Dan Moirao to stay as superintendent of South Monterey County Joint Union High School District

Starting Friday, the South Monterey County Joint Union High School District has returned to local control.

But that does not mean the district will lose its state-appointed administrator. Dan Moirao, who has been at the helm of the district since 2012, will remain as superintendent for a year.

“It’s been a lot of work but we finally regained local control,” Moirao said. “We’re fiscally solvent, we graduated more students from our two comprehensive high schools than in the (previous) decade and we’re very pleased with that. More students have reclassified from English learners, the drop out rates are falling significantly. Those are good indicators. Maybe we've done something right.”

South Monterey County, formerly King City Union High, was placed under state receivership in 2009, after the district needed a $13 million loan to cover its future debts. The state appointed an administrator and it was supposed to remain under its control until the debt was fully paid.

Although the debt has not been fully repaid (there are still about $11 million outstanding), the district has a good repayment plan, Moirao said. The district will remain under trusteeship until the debt is paid, but the newly appointed state trustee will only have veto power over financial decisions. The local board will be able to make non-financial decision independently of the trustee.

Newly appointed Linda Grundhofher, who has been in King City before, “could rescind any decision the board makes that has the potential to put the district into financial trouble again,” Moirao said. “But just on the finances. As state administrators I was in complete controls of everything.”

Moirao said the local board will begin looking for a permanent superintendent within the next year.

Garth Brooks co-manager Randy Bernard gives commencement at King City High

Randy Bernard, co-manager of country superstar Garth Brooks, was the keynote speaker for the King City High Graduation on June 3 at the school's War Memorial Stadium.

Bernard, 49, grew up in San Ardo and graduated from King City High School in 1985. Prior to co-managing Garth Brooks, Bernard was the Chief Executive Officer for Professional Bull Riders, INDYCAR and RFDTV. He was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2014.

A total of 203 students graduated from King City High during the celebration.

Teens wanted for Salinas Valley Fair junior fair board

The Salinas Valley Fair is seeking young adults for its Junior Fair Board. As many as twenty-five members are selected to volunteer throughout the year on behalf of the Salinas Valley Fair. Duties include assisting at fair events, providing outreach, event planning and coordinating events within the fair.

Candidates should be between 14 and 21 and enrolled in a high school, college or technical school program at the time they begin their service on the Junior Fair Board.

Junior Fair Board members are selected based on the information submitted in their applications. Candidates must demonstrate an interest in leadership by showing examples of where they have taken initiative at school and within their communities. The selection process includes an interview and selected candidates will be notified by mail.

Ideal candidates are those who have demonstrated leadership, initiative, and selflessness. The selection committee reviews the applicant’s application packet in its entirety and seeks to select the students who are best qualified and most likely to benefit from the Junior Fair Board Program. Successful applicants are resourceful individuals who have shown a clear interest in their community and the initiative necessary to pursue their goals with conviction.

Selected students participate in monthly meetings, must attend one board meeting of the Salinas Valley Fair, and assist with special projects throughout the year. An average student will commit about 3 hours a month to the JFB leadership program and must be available to work during the annual fair May 12-15, 2016 in King City.

Applications for the Salinas Valley Fair Junior Fair Board must be received by Friday, October 16th. Applications are online here and should be mailed to Salinas Valley Fair, 625 Division Street, King City 93930.

South Monterey County Youth: the Salinas Valley Fair wants you

The Salinas Valley Fair is seeking young adults for its Junior Fair Board. As many as twenty-five members are selected to volunteer throughout the year on behalf of the Salinas Valley Fair. Their efforts include assisting at fair events, providing outreach, event planning & developing and coordinating events within the fair.

Salinas Valley Fair  is seeking junior board members between the ages of 14 and 21 and enrolled in a high school or equivalent program at the time they begin their service.

Candidates must demonstrate an interest in leadership by showing examples of where they have taken initiative at school and within their communities. The selection process includes an interview and winners will be notified by mail.

Ideal candidates are those who have demonstrated leadership, initiative, and selflessness. Selected students participate in monthly board meetings as well as special projects throughout the year. An average student will commit about 3 hours a month to the JFB leadership program.

Applications are due October, and can be downloaded from the fair's website here. They should be mailed to the Salinas Valley Fair, 625 Division Street, King City 93930.

King City teacher Michael Jones needs your help

Michael Jones, a first grade teacher at the King City Union School District, is seeking to win $2,500 from an on-line contest so he can outfit his classroom with Chrome books.

The grants are awarded based on internet voting. Jones believes he's the only teacher with an active proposal on the entire central coast (and probably the only participant in this month’s grant cycle.)

"Any way that you can support my efforts to bring this grant to our area would be greatly appreciated," Jones said in an email. "People can vote once each day in July. I will be using the grant money to provide technology so my students can practice and integrate their learning in computer based projects."

To vote for his project, click here.

A search for 93930 zip code shows the grant for M. Jones of King City.

And good luck to you, Mr. Jones!

Of school bonds and other demons

The widespread practice among school districts of selling "Capital Appreciation Bonds" is coming into sharp focus this week after the L.A. Times published an investigation on the topic. Here's the link.

School districts statewide have been resorting to selling Capital Appreciation Bonds since the economic bubble burst and pushed down property values. Administrators began to use these bonds banking with the belief that property values will go up, so taxpayers would not be adversely affected.  I've also heard from district administrators they plan to refinance the bonds before they become due so the payments are not as high as they're being made to sound on stories like this.

Nine districts in Monterey County have resorted to this type of bonds since 2007: Alisal Union, Bradley Union, Carmel Unified, Gonzales Unified, Greenfield Union, Hartnell College, Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey Peninsula Unified, King City Elementary, and Santa Rita Elementary. Together they've issued about at least $104 million in bonds to finance school construction and renovation.

To my untrained eye, it looks like the only bonds that should raise eyebrows are in Bradley, Carmel, Hartnell and Santa Rita because of their high repayment ratio. But I'll have a chance to look at them more closely in the days to come.

More school districts are in financial distress across California

But with the exception of the South Monterey County Union High -- formerly known as King City -- none are in Monterey County.

The California Department of Education released the names of 188 districts that are walking on a financial tightrope, 12 of them have negative certification -- which means they could be in danger of not meeting their monetary obligations this year or the following one. One such districts is South Monterey County, but given the pricey loan they have from the state, they're destined to remain on the list for a long time to come.

Two or three districts in Monterey County have made an appearance on said list in the past, but none were listed this week, which is to the credit of district administrators and financial gurus with the Monterey County Office of Education, who keep careful scrutiny on all the districts spending.

Quite an accomplishment, given the financial times we live in.

Soren Diaz, education advocate

I was a little surprised to see the name of Soren Diaz, an attorney with Lombardo and Giles, LLP, listed as an "education advocate" among the invited speakers at the Assembly Subcommittee on School Financial Takeovers that will take place in King City Friday. As some of my readers know, the King City High School District was taken over by the state in 2009 when it looked it wasn't going to be able to pay its bills, appointed a state trustee, and life hasn't been the same ever since in the bucolic town.

But back to Mr. Diaz. I've been covering education in Monterey County for three years and I've never seen him at any school related event, so maybe I'm not as plugged in as I though. Plus, his name is listed with about a dozen people I've spoken to or at least heard about.

Also, education is not Mr. Diaz's expertise. Among his areas of practice, listed in L&G website, are "construction defect litigation, contract litigation, insurance litigation, product liability, real estate litigation."

I'm so curious. I hope Mr. Soren replies to my email soon to find out what I've been missing.

State committee on financial takeovers arrives in King City

Assemblymembers Luis A. Alejo and Sandré Swanson of the Assembly Select Committee on State School Financial Takeovers will hold a hearing in King City about the state takeover of the South Monterey County Joint Union School District and the impact the state receivership has had on the local community.

South Monterey County Joint Union School District received a $13 million emergency loan in 2009 after the Monterey County Office of Education predicted the district was veering towards insolvency. As a condition of the loan, the district was assigned a state-appointed administrator to run it.

The presence of the state administrator, John Bernard, has been the source of discontent among the community. Following a meeting in the fall, Alejo and Sen. Anthony Canella introduced legislation to reduce the terms of the $13 million loan, which is expected to save the district about $300,000 a year.

Parents, teachers and members of the community are encouraged to attend and provide comments.

The hearing starts at 3 p.m. Friday, at the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds Expo Room, 625 Division St., King City.