PDC Purpose and Regional Staff Development History

Region 8 serves Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. From 1990 to 1999 this region was served by a Consortium for Professional Development which also included Los Angeles County and Los Angeles Unified School District.

The consortium was established to provide organizational and leadership support for schools and districts implementing curricular, instructional and assessment reforms. The structure was based on an agreement by the five county superintendents with a director located in Los Angeles and a contact person from each of the other four counties to serve as the liaison with the director.

In Spring 1999 an amicable agreement was reached to split the large consortium into two regions as originally designed by the California Department of Education. A subsequent decision was made within Region 8 to designate Kern as the lead county with Ron Fontaine designated as the PDC Director and Jim Scarpino named as the liaison for the central coast area. This application is based on that general structure. The region has an advisory/focus group with classroom teachers, staff development providers and representatives from the region's districts. Each county also maintains a focus group with representatives from each county who serve on the regional advisory.

Additionally, the region has a monthly meeting of Instructional Assistant Superintendents and support staff from a variety of assignments to pursue PDC, Statewide System of Schoolwide Support(S4) and other appropriate programs. Regional meetings are rotated geographically and allow discussion of all current instructional issues.