BUSD Trustees Sheri Zada and Mark Maselli retain confidence of Benicia residents
Facebook post, by Alan Zada, August 23, 2021
[Mr. Zada’s source for this was a phone conversation with Laura King of the Solano County Registrar of Voters office at 5pm today.]
The Benicia School Board recall against Sheri Schulman Zada and Mark Maselli is dead. The deadline to submit the signatures was today. The proponents of this uncalled for recall effort were only able to get 177 signatures out of the required 4,000 (only 4%).
Thank you everyone that stood up against bullying of two outstanding school board members.
The BUSD recall special election will cost Benicia School District over $300K which they will have pull from their annual general fund. Whether it’s school supplies, playground & sports equipment, enrichment activities, tech devices, books, staffing . . . our kids shouldn’t have to pay the price.
What sacrifices will our kids and their schools have to make to pay the bill? How much more will parents have to purchase for their classroom supply lists when there isn’t enough to go around?
STOP this unjustified & wasteful recall attempt. DO NOT SIGN the BUSD recall petition!
Our Benicia School Board is smarter than this group of parents
By Roger Straw, May 5, 2021
A totally unnecessary $300,000 is supposed to help protect our children? Profoundly stupid. The recall is simply an attack on two decent local human beings. Stand up for Sheri Zada and Mark Maselli – DON’T SIGN THE PETITION!
Those pushing the recall have one purpose: to fully open our schools to in-person learning. And it seems they don’t realize that the full BUSD School Board is on track with making that happen as soon as it is safe. Right now we have a hybrid situation, with a close eye on state and local COVID conditions.
COVID case rates among children and youth are up in Solano County. Benicia saw 72 new positive cases among all ages during April. I don’t want our kids back to school full time yet, passing their mild cases around and bringing it back home to mom, dad, grandma and grandpa.
On February 26, a Benicia resident asked an intriguing question on Nextdoor:
How good are the Benicia Schools HVAC systems? Before we expel school board members and chop up the teachers union, how up – to date & how well maintained our our school’s hvac systems? If it costs approx $300,000 to recall a board member can we put that money into upgrading the schools’ hvac systems and hiring more janitors instead?
The Nextdoor question had obvious political implications, with which, incidentally, I agree wholeheartedly. Our school infrastructure, supplies and services for teachers and students are so important. The recent effort to attack and unseat two BUSD trustees is ridiculously expensive ($300,000!) and the recall is also misguided in intent, targeting two fine Trustees, including the School Board President. EVERYONE please DO NOT SIGN THE RECALL PETITION!
But… what stood out to me was the opening question, “How good are the Benicia Schools HVAC systems?”
I wondered if anyone has a good answer to that question. A little research uncovered that Benicia’s 2014 Ballot Measure S included significant provisions for upgrading the District’s HVAC systems.
So I dug around and found that I could write to Roxanne Egan, the Bond Director for Benicia Unified School District.
I emailed Ms. Egan some tough questions, and got a thorough response. Here is my opening contextual statement and my four questions:
Given the pandemic guidelines’ strong call for good ventilation and heating/AC in schools before returning to in-person learning, I would like to know some details:
What has been done to improve BUSD HVAC systems since passage of Measure S in 2014?
What improvements have been made to BUSD HVAC systems in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Has the BUSD received specific federal and state guidance on HVAC recommendations and requirements in order to provide safe space as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, and if so, what are those recommendations and requirements?
In what particulars are BUSD schools up to HVAC standards proposed by the CDC and the CA Department of Health, and in what particulars are we still deficient?
Ms. Egan and directors of several other BUSD departments were thorough in gathering information that would address my questions. I received a two-page letter from Ms. Egan and Alfredo Romero, Director of Maintenance and Operations on March 11. After the opening thank you, Egan and Romero answered each question, beginning with the first:
What has been done to improve BUSD HVAC systems since passage of Measure S in 2014?
Measure S has funded HVAC improvements including the replacement of over 28 HVAC units, service and repairs to existing HVAC units, upgrades to HVAC economizers, which are the mechanical assembly that responds to the thermostat “demand” to allow fresh air intake. In addition to Measure S funding, BUSD received State Proposition 39 funding through the California Energy Commission for qualified energy improvements which included thermostat upgrades at all schools. The upgraded thermostats provide the ability to remotely access the thermostats including the ability to monitor fresh air intake and allow maintenance operators to increase and decrease the fresh air minimums based on ambient conditions. The minimums for fresh air intake are consistent with state building codes and during the COVID-19 pandemic, these minimums may be exceeded to introduce a larger amount of fresh air.
BUSD letter on HVAC improvements, March 11, 2021
The letter goes on like this. I find it on the one hand reassuring, but on the other, rather general and couched in technical language that leaves me wondering. I’m guessing the public might still have questions. Please read the whole letter, and see if you agree.
READ THE LETTER from Roxanne Egan, Bond Director, and Alfredo Romero, Director of Maintenance and Operations, March 11, 2021.
Questions?
If not for the pandemic, parents and grandparents like me could all gather in a school auditorium and ask questions, or maybe even get a guided tour with HVAC examples. I wonder if the District could convene a ZOOM meeting and interact with us on these and other in-person learning issues that concern us.
The Benicia School Board recall against Sheri Schulman Zada and Mark Maselli is dead. The deadline to submit the signatures was today. The proponents of this uncalled for recall effort were only able to get 177 signatures out of the required 4,000 (only 4%).
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