[BHS Etree] PTSA: SSC By-Election to Be Held on Back-to-School Night

[BHS etree]

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact Natasha Beery, PTSA president
[mailto:natashabeery at earthlink.net] 

Ineligible SSC Candidate:  Last week we shared with you the PTSA Election
results.  We apologize for the delay in reporting the SSC parent election
results. However, during the election evening, a question was raised as to
whether a community member who is also a school employee could run for the
parent/community seats.  At the time, we had only the District's SSC By-Laws
to refer to, and there was no indication that this was prohibited.
Unfortunately, after the elections, we discovered a section in the
California Education Code which, though poorly phrased, does prohibit a
school employee from serving on the SSC at the same school where they are
employed, though they may serve on an SSC at another school in the same
district.    

By-Election For Sixth Seat:  After the elections the PTSA Leadership had a
meeting with Superintendent of Schools Bill Huyett and Principal Pasquale
Scuderi to review the rules and consider the appropriate remedy to the
election error.  The Superintendent felt that the most equitable solution
would be to seat the top 5 candidates, and fill the sixth seat by holding a
run-off between the remaining candidates who ran in the first election.
There is a provision for seating alternates which may be invoked when an
elected candidate steps down during their term.  However, since the terms
have not yet begun, and the PTSA/District error allowed an ineligible
candidate to run, a by-election provides redress for the issue that voters
had thrown away their votes on an ineligible candidate.

We wish to express our apologies for this error, and our thanks to candidate
Angela Price, who had herself expressed concerns about whether her candidacy
was legitimate.  We are grateful that Angela was so willing to volunteer her
time above and beyond all she already does for our children as a college
counselor.  She has decided that she will put her additional energies and
skills into working with the PTSA on issues such as parent education.  

By-Election To Be Held On Back-To-School Night:  The best opportunity for
conducting a by-election with high turnout is to do so at Back to School
Night on Thursday, September 30.  Please plan to pick up a ballot and a
voter envelope when you come in to the Community Theatre.  Ballots must be
returned in their sealed envelopes by 9:00 p.m. that night.  The candidate
statements are the same as posted previously for the first election.
Please take a moment to read the candidate statements on the PTSA website
<http://www.bhs.berkeleypta.org/candidates2010ssc.htm>  for the candidates
for the remaining seat on the SSC: 

*	Landi Ehnle (AHA) 
*	Rick Gentry (AC) 
*	Judy Greenspan (AHA) 
*	Mohammed Kazerouni (BIHS) 
*	Gavin McCabe (AC) 
*	Regina Simpkins (CAS)

SSC Partial Election Results:  Five of the six SSC parent seats have been
determined, with the sixth to be designated by this by-election.  There are
also two alternates, who take the place of voting members in case of
absence.

SSC Parent/Community Members:

*	Margit Roos-Collins (AC) 
*	Marianne Koch (BIHS) 
*	Satish Rao (AC) 
*	Julie Sinai (AC) 
*	Laila Ibrahim (CPA) 
*	=Sixth TBA=

SSC Parent Alternates:*

*	Judy Greenspan (AHA) 
*	Regina Simpkins (CAS) 

*  If one of these alternates is elected to the 6th SSC seat, the other will
retain their alternate status, and the next highest vote getter will become
the 2nd alternate.  If someone else is elected to the 6th seat, these two
candidates will retain their alternate status.

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 Natasha Beery and Mark van Krieken
 Berkeley High School PTSA

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