Cities and school district forge historic partnership for tech
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

After two years of planning, cajoling and crunching numbers, the ambitious technology partnership between four local cities and the Las Virgenes Unified School District promises to change the way students learn.

Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village are served by the school district. Together they will contribute $601,000 to pay for what Terilyn Finders called the "geek squad" at the district. Measure G funds have paid for upgrading technology hardware, but new computers, projectors and cabling are useless without training teachers how to use all the new gadgets, bells and whistles.

But now that the city of Agoura Hills has signed off on the agreement, the district is poised to break into a technological wonderland where teachers can integrate high tech teaching with California's standards.

"Thank you to our city leaders for agreeing to cooperatively support public schools," said Terilyn Finders, president of the board of education. "This shared vision and effort will make a difference for our kids, faculty and staff."

Donald Zimring, the district's new superintendent, said each city contributed $55 per student in a onetime contribution. Agoura Hills has the most students attending Las Virgenes schools and therefore footed the biggest portion to the technology kitty- $270,000. Calabasas contributed $ 2 4 1 , 0 0 0 , Hidden Hills, $17,875, and Westlake Village, $72,545 to the district. "This is the culmination of nearly two years of work on the part of the board, our superintendent and representatives from our four cities," Zimring said. "We've never had the opportunity or the leadership from each of our five agencies to be able to come together in a focused, unified commitment to one critical area of educational support. These agreements achieve that, and we believe will serve as a foundation to ongoing collaborative efforts."

After Measure G, the $128million facilities/technology bond measure was passed by voters last year, the school district rolled out a comprehensive technology plan including the purchase of new computers, high-tech projectors and other electronics for teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The bond measure, however, doesn't allow spending for teacher training or maintenance of the new equipment.

Agoura Hills had previously agreed to support the technology program through a shift in the way redevelopment funds were allocated. The Agoura Hills Redevelopment Agency funds blight control and affordable housing projects in the city. A percentage of redevelopment money is "passed through" to Los Angeles County, the community college system and the Las Virgenes district.

But now the city agreed to dip into their general funds to support the effort. Agoura Hills Assistant City Manager Nathan Hamburger said money became available upon savings from capital improvement projects.

"The city, its residents and businesses directly benefit from a high quality of educational opportunities in the schools," Hamburger said in his report to councilmembers at last week's meeting. "In addition, the city is able to attract more and better businesses to the city in part because the local work force is well educated."

Hamburgeralsono ted studies on quality educational experiences leading to less juvenile crime, delinquency and vandalism.

Greg Bostrom, a seventhgrade science teacher at A.E. Wright, demonstrated the power of the new technology to council members during their budget review session. The multi-media projection system broadcasts Internet video onto an overhead screen, allowing students to watch an actual beating heart or download exciting projects from NASA's website.

Although Bostrom seamlessly worked technology into his science classes, other teachers need training. This is where the city money comes in.

Finders said the money will be used for "teachers teaching teachers."

Zimring said there's a trend in city/school partnerships. "The concept or practice of cities supporting schools is not common- place but is clearly evident in communities that have high academic expectations and support for their schools," Zimring said.

Affluent communities like Beverly Hills and Santa Monica provide millions of dollars to their school districts, Zimring said.

Both cities recently approved $8 million each to their district, and Palo Alto has long been a strong supporter of their school system, he said.

"Our four cities are now following in that same tradition that good education is just good public policy," Zimring said. "We're going to be doing spectacular things for our kids."