AHS Shines its Light

A recap of the Sept 13 FUSD Board Meeting.

Staff Writer

At the September school board meeting, Principal Megan Barrington presented the American High School spotlight, during which she praised the student body’s test scores and American’s implementation of an improved mental health center. Also covered during the School Board meeting was last year’s budget, showing and explaining the multi-million dollar disparities between estimates and actual funds, expenses, and revenues.

Director of Accounting for FUSD Robert Pascual first referenced an “Expenditure variance of -47.3 million,” meaning that FUSD spent $47.3 million less than expected. Most of this unspent money comes from “restricted expenditures,” or money the district has less say in allocation. Restricted expenditures include “after-school, summer school, professional learning promoting educator effectiveness, special education, school readiness, arts, music, and instruction materials.” The fund amount for such expenses “ended with 67.3 million, which will be carried forward to fiscal year 2023-24 to be spent for students needs based on grant and program restrictions.” Pascual and the FUSD Business Services Division “plan to improve timing projections of the estimated actuals and unaudited actuals to reduce the variances,” meaning they will wait until more accurate and relevant information is released in order to calculate more accurate estimated expenses and revenues.

In response to budget increases and the large dollar amounts being discussed, Trustee Dianne Jones asserted, “It sounds like a lot of money, but when you spread it over this many schools it really isn’t as much as it seems like and it doesn’t cover all the needs that we have.” Preceding the topic of financials was the AHS spotlight.

Superintendent CJ Cammack, present at the meeting, described the goal of the School Spotlight as “to reflect the things that are happening within a school, areas of celebration, and also looking at where we can continue to make improvements.”

During her presentation of the spotlight, Principal Barrington praised “88% of all AHS Juniors meeting or exceeding standards in English language arts,” calling it “an incredibly high number produced by dedicated staff and students.” After pointing out that only 60% of Seniors met the science standards for the CAASPP test late last year, Barrington recognized that “second semester seniors are not always attentive to standardized tests.” Due to this, American is now “moving our CAASPP testing this year to early March and hoping to capitalize on the timing of the test to capture their attention a bit better.” Barrington also announced “the opening of our new and improved wellness center,” which is supported by “a fully licensed therapist on campus five days a week.”

Genesis Magaña, the full-time Wellness Center employee, hopes to provide “a safe space where students are able to decompress from class or even from home.” Students should be aware that they “can drop by [during class time], they just need a pass from their teacher. [They] have to do a survey” and “answer some basic questions.” Magaña clarified that she can only keep students for “15 minutes unless a student really isn’t well and they need more time.” Magaña hopes she will “be able to have students come to [her] for anything [that] they feel they can’t ask the teacher,” even those who aren’t “overwhelmed or stressed.” Still, Magaña makes it clear that the center is also open for the growing number of students struggling with “anxiety and being able to speak about what they’re feeling.” She wants to aid students by “creat[ing] events that will bring [mental health] awareness, but also promote the center in the school.” For example, she’s “had brief conversations with Mr. Anderson [American’s Leadership advisor], so [they] can work on events for de-stressing during finals or AP tests.” Lastly, available resources in the center include “essentials like pencils, binders, notebooks, and any type of supplies for class.”

Members of the School Board, specifically Trustee Sweeney, “congratulated [Barrington], the staff, parents, and students,” for “the growth of American not just in size, but in responsibility, course offerings, and results.”

Caption: The new WellnessCenter is a welcoming and safe environment for all students. Genesis Magaña encourages all students to come by the center:“I don’t want students to feel like they have to have some type of ‘issue’ to come into the Wellness Center.” (PC: Daniel Davis (11))