State of the Bret Harte District 2023

As the Superintendent of the Bret Harte Union High School District, I believe that on an annual basis, it is important to share with the Governing Board, staff, parents, and community the current status of our educational institution. With that in mind, I am pleased to present the 2023 “State of Our District.”
Budget:

• We continue to qualify as a Community Funded school district and as such, a majority of
  our income will be generated from local taxes. The District saw a positive increase of
  6.11% in local property taxes, which is up from the 2.4% received the prior year. These
  facts point to the volatility of the District’s funding source and the need to be fiscally
  conservative when projecting income, especially the income associated with property
  taxes.
• We have begun the process to gather information from all our stakeholders to review our
  current programs and begin formulating our Local Control Funding spending plan for the
  2023-24 school year.
• The proposed budget assumptions outlined in the First Interim report in December
  reflected the 2023-24 school year that will serve as a guideline as we build our new
  budget.

Curriculum:

• The District continues to support our career technical education programs as we continue
  to strive to prepare our students to be both college and career ready. The return of our
  academic counselor will provide additional support to our students as they plan for their
  future. We will also work to increase our dual-enrollment offerings with Columbia
  College.
• We have changed the titles of a couple of our courses from “advanced” to “Honors” to
  improve how they are accepted by CSU.
• The District will continue to offer the same level of co and extracurricular activities that
  allow our students to stay connected to school, which in turn leads to earning a high
  school diploma.
• The District will continue to work collaboratively with both the Vallecito Union School
  District and the Mark Twain Elementary School District to explore ways to provide
  services to our students at a reduced cost and ensure a quality K-12 educational program.

Facilities:

• The track resurfacing has been completed and is receiving good comments.
• The District is in the process of replacing the heating, air conditioning, and ventilation
  units (HVAC) on the lower campus. The permit was issued in December for the old
  math/science building and replacement should start this June. We are also working on the
  Learning Center system in stages. We continue to work on a solution to resolve the
  inoperable system in the music room.
• The Tennis Courts are planned for repairs and resurfacing in the spring.
• The sports complex building remains in use by the CCOE special education preschool.
• The old Vallecito site remains in use by the CCOE special education adult transition
  program.
• We continue to upgrade our technology and network to current standards and will need to
  replace our phone system prior to the end of the school year.

Transportation:

• Our bus fleet is in fair condition, but we continue to work to stay up with current
  requirements.
• We continue to be short bus drivers and are actively seeking applicants.
• We may need to explore the need for more vans to help with athletic transportation.
• We are in the process of returning the VUSD bus routes and drivers to them and hope to
  complete this by the end of the school year if not sooner.

In closing, as always,

• It is my honor to serve as the District Superintendent, I am confident that the District is
  positioned to:
• • Continue its mission of educating our youth.
  • Meet both short and long-term financial commitments.
  • Providing educational services to our students in a safe and clean environment.
  • Committed to making decisions that will educationally benefit our students.

Thank you
Scott Nanik, Superintendent