board is important. Public education is a business and it is important to have a member with private sector business experience on the governing board. Kris Meyer is the only private sector business owner running for a seat and if elected, would be the only business owner on the board. Fiscal problems require creativity and experience to solve. Kris Meyer has both the creativity and the experience to make Claremont Unified School District both fiscally and educationally sound.

COMPLETE THE MEASURE "Y" MODERNIZATON PROJECTS AND ALSO BUILD A NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NORTH OF BASELINE AT LA PUERTA

Claremont Unified School District has been undergoing new construction and modernization work over the past 4 years. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the intended work cannot be completed within the allocated budget. The District must now explore all potential avenues of attaining the necessary funds to complete the remaining work. During this process it is essential that the School Board have a representative with a strong background in the funding, design, contracting, and construction of public schools. Kris Meyer is that person and has successfully completed more than $600,000,000 of public school construction over the past 18+ years.

BRING BACK VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & FINE ARTS PROGRAMS CUT FROM PREVIOUS BUDGETS:

Vocational education & fine arts programs are important elements in public education today. One of Kris Meyer's primary goals and objectives is to bring these programs back to enhance the quality of education as a whole and also to enable the curriculum to reach a wider array of our student population.

There is a misconception that "Vocational Education" is only meant for students that are not "college bound" or "college material". Not so! As a 7th grader, a mechanical drawing course stimulated Kris Meyer into pursuing a degree in Architecture. The hands-on experience that Kris Meyer learned in wood working, building construction, & metals shop classes help pave the way for him to be a better architect and successful builder. These classes also gave Kris a sense of practical applications for geometry, trigonometry, and algebra. Projects involving the mass production & marketing of an actual product for sale also gave Kris first hand experience in marketing, economics, accounting, statistics, business law, English, and grammar. By incorporating practical applications of core subjects such as math & English into vocational and fine arts programs, the rigorous requirements of the Federal "No Child Left Behind Act" can and will be met.

Many vocational education & fine arts classes also provide a practical application for assembly, disassembly, and three dimensional creativity / design that is not available in other curricula. Students learn to work with their hands as well as their heads and realize a genuine sense of accomplishment throughout these classes.

We've become a society of "consultants" in lieu of society of "constructors" because of the lack of practical experience that many of our students are missing in the real world. Learning through doing is extremely important and provides a life-long education unlike other types of studies. A child doesn't learn to ride a bicycle by reading. A child learns to ride a bicycle by a series of physical tries, failures, and then ultimate success. Our students need to not only feel successful, they need to be successful.