P a r t n e r i n g   f o r   S t u d e n t   S u c c e s s
Santa Cruz County
Office of Education
annual report to the Community
2007–08
Michael C. Watkins, County Superintendent of schools
Welcome to2007–08
the Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Annual Report to the Community
Looking Back—Moving Forward
The Santa Cruz County Office of Education (SCCOE) provides an array of services in support of Santa Cruz County’s eleven school
districts and more than 38,000 students. In this annual report we showcase the ways students, teachers, principals, superintendents,
school boards, and the community benefit from these services. Here are some highlights of the past year’s initiatives to support
teaching and learning in our county:
We intensified our efforts to provide quality professional
development for teachers and administrators—offering 27,000
hours of training in topics such as early child development;
language arts (with a focus on English Learners), art, mathematics,
and science instruction; and school leadership.
We incorporated instructional technology into our menu of services
for school districts—establishing an eLiteracy online portal and
moving forward with our plan to provide online coursework for
students that meet the standards for admission to the University
of California and the California State University systems.
We received a grant to develop “green curricula” for career
technical education programs and we hosted the First Annual
Environmental Education Resource Fair for county teachers
and administrators.
Alternative Education opened two new schools for middle
school students, Star Academy Middle School in Santa Cruz
and Esperanza Middle School in Watsonville.
We convened county arts educators to encourage cross-district
collaboration and articulation in visual and performing arts.
We acquired an office facility that will allow us to focus more
of our financial resources on services that promote educational
opportunities for students.
XL AfterSchool expanded its academic acceleration program
for underperforming students to include schools in Live Oak
School District.
The Regional Occupational Program (ROP) added new career
technical education programs in public safety, culinary arts, and
interior design. ROP partnered with Cabrillo College and local
school districts to develop the first Career and Technical Education
(CTE) Capacity Building Plan for Santa Cruz County.
Looking ahead to a challenging funding outlook for public
education, in 2008 we will redouble our efforts to partner with
businesses and the community to insure schools continue to
have the resources they need to succeed.
Michael C. Watkins, County Superintendent of Schools
Santa Cruz County Education Revenues and Expenditures for 2006-07
SCCOE Total Revenue Sources: $48,201,659
Federal Revenue
$8,146,420
Other State Revenue
$13,469,274
Federal Revenue
$42,549,060
Revenue Limit
$14,858,881
Other Local Revenue
$11,727,084
SCCOE Total Expenditures: $48,201,659
Other Outgo
$5,821,120
Employee Salaries
$15,813,369
Capital Outlay
$7,310,061
Svcs & Other Oper Exps
$10,489,474
School Districts Total Revenue Sources: $394,657,701
Employee Benefits
$6,220,548
Books & Supplies
$2,547,087
Other State Revenue
$85,545,589
Other Local Revenue
$43,060,528
Revenue Limit
$223,502,523
School Districts Total Expenditures: $387,078,230
Other Outgo
$15,208,277
Svcs & Other Oper Exps
$50,471,281
Books & Supplies
$23,371,271
Capital Outlay
$9,422,152
Employee Salaries
$211,762,584
Employee Benefits
$76,842,665
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Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Public Education At A Glance
The California State Constitution established the office
of County Superintendent of Schools over 150 years ago.
Today, 58 County Offices of Education provide regional
educational infrastructures that support more than 1,000
school districts.
The Role of the Santa Cruz
County Office of Education
The SCCOE partners with regional school districts to improve teaching and learning in classrooms serving 38,062
students. Our direct services include special education,
alternative education, career technical education, outdoor
education, and several popular student competitions. We
help county parents to locate child care and support the
development of high quality child care programs. We provide
fiscal and accounting services. Thousands of teachers, administrators, and school support staff attend our ongoing training
events. We look for opportunities to convene stakeholders
and broker partnerships with community agencies and
businesses that enhance public education.
2006-07 County Education “By the Numbers”
Students
K-12 Schools 77
Charter Schools 11
School Districts 11
K-12 Average Class Size Student Demographics
Classified Employees 1.3%
2006 -07 Enrollment by School District
Bonny Doon Union Elementary
129
Happy Valley Elementary 138
Live Oak School District
2,256
Mountain Elementary 166
Pacific Elementary 100
Pajaro Valley Unified 19,162
San Lorenzo Valley Unified 3,516
SCCOE
1,066
Santa Cruz City Schools (Elem. & HS) 7,061
Scotts Valley Unified 2,718
Soquel Union Elementary
1,750
County Enrollment
Change by Year
7.6%
1.0%
1997/98
39,707
American
Indian
1998/99
40,512
1999/00
40,706
Asian
2000/01
40,462
2001/02
39,954
2002/03
39,427
2003/04
39,140
2004/05
38,358
2005/06
38,555
2006/07
38,062
California
African American
Filipino
0.8%
White (not Hispanic)
8.1%
29.4%
Filipino
2.6%
Pacific
Islander
White
0.6%
(not Hispanic)
42.1%
Hispanic/
Latino
Pacific
Islander
0.3%
50.3%
Multiple
(or No Response)
2.7%
Hispanic/Latino
Multiple (or No Response)
2.7%
2007–2008 Annual Report to the Community
Source: Ed Data
1,788
Source: Ed Data
American Indian
2.0%
190
Source: CA Department of Education
Santa Cruz County
African American
1,808
Administrators (Full-time equivalent)
Brian Sanford
Jack Dilles
Arnold Levine Mary Bryant
James M. Maxwell
Dana M. Sales Kathy Mann
Asian
10, 195
Teachers (Full-time equivalent) Santa Cruz County Board of Education
0.4%
21.5
English Language Learners
Santa Cruz County Board of Education
SCCOE has a seven-member elected County Board of
Education that works with the Superintendent to support
county schools. Board meetings offer a venue for the public
to communicate about SCCOE’s services and programs.
Regular meetings, which are open to the public, are held
at 2:00 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month in the
SCCOE Board Room. A schedule of meetings and board
agendas are available on the SCCOE’s website or by calling
831.479.5310.
Area 1 Trustee Area 2 Trustee
Area 3 Trustee Area 4 Trustee
Area 5 Trustee
Area 6 Trustee Area 7 Trustee
38, 062
48.1%
Source: CA Department of Education
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Alternative Education—Providing Individual and
Small Group Learning Opportunities in Non-traditional School Settings
SCCOE’s Alternative Education Programs provide a safe and supportive learning environment for students who need options to traditional comprehensive educational settings. We offer standards-based
curricula and small classroom environments in seventeen schools located throughout the county. Our schools provide students with engaging academic programs and the support services they need to graduate. We work closely with the Santa Cruz Regional Occupational
Program to connect academic coursework with career opportunities.
Although our focus is on academic programs in language arts, mathematics, social science, and science, we also offer students enrichment activities that develop self-esteem and social responsibility.
Partnerships with government and community social service agencies,
performing and visual arts organizations, and colleges and universities help us to staff programs in technology, nutrition and health, fine
arts, organic gardening, ceramics, and martial arts. Our schools offer
on-site counseling and connect students to necessary county health
services.
SCCOE’s 17 Alternative Education Programs offer
middle and high school students the support they
need to graduate high school and plan for careers.
Alternative Education thanks Community Foundation of Santa
Cruz County and Children’s Mental Health for support of the
Physical Education for Body, Mind & Spirit program.
Alternative Education: 831.479.5330
Santa Cruz Regional Occupational Program—
Preparing Students for Success in College and Careers
The Santa Cruz County Regional
Occupational Program (ROP) has
provided career and technical training for forty years. ROP serves more
than 3,500 students, offering classes at
comprehensive high schools, alternative schools, and community venues.
Students take courses that qualify them
to enter colleges and universities as well
as enhance employment prospects. ROP
The California Highway Patrol flew their helicopter into the Watsonville Airport to share the agency’s career opportunities with students attending ROP’s
High School Public Safety Academy, launched in Spring 2007.
ROP: 831.479.5333
offers over 100 sections of 45 courses
divided into six career pathways: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Arts and
Communications; Business, Marketing
and Information Systems; Engineering and Industrial Technology; Home,
Health and Recreation; and Social, Human and Governmental Services.
Building student entrepreneurs is an
important ROP function. Students run
their own businesses, including a flower
shop, gift shop, coffee cart, dog grooming service, and ETC. Marketing. Last
November, the Harbor High ROP team
placed in the top ten for first-time teams
in the 2007 California State Virtual Enterprise Competition and Trade Show.
In 2007, ROP and Cabrillo College
received a Community College Public
Safety Careers Partnership Grant
award of $250,000 to help Santa Cruz
County “grow its own” public safety
officers. ROP and Cabrillo College are
developing a pipeline of interested and
qualified applicants with a program that
begins in middle school and continues
through community college.
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Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Child Development Programs—
Meeting the Needs of Working Families in Santa Cruz County
A child’s early years are the foundation for success in school and life. Our
Child Development Resource Center (CDRC) works to insure that children
have the best possible start in life. Working families often struggle to find
affordable, accessible care for their children. We refer families to child care
options that meet their needs. Our Growing, Learning, and Caring Project
provides free, informal training sessions to support family, friends, and neighbors caring for children. Caregivers learn how to provide positive guidance
and discipline, how to treat play as a learning opportunity, and how to promote
family literacy.
Each year, CDRC’s Switchboard, the only free child
care referral service in Santa Cruz County, receives
over 25 thousand calls.
CDRC Switchboard: 831.476.8585
We are home to the Santa Cruz County Child Care Planning Council
(CCPC)—a state-funded commission appointed by the County Board of
Supervisors and the County Superintendent of Schools. CCPC provides leadership for the assessment, development, and sustainability
of quality early care and after-school learning options.
Our work includes policy, advocacy, and training for
child care providers. In 2007, CCPC trained 150 child
care providers through the STARS (Support and Training to Advance &
Retain Staff) program.
CDRC thanks Citi
Foundation for funding
the Raising a Reader early
literacy program in two
North County locations.
CCPC: 831.479.5284
Special Education—Serving Students With Unique Needs
SCCOE’s Special Education department provides individualized instruction and a full complement of support
services for severely disabled students
in North County school districts. We
serve 207 students aged preschool
to 22, providing each with an individualized plan based on age, level of
functioning, and need. Our 23 classrooms are located on 15 school sites
and at Cabrillo College. Specialists
in speech and language, psychology,
vision, hearing, occupational therapy,
adaptive physical education, orthopedics, vocational education, and
nursing work with teachers to help
students with both academic and
emotional challenges. Staff helps
students learn essential communication and social skills. We also serve
specific students in district-operated
special education and general education programs.
Our success depends on ongoing collaboration with parents, involved agencies, and local businesses that provide
student employment opportunities.
Special Education: 831.479.5230
SCCOE thanks BALANCE 4
KIDS for fundraising on
behalf of Special Education
students since 1999.
2007–2008 Annual Report to the Community
5
Santa Cruz Outdoor Science School—Environmental Science Comes Alive
Fifth and sixth-grade students find the forest, meadows,
and streams become their classroom when they spend a
week at SCCOE’s Santa Cruz Outdoor Science School.
Located at Koinonia Conference Grounds in Watsonville, Outdoor Science School welcomes 3,600 students
and their teachers to one of the most memorable educational experiences of the K-12 years. Students investigate the
science of ecology, the relationship between living things
and their environment, and the beauties of the coastal
redwood forest ecosystem. Activities include a ropes
course, trust activities, day hikes, a nighttime nature walk,
and campfire songs. The residential staff includes high
school students who spend a week acting as cabin leaders
and honing their own leadership skills. Outdoor Science
School is expanding fundraising efforts through the Roots
and Wings Foundation to insure that this invaluable
program is affordable for all students.
“Outdoor Science School was a terrific learning opportunity for my children and the experience at
camp will stay with them forever.” —Debbie Friedman, Aptos Parent
Outdoor Science School: 831.479.5327
XL AfterSchool—Academic Intervention for Underperforming Students
XL AfterSchool is an academic acceleration program for students testing below grade level in
either reading or math. XLAfterSchool offers small class sizes, targeted instruction from credentialed
teachers, a research-based curriculum, and engaging computer software. XL runs 71 second to eighth
grade reading and math classes at 19 school sites in Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz City, and Live Oak
schools districts. A study comparing XL Reader students with students in another after school program showed a 25% greater
gain in California Standards Test results for XL Reader students. Students in the XL in Math program have, on average, shown
half a grade level improvement in 36 sessions.
XL AfterSchool: 831.477.5449
Emergency Response and Crisis Management (ERCM)
Thanks to the ERCM Safe
Schools Consortia, schools
are much better prepared
to respond appropriately
to emergencies.
Although emergencies can’t be
predicted, SCCOE’s partnership
with county agencies and school
districts is insuring school site
emergencies can be managed.
Thanks to a U.S. Department of Education
Emergency Response and Crisis Management (ERCM) Grant, we have led a threeyear countywide effort to help schools develop
mandated, comprehensive school safety plans.
County partners have formed an Emergency
Response and Crisis Management Safe
Schools Consortia, which includes local fire
and law enforcement agencies, the Office of
Emergency Services Health Services Agency,
the Red Cross, the Emergency Communications Center (911), and school district representatives. The Safe Schools Consortia has
established uniform procedures in four areas
critical to managing emergencies in schools:
mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. All county schools are now receiving
emergency response resources and materials.
Incident Commander Rob Martin leads New
Brighton Middle School in a lock down drill.
ECRM: 831.479.5246
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Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Educational Services Division—
Supporting the Development of Outstanding Educators
Nothing is more critical for student success than
attracting, supporting, and retaining effective
teachers and administrators. Our Educational
Services Division provides local teachers, principals, and district office staff with an array of
trainings tailored to meet the needs of their school
communities. Professional development opportunities include mentor-based support for 350 new
teachers; trainings related to pre K-12 curriculum,
standards, and assessment; workshops for teachers
and administrators working with English learners;
elementary, middle, and high school administrator
networks; and support for instructional technology. We enable districts to maximize use of their
professional development dollars by providing
trainings that might otherwise be unaffordable for
individual districts.
SCCOE’s acclaimed Santa Cruz New Teacher Project offers professional
development for 350 first and second-year teachers in our region.
Last year, SCCOE offered 27,000 hours of training in topics including language
arts, science, mathematics, technology, arts education, environmental science,
health education, classroom management, and child development.
Educational Services: 831.477.5542
SCCOE Portals to Web-based Learning
The SCCOE website is home to two innovative portals that
address the evolving educational technology needs of county
students and teachers: ed1stop and eLiteracy. The ed1stop
portal helps users to navigate the web’s limitless educational
resources by providing access to technology research tools,
curriculum support, and project help, while eLiteracy helps
teachers and students to think critically about technology and
its role in shaping the 21st Century. For more information,
take a look at www.ed1stop.santacruz.k12.ca.us/ and
www.ed1stop.santacruz.k12.ca.us/eliteracy/.
“There is a major difference between technological competence and technological literacy. Literacy
is what everyone needs. Competence is what a few
people need in order to do a job or make a living.
And we need both.”
—William Wulf, Author, Technology Challenged:
Understanding Our Creations & Choosing Our Future
Business Services Division—
Supporting the Financial Stability of School Districts
The SCCOE Business Services Division is responsible for managing the COE’s financial activities and for providing business support
services for local school districts. In addition to our state-mandated
services of school district budget review, fiscal oversight, and pupil
attendance accounting, we help school districts save money by providing regionalized services such as payroll processing, vendor payments,
data compilation services, and other countywide financial support
services. Since our focus is on collaboration that promotes district
fiscal stability, we provide technical assistance and training on all
aspects of school finance, accounting, and budget management. Last
year, we offered over 2,000 training hours for district staffs and school
board members. The economies of scale and business expertise we
provide help districts to make the most of their educational dollars.
Business Services: 831.479.5227
2007–2008 Annual Report to the Community
7
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Student Academic Competitions
In 2007, hundreds of teachers, parents, volunteers, and business sponsors joined SCCOE staff to provide more than
1,200 students an opportunity to display their talents and creativity in our popular student academic competitions—
Santa Cruz County Science Fair, the SCCOE Mathematics Contest, 2007 Mock Trial, the Santa Cruz County Spelling
Competition, and the High School Poetry Competition. These events launch students into new areas of learning and
create memories that last a lifetime. SCCOE is grateful to the following community organizations for ongoing
sponsorship and support of county student academic competitions:
2007 Spelling Competition
2007 Santa Cruz
County Science Fair
Sponsor
Sponsors
Seagate
Technology
SeaGate Logo
Science Fair 2007 allowed 342 students to
experience the excitement of scientific discovery.
Forty students went on to the state competition
Sentineland
Logo and
and two to the International Science
UC Santa Cruz logo
Engineering Fair.
160 Santa Cruz spelling champions
met at UCSC to compete for slots
in the Regional and State Spelling
Competitions.
2007 High School
Poetry Competition
Sponsors
2007 Mock Trial
Sponsors
Santa Cruz County
Superior Court
Trial Lawyers
Association
County Sheriff
Department
Constitutional Rights
Foundation
Over 160 students from ten regional high schools
honed their communication and analytic skills in the
2007 Mock Trial, a living civics lesson.
2008 Annual Report to the Community
Editor: Judy Walsh, Director, Educational Planning & Communications
831.479.5262 • FAX 831.476.5891 • jwalsh@santacruz.k12.ca.us
design: Suzan Mark, Graphic Designer
831.588.0982 • lomaxarts@cruzio.com
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
809-H Bay Avenue, Capitola, CA 95010
Santa Cruz Sentinel
UC Santa Cruz
Poetry
Santa Cruz
National Writers
Union, Chapter 7
Santa Cruz student authors submitted 350 poems to
the 14th Annual Poetry Competition. Fifty-two
were published in the 2007 Anthology, Surveyor of
Worlds.
40th Annual SCCOE Math Contest
Over 370 county students from
23 elementary and middle schools, working
individually and in school teams, drew on
problem-solving skills and creativity to solve
challenging math problems.
Contact SCCOE at 831.476.7140
Visit our web site at www.santacruz.k12.ca.us