Schaff stresses community input

Friday, October 1, 2004 By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal

William Schaff is co-founder and chief executive officer for Bay Isle Financial, an asset management firm in Oakland that managed about $1 billion in assets last year. He attended the UC Santa Barbara and has a master's degree in engineering from UC Davis.

He is running on a slate with David Forbes. Both men are active in the Alameda Education Foundation.

District officials project up to a $750,000 deficit this school year. How would you balance the books?

One of the things I am focused on is trying to get supplemental income.

But at the end of the day we are going to have to do what we did when I was with the committee (that made recommendations for cuts during a previous budget crunch).

We will have to get community and parent input. That way, everyone has a say in which cuts should be prioritized. That's very important, for the community to feel the pain but also to understand why the pain has to exist.

If program cuts are needed, what would you cut first and why?

Everyone has to have a say in the outcome. There's already a lot of mistrust between different unions and the administration. If you don't have people contributing to the decision (about what to cut), you'll have problems. I would leave it to a group like the superintendent's committee to prioritize the cuts.

If administrative cuts are needed, where would you cut?

Everyone has to share in the pain equally. Otherwise, people will start pointing fingers that there was special interests, and you just can't have that. It's the only way people will feel it's equitable.

What would you do to boost test scores and student performance?

You got to have community involvement, more volunteers. You got to have the people who can show the people who can't. It really isn't that much of a stretch.

Describe the relationship between the city, the school district and developers of the former Naval base? Can it be improved, and what would you do?

Litigation is a problem with those communities working well together, such as the city manager and the superintendent having a conflict. At the end of the day, that's a breakdown in communication.

Everyone benefits with a better school system. So they have to learn how to work better. You have to direct the superintendent to work with the city and to come up with a positive solution.

What's the most pressing issue facing district today?

Finances are always pressing. But so is morale and communication. That all goes hand-in-hand.

We can also talk about supplement funding. But the fact of the matter is we're generally not going to change the way Sacramento does its financing. So the number one issue is supplement funding. On top of that, you have to build up communication.

What separates you from the other candidates and what would distinguish you from the others on the board?

I bring a very strong financial background, much more than most -- that's my job. I know how to be resourceful.

It's very easy to complain, and when you're talking about public education, you have many things to complain about. But I bring a sense of leadership, a commitment to public education and a passion to problem solve. I have a history of being able to do that.

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Last Modified: October 1, 2004

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