Comments by Barry Parr

Yee offers HMB $10 million bill to put park on Beachwood

Ken, if you want to submit comments on the CUSD, you and the other candidates are welcome to submit all kinds of content and comments in the appropriate places.  But this comment is off-topic. Please keep to the topic of the new proposal or other parks-related issues.

POST breaks ground for new and improved trails at Pillar Point Bluff

I’m not out there as often I as I like, but I biked out there a couple of weeks ago and walked across the bluff. This is an extraordinarily beautiful spot and I’m really grateful that POST is keeping it open and improving it.

Who do you believe: the developer, or the lobbyist?

The Review posted an update this afternoon:

California Strategies says it was a consulting contract, but…

In interviews on Wednesday and Thursday, Keenan did not distinguish between the city’s lobbying contract and his consulting contract with California Strategies, saying that he and the city “collectively” hired the firm.

According to Keenan, he had no control over the firm’s activities. He said he would occasionally receive feedback on the legislative proceedings in Sacramento.

Sound like Keenan didn’t get much consulting for his $20,000 per month.

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

About a week after Jonathan’s story ran, I got a call from Superintendent Rob Gaskill. He was apologetic for being so late to call, but it turns out it had the wrong number.

Superintendent Gaskill told me that it has been CUSD’s practice to interview all students leaving school and that when they give the name of the school they will be attending or ask to have their transcripts mailed, they are treated as transfers. This isn’t an unreasonable assumption, but it turns out to be wrong.

Superintendent Gaskill says that the district “has to do a lot more when a student says he’s moving to another district”

I think CUSD (and other districts) suspected the dropout rates were too low, based on the declines they would see in class size from freshman to senior year, but didn’t have a lot of incentive to figure out why this was happening.

Coastal Commission faces budget cuts

I was tempted to post here, but decided that we really need a separate topic on Coastside real estate price trends, so I started one in Town Hall:

http://coastsider.com/index.php/townhall/viewthread/322/

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

It’s not armchair quarterbacking for district residents—or parents like you and me, Kevin—to keep on top of what’s happening in the district.

It’s the knowledge that this information is being shared and discussed in the community that keeps the board and its superintendent on their toes.

Letter: New veterinarian in town

Thanks for the correction. I’ve modified the letter slightly to reflect the fact that we have more than on vet in Half Moon Bay.

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

I encouraged Jonathan to post this because I wanted to start looking at the demographics and data on the Coastside generally, and this was a good opportunity to get started.  We’re a long way from a complete analysis, and if we waited for one, nothing would happen. This is the beginning of a long conversation.

This dropout rate is [roughly consistent with the US average][1], according to the US Dept of Ed:

In 2007, some 87 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. This rate has remained between 85 and 88 percent over the last 30 years.

However, I would expect California’s rate to be at or below the US average and our relatively affluent county to be better than that. I’m not certain whether I’d expect CUSD to beat the county.

[1]: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2008/section3/indicator25.asp#info

HMB High’s dropout rate soars under new reporting system

The headline and the text make it clear that the reason the *reported* dropout rate has soared is that the reporting system has changed. Jonathan worked hard to place the CUSD numbers in the state & county context to make certain it was clear that this is not a strictly local problem.

However, there is an open question as to why CUSD’s historical reported rate was half that of San Mateo County generally, when the new, more accurate numbers show that its dropout rate is exactly the same as the county’s.

I agree with Darin that the next questions are, “Why is this happening and what do we do about it?”

Gay wedding business opens on the Coastside

I don’t see silly lawsuits against bible publishers as indicative of a gay threat to religion any more than I consider silly anti-science laws promoted by many Christians as an indication that Christianity is inherently half-witted.

Married people are granted special privileges by the state in taxes, contracts, privacy, access, court, inheritance, and a host of other realms. Marriage has always been about power, privilege, and money.  Read your Old Testament.

Opinion: “Major Restructuring” comes to Cunha Middle School

I also have mixed feelings about this.  It feels like CUSD expects NCLB (which is broken) to be revised during the two-year “restructuring” period and is trying to run out the clock. Fair enough.  I’m not going to hold them to a standard (NCLB) that I don’t believe in myself.

But this feels like a missed opportunity. With a a majority of people from the current CUSD system (the principal, a district office rep, and a faculty member), no authority, and no budget, I don’t know how this group can be expected to change anything significant.

The makeup of this group barely acknowledges the elephant in the room: the unmet needs of English-language learners.

It will be interesting to see who the faculty and parent reps will be.

Album: Fourth of July Parade 2008

Brook Stein has published some [additional photos of the parade][1] in a web album.

[1]:  http://gallery.mac.com/brookstein#100033&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=0

Letter: Fourth of July Spy

Tim, the articles linked fine in you comment They show up like footnotes when you’re typing, but they’re regular web links when your comment actually appears on the the page. Sorry if that’s confusing. The advantage is that it’s easier to read when you’re editing.

They also look correct in the live preview area right below the comment entry form.

Letter: Fourth of July Spy

The Fourth of July parade is one of those times when Coastsiders from all sides come together in celebration of our community and the miracle democracy.

I think what you encountered is an exception to the rule, and I guess I’m not surprised that at least one of these guys was from out of town.

Just the facts: Where’s the water for CCWD?

As a MWSD customer, I’m grateful to Paul’s perspective on CCWD.

Some folks are beginning to urge the merging of MWSD and CCWD, so the residents of each district need to understand how the other works. Particularly where their water comes from and where it goes.

Paul’s perspective is especially valuable because he knows the Coastside water situation well and has no vested interest in defending CCWD.  It’s the conversation that help us understand the situation, and CCWD board member Jim Larimer has been carping about MWSD for a while now.

Letter: Alternatives to July 4th fireworks?

Wasn’t there also a Montara/Moss Beach picnic?   
 
 

Letter: Alternatives to July 4th fireworks?

Half Moon Bay already has one excellent alternative: an old-fashioned small-town parade down Main Street.

Community Picnics are another traditional celebration of the Fourth.

Half Moon Bay negotiating its surrender in Sacramento

I walked the Beachwood property earlier this year to take some photos.

It struck me that, although it looks like a gap when you’re whizzing by from south to north at 55 MPH, when you’re traveling from west to east it forms a continuous band with the hills east of the city.  There is literally no development between Beachwood and the city of San Mateo ten miles to the east.

One goal of AB1991’s supporters is to build a bypass through Beachwood and the hills and to enable this by reconfiguring the Pacific Ridge development to smear it across those hills, rather than keeping it tucked out of sight.

Whether you regard Beachwood as a gap in development, or a piece of a larger, unbroken environment depends on which direction you’re facing—and how fast you’re moving.

Letter: Alternatives to July 4th fireworks?

I love the community fireworks display at the harbor and I’m glad to see it finally has a stable sponsor.

I think a surprising number of Coastsiders are confused by the fact that as they drive through Pacifica, fireworks are for sale on every corner. They don’t understand that those fireworks are illegal in the unincorporated Midcoast and Half Moon Bay.

Half Moon Bay negotiating its surrender in Sacramento

Ric’s point about the city gambling is correct.

It would appear that the whole AB1991 ruse was cooked up in order to make the $18 million more palatable to the city. It’s like selling a timeshare:

Keenan: “Sure, $18 million is a lot of money, guys. But you could wind up owing nothing!”

HMB: “Wow. Nothing! I think we could afford nothing.”

Keenan: “And I’ll tell you what. Don’t tell the sales manager, but I can throw in a option to buy Glencree. You don’t already own Glencree, do you?”

HMB: “Um, no.”

Keenan: “And then, when AB1991 passes, we can put another forty houses on it. Think of how much tax revenue forty houses would generate.”

HMB: “Tax revenue?  We like tax revenue. And you really think it could cost us nothing?”

Keenan: “Yes, I give you my word on it. Just sign right here.”

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