Reader

and this meeting is being recorded by gctv if any other persons present are also recording you must notify the chairperson at this time I don't see anybody great um our first item is to enter into executive session pursuant to mgl chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparations for negotiations with non-union Personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-union Personnel the committee will return to open session may have a motion to enter into executive session for that purpose so moved um motion from um member Martini is there a second second and the second from member ston um any discussion all right member uh secretary genive will you please uh call the vote um secretary genive yes Vice chair Martini yes chair Johnson mad yes member P yes member seon yes member Charles yes all right uh the motion carries so we will go into executive session and we will return to this meeting um after a brief executive [Music] session [Music] to uh vote to approve the contract for the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning may I have a motion so moved motion for member Martini is there a second second second from Member seon discussion all right I'll just say we we're very pleased to be able to offer this contract and let's vote to uh accept it is there um let's see um why don't we do it by Roll Call Secretary den den yes Vice chair Martini yes ston yes Childs yes fre yes mayor toer yes all right passes unanimously and I'm a yes oh I'm so sorry that's okay I'm typing and talking this same time and assistant superintendent patad wanted to say a few words if I could ask Steven Sullivan to join us at the public comment table that would be great like to offer congratulations Steven Sullivan will be the next assistant superintendent of teaching and learning um we're very excited to have you in green field you come to us with many years of experience as an English teacher a principal a superintendent and you have a wealth of knowledge and curriculum and um instructional strategies and development so we're so excited to have you as part of our team and we really look forward to having you in Greenfield and working together so congratulations thank you so much I'm looking forward to the opportunity it's been great to work with Karen and Christine to this point and meet members of the interview and search committee um so looking forward to transitioning in in the next couple months and look forward to the work ahead and being part of I think Karen called it the Green Wave [Laughter] Nation wonderful would you say a few words just to introduce yourselves to the community who might be watching from home and just tear a little bit about your story and how you came to us sure um so my name is Step Sullivan um I've been in education now for about 20 years I started um as a teacher at Dean Technical High School in Holo um I was there for eight years I did take a year leave of absence I um taught abroad in Madrid Spain for a year and um when I returned from that I started to working on my administrative license um I earned that and was fortunate to get an assistant principal job at hoyo high school I was there for four years in that role transitioned into the principal role uh I was there for three years and um at that point I left hoyo where was hoyo is my alma moer as well I graduated from hoyo high school uh left hoyo to go to Granby as the principal uh of the Junior Senior High School I was in that role for three four years sorry um and our superintendent left in March well I think it was April of 2020 there was a lot happening at that time and um I I pursued the superintendency I've been in that role for the past three years um and I see this as an opportunity to get into a bigger district with uh focus on teaching and learning um and look forward to the opportunity to continue to grow and learn um about Greenfield and all the great work that's happening here and um like I said I'm just looking forward to the transition over the next few months and happy to answer questions if people have them thank you so much do members have questions well I'll just say we're very very happy that you you're joining us and um very excited about the opportunity to start working for you and we're all very very dedicated to our student outcomes and so I hope you know that we we've got your back and we're here for you for um what let us know what you need to do your job and make the you know and improve the student outcomes for Greenfield students and we everything we've heard has been so wonderful so we really look forward to working with you I appreciate that and share the sentiment all right thank you thank you have a good night and look forward to working with all of you and continuing to to get to know you superintendent did you want to should were you going to say something or no oh okay all right you're good Stephen thank you excellent all right um we'll move on to our report from the student representatives to the committee all right so as per usual we'll start with student council um last week we had 13 student Representatives attend the annual state leadership conference in hyanis um in total we raised $1,513 for the special Olympics of Massachusetts for the Polar Plunge fundraiser um as a council for our theme we dressed up as Care Bears um and jumped into the ocean alongside 900 other students from across the state um while attending the conference students heard from two keynote speakers attended four student L workshops and a banquet dinner seven of our students led a workshop um once again we retain the status of gold Council of Excellence by submitting our book of Excellence document documenting the activities and events we have held throughout the past year a special shout out to Quinn Mass who served over the past year on the State student board we also want to congratulate Carly Blanchard for receiving the unsung hero award for ghs in all of Western Massachusetts Key Club just received a generous donation of clothing for the secret layer keeping us busy organizing our food pantry is available to any student who would like to take non-p perishables in February we made Valentine for the entire school to share created and sent Valentines to St Jude's children hospital patients as well as helped to serve dinner at the Elks Club St Jude's fundraiser they helped the Greenfield Kanas serve a community meal on Tuesday March 12th winter sports have wrapped up um congratulations to Amber berson for scoring 1,000 points she'll be heading to F Framingham State University next year um the girls basketball team ended their season uh 10 to 11 and boys basketball ended 15 to7 League champions ice hockey ended 11 to 8 to1 also League champions girls track 6 to7 and boys track 8 to7 League champions so we want to congratulations to all teams throughout the winter sports season uh spring Sports start March 18th so get out and watch a game um you can find the schedules on arbiterlive.com um last Friday March 8th uh ghs held the second annual College and Career Fair uh the event was attended by all grades 10 11 and 12 and there were over 25 employees uh employers colleges and trade schools on display the event enables students to bring resumés and share their interests with potential Employers in colleges thank you Mr bostom for hosting it um right now French and Spanish club are hosting the 28th Annual Taste of world cultures from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. um the event is free and open to the public and will feature music and dance performances and an international Feast donated by local restaurants French Club also looks forward to their trip that's coming up in France next month ghs is drama club play uh myth Adventures will be performed on March 22nd at 7 p.m.

thank you all for being here

thank you e for e [Applause] you ready okay all right good evening uh we will now return to regular session the board was in closed session uh in the last hour um so we are now reconvening to open session for the regular Board of Education meeting for chica Unified School District for March 13th 2024 um and with that we um will move on to the flag salute no action was taken in the Clos session and so with that I would ask that uh you all please stand for the flag salute pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic which stand one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all I know it all right we will move on to student reports please well i' love having students in the uh gym when we are doing the flag salute you guys make it that much more exciting and uh we have Emma Wilson in the house tonight and I'd like to invite up Courtney connley to uh tell us a little bit about what we're going to hear Hello thank you so much for having us uh we'd love to come and present to you this is these are some of the highlights at our school and I just am not going to say many words except for how much I appre apprciate our second grade team they do yes they're wonderful teachers and student teachers both work really hard to do this presentation and then we also have our wonderful Holly Taylor music teacher who is making magical things happen at our school and without more I will hand it over to her so much you guys ready guys ready [Music] I'm eating Taco [Music] Bell are you there I'm at rare air here [Music] we are you there yes awesome so our special guests for this song we've got Ryan on the Wolf Part ramani and brigata and basically I wanted to bring the second graders this is the first time in years that we have had music classroom music and the primary classes and we are so excited to have that happening and right now all of the elementary music teachers are working together to uh to we're all using a similar teaching method called Kodi and basically we're teaching Concepts through games and you saw an example of text um improvisation I had no idea what she was going to say she made that up on her own and that's just kind of part of part of meeting the standards and and also just helping our young kids learn about music in a way that they can relate so thank you so much and um yes let's take a bow Take a Bow you guys stand up and you guys can go ahead and go back in line and next I want to introduce um the second grade team Emma Wilson I don't know if you know this is um a certified kindness school it's something that I think we've been doing this for three years and it's a whole program that is uh basically we track the number of kindness acts of kindness on campus for about a month I think and it's been pretty fun this is my first year at Emma and this is it's been pretty fun just to see those acts of kindness happen and our amazing second grade team has put together a presentation with their students as part of that celebration of kindness week so come on out [Laughter] [Music] you [Music] to a stranger to a [Music] friend to be humble to be kind mind it is a giving of the peace in your mind to a stranger to a [Music] friend to give in such a way has no end we are love we are one we are how we treat each other when the day is done we are people PE we are War we are how we treat each other nothing more and to be bold to be brave it is the thinking that the heart can still be Sav and the Darkness can come quick the dangers in the anger and in the hanging on to it we are love we are one we are how we treat each other when the day is done we are peace we are War we are how we treat each other nothing [Music] more and tell me what it is that you [Music] see oh world it's full of endless possibilities and heroes don't look like they used to they look like you [Music] do [Music] we are love we are one we are how we treat each other when the day is done we are peace we are War we are how we treat each other nothing more we are we how we treat each other nothing more we are how we treat each [Applause] other thank you Emma Wilson that is so impressive you got a bunch of us teared up over here okay we're gonna let Emma Wilson have a couple minutes to move their things thank you all for sharing tonight thank you parents we know it's a big challenge to get here but we appreciate it so with this point we're I'm going to go ahead and move right on into the superintendent report and uh we do have some people that that we would like to recognize and I would like to invite Christy tacha up to the podium christe is our principal at Chapman power on got it good evening my name is Christy taaa and I'm serving in my first year as principal at Chapman Elementary School as a new member of the Chapman team I am grateful for the support of my staff as I have navigated a new campus School processes and the logistics of running our school luckily my team at Chapman is one that is grounded in a culture of dedic teamwork and support to provide the best possible experience for our students many of whom are here tonight we give a round [Applause] Applause from my first day on campus one member of our team has consistently exhibited all three and that's our day custodian Jeff Thomas lovingly referred to as Mr JT Mr JT was one of the first people I met after accepting my new position at this first meeting he walked the campus with me shared a variety of tips and finished the conversation with whatever you need I got you I love this school and I really care about our students a statement that runs true every day that I work with him okay have to stand here so I can stand there as the summer ensued JT worked furiously to make sure my office is ready for me to move in in July and he made sure our school was sparkling in August despite how busy our campus was last summer staff made mention that their classrooms and the campus had never been so clean every day he continues to do the same ensuring the multi-purpose room is ready for assemblies or dance parties even when his new principal tells him last minute he's assisting in the cafeteria during lunchtime and serving as a mentor to myself and multiple new staff members who've taken on cafeteria supervision roles he's always open to problem solving safety concerns and serving as my partner in the facilitation of fire and safety drills reminding me no worries we got this of course JT is also beloved by our students who he kindly greets every day and high fives when they visit his PBIS station to remind them of our Behavior expectations staff will also attest to his dependability and willingness to show always show up to help even in the messiest of situations tonight I I'd like to publicly honor JT for his dedication to our students and staff his willingness to work with others and the support he provides to all of us on the Chapman team it's my pleasure to honor Jeff Thomas or Mr JT for the superintendence award for classified staff congratulations deser appr all right picture I'm sneak in on this picture you deserve a love having your own cheering session that's right so we're not going to just stop there I'm going to invite Heather sentes up to the podium all right good evening everybody I'm Heather sues I'm the principal at Parkview Elementary School and tonight is my absolute honor and privilege to stand before you to celebrate an extraordinary individual who embodies the true essence of selflessness dedication and unwavering commitment to education she is magical in her work with students and inspiring to everyone she comes in contact this award is not just a recognition of Excellence but truly a celebration of a remarkable educator who goes above and beyond the call of duty every single day I'd like to welcome the recipient up and share a few more things and I'm really hoping to surprise Lynette Ford we may have told a couple fibs to get her [Applause] here all right so um Mrs Ford is truly one of a kind I joke often with her that she needs to wear roller skates at work because she is buzzing around our campus non-stop all day carrying her B basket and is really truly a guiding force and inspiration in building an environment for students staff and families that is a sanctuary where everyone is valued nurtured and encouraged to reach their full potential I took the liberty of asking my staff and some families to give some feedback to so I'd like to share a couple of the the quotes from them I always like when she cries it's great uh in a good way having your uh so here are a few comments from staff and families Lynette is one of the most selfless caring and kind individuals she cares for students and motivates them to learn not only is she an incredible support for students but also for our whole staff one word Lifesaver she is supportive and a wealth of knowledge she is a walking library of resources she has impacted my teaching and taught me how to build an inclusive classroom that is different differentiated and supports all students no matter what level they are at Mrs Ford has shaped the educator that I am and this type of teacher is what I strive to be one day she is passionate about her work positive and uplifting for our whole team Mrs Ford has made a positive impact on our site and we cannot imagine a Parkview without her from a student I like that she has snacks for me she does great things she listens to me she talks with me and she makes me feel happy um parents have shared that Lynette is often one of the main reasons that they choose to come to Park View because of her inclusive classroom and the ability she has to spread that across our whole campus um this parent shared as she was explaining the code teaching program at park VI that she's running I was both amazed and overwhelmed and wondered if it would be the best fit as I finished our conversation not knowing what to do she told me you have to trust your guest and I did and that continues to be the best piece of advice she's given me as we've na navigated some decisions she listens and values the input from parents and does not let ego get in the way when a parent says we need to change some goals she genuinely cares about her students the success of a student is a priority to her and she is always willing to brainstorm Mrs Ford is definitely a hero she never seeks recognition or praise for for her tireless efforts and that's why tonight is so special to honor her please join me in appreciation for her exceptional dedication unwavering commitment and her profound impact on lives in countless students and families great mom I think we have to move this way flowers are G yes and I just want to very quickly thank all of the park viw and Chapman staff who came out to support your teachers it's amazing in custodian and you guys can stay with us or go it's completely up to you we'd love to have you stay but you don't have to hey Park View I just want to say you guys are looking good out there peace out we know how to clear a room there still I didn't want to embarrass him more but JT was also at Marsh when I was there and he always told me to go home because I was always there too late um um no such great people in the district I watching the kids and just hearing the stories of our staff makes me really proud to still be part of the CH unified team even if I'm up here instead of in the trenches different kind of trenches I guess um all right well with that we're moving on to announcements um does the board have any announcements that they would like to provide at this time regarding upcoming events or Awards or schoolside accomplishments besides just generally being [Music] awesome all righty well we'll move on to items from the floor did we have any signups for items from the floor at this time we did not have any items for signups from the floor okay then we will continue to consent calendar um is there anybody that would like to pull an item from consent U I don't want to pull any anything but I would like to make a question of staff when we're done okay I'm seeing there's no items to pull I think that now is appropriate to ask uh questions from staff I I just had a question when I was going through the requests for field trips and things on our consent calendar I noticed that we have three requests from Chico High softball for trips to tournaments and none from Valley so I I was just wondering if that was an oversight I know we have a new softball Pleasant Valley person probably two factors I think one of those is that some some of these may have come in previous board meetings because they start scheduling tournaments like you know last fall to be sure that they can actually get in because they're highly competitive and the second Factor may be that um if they have scheduled those um some schools prefer to have home tournaments where they can charge admission and have you know make some make some money off those so I think those two factors probably impacted this uh this consent agenda thank youn all right do we have a motion on consent I'll move passage of the consent calendar second we have a motion from Mr tennis and a second from Mr Lando uh any further discussion seeing none we'll uh do a roll call Vote with uh starting with Mr tennis tennis I Conan I Dolby I Lando I Robinson I he passes unanimously excuse me thank you board um moving on to our discussion action calendar uh Educational Services 9.1.1 is a discussion action item for potential for adding a Chek Unified School District student board member I'll turn it over to you staff P Mr good afternoon how we all doing all right we're we're gonna have a great discussion today all right so uh today we get to talk about students as uh potential school board members we got the clicker over here so um this was brought up as a um as an interest as to Let's explore for this and let's see what we can do with this so with um some guidance from board members and from staff and uh we went through uh what we felt um is to gain a picture and understanding of the history and then what it would look like and then some potential steps that we can do to move forward okay so let's go over the history so Chico Unified School District had student Bo board members from 20 1 through 20 uh 2005 um the last time cusd student uh board members participated in board meetings though was on 216 of 2005 please notice a difference there uh as we go through the slides because what you're going to see is that there's going to be some discrepancies as to attendance so just a heads up on that uh because of attendance the cus uh D board suspend Ed board bylaw 9150 and the administrative regulation 9150 related to student board members on 1116 of 2005 due to inconsistent attendance um just want to give you guys a heads up as to why the inconsistent attendance it was roughly we had students involved in a lot of activities as you start going moving through the calendar we're talking about sports Athletics um a lot of students who were I believe involved as uh student board members were also involved in a lot of leadership activities and they tend to um participate in anything and everything so um also uh let's see we believe because honestly this happened a long time ago and as I did some research to try to find some exact details of what it looked like let's just say that uh there wasn't Personnel here involved with this and so that made it a little difficult so we believe that students were appointed as duties of elected ASB officials so that's how they got to participate as student board members on 116 of 2005 students from the high schools gave student reports uh at the board meeting so that was the last time all right legal aspects and so there's two things that we have to consider here so if we decide to move forward Andor explore this one is the first one that California law requires school districts with one or more high schools to appoint at least one student board member to their school board when petitioned by The District High School students so meaning it's coming from the students and they need to get 500 signatures or 10% of the high school students in the district question sorry is that 500 signatures or 10% whichever is higher or lower correct whatever is higher whatever is higher okay uhhuh and that's as per California Education Code 35012 now if it's something that our school board is looking to go through there's also this little caveat and the caveat says the following way student who is elected to serve as a member of the governing board of a school district must be enrolled in a high school or of the high school district or Chico Unified School District and be chosen by the pupils enrolled in high school or high schools of this District so just want to throw that out there okay so what happens if we do bring forth students as school board members what do they have the right to do Andor participate and so the first thing is they have a right to attend all meetings they have to a right to receive all open session materials they have a right to ask questions during Open Session um they can also be appointed to subcommittees they can be briefed by staff be invited to attend other function uh functions of uh that require board pres um make motions on matters upon which the board can act that is key they can make motions attend trainings and conferences it is a oneyear term that begins in uh August and goes through July so um and they can also Express their opinions and perspectives through preferential voting what that means is they can vote however it does not count it is just a strong opinion or an opinion depending how you take it and so just want to make sure that everybody's clear on that part school board members uh student school board members may not do the following uh participate and or receive Clos session materials so they're not allowed in close session uh be included in determining the vote required to carry any measure before the governing board of the school district and then be liable for any acts of the governing board of the school district and not to be uh considered members of a legislative body of a local agency for purposes of the Ralph m brown act so we'll go with that so another thing that was asked of us was to or right let's just say that we do have student board members what does the compensation look like so I'm just going to throw this out there that as board members you would have to direct us to say okay Hey listen uh you uh we going to create the 9150 and then we're going to have to dictate whether or not we're going to pay them okay so that's a piece and the way that it works out in our school district is because we're over 10,000 students it would be equal to 4,000 four sorry 4,000 can you imagine that 400 that'd be expensive so $400 per month per student and that would be optional it would we would choose whether corre comp if we is it like a go no go like if we choose to comp if the board were to choose to go this route and then choose to compensate the student board member it would either be that or nothing or is there well the uh there is a compensation piece and that's the next component which we do they are are entitled to these transportation services so uh we would have to pay for their transportation to be here right so at least pay for mileage reimbursement correct for example and and training if there was training that anything beyond that it would need to be written into the bylaws of 9150 okay yeah so us paying for their transportation here what would that entail um my guess or uh not guess but they would need to fill out a mileage sheet and document uh my from their home to here and then from here back and so whatever mileage that is and they'd be paid accordingly per mile what are we at now six 67 cents per mile all right which I think we're also entitled to but I don't know that any of us submit for that well maybe great yeah I can only tell you that that end code applies to students so all right so um want to now talk about how we have gotten input in the past because before we did have student board members and then that went away so then how is it that we got student participation input and information to our Schoolboard members and this is how we have done it since then the first part is presentations and reports from students um and they could come here and they could talk about like for examples the CTE programs that have been going on so that's an example of how students come to this place and they present their information um in regards to the programs there's also they can come up here for public comments as we have had students come up here and express their concerns Andor opinions um there's also student forums panels surveys uh the ASB input and and elcap meetings um which are extremely important at least for us in our elcap plan and so and of course you the school board approves the lcap plan and we make sure that all the information and input that's um presented to us by our student groups is included in some way shape or form and that we take everything that they say in a serious matter and so I do want to show The Following to you and so here are our uh lcap meetings the ones that we had in the fall we meet with Elementary alternative Ed the junior highs high and high schools about how many students from those meetings so approximately two to three students from El every Elementary School site uh from alternative Ed you're talking from two to three students from every alt dead campus uh junior highs it could be anywhere from from three to four students from each Junior High and then high schools same thing anywhere between three and I think our last one was seven uh students from each high school and then um they represent um a let's say just a a huge difference in terms of populations of students and then in the spring we do it again and so we have elementary alted junior highs high schools and we Tred to bring in a diff a different group of students so that we get a bigger understanding and then we ask the same questions or similar questions that are in the LC cap and make sure that our goals are meeting and that we're meeting the needs of our students we also do the following we also give out the uh send out Kevin secondary pulses um I'm curious to see how many of our school board members know what Kelvin is are we yeah okay so it is an umal uh questionnaire that and what it it is it sends out to all our students and it comes across an as a little dog popup if you will that pops up on the screen and it tells all our students Hey listen there is a Kevin pulse there are two three four five questions or more that that we are asking you to answer and that those surveys if you will uh can be about seal social emotional learning things that are happening around the schools Andor campuses safety so on and so forth okay so I also want to provide some we I just showed you how we have student input now I want to provide some additional ideas here are some additional ideas participation in policy discussion we can always do that we can always bring students together invite them and get input on some anything that the school board deems that they want student input student feedback School boards May seek input from students through feedback sessions uh allowing our students to you know Hey listen this is what we did what's your feedback on that provide us some details and then we could also do workshops with students so here's some extra ideas now let's just say that we do decide to continue to pursue the idea of having students come in or vote them in so on and so forth uh students from all high schools once again May nominate and elect their representatives through student government elections and so this Democratic process allows students to have a choice in choosing their peers to serve on the school board so if our school board board here wants us to continue uh to um I guess see if we can get some student board members then we would have to go through an election process board members how many would there be at the same at once well that would be um a direction and a discussion that would need to come from uh the direction of our school board whether they want one representing all three sides or one from each secondary site yeah and what that would look like in terms of voting well it could look like this we can do one vote for three maybe one from each or or every single site does a vote for their representative but there's also I'm going to um well let's get to this slide in order to do that the school board um working with us we would need to have a uh discussion a discussion about what those requirements look like so for example uh GPA um classes that you would see them want to be in uh maybe uh they need to be a junior maybe they need to be a senior maybe they you know any of these uh qualifications that you feel um are needed to be on the board now um just want to throw that out there I also um actually not just myself but Mr Maran and I we spoke with our leadership teachers and before I go on uh with this information I think it's important um for you to understand that there were certain things brought up by our um Student Government teachers from Chico High MPV one of them was Hey listen we live in some contentious times where sometimes our public um can be very difficult what do we do to protect student board members how would we protect them knowing that there are issues that sometimes hey this is this is going to become pretty hot topic are they going to be safe afterwards so they wanted the school board to consider that there's another issue uh students sto participating and start coming because I hate to say this Schoolboard meetings were kind of long and so they were here for a very very long time and so is there a way that the students can participate for a maybe one hour two hours or whatever our school board deems necessary and with that I am ready for any of your questions thank you yeah um anticipating that this was going to come up as a topic for discussion maybe six months ago uh a former PV student visited from Europe and while we were having lunch I asked about because I knew he had served as a Schoolboard student rep I asked about that experience it was not positive experience for him according to um his recollection and so I asked why and um it was after the first couple of months the other schools did not provide him with the input that he expected that he was going to have in order to share with the school board um the fact that his vote was advisory and didn't carry any other weight was sometimes frustrating [Music] um and so he said to me it was not a positive experience period so then last week happened last week I attended an lcap um meeting with Representatives that the three that we were outlining the elementary students the junior high students and the senior high students oh my gosh I was so impressed with the amount of um input from all of the student levels um and at the senior high level um well let's in include the uh the middle school too but especially at the senior high level very forthcoming sharing there was certainly no hesitation at all to discuss issues that they chose some of the stuff you prompted them for input on and you know they followed through with that but other things they volunteered in in areas that were of concern to them and um so between that experience and tonight what I was contemplating was using the model that we already have established and you outlined you know how we we do it several times a year and set um guidelines for say a quarterly um Gathering of uh students we do it twice a year now that is correct once in the fall and once in the spring maybe adding another one might you know might be advisable obviously some of the topics that they brought up were not on your list you know what's interesting is when you involve students in what I call a democratic process it empowers them oh yes and they feel free and you know we create we try to create an environment where the students feel free and open to express themselves and their concerns um and uh I I'd like to say that you know we we do that um of course we can always improve we can always make adjustments um but I'd like to say that I think we do a pretty good job they definitely were engaged and involved D and no hesitation whatsoever to share what their issues were as well as responding to what you were asking them to share so here's my suggestion um the process to do the elections the you know all of that other stuff you outlined is arduous and it doesn't guarantee because again as my friend who served as as a board rep uh pointed out there's no guarantee that input from any Source other than the one he was providing was going to reach the board so here's my suggestion is that we on purpose ask at the end of these lcap designed forums asked the um the students to do a um say a bullet point um for input to the board um something simple that can be brought to the board and say Yep this is what came out of the conversation um I think that would um eliminate some of the concerns about student safety you know uh they're on camera it's not Tick Tock but you know something they if they're in person at a board meeting you know it lives on forever um and I I just think it accomplishes what our what our goal is um I certainly feel the input from students was um one of the more valuable things that I um participated in as a board member this last year so that's my suggestion that we have a say three meetings a year use the two lcap ones that we are um already designed to have and then a a third one where the board suggests Maybe um topics for that discussion and and leave it as an open Forum when the students meet with with there were three administrators I think at that meeting and different administrators depending on the grade levels um I don't think we need to get any more um constrained shall I say than that and yet accomplish what we need with which is to hear from students and I know that some of what they brought forward we're not going to have as a topic here but boy was it there were two that were really important to those students so I'm done um in the last couple months have youve been as you've been kind of uh data Gathering and pulling the presentation together I know know that it's been recommended to reach out to Shasta County Office of Ed Shasta Union High School and I think Paradise also as Regional um folks or districts who already have student board members what has been the general feedback that um the district has received from those um programs that have this going now rather than 20 years ago my conversations have revolved around two things they do get one students input I will be very direct that I was looking for more Global input from a wider body of students so they don't have a process from where those students are meeting with a broader range of students and bring Gathering that and bringing that forward yes um that the topics are would need to be directed much like um Mrs Robinson said and then brought forth to the larger audience and have that discussion and then return so um I'm not sure if it's we're we're talking school size differences and different amounts of high schools and so while we uh we able to reach out to Paradise it doesn't necessarily reflect uh the feasibility um and also the um not only the feasibility but the um the data Gathering or the information gathering that we would need at our size of schools right but other districts are doing this that are similar to our districts in the state and we don't really have anecdotal information from them no okay thank you yeah so I think that this came forward from the board um specifically to address I think the need or the identification of of or recognition of the need to have more direct input from students we get the the data that's been gathered and analyzed and put together and packaged really nicely um and it feels sometimes you know synthesized and it would be great to have a a stronger student voice that gives that feedback directly to the board and frankly same from from the staff from teachers and class classified um coming straight from school sites you know there's um I think that there has been a a consistent message that has been conveyed From The Trenches um that the board feels kind of like a a a degree removed from getting that direct feedback besides what we get in our email inboxes which frankly is usually you know Advocate types and that's not always the general consensus or people who you know are just having these conversations in these types of meetings and like the lcat meetings are important but only two happen a year so I think that the the big question is is what what are some solutions that we can move forward with to get that direct student voice and student board members is an official program that has been um it has been uh what's the word I'm looking for uh utilized implemented yeah more or less or um championed is not the word but it'll work um by csba and other you know types of um entities that are Consulting with districts for for that purpose specifically and I'm not saying that like I'm here tonight to definitely move forward with student board members but like what are what are actionable things that we can do to ensure that we are receiving meaningful and genuine feedback authentic feedback from our students especially secondary students middle school and high school to help us drive decision Mak as a as a as a as a board if that is a question that you're asking me uh I would uh it's for the UN go back to the vehicle of student elcap meetings and then utilize that as a way to get information on Direct topics that the school board feels they want input from the students and have those person person oners conversations and and understand and and I always say that you got this is going to sound horrible but you got to go straight to the horse's mouth anything that's secondhand or third hand it can get misconstrued and or misinterpreted the best feedback is that politics Pedro that is politics but the best way to get student information is always to have those conversations with them or to have a student right up here as we were talking seems like you can't get much closer to the horse's mouth than having someone up here so I hear that there is an argument to be made for just having more lcat meetings but if we're just looking for anecdotes from students having a student on the board is a way to do that um and I do think that we need to work really hard to have every one of the items here that especially about ed services that directly affect students I mean we may bringeth up things that students didn't consider before but still will end up having an opinion about um I also wonder about whether students feel like they would benefit from that voice and I would like to um at some point reach out to our high schools and just say hey do you guys think you'd benefit from having a student up there during these discussions as well when we talked to the both um te uh teachers at PB and Chico high they said they could get that information out they would just want to know what the purpose what would you know um I think some of the things that the scope of what what we wanted from them um so they could get that information out talking to Kathleen Bishop who oversees uh the Civic um seal for them she said that we could obviously bring it to the students that are looking for that at both both schools to see if they want to be part of the um part of their civic duty um but they said they would need to know that the scope and of what we would want them to be how they we want them to participate so we could bring it out to see if there was an interest or not they said that they could get that out um but they would just they had just questions you know um when that they share and they're going to have more fors but they said what would be the purpose of role of the student rep to provide feedback to give the polls to the campus provide updates on what's happening on the campus uh would you want updates or what's the pulse of the three different campuses and students importance of having three R reps would you want them to rotate would you want just one three um uh what is the level involvement the board desires of the students and so those are some of the things that they were asking and I said that we would this was a topic on the agenda item and then um if we had more clarification we would bring it back to them and I feel like I need to jump in here because uh I let Pedro answer a question that actually I had information on and that was talking with other districts I do have the opportunity to meet with um other superintendents both in our County and outside and I did bring this up at a recent uh meeting just asked you know how many districts did have them and what the experience was most had them either elected as a specific office um and that was they ran for that office and were elected at their School site or it was part of another office that they ran for most commonly vice vice president their class as be a vice president then part of their duties was to come to board me meetings and be a student board member um when I asked what the experiences were were they positive or not this won't shock anybody it really varied from year to year and it really depended upon the student um that there were some students that were all gung-ho you know they were all in they read all the documents and they were up on it um but there were you know years in between where that was not the cas case and you know when things were heavy reading or not um topics that maybe were of Interest specifically to the students then the participation and attendance waned so um that's probably not a shocker to any of us uh do you know if those particular districts that you talked to had an appointed board member um Mentor for those student board members I just know that that was a the thing at the presentation that I had I'm sorry I did not ask that question I will say I'm just going to keep rolling um I I do think there's a a variety of ways that we can do this you know we we certainly can have a student board member um we can have one from each school because we do have three high schools that attends I mean those are options um we can also look at getting specific input into agenda it items by having uh each of our existing student government classes um each of the schools already have them we could ask that they go through each agenda and submit information to us and if there are items on those agendas that they feel strongly about that they come and present to us that would be one way uh we could go back to something that we did literally a decade ago now um when I was in Jay's position and we would meet me on a monthly basis with our ASB president and vice presidents from each school um and go through very specific at at that point we had a strategic plan and we asked student input on the different points of the Strategic plan uh probably not that different since our elcap is now our strategic plan it was just more frequent and with a set group of students um so there's there's a multitude of ways to go about getting student input so just those are just a couple I'm not seeing any additional questions techical questions for clarification from the board um so Pedro thank you for your time and putting that together um I certainly think that there's more context we could probably dig into if we if the direction was given by the board to you know pursue this idea or these sets of ideas so that we can maybe come to a a a conclusion of what may fit best for the district so you know coming out of this discussion this board probably has the opportunity to to um make a motion or recommend some suggestions of of how to take a next step forward in exploring certain um uh Avenues of getting meaningful student input for um our board meetings I think that the ultimate goal here would be um to get meaningful feedback on items or what they think is important to maybe potentially place on a future item or agenda um for that are coming from the students uh so um you know if we can continue the conversation and brainstorm on on some of those Avenues and and give you Direction um to pursue do that um if that's where we want you to spend your time and energy then then that hopefully will come out of this discussion tonight thank you very much yeah thank you so much thank you thanks Pedro stay close yeah don't go far um with that I don't think we had any public comment signed up for this but I I will ask if anybody has public comment at this point after hearing the presentation um that wants to address the board on this particular topic all right seeing none um is there a particular motion anybody would like to make so that we can have a discussion around thisen thank you madam president um I would move that we um receive a report from the two scheduled lcap student input meetings provided in the form of a summary by administrative staff that have I don't say run but facilitated there we go those meetings can you repeat that please that we request a report from the student input lcap meetings Prov provided in the form of a summary by staff facilitators don't we kind of get that in the in the lcap report like I recall seeing a little box saying students at this meeting said that blah blah blah blah there is yeah you'll get a summary of of what the students say through the elcab who would you say like within a certain time frame you know so and so you know at the next meeting after an elcap student meeting it should be easily well I'm speaking for staff but I think it should be easily provided the meeting following the elcap student input meeting um where's Tina there you are um what I'm looking for because off the top of my head I don't remember how um specific the lcap uh Recreation of the student input meetings is so in the lcap we do list all of the input from elementary students Junior High and high school sometimes they you know we don't put every single entry the student says we find that they oftentimes will say similar things but we we get all of the themes in there oh as well as all of our uh groups that we meet with we include that uh input as well that basically would be what my motion would recreate we don't need now when are they um that would come to us in June right huh that comes to us in June yes and the first sets of meetings are in they were they'll be collected from last fall and into this spring that just happened right so I think that to that point would be that we would we would have received the the first sets of meeting input in the fall before the end of the semester right after those had taken place good good point that it would need to be we wouldn't be waiting six to eight months to see student view back from the fall is that is that kind of where you're going without any yes thank you that that is that point is is pertinent because we don't want to wait the whole year to not knowingly address what the students have told us and after attending those meetings the students tell us a lot I I can I'm still wanting to recreate the energy when Mr Sullivan asked the question at the elementary student input about science and did they want more science I've never seen a group of what was it 37 elementary students respond and M instantly the arms shot up and you knew immediately that that room full of students wanted more science so Eileen can I um just sort of friendly amend your motion because we don't have a second yet to say um that the board would give direction to receive a report from the two sets of student input lcap meetings to provide a summary within four weeks following each set of student meetings I'll accept that as a friendly Amendment okay thank you um I'll I'll I'll second it just so we can discuss and you know see if there's any other direction that we want to go in particular just to move the conversation forward and I would just add that could report could come from staff or um we could ask for student volunteers to come to the board meeting to present that information so that it is clearly coming from them great thanks for clarifying that all right the floor is open for discussion on student input to the board I would just observe that uh the lcap part people uh students who participate in the lcap uh meetings um by definition are are in most cases uh part of a unique you know um demographic or or or just otherwise designated category and not necessarily a generally from our targeted students right they're not they're not sort of like a a broad assessment from the student body they're they're sort of a kind of targeted group of people targeted is a good word to to use because that's the word that the the code actually uses right do you want to provide clarification on not that they said there their perspective is not valuable I mean it is it just should be noted that that I think if we're looking at the IDE the concept if you will of a student board member I think that maybe this person is kind of representative of the of of of the student body as a whole not necessarily a narrow sliver that's part of one of the target categories I can't say that uh a lot of our students are represented many different um I guess for lack of better words right now categories can you repeat repeat that please our students are very representative not just one but many different categories that represent the lcap and others can you name the lcap meetings for me please that student that that use utilize students they were I'm not sure of the question what do you mean by that there are a variety of lccap meetings that occur right can you please name the different Elementary okay Junior High mhm high school and then all dead so for high school elcap meeting it's like hey high schoolers come on come on down we want to hear from you our administrators um what the process goes like this we reach out to our secondary administrators and we say we want a select group of students um that represent um all all these different demographics please send them and that happens at the first one and then we try to get a second set for a different of different group of students for the second one so you said all these different demographics can you fill that out a little more yeah so for example if you are looking for um one specific one I'm going to give you a great example our students fit more than just one bill we have for example Spanish speaking Latino who also D who are also taking AP classes who are also low sces we have bipox students in many different categories um and we have I mean it's and we have white and so we do have a strong representation I don't know if that's what you asking you almost had me thinking that that that it was a general just kind of a cart blanch come on come all but then you did that one little thing you said sort of tip me off no that that we are targeting then we do AC that people over over we're all intermixed yeah okay perfect so to to answer your question um we do have to be I guess purposeful to get a broad range of uh understanding and also representation okay I hope so I would say from my vantage point it's a little bit opaque okay you know uh how somebody gets in the position where there there'd be a special you know mouthpiece to the board look I mean I can take it okay whoever wants to come in here and give me their opinion I'm ready actually it's available to anyone anytime they come anytime and they can give their opinion no matter who they are whether they've been to an lcat meeting or not you know and and I'm totally fine hearing the opinion of some member of the public whether they just walked in or whether they were specifically chosen by administration because they represented a variety of different uh Target categories so thank you okay you're welcome Madam president go ahead please um having been at those meetings I watched as the cars pulled up in the parking lot and the principals got out with their student reps at the elementary level I think there were three to four students per principal that walked in and then after we got um gathered um students introduced themselves and then during the discussion because we were there an hour and a half to talk with these students you had foster children you definitely had representation from every ethnic group um you had and there were the the the principls didn't stay in the room principals dropped their kiddos off and went back to the parking lot in their cars so what you had in that room were all of these kids three administrators and they didn't know the three administrators before they were introduced so you had an amazing representation of all of our kids at the junior high uh same thing you you couldn't have created a more diverse student group same thing at the senior high level you had students that were in honors programs you had AP students you had special ed students you had um bipo students um an athlete two athletes actually that were competing at this at the uh senior high level um the divver University was um a parent and their input was also diverse because of their specific experiences with school with their homes with their programs with their desires for what they wanted to do when they got out of school I mean you name it there was a there was a diverse input back to us from those kids I don't know how you could have gotten it any better I um I is this the time where we're just basically sharing uh Kelly mentioned one idea that um to me I don't know sort of jumped out as um what I think might be a good option and that is the one the idea where um the already existed student body um leadership classes from from all the schools would have the opportunity ahead of time to have access review the agendas and um have the opportunity to come forward and share on topics that may be of more interest to them um I feel like maybe there's such a wide range of topics that I hate to use the term are over their head but quite honestly I mean one year in there's quite a bit on my that I find I'm still learning and it may just not be of interest or um really relatable for them some of the things we're talking about although I think some topics certainly are very interesting and and they um most certainly would have um opinions on so just maybe providing an opportunity um for them to review the agenda um they can be heard um in a designated time in the meeting but then also have the opportunity um respecting their their time commitments to exit when when necessary or when needed to be able to fulfill you know School other school obligations and I mean we could see possibly how that went for a season maybe a year or less and if it was well received and um students were really loving the opportunity I mean it could expand maybe more into a a position um on the board I I don't know that I love the idea of um three students at one time you know I mean at that point um and they're obviously not the majority but it may just change a little bit of the Dynamics that already exist not that I don't want to see change but I just maybe see an opportunity for them to have their their say but also respect their other commitments yeah I think that there's strengths with a lot of different models um you know I like this idea I my cons like I feel like I maybe um aspect of it that might not be as strong is that you may be getting a narrow a narrower representation by just having input from leadership classes you know we may be missing some of those voices from those groups that aren't necessarily represented in a leadership class um and that's that's not a bad thing as long as you're also capturing input from those other student groups so maybe there's a an opportunity for a combination of that we could look at reconfiguring our elcap student input meeting schedule and increase it to three or four and get a another like smattering of of students to make sure we really are getting representation from from all um you know or capture as broad of a a background as we can and I think to the extreme if you know we go from from kind of just making what we're already doing more robust which I think is a a not as heavy as a of a lift right as like implementing a whole student board member position um not that it can't be done but you know a student board member if we had it be one person who maybe was elected across all schools that person just like we are are there to represent their constituents which are the students right so it would be on them and they would need the guidance to be able to hear from their peers from the middle schools and high schools and even elementary schools if possible and be able to know what what um their constituents concerns are on certain topics on the agenda and I think that you know figure navigating that a would be a challenge um but also could be really meaningful so I I excuse me I agree that you know any any of these options are accommod of these um will be more than what we're getting now right so I think that that's kind of um where I'm at right here uh I don't want to cut ourselves short and you know miss an opportunity at this time to get more robust input um I want to make sure that the input we're getting is Meaningful um and that we're setting everybody up for Success so that we're not overburdening any one particular person or staff person um or student um to be able to obtain that information so you know just keeping those things in mind um I I wonder if there's um a secondary motion or if um we want to you know vote on the this initial motion or if there's any changes that we want to make or if we want to add more to the discussion um just to keep it moving along well I did hear uh that our leadership teachers before asking if there was interest in this because again my qu my big concern is do do the students think that the things we're doing are good for students um and I would like to get that feedback from so I think after this I'd like to add a second motion onto this item it's not related to this one about creating that scope document for those leadership teachers gotcha and I I would add to that I think my my interest there would be um to it would be nice with our with our meeting packets to you know have an attachment of student feedback you know on items that matter to them so if they think item 9.2.1 is not really something that care too much about they don't have to spend any time on it but if 9.2.3 is something that's really important for them or they have something to say about it or they have feedback they want to give they can synthesize that in that space and have it attached to the agenda packet for example as as a a potential like way to give input on that point uh you know um how often does a high school student come in here and get up and talk in front of us how often do they know about what we're talking about to well I mean um uh very rarely and the reason why they very rarely know is because um well I mean I've known all manner of young people I have known all manner of high school students including some who you know are are uh Head and Shoulders Above the Rest in terms of their civic engagement and their knowledge of current events and what's going on the a lot of these kids are focused on things that that you know maybe are classically loom in our minds is the things that they're into um and for some of them I know this might shock us uh with our values and priorities that we have up here they are not burying their noses in Schoolboard agendas twice a month you know they're not into it a lot in a lot of cases you know so you know I mean I I'm nominally against this you know I mean like I said I'm always open to hearing what some young person has to say no problem but I think we might be creating a sort of an apparatus that's going to uh I don't know it's just uh we have an open process to the public and and students have shown up here when they've been interested in doing so I just kind of feel like we're uh you going pretty far out of our way here to create an infrastructure whereby somebody might latch on to it and decide that it's a way for them to to to have a platform which is not the end of the world I just I think things are are complex enough around here and there's enough opportunities already for members of the public including our student constituents to be heard Madam president please please free speak freely in this uh I did want to let the board members know that um at all of the Gatherings um Mr Caldera or Mr Sullivan uh let the people know what the the students know what the purpose of their Gathering was that it was about things that were being done for them at their schools because of the money that was awarded by the board through the lcap that provided services for them and then they were asked we want to know what services are working are going well and you don't want us to take them away and what things can you see that aren't being provided for you that you'd like to see happening at your school site so that was the prompt that you know input what's working and what isn't working and if it isn't working give us some ideas of how we could make it better so they did they did provide input along those lines um Eileen could I make another just friendly amendment to your motion and increase the number of um student lcap meetings to three as you had originally recommended or is that too different uh increasing it to three i' asked staff does that work is that a problem I would say like a fall winter and you know early spring yeah not four but you know one in the fall I think would be appropriate but then one in kind of the early you know semester second semester and then maybe even later in the after most of the LC cap has been put together kind of towards the end of the year to get that final like input from students going into the next school year yeah we can we can add we we can speak to them as much as we need to speak to them I mean we ask our administrators to bring them it would have to be a case if you want the same students or different ones each time which we've been doing different ones so we could get multiple um students giving us their input um but we clearly can add more meetings if the board wishes yeah we don't even have to necessarily call them lcap student meetings they just are student input well the one in the fall is just student input um before we used to just do one in the in the spring to get student information but we decided we were going to add another one in the fall um to get more input um so we just it's just a student input meeting okay I don't know if that's if that's necessary now we can maybe talk about it more later too but and I do think if we're going to go this route um and it is truly for I mean obviously ly both staff input but board input then we should have some questions from the board for each of those three meetings that are important that the board wants input on that we can specifically ask and then by all means board members up to two could attend as well if this is the direction which I don't know that it is I would consider increasing and adding an additional meaning a friendly Amendment would support that okay so that makes this that makes this a little bit more robust because it's not just a report at the end of the what we're already doing it's adding a little bit more um to what we're already doing um it's getting more more feedback um three times in the year instead of just to but um yeah I would be happy with that change if we could add that to this motion it's a motion to increase our student input meetings to three and get feedback within four weeks to the board as a summary from those meetings and the caveat of the board will also we also give out three student surveys during them to go to that goes out to all the students during the year three different times during the year too if you guys want that um the information that we get back from those um surveys also to give you guys more clarifications because um um again that's available for the board also okay well I'm I'm not seeing any further discussion from the board so let's just go ahead and vote um we'll start with member Robinson since this was your motion we'll do a Voice vote starting can we repeat the motion please yeah do you want to repeat it or do you want me to say what I think it is we need to have the clerk or secretary you go you go ahead with what's what what you have recorded I think is what's most important yeah and just for clarification it's not a report from each individual student meeting but it can be a a cumulative report from the groups of students right because you don't have just one meeting with those four groups you four meetings of those four representative groups right yeah you don't have a room of elementary school kids and middle school kids and yeah yeah yeah so so it'd be a report that is that is combined of those four not four separate reports three times in the year I've got a point of order um is it uh what's the word germine to this uh agenda item to be talking about uh getting an lcap report as as a as an action item here because I think we were talking about whether to add a new board member a student board member so I think it kind of evolved from uh how to get a student board member to how to get student input and um if we're talking elcap specifically probably not but since we're talking about student input and I think there was the recommendation to not call it not call it elcap but to call it student input meeting I think it ties back to that okay not to nitpick but this says that um potential this is a discussion action item on the agenda potential for adding a Chic Unified School District student board member right and um I'm just and I'm going to assume we're going to get to eventually whether or not we're going to to do that or if there's more information that you need for us to do that no more information to bring back I don't want to nit back you know um I mean it seems like this conversation might be more appropriate if we're going to get an lcap report seems like that might occur under an lcap agenda item not under this one you know yeah I think that the in you know it can be subjective the intent of the student board member is really to get more student input to directly to the board and so this is um a potentially alternative idea to get more student input that's not necessarily NE going full student board member but I also see your point that it may be you know be considered step it's not like somebody's going to sue us over it you know probably yeah and and truly like it to me it doesn't have anything to do with the elap it it is writing the coattails of what we already do for lcap but it's really just to uh make our our input process from students more robust to the board so we're getting more frequent feedback directly from students to the board and seeing as the meetings at least wouldn't take place until next year if we wanted to move this particular motion to a whole new agenda item at our next regular meeting I don't think that would mess anybody's timing up and then we could put in spe I mean if it make you more comfortable if we had a I don't want a nitpick oh I know absolutely but saying it's easier to just put on next agenda and say uh options for getting more student input I don't think we're breaking anybody's time table by doing that it might not matter you know because um I I'm I mean I I'll going give you a preview uh crystal ball here I'm not going to vote for this you know I just uh the lcap thing I mean it's it's the law it's it's a fine institution I think for helping us identify the ways that we need to reach the target categories uh of students um but it's not like it's uh you know um having your finger on the pulse of what the whole of the student body once I also recognize that if we were to handpick you know or or somehow from the student government crowd there you know there's those age-old criticisms of student government and how that comes together you know the words popularity contest come to mind um yeah I mean hey we're living in an imperfect world and there's always going to be flaws in any system we come up with for for hearing from our students I like the uh the mechanisms that are already in place I guess you know and I think they've worked really well I think that when students came in here to talk to us about issues that were important to them I think it was very powerful and I think it it it changed minds and and swayed things so anyway that's kind of just where I'm at so to your point Mr Lando go ahead and send it up now I don't think anybody's going to sue us I just wanted to make a point that we're a little off here so do we want to vote or is there a secondary motion okay we'll start with we'll start with you Miss Robinson Robinson I on the motion that was restated by Erica tennis nay Conan Doby I Lando I all right um thank you we can probably figure out um the logistics around that but um um providing a report sounds kind of nice to hear or see what what's coming out of those in real time or relatively in real time thank you um any any other additional motions for this topic yeah I'm not sure whether it needs to be a motion or not but um I would like to put together or have someone on the board put together that scope document because I really do want to know whether our students think having a board member would be valuable so if I need to move that we that board members work with staff to create a potential scope document for a board member student board member position and I guess I'll make that motion don't it has to be a motion um so let me can I restate that and maybe just add a little bit um so you'd like to direct staff to put together a student board member scope document to present to teachers to get feedback whether or not there's interest in having a student board member from students yes whether or not students are interested yes okay so just for for clarity um let's get it Crystal Clear yeah what would what would go in what particular Parts would be in the scope document well we need to go back to what were the questions Mr marant that uh the leadership teachers want an answers to what's the purpose um what was the purpose role of student provide feedback to give the plls to the campus provide updates on what is happening on campus would you like three different campuses um representative um um if you are going to go three will they rotate or will they come every time what is the level involvement of the board desires of the students so so we would ask those questions of our Student Activities advisers and probably frankly other student groups as well to get input from our students if they would have I'm I'm just confused as to what we're we're doing here yeah are we giving a survey or are we going into certain classes I'm just trying to figure out how we're going to get the input from from the two different high schools and the 4,000 kids I think the way that I'm seeing this and Mr Lando can correct me if I'm wrong is basically we'd be putting together like a one-pager job description of what a student board member is and what's expected of them and how long they serve and how they're selected why we are asking if if if this is something that we want to move forward with and whether or not there is interest from student body to have that go forward yeah and so that's why I'm not sure it needs to be a motion because I'm not sure whether it's we want staff to do that we want to generate and then may present some options to staff or to to the board next time saying hey which of these looks like if we were to have a student board member which what does that look like and thank you that's kind of what I was getting at because there's some key decisions in there that the board would need to make do you want them here for the full time do you want one from each high school or just one um there's a cart horse issue going on here yes there is yes there is and is there going to be some type of criteria grade point average attendance rate grade level those types of things too and we could make someone I mean we can certainly do some drafts for the board to look at I just wanted to be clear what it was that we were doing I don't think it has to be that I don't think it has to be that specific if we're just wanting to gauge how interested students even are to have a representative sitting up here with the rest of us for this really what would that look like we don't have to really lay out the decisions that the board would still need to be would need to make whether or not we would have one or three or you know how they would get selected just what would be a student board member's role if they were sitting up here with the board and ask them them if they have interest in having a representative sit up here with the board don't you think um yeah oh I'm sorry Tom I didn't realize you had the floor I I was just going to inquire because the presentation tonight outlined what the Education Code sets up in the way of framework for student board members so you know we'd have to comply with that it's still I mean that all the things we're talking about are still flexible yeah big it's big if if the student body took the initiative and got 500 signatures from their peers on a petition and brought it to the board and said we want to have a student board member representing us then we would have to comply with that and then we can select we can come up with all of our selection criteria they wouldn't even have to go through an election process if we're the on saying we want this whereas students might turn around and say nobody asked for this um then they would go through the election process um and and select their representative or numbers of representatives if we decided to go that route as a board am I summarizing that well enough okay just repeat what you said um if a student out there in the public right now listening or watching right now was like yes that's 100% for me they could advocate for themselves yes yes a student in our district right now could go and get 500 signatures from their peers and bring it to the board and we would have to comply under Ed code so a motivated individual could find in that very role yes if there's anybody out there listening right now they could make this process a lot more clear-cut for us don't know everybody rush at once but maybe I mean I like to think I I there are students that I worked with that I that we've seen lots of times come to board meetings and and present that that were also in my classroom as students that I think would have been great student board members like they they exist in our district there are amazing students who would be great sitting right up here with us in in these discussions and I think that they would give good insight and feedback to What policies we're making here translate into in the classroom or give us that foresight too like if you make this decision this is how it probably will play out on my campus um there is to that right now because it's late and they don't want to be here right now but if there was some way that they opted into that responsibility or we could get that from them from in in the classroom um you know in a in a happy medium um scenario you know that that would be that would be beneficial I think for for our consideration um I also think you know if if we eventually did go the route of having a student board member it's important to recogn iiz to that they would have the ability or would would right they would have the ability to request an agenda item you know just just like we can they can make a motion to request to agendize um well as a board we have the we the five of us would make the decision whether or not it went on the agenda but I think that that's powerful for students to know that they have and their constituents the students that they that you know they they know that that's their representative can go to them for that so I think there's a lot to still explore there I think that we all probably it sounds like agree that that we could get more input that that we're doing good things but we can make it more robust we can definitely make improvements on what we're already doing and still see if there interest is there right Tom and just for the record I did second Tom's motion um if it's a motion which we hadn't really decided yet but that's why we're discussing it um yeah uh so do what's our what's our path forward here how about I just make it a formal motion and we see if it carries any it doesn't it doesn't that's fine okay um I would like to move to direct staff to create um a couple of more than one sample uh job description for a student board member that we can then forward on to leadership and government teachers at the secondary I'll second it um because I already pretty much seconded it it's um I'm just more than one sample I'm just a little worried about workload um and and timeline so um yeah what's what's the product we're expecting for clarification discussion because I was thinking something way more simple like just one thing to blast out there and see if there's interest something simple to gauge interest yeah we could just we could do just one just because again the idea is just to get something out to students quickly to see if there's interest so can I I will amend my own motion I guess okay to say a sample because again doesn't have to be perfect we can take feedback we get and we can respect the the the considerations and will you or we work with staff to massage that out before I get sent out certainly can I don't want to do any like I don't want to pulling that deliberation away from the board as a whole but happy to look at that just to make sure that whatever they're sending out is going to give us the feedback that we're looking for yeah is that appropriate so the the general thing that we're voting on here without um using all of Mr Lando's words is uh to solicit feedback from students whether or not they're interested by providing some information about what a student board member position would entail yes yeah okay thank you um any further discussion timeline wise monish is that may Workshop is that reasonable for staff okay thank you very much thank you uh Mr Lando would you like to start our voting Lando I Robinson nay okay good tennis nay conen nay I'll be I it fails two to three um any other motions for this item okay hearing none we'll move forward thank you everybody um gosh what are we even on 9.1.2 mtss yeah mtss update on the multi-tiered system of support mtss in chica Unified School District Al righty good evening shifting gears a little bit we've got a crew here behind me to give you an update on our multi-tiered system of supports uh which really in a nutshell supports our students academic achievement as well as their social emotional and behavioral uh which does add to that smoother uh academic achievement that we want for all students I have a question Tina before I get started was the last time we had an mtss update was it a year ago about a yearo yeah Christie um I believe it was spring maybe fall spring or maybe early fall maybe early fall I guess time flies when you're having fun time flies when you're having fun Mr tennis yes we actually have some cool new things though that I want you to pay attention to that she's going to show you because um that we're not in the fallish presentation that have been created quick reminder you've all seen this before what is mtss it's that multi-tiered system of supports it impacts every student every day it's proactive it's preventative and uh it involves all of us all right I'm going to pass this on to Christy bankson she's our district mtss coordinator who works directly with our ele level Junior High and high and high school level teams for her to uh continue this up update all right good evening um so as Cena said when we think about multi-tiered system of supports um you know we are thinking about that from a a large District level and at the school sites I really we really want to emphasize that it's really a team approach so on our school-based intervention teams uh there's a wide range of staff that have a wide range of perspectives um that can bring their knowledge to help support students with the varying needs so that includes our site leads right now we have a uh point2 site lead at every School site um our site administrators the counselors our Wellness counselors Title One teachers um other teachers our educational Specialists um they include our targeted case managers uh speech language Pathologists and our psychologist so really a team approach to looking at uh the data and supporting the students at our school sites uh one of the big pieces that we've really been focusing on this year is using data to uh make decisions and through the platform educ climber which I think we've shared a little bit about before um tonight I'd like to give you just a very quick live example of what that looks like we um so educ climber is a platform that we can um house a lot of information from a variety of other platforms so if we think of like attendance we can get attendance data in there the students academic um growth um and their current academic um standings at um at their school sites and for their grade levels um their behavior social emotional um data points interventions that they're currently receiving and we can also use a combination of um many of those metrics to to look at students in um in different ways to support them so for example one of uh the metrics that our secondary sites have in common this year and I'm going to try to log in very quickly uh one of the common thresholds that we have for all of our secondary sites is something um called academically disengaged so we want to look at students who are coming to school have really great attendance but their academics may not show that so they're coming to school but in this instance they have three or more failing grades so um staff are notified in a variety of ways but um just to show you a live uh demonstration of what this looks like um so I'm going to search so here's all of the students in in our district at a school site level it would just be their School site and at a teacher level they would just see at the elementary level the the students in their class and then at the secondary level students that are in any of their courses or that are rostered to them for any of their courses um so if I am um and if I'm on this team of um our esit team or our intervention teams at our school sites one of the ways that I can look for this this says 23 24 right I thought yeah okay so we can quickly look and see okay who currently is you know in within that threshold who is um coming to school grade attendance but has three or more failing grades so at a school site level this is graded information that we can act on and say okay and then from those variety of perspectives we can say oh I know this or how about we try this or what can we do to support this group or this student um so that's just one quick glimpse of how we can use the data that's coming into educ climber um to support to to support our students um another way that we've uh recently um just done with some of our teacher leadership groups was uh working with them to determine as students go into junior high and high school um using different multiple data points to determine who might benefit from extra support in reading and or math and also who would benefit from being an honors or accelerated math um and then this also allows for that realtime achievement monitoring as you just saw that number will change every time um new data comes in so this week there might be a certain number of student next next week there might be less um so it changes as the data is coming into educ climber um so when we think about our our system of supports um this is a graphic from the state of California where we think of all students what do all students on our campuses get um we know some students need a little bit more than that and we know few students need even more intensified support so on our school side um and we TP we in here and I think uh with you before we refer to them as tier one tier 2 and tier three and so some of our tier one supports uh those are the pieces that every student has access to so um I Exel English and math our academic success classes um Second Step toolbox Ki those are social emotional curriculums that are used at our elementary school sites uh positive behavior inter interventions and supports um are used districtwide um all of our Core Curriculum and coursework is tier one students have access to that um it's our K5 reading and writing instruction and then also you know that's for our students but also um making sure our staff are getting professional development on supporting students so this year we've had Grace Dearborn talk about behavior supports for all students as well as Dr Derek Greenfield um working with staff for bias awareness and then if we think of the next two um uh tiers there isn't a fine there isn't a a direct line between tier two and tier three it's really student dependent and what the student needs um but for academic behavior and social emotional interventions I just put a couple of examples of some of the pieces that we have available for our students um again using that data to inform what intervention might be best to support that student so for academic interventions that might look like a small reading group or small math group at an elementary school site it might include Afterschool tutoring Andor an alternative education program for our Behavior interventions we have um interventions called checkin checkout that's one where we're uh supporting students individual students uh with behavior and really building that connection uh between the student and an adult on on campus as well as we have our behavior intervention and coaching team as well as opportunity classes and then for social emotional interventions we have um uh interventions such as friendship groups or small groups that might have a very specific Focus Andor students might be recommended or get helps um set up with some outside counseling and then as always we're thinking you know this is a very big systemwide process so how do we keep um what what are our next steps and so uh really looking at our tier one practices we think of tier one that's what all of our students have access to and are receiving so really building that Foundation um and some of the the pieces we're looking into our you know bringing um Universal Design for Learning so that is um it's not it's not a curriculum but it's strategies that teachers can use to engage and motivate um students and provide provide different ways for students to respond to engage with the content um for the past couple years we've been doing a lot of work with our tier one literacy instruction in the elementary so continuing on with that again building that foundation so that um we have that nice and strong and then um uh we have some secondary math teachers who are interested and who will actually be going to a um professional development called building things thinking classrooms where it's all about enhancing math engagement thinking and strategies um another next step is continuing to monitor our foster student achievement and their needs we have many resources for them but we know their academics um aren't where we would like them so we want to make sure that we're monitoring and supporting them with the the tools and resources they need so that they can be um successful with their academics as well and then um always a longterm always continuing to refine and support our school sites our process in the district as well as using that data and documenting uh what we're doing to support our students um in educ climber um so thank you that's our update for for this point in the year and if you have any questions uh we're all here to answer and um give you give you our our thoughts um how so building classrooms is that new this year or new going into next year where is that implementation at that's an approach um that a number of our Math teachers have been um pursuing on their own um it's kind of gained popularity in the secondary math World particularly I would say at uh Chico Jr and Chico High um they got started um it was brought to DLC by um some of the uh folks that were already practicing it um one DLC member in particular um and so we um discussed at DLC and we're sending uh a representative from each um secondary site to a conference in the end of June okay so it doesn't trickle down to the elementary level at this point no curious this is not a discussion for here but about what what what math and science is looking like at the elementary level come back to that later but yeah okay thank you reading and writing is great I don't think there's any more questions well thank you so much for allowing us to share some of the updates that um we're continuing to put into place and improve upon always um at our school sites so thank you thank you thank you all right moving on to business services uh 9.2.1 is a discussion action public hearing resolution number 1635 d24 acceptance of the use of State construction grant funding to construct new facilities at Pleasant Valley high school thank you good evening thanks for your time this evening um we actually have two um resolutions and two public hearings uh this evening backtack and they are related to an item that I brought forward last month uh regarding uh new construction pupil grants for the construction project we did at Pleasant Valley High School for the new multi-purpose room and the two culinary arts and Hospitality classrooms that are on the back side of that new building at Pleasant Valley high school so we are pursuing State funding uh in order to leverage our measure K dollars that we're spending on these projects as we work through our master plan um the first resolution in front of you this evening is for the cafeteria multi-purpose uh room in that building and it is a a formality the State Office of Public School construction requires that the board um review and approve a resolution uh seeing that you will utilize K through six pupo grants that are available under new construction eligibility for use at the high school level the first one is um for 19 existing k6 grade level classro classrooms loading them at six pupils beyond the state loading standard the state loading standard is 25 and grades four five and six are 30 to35 already so this is a a formality um in order to uh satisfy the Office of Public School construction for our application for funding are there any questions I don't see any questions for clarification um see seeing no technical questions I'll open the hearing do we have public comment on this resolution I's see no public comment I will close the hearing and with that do we have a motion Madam president I move approval of resolution number 1635 d24 seconded all right we have a motion by Miss Robinson and a second by Mr Lando any further discussion board um seeing none uh we will do a a Voice vote uh you will notice that a member did step out um and so we will have to do a Voice vote as long as she's not present um and it'll just be a a vote with one um one no vote so with that we'll start uh just with you Mr tennis can we put the vote off until the end or does it have to happen now according to the rules I don't um I don't know that it's going to be a short a brief um exit I don't know how long she's going to be if she be back yeah yeah we're okay but thank you for the consideration sure uh tennis I okay Doby I Lando do I Robinson I all right it's four um four yeses um no Nos and one not present um also she Al just said go ahead without her so um but thanks for that and then we'll move on to the next the next item next resolution please thank you so very similar to the resolution that you just approved and this one is for the additional classrooms that are in the same newly constructed building at Pleasant Valley High School for the culinary arts and Hospitality program and again it is requesting the use of the pupil grants at the K through six level to be utilized towards the high school construction uh again it's five existing k6 grade level classrooms with six pupils beyond the state loading standard of of 25 students per classroom which we already are doing so do you have any questions about this resolution all right seeing none I'll open the public hearing the hearing is open do we have public comment on this resolution hearing none I'll close the hearing uh do we have a motion sure I'll move adoption of resolution 16 3624 I'll second that motion we have a motion by Mr T Mr Lando and a second by Miss Robinson uh we'll start our Voice vote with myself this time Dolby i l i Robinson I I all right moving right along thank you so much passes four uh yeses zero Nos and one absent moving right along uh we are on 9.2.3 discussion action resolution 1633 d24 interfund borrowing between funds good evening board um every year we bring a resolution to you that um involves our possibility of being able to interfund borrow um so as a school district we have two different programs the nutrition services program and the California state preschool program that operate outside of our general fund so this resolution just gives us the capability to potentially borrow between funds should the need arise um per Ed code we're required to maintain positive cash balances as of the 3D Monday in April through the end of the year we haven't needed to use this but it's really just there's a a precautionary measure just in case okay simple as that quick told you we didn't know um okay so seeing no technical questions um and it's not a hearing this time so um no further public comment we can move on to a motion did you say you're accepting a motion yes I'm I so moved great I'll second that motion okay we have a motion by Mr tennis and a second by Miss Robinson um any further discussion board fantastic uh we'll start with Mr Lando Lando I Robinson I tennis I I'm gonna obstain perfect H DOL I uh so it's 4 z uh with one abstain um since we just got our fifth board member back in the room fantastic let's move right along thank you so [Applause] much uh 9.3.1 discussion action resolution number 16 34-24 elimination of classified staff due to lack of work for lack of funds is that the right one no did I skip one second interim budget second budget was trying to move us along come on just kidding okay budget go I'm like you're still up there like I'm in the right yeah my bad I'm not talking about layoffs um okay good evening board tonight Jaclyn shes and I are going to present to you second interim budget um so the major themes tonight um funded average daily attendance utilizing um current year data concentration dollars via local control funding formula federal and state grant funding um and a multi year projection including a decrease in Cola all right so this slide shows our actual versus funded average daily attendance using the averaging methodology um you guys are really familiar with this slide at this point oh gosh it's a little funky um so can you see it on your your screens better yeah okay so anyway um I one thing I wanted to point out is at first interim our estimates for 2324 were um 12276 enrollment and 11515 Ada uh using the actual P1 data we ended up a little better than that at uh 2316 enrollment and 11577 Ada and that puts our attendance percentage at 94% which is up from our estimate of 93.8 um so that's good news and we'll talk about financial implications of that later in the presentation okay unduplicated pupil percentage um this is the percentage of students who are either free reduced meal eligible Foster homeless or English Learners um this is how the district receives concentration dollars so the district needs to hit um 55% in a three-year average in order to be eligible for these dollars if you look at the fiscal year history under threeyear average you can see we didn't hit this until 2223 um and if you look to the column on the left of that you can see we hit the peak percentage in 2122 but we've continued to decline so if we continue at um to be below 55% we will no longer receive concentration dollars um and we'll talk about fiscal implications of that as well later okay this slide is just a snapshot of funding from our major grants right now um some years ago most categorical programs got eliminated in favor of local control funding formula so now we're trying we're seeing more and more grants creep back in which is good news for the district um about halfway down you see the covid relief funding that is expiring September 30th of this year so a lot of these other grants were using to um keep the supports in place that we had after covid okay major assumptions um lcff revenues based on the cola of 8.22% um 8.22% is a really high Cola we do not expect to see that in future years um funded Ada again based on current year actual data of 11576 75 and then the unduplicated three-year average is 56.8 7% so 1.87% over that 55% cut off um and salaries and benefits reflect pos position control as of February 1st right I'll turn it over to Sharice uh question the uh average daily attendance that's our current year is 11,576 yes what is that number that is a dollar amount or that is the number quantity so students quantity that's the number of students it is the number of students who attend every single day on average so our enrollment is 12,000 plus but not every student attends every single day so this is roughly 94% of that value it's kind of who's there on a given Dayo yeah yeah yeah is it just it's confusing because of the comma yeah okay okay so this is a comparison of the budget that we brought to you in December otherwise known as first interim and the budget we're presenting tonight um this is our UND or our unrestricted general fund comparison um and this is a summary of all the different categories so I'm going to go into the details of what the differences are between when we spoke with you guys last time okay so this is all of our revenues from the unrestricted general fund side um you can see that there was a change as Marie mentioned um our average daily attendance went up uh since the last time we presented uh that was the biggest swing so that gave us about $400,000 more which is fantastic um and then State revenues increased due to unrestricted Lottery at a higher Ada because of that ADA change as well and then we actually got a lot more interest um a little over a million dollars more than um or or we're anticipating getting a little more than a million dollars more than what we presented to you at first interim um as everyone's seen interest rates are increasing so that's helping us a lot right now and then we also received a one-time eate um payment from um from reimbursements that it uh files for okay so this is a chart yeah sorry guys all of our formats are a little funky tonight um but this is the basic information so uh as you can see on the unrestricted side our local control funding formula that orange part of the pie came at at about 94% um so that average daily attendance our unduplicated count that's what drives that and that is as you can see the majority of our unrestricted general fund dollars okay so this is a compar some of the expenditures that we brought to you at first interim and where we're anticipating Landing now um so the the big differences um were on the certificated Side Lower sick time uh the last few years we've seen an increase in sick time um due to covid and you know just people taking better precautions and staying home more when they're sick um but that seems to be changing this year so it actually dropped from when we did our last budget um as well as unfilled vacancies so we are trying to we're working very closely with ad Services um to just discuss what positions we're going to refill so that we can make sure that we're getting our budgets as tight as possible um and then we also had a little bit of an increase on the books and supplies part um and that was due to Warehouse vehicle uh we had had to replace one um and then as well as it equipment okay and then this is just a pie chart that breaks down the um unrestricted expenditures as well as our special ed contribution so all of the green pie slices add up to about 88% of our general fund unrestricted Budget on the expenditure side and then this one discusses our transfers in from other funds um so we get Redevelopment agency funds that help to fund our um routine restricted maintenance or otherwise known as our maintenance and operations Department um we're an ating that being about 3.7 million this year and then the developer fee admin support that's 3% of the total fee or the total revenue we um collect as a part of our developer fees and then the contributions to restricted programs our special ed contribution went down from the first time or from when we presented to you guys in December uh that's due to a couple different changes we received more revenue from the state and federal um dollars due to our Ada increase so that's fantastic helps to fund our special program a little bit more um and then same thing as I was discussing on the filling vacancies in the other slide so we're working very closely with our special Le Department as well um just so that we have the best information possible for you in the budget all righty and I'm going to pass it over to jacine so this time of the year while it's important to look at the current year budget to make sure we're on track it's really really important to start looking out looking out it next year and even the year after that so so that's why we bring forward to you our multi-year projection so I'm just going to hit a couple of the key assumptions here um our enrollment when we look at the cohorts matriculating through um it looks relatively flat on 12,000 couple increase next year and and the following or couple decrease increase next year and a couple decreases the following year um the big piece here that I want to point out is right now the Department of Finance has the Coler projection at 76% for next year um which is significantly lower than when we here in December um around 2 or 3% uh right now the following year in 2526 it's it's slated to be 2.73 um I don't think it's going to be that much honestly um given the economic um situation with our state and the greater economy so um we'll play that by year and we'll get those calculations from the Department of Finance as we move on um we'll plan accordingly um to know that if we get full funding at 2.73 what one budget looks like and then if it is a lesser amount we can certainly adjust yes thank you will the May Revis um give us any indication as to whether or not that 2.73 is even remotely possible probably not in may they use eight data points in order to determine Cola um so it's usually four from the current year and four from the prior year so we won't have that data quite yet for 25 26 um we are still implementing our transitional kindergarten program prr so we are um looking at one additional class for next year um so we have that in there um as we've talked about with the concentration dollars um last year received a little bit this year received a significant amount of concentration dollars um so we use some of those dollars for professional development um knowing that we're not going to be in a position to receive concentration dollars next year um those dollars related to professional development have been backed out one other major change our retirements typically we estimate about 20 certificated retirements every year um that's been really consistent for many many years um unfortunately this year we are not seeing that um at this point in time so from a budgetary perspective um I reduced that um in our projections so these are the numbers behind that multi-year projection so um we have the current year we have a projected for 2425 as well as the projection for 2526 so I understand there's a lot of numbers on the slide but if the most important is if you look at line four it says net increase or decrease if it's in parentheses um in fund balance um you'll notice that all three of those values are in red and they are have parentheses around them so we are spending more money then we are bringing in um so we have reserves reserves are like a savings account you can dip into them once but you can't dip into them ongoing so when we fast forward to next year and we're looking at about a $2.7 million deficit um Now is really the time to start those conversations and we have been having conversations with ed services um and certainly HR about what can we do to tighten our belt to make sure that we're living within our means and so um that's looking at all aspects of the budget um both people and materials and supplies and services um you'll see it just compact pounds as we go out further into that third year so for every dollar we can save now that's $2 the following year and $3 um the third year so just really important um aspects there so one thing that we are seeing um are the stirs and purs increases or should I say purs increases so at this point in time stirs has not increased the employer contribution so what this means is for every dollar that a stirs member earns the district kicks in 19.1 cents if you will into their pension and for Pur for every dollar um that a Pur employee earns in the current year um would' be 26.68% the ability to um as they look at their actual areial reports of their Investments increase or potentially decrease that percentage so as Sharice alluded to earlier we are seeing higher interest rates at the County Treasury um because of our large cash balance and I will say I am not afraid to have a large cash balance um cash is King cash is what pays our bills so while we may have a reserve that's high we don't always have cash um so it's important to keep cash in the bank um one of the mechanisms that the state legislature um and the governor have um in their back pocket is to do what's called Cash deferrals um which is essentially um checks in the mail so they'll take the money that they owe us for example in May and June and pay us in August and September um we still have staff to pay we still have bills to pay so it's important that we have cash in the bank to be able to do that and essentially float the money until we get our money from the state so it's a mechanism the states used in the past and I would not be surprised if they use that in the future um as a mechanism for um budget reductions so we have to self-certify you guys hear this three times a year have to self-certify positive we'll meet our obligations qualitative we might not qual qualified we may not meet our obligations and negative we will not so I am very happy to say with myself and my team that we um are here presenting a positive budget um for second interm we can make all of our obligations in the current year as well as the two future years so where does that lead us so next steps um we are actively reviewing our enrollment for next year because we're looking at Staffing um to really dial in how many teachers we need how many support staff we need um to really tighten that budget tighten that belt a little bit as we move forward um we're continuing to participate in meetings with head Services related to as we alluded to earlier feedback um from our elcat meetings to figure out what those priorities are um moving forward into 2425 um and I think from from my perspective um waiting for the Governor's budget will be very interesting to see how budget negotiations occur at the state level over the next couple months to see um what is being proposed as as funding or not um going into next year and then we'll be back in June um in collaboration and correlation with the lcap um to provide a budget for the next school year that's all we have for you unless you have additional questions this evening all right seeing no questions um we also have no public comment signed up for this item so we will roll right into uh a motion um I move that we accept this financial report second all right we have a motion by Mr tennis and a second by Mr Lando to accept the second interim budget um we'll do a roll call vote uh we'll start with Mr Lando Lando I Robinson I tennis I Conan I Dolby I thank you for that update um we'll move on to Human Resources 9.3.1 is a discussion action item for resolution number 163 44-24 the elimination of classified staff due to lack of work or lack of funds thank you madam president I'm actually going to introduce uh invite to the podium executive director of classified Human Resources Mike Allen to introduce this uh item good evening board so unfortunately we here in this budget time of you know um tight budgets and um normally we bring our resolutions or our our items and these positions are usually not filled with people but unfortunately this time we have um 12 12 U positions and six of them are filled with people um I've met with these folks very fine folks very nice employees they've done nothing wrong but unfortunately um just in the situation we're in we're looking at at reductions and so um I'm bringing forth this resolution um to eliminate classified staff do do the lack of worker funds we've worked with um you know the union worked with the district we really try to do this um through attrition and um with with not filling positions but at this point we're at a point um where um we're bringing six positions to you that are filled with people um so did you want to did you have something to say have a technical question um what's the um FTE um total for the positions being eliminated oh that is a great question um I did not do the math on that I do believe it I'd have to do some quick math here um I just didn't have the the total with me yeah right around seven two three yeah about seven and a half eight I do believe FTE and next question um are uh you said six positions were vacant and six were not made are the behavior Specialists positions both vacant they are not vacant the instructional PA professional position that is vacant that is vacant so the others are part of the IIA computers that is correct thank you I will say um so the process that goes with this is that um they have rights and they have what we call Tucker rights and with those rights they um go on what we call a re-employment list and that Reemployment list lasts for 39 months if they were to take a uh voluntary demotion or take another uh another position which um we will offer them when they're on the list they will be offered um positions that they are qualified and Order and they are they get preferential um treatment for the before the people from outside and so um with that um they will be offered other employment um with the district and that would increase their time on the re re-employment list to 64 um months yeah 64 months and with that if a job comes open if uh IA computers or behavior specialist position comes open they are the first ones to um receive that that position back um again fine people nice um it's just very unfortunate um Mr alen thank you on on uh the case of a an employee who has not previously served in a lower position yeah um they would have the opportunity to file for unemployment while they're absolutely and actually we will give them a letter to um the Ed office stating that they held this position for so much time and that they um were you know let go due to LS due to lack of funds or lack of work um we'll give them that letter we'll also give them a letter um to Future employees saying that you know explaining the the the layoff process and that they have they were in good standing at at the point um when they were employed with us um so we'll give those that to them and um help them in any way that we can um move forward with future employment I had my mic on for a second for too long and then I forgot I turned it off um with the behavior Specialists are there are there other Behavior interventionalist positions in the district or are those are are those are there more there's only two in the district um so um this is a whole classification that is is being eliminated MH but are there other there other other positions or other staff that are providing behavior um support yes so we do we we have um we have what we call intensive behavior interventionist it's what we call IES and they do um provide Behavior Support okay and uh are those how are there like is there one on each site or there is one on each site um that is the goal there one on each site and they would go inside the classrooms and and support um teachers and students um in terms of collecting data helping them um helping them manage some behaviors in the classroom and giving them the support they need and also helping the um instructional pair of professionals actually helping them gain skills okay how are those positions different from the behavior Specialists position that are on this list that's a that's a great question um well I I know Dr SCH could probably explain this a little bit better than I can um so the behavior Specialists they um they go into the classroom and they do do kind of the same thing they they can um they can collect data they help um teachers with you know behaviors um finding the the cause of the behavior an aedans things like that but then um the behavior Specialists um they can also write Behavior plans um technically I I don't think ours can right now because they're they're not quite certified um so they can't um write Behavior plans but that would be a function of the behavior specialist set that iby would not be able to do and so sorry um so there but there are other staff like certificated teachers that can also write Behavior plans um our school psychologists can can write behavior and so they would work together with and they do they they currently do also and these are our only two Behavior specialists in the whole District that's correct is there um can you just give a like a brief maybe explanation this might be more for M Scala but um about how it came to be that it was determined that those those those positions we could kind of dissolve and rely more on our behav our the behavior interent the other Andes it's kind of confusing and so for just for people out there I this is something that I learned better today I kind of had to grasp this myself so I'm just kind of asking this so that anybody who's listening in or has this concern we can kind of better explain these two positions versus what is still going to be happening in our on our School site all right so um my my understanding and Miss SC could um jump in anytime yeah she can totally is that it's just it's kind of a redundancy so um the behaviorist the behavior Specialists are itinerate and they go everywhere within our new system with IES out at every site um it becomes kind of a a redundancy of that that yeah ex exactly what Mr Allen was saying so um when districts bring in behavioral specialists or bcbas that's the the licensure that they fall under what we're hoping is to alleviate some of the pressure from school psychologists in doing functional behavioral assessments so all of our psychologists are trained in doing those and that is the precursor assessment piece that's required when we're writing behavior intervention plans for really intense difficult behaviors that we're having a hard time um changing over time so the school Psych in order to assist the school psychologist there are behavioral specialists that can come in and work alongside that team to conduct the FBA or the functional behavioral assessment get that piece going support the team and in in putting a behavior intervention in place a behavior intervention plan in place and then moving forward so given that they have kind of that specialty their assistance in coming in helps that process flow fast because that's all that they do and psychologists kind of have multiple responsibilities off campuses so it is a little bit of a redundant piece in that nature so I guess could could we expect this the an impact to be seen for from this or are our psychologists and other staff going to be able to just kind of maintain Uh current practices and and hopefully we won't see any hiccups in in developing those Behavior plans I don't anticipate that we'll see any additional hiccups currently our our psychologists do functional behavioral assessments um we had kind of sized up with adding these positions when we were creating our behavior intervention and coaching team and so you know just trying to figure out and creating that big team and what that was going to look like districtwide now trying to determine um what's in need and the functional behavioral assessments or a requirement that psychologists are already doing so identifying this work as redundant is kind of where we're at thank you thank you y any further questions doesn't look like it thanks for being here Mike thank you we do have public comment on this item fantastic all right so then I will invite up public comment I don't have a a name list in front of me um while you're walking up here I'll give you the little Spiel yeah you get three minutes to speak um you'll see a timer on the board um you'll hear a sound when there's 30 seconds left of your time um you're here to address the board Bo it's nice to know your name and you know what who or what you represent not required but um yeah please feel free to to address the board my name is Cassie kajes and I am here to talk about the behavioral specialist I'm going to try and take emotions out of it because they have saved my sons School future so sorry the behavioral specialists are so different from anybody else that works within our classrooms my son is in a mod severe program he's non-verbal and aggressive um can be aggressive I should say um earlier this year they had talked about sending him to point Quest because of his behaviors which I'm not sure if you guys know okay we're spending a ton of money sending kids to point Quest um there's been multiple kids in his classroom that were talked about being sent the behavioral specialists came and stepped in they made behavioral plans for these kids they trained the staff they trained the teacher and our my son is doing amazing he's having no issues and it's all due to the behavioral specialist and there's many cases out there where this is happening um they again are training the IES the IES don't replace the behavioral specialists we have a iby in our classroom and the behavioral specialists train the iby he did not come up with any of the behavioral plan which by the way is also written into his ie his behavioral plan and his behavioral specialist hours are written into his IEP so what would happen you you're just going to go against the IEPs and take out all the behavioral um our school pyes do not do behavioral plans I have been with Chico Unified my son is in sixth grade and the behavioral specialist is the first one to ever build a behavioral plan and they just we need them there's so important um I just can't stress this enough they've actually saved you guys so much money from not sending kids out to point Quest because of the work they've done so when you're thinking about your budget think about the money they're saving we have two of them they are amazing they are working so hard in all these different classrooms um the classroom my son's in right now hasn't had a teacher all year he is in a mod severe classroom that has had Subs up until about 3 months ago and they stepped in and just totally took over trained staff they're just so important so needed and I just urge you guys to think about that and think about the kids that they've saved from being sent to pain Point Quest building these behavioral plans so sorry for my emotions but this is so important you took a kid from loping off campus every day and having self-injury every day to thriving because of them so please just please thank hello she's going to make me cry um my name is Julia rogov I also have a mild a mod severe student here in this District who has benefited from behavioral specialists and I want you to completely understand that a behavioral specialist and the licensing a um that they hold bcba IES that's a high school diploma do you honestly is a district honestly telling me that a high school diploma can do what a bcba is doing that has spent four six years in College learning school psychologists when you talk about them they don't have the first they know very little about creating Behavior plans they have a large um information about a lot of different topics but when we're talking about Behavior bcbas are the experts like she said if you want to talk about what these people do bcbas have taken my child from banging her head on the floor making herself bleed getting concussions to now thriving in school this is not a high school diploma position this is not something you can just switch out for somebody who doesn't know what they're doing these are vital positions that are saving students lives it's not just we're going to save money which which we will by not sending students off campus cuz you don't have the support you don't have the people in place here in this District to support violent behaviors and that's what you have let's not mince words our students can be violent they can be violent with themselves they can be violent with other students and other teachers and who saves us behavioral specialists it's not high school graduate IES who don't know what they're doing it's not school psychologists who sit behind a desk it's the people in the trenches who are with our students and know what they're doing and know how to mitigate behavior and know how to help our students who are trained in autism who are trained in non-verbal communication that's what you need and once again you're taking the two that support your most severe students the only two that you have out of all the people in this District that you could lay off you take hours what does that say how many other positions are there that there are hundreds of that there's 20 that there's 30 but you take our two that supports students with the most severe behaviors I I I cannot understand how you possibly came up with this list it's not redundant IES cannot do what Behavior Specialists do and neither can school psychologists and if you took a moment to see their licensing you see the training that they needed to go through you see what they had to learn to graduate with these degrees you could not compare that to what na does for my student for every mode student here in this District we need to keep those thank you I have a question for staff um could you kind of explain the relationship between um these uh Behavior Specialists and people going offsite or to another location uh is there something unique in them making that decision to send somebody away Would we not be able to do that is that resource not there and then my second question is are they actually in uh to use your words in the trenches are the they they uh consistently you know day after day with the student um or are they I I got the impression they were kind of in a decision-making role relative to the and a Consulting role but not necessarily right there day in and day out go ahead so I'm going to ask JY as scholet to come up and address that and I'm also going to ask JY to talk about uh the requirements to be a behaviorist as well as how long we've had these positions in place so these positions are new to the district um we've had them for um one for not even a year yet we're just this this school year is the first year for that position the second one we brought in about this time last year so relatively new positions for our district and so when we talk about um I'm sorry can you ask me your question again first on was what's the the relationship between the behavioral specialists and and a student going to another treatment option like um Point uh the name of the school yes okay so we had a really challenging situation in the fall we lost a teacher right away with a a special or sorry an extensive support needs class with our students who have our most intensive needs and so we scrambled and rather than looking at sending students outside of the district to um non-public agency schools um we pulled together our our finest team that we could so I had a project specialist Morgan dar who I pulled her out of that work and she was assigned to that classroom so she was in there all day every day we had um instructional pair of professionals we had both behaviorists in the classroom working with that student under Morgan's Direction ensuring that all of the plans and supports were being provided to meet the needs of those students still in November we were having staff being hurt so the decision was made at that point we had more than given it a lot of time and effort and support to keep students on campus in our communities the decision was made that we needed to move forward with a couple of students who needed more intensive care and see if that made a difference in keeping kids safe and healthy in the classroom so that decision was made um for one student and it has essentially calmed down the rest of the so in that one scenario um that decision could have been made without Behavior Specialists also to send the student away correct um and so for a a certain period of time prior to that decision being made which which in that in that case sounds like it was a it was a solution that people were happy with uh you said for a number of weeks you had both Behavior specialists in that one situation correct and we had them there for sorry to interrupt Matt we had them there for the entire semester so one semester both Behavior Specialists were in with the one student correct and then there were other staff with that one student also so we had four students and we had six to seven staff at all time in order to ensure that that students were safe and supported and that when students needed additional help there was a backup staff MH to ensure that breaks could be taken that if if a student needed to go somewhere that two adults were doing that um just given the level of need of those students which semester was this fall semester this year but the solution that made more people happy was going off site ultimately oh it's not about making anybody happy it's about making decisions about are we starting to see progress in goals are we seeing student Improvement in behavior in safety um and those things were not happening by happy I meant were uh achieving our goals it was more effective in achieving our goals I would say it was more effective in meeting the needs of the child because we were not even though we had put together the best that we could possibly put together on a on a comprehensive campus like that we were not able to keep the to keep that one particular student safe on a regular basis and it was causing difficulty for the other three so I guess it doesn't seem to me like there was a unique role that the behavior Specialists played um ultimately they are highly skilled and they do have additional training and they were using those skills to support this classroom um that there is no doubt about that but using their behaviorist position no they were not thank you you're welcome there was um a lot of comments about um the high School degree and things what additional um training do the I'm going to say it wrong Ipsy Abes get in addition to their high school diploma so in addition to meeting um I'm going to call it wrong because my brain wants to go NB and I know that's not true what is the requirement the minimum requirement competency okay in order to meet they have to meet the compe exam so it is more than just a high school diploma in order to progress to an iby role um there is experience that's required years of experience working with students with disabilities and part of the program is that Gina Peyton meets with our iby staff every single week and they do two hours of training with them every week and so it is a much more intensive role they're learning all of the concepts of supporting Behavior they're learning how to collect data for data management of behavior plans they're learning how to consult and collaborate with other team members so that's what's occurring for our iby staff the the behaviors training does have a college degree and so um school districts don't have a credential for a behavioralist and most frequently um districts hire behavioralists through outside contracts as non-public agencies most often and it's because they have a license called a board certified Behavioral Analyst or bcba license in order to practice fully under that license you have to have all of the college credits completed you have to have the hours of supervision and all of those pieces completed so our folks didn't didn't have all of that completed so that's how they were hired um as District employees this I'm an jump in here and ask a question because I don't know um it might be a question for Mike but do we have a mechanism in place on our classified side that would allow behaviors to get a special ed credential to go back to school we do um so um we have a few programs that one goes to Chico State I think there's four programs that allow um um classified staff to go back and become specialized teachers or teachers so yes we do it's on our website so I just want to clarify um do the people currently in these positions have the full bcba certification no they don't and so we actually contract out with a bcba who supports them yearly um they meet regularly with her and she supports them through any of the aspects that they're still working through and do we have a mechanism in place Mr Allen ory for them to uh to help them get that certification should they desire to do so I'm not sure on that exact uh certification um I know we have it to teaching but I'm not sure about the bcba yeah because bcba doesn't have a credential in the state of California there's not a specific credential for them for that so that's why there's that outside license but if we had someone in house who had that license we would not need to contract out for that we don't have anybody in house who has a bcba finished license I hear that why yes oh I had a question are the um Behavior Specialists currently the ones who are um providing the training for the IES are they the ones who are leading the workshops what you said two hours every week week okay are they the ones who are providing that role no they they don't so they May um step in and help from time to time but the training comes from Gina pton and so Gina creates um some weeks there are online modules that she monitors that they've completed the online work that's required other times it's direct instruction with her um sorry can you clarify for everybody who who Gina pyton is sorry Gina bton is one of our special education coordinators who um coordinates all of the behavior and intervention coaching model um there was a very important question that was raised by one of our speakers um will um removing these positions uh put us in danger of violating IEPs no because this the way that we have our IEPs written we don't have them specified that a bcba is the person providing that service and the way it's written we can have any member on the IEP team providing that support service so it does it wouldn't violate an IEP to change a provider in this case can you clarify just a little bit better for me the timeline again of these two positions the the first be behavioral specialist That's not a true bcba correct um was hired about this time last year so they've been with us for about a year about a year and then the second one was hired after that at the beginning of the school year towards the end of last school year I mean less than a year ago but yes so they were hired during the summer started um at the start of this school year so start of 23 24 and then so March April May June so the first one was in the classroom or was in and out of classrooms doing their role for those first two and a half months of their their position yes um I'm not going to account for summertime but I'd imagine that they were doing something in the summertime um and then in the fall they both were in one classroom doing very important work I'm not going to disc that whatsoever okay that's that's helping me in my timeline now if we didn't have those two people um in those positions in the last year and less than year um where there was a need for that skill set would we just be contracting out with a bcba um through uh through a third party uh or other organization kind of like what you mentioned it depends um part of hiring them was part of an initiative to really expand behavioral intervention and coaching and so it was part of that big team that Gina put get Gina pton put together for us and explained the intention of this is for teams to come together and support teachers coach alongside teachers and support staff on how to effectively support behavior that occurs in the classroom and so that was the original intention of that the or the first behavioral that was hired was brought in kind of at that ground level of creating what would this support system look like for the district and so she and Gina were working very closely in creating that process in the spring of 2023 and then we started this school year with all of the intention to run that process and that program as Gina had defined it and unfortunately found oursel in a situation where we had a classroom with our our students with the most amount of need and that was what we did to try to support behavior and make change that was necessary to keep those students safe and on a comprehensive campus um I don't know this question is a little uncomfortable to ask for me but um because it's March 13th right and March 15th is the deadline that we are legally allowed to do layoffs and M that you can't do that type of thing um so should the board move forward with adopting this resolution as is and and doing away with those two positions laying off those those two people but then then this is not going to happen but in some idealistic world where the governor comes back and says never mind the budget's flush we're good to go our budget's better than what we are anticipating by a long shot we could hypothetic Ally reinstate those positions and those two people would be in line to be offered those positions first absolutely okay right okay if we if we could we could put off this decision if it wasn't for that March 15th that is correct deadline that is a a law okay yeah have ahead sorry I um would a motion be in order I I have not called for one yet because we still have been asking questions questions okay yeah um I'll wait until you're ready okay yeah I thought that we did have more public comment though I do want to keep asking CH questions as well um I'll I'll accept public comment we will um so my son as well is someone that benefited from the work of a bcba Behavior specialist um when we transitioned to Parkview it was really a big struggle and I saw behaviors in him that one we had never seen before and I had never expected to happen with him um and it was it was kind of a dangerous situation um I feel when my kids come to me and they want something that's outside of our budget I never tell them no I tell them let's come up with a plan of how we can be able to afford this how can we make it work I understand there's deadlines that we have to meet and this is probably I don't know who knows how long we've been able to discuss it and look at the budget but I feel a lot of times that's the approach we need to take that I don't necessarily feel happens maybe it's behind the scenes stuff that we as a public don't get to have access access to but I feel that's a really important question to ask yourself how can we make it work is it possible for us to make it work it's never to me I'm I'm of the perspective it's never a flat 100% no there's always wiggle room and there's room for flexibility these Behavior Specialists do play an important role in our schools and it's extremely unfortunate that they are going to be taken away yes there is the opportunity like you mentioned for them to come back and to step into those roles if the budget looks great but what if it doesn't how can we ask ourselves how can we make it work is it possible or are we just going to flat out tell ourselves no I again I feel that's a really important question to ask ourselves because it does benefit so many students across our campuses and the way they Implement my personal experience with our uh Behavior specialist that we worked with was amazing she they even asked me questions that I had never thought of or like even put in any real thought of my son's behaviors and how things were impacting him um so I mean sorry just very SP the moment but that's it is how we can ask ourselves how can we make this work thank you uh Justin kajes my wife spoke earlier about our son Mason um so just to add a little color to the classroom that we were talking about that kind of extreme behaviors um so transitioning from elementary school to middle school is hard for any kid right you can imagine for a non-verbal autistic child another challenge right new environment bigger kids you're learning um the reason those behavioral specialists were in that class the whole semester is because they didn't have a teacher they didn't have AIDS you've got IEPs with one to ones and you have to have people so it it wasn't a design thing I I believe to say okay let's take a specialist and have him here or her here all day every day that was a necessity when you don't have AIDS and you don't have teachers it's it's next person up right um and I I heard a lot about redundancies and uh I struggle with that one a little bit because it's not a redundancy so to to clear up what all of these positions are um you know these behavioral specialists are like your teachers so your teacher is teaching a student when that student learns a criteria learns a skill you don't tell the student to teach the other students and on the same side you don't tell the principal to teach every class so the behavioral specialists right now contrary to what we heard they are the ones teaching the Abes they're in the classroom they're seeing the behaviors every child is unique my son's issues are different than her son's issues or someone else's daughter's issues and so you have to see that in real time understand what it looks like understand what that plan needs to be formulated to make it work you know you don't call a mechanic and just randomly say I think this is what I got going on and my car did this here that time and that and can you can you write me up the plan and I'll fix myself right so if if the plan is to have the school psychologist who probably didn't go in the classroom or Gina is just going to write up a plan and we're all going to execute it that's like saying hey I'm going to read a Google Document and go fix a diesel tomorrow it's not going to happen so I I think we really need to understand the the the specialized role that these two positions play um to to really understand what we're talking about the other piece I I this is more of a question I don't know the systems and processes but do you is there a way to break out the the the computer support and that layoff apart from the two Specialists or they all have to be combined together I guess that's one question um the other one I have is just you brought up a a comment about a dollar becomes $2 becomes $3 are we going to invest in these behavioral specialists to teach AIDS teachers staff and let that compound or after one semester and another two semesters we're just going to say it's out so thank you for the time good evening I actually wasn't going to talk today but I'm actually one of the behavior specialists in the district currently and we worked hand inand with school psychologists with the teachers the teachers are coming to us with behavior questions Behavior concerns we are the ones running the intervention we are coming up with the plans we do contract with the bcba we require a master's degree we're both Master's students we one just finished her degree in December I will be finishing this December and then we set for the board exam in the spring or summer we are in the trenches with these kids we are itinerant we go around to all the schools we work with the parents the psychologist the speech pathologist the OTS we are in it with them if we're serving our students the correct way this is something that the district is dealing with in a serious issue is behavior there has to be somewhere else to make an impact behavior is a huge impact for this District right now we are specialized in this this is what we go to school for we are we can write be the FB we can take the data we can do all these things and do assessments so when it comes to time for for us to sit for the bcba exam yes we will not need to be contracted anymore with a supervisor that oversees our work but for right now oh that's where we're at thank you um I just kind of want to Echo what the speakers before me have said these positions are very important um you can tell from Cassie who is a friend of ours um and we know her personal struggles that she's helped her son overcome this year as a result of these two positions being in place when those positions aren't filled the classrooms can become very um not just disorganized but they can become very um unsafe and it's important that we step back and realize these positions are supporting our most vulnerable population in our school district these are kids that have extensive needs that that need these interventions to be able to remain in the school District by eliminating these positions even for hypothetically a temporary period of time until the funding comes in to rehire them that's still a gap these kids um my son included don't do well with transitions transitions are a huge trigger I know that our kids from the parents that have spoken even just moving from the library to back to their classroom can be disregulated imagine having finally just like Cassie and her husband said finally having the support that their son needs and then pulling the rug out from underneath that imagine the impact that it's going to have on those kids in that classroom even for a temporary period of time can be extremely disregulated and I just urge you to keep that in mind as you make your decision tonight there any other questions from board members I guess I would just um Echo the gentleman who spoke is there options to separate out these as he mentioned like the computers versus the behavior specialist is that even an option yeah okay do you have a question no I'm waiting for you to run the flag up the flag pole okay all right seeing no other questions or public comment I'll call for a motion thank you thank you um Madame President I move that we strike the behavior Specialists positions 41434 and 41435 from the resolution 16 34-24 I'll second that um with the with the assumption that you mean to pass the resolution without those ORD yes that is exactly my intent okay so the motion is to um pass this resolution uh minus the two Behavior specialist positions listed on there um that's what's on the floor now for discussion oh I I'll speak to the motion you know I have been on the board a while and one of the um most um significant issues that we have dealt with over the past number of years is keeping our students and our staff safe while we attempt to um move them along and and and broaden their their skill sets so that they can you know be independent in their school contacts I heard for the first time that we have two positions that are making great Headway toward making that that happen that don't involve sending our students out of district and expand tremendous amounts of dollars to put them in private non-public um circumstances so that's why my motion is coming we have something that's working I want to find a different way of funding it and not lay those positions off in two days all right thank you um first I want to acknowledge the work that staff does there a question about how do we make these decisions um it is never easy to even have to make these lists about about where we might make cuts and we're only even considering this because as we saw in the budget presentation um we need to tighten up everything around our core services and I hear that um that said um I want to Echo what Miss Robinson said in that we hear every year um about both safety in our special education classrooms and about the difficulty of retaining special education teachers and I'm uh concerned about removing more supports from those and having even more of our teachers choose not to come back uh in the special education classification that's hard we already can't fill those positions and I know people already looking I know especially teachers who are looking elsewhere because they feel like we don't support them enough um I also know that when you guys look places to make cuts the mant the Mantra is always make Cuts as far away from students as possible um and I just think I think we missed the mark on that one this time I don't I don't know where else we make cuts to make up the money and the fact that we do need to make cuts and everyone needs to be aware of that like speaking just to the public General we are entering a time when CH unite is going to have to pull back on a lot of things to stay solvent and avoid much worse Cuts in the future so we are going to be making some hard decisions up here um that said I I can't see um a way to to pull these two positions away from the work that they're doing um I would Echo much of what you said I think with um the fact that we have quite a few people who are are leaving um and not wanting to be a part of um or we're having a difficult time uh retaining some of our special ed staff and we have two qualified people who want to be there and are excited about what they do um I did hear the mention of the redundancy so um I wonder if there's like a way that we could and I'm sure they would already they already believe they're maximized um and pushed to their limits but maybe redefining or um considering ways to make it less redundant and maybe have their role be maximized a little bit more and it sounds like maybe with the opportunity with them graduating um we'll have that um within the next year if we end up deciding to keep but anyway just maybe addressing that um redundancy and and expanding their role to make sure we were utilizing them to their fullest potential I'm going to um tail off that because I was thinking similarly um that it may not be when the program is re reaching more of its fully fledged status that this that it it is redundant it may just be that this program hasn't even been in place for a full school year and we haven't been able to even see the potential that that just having two Behavior specialists in District you know building rapport with staffs and students will pay off I think more than what we've even been able to see just what we've heard from tonight um and really just to keep it short it goes back to the concept of our district standing for every student every day and if we get rid of these positions that have made a significant impact even just on one student and it's been more than one but even if it was just one then what are we what are we standing for if we're not if we're not standing for our own our own slogan well the all you know you could be standing for the all not just the one is that a throwback to two years ago um may I speak yeah please so uh I'm going to take a a dissenting view I have spoken to staff and I know that that they're not indifferent to the needs of that student that we're talking about or any of the kids that we're talking about these guys are not like cold calculating uh mathematicians who just sit around you know looking for uh the juiciest piece of uh you know loow hanging fruit that they can snip off of some Branch somewhere um I mean I don't know their whole life story but but uh they're not that you know they've committed their lives to education and the way that you know we all have on some small level and that we pick a a vocation because we we like it and we want to do that um and um I want to thank the staff I want to thank you guys for the difficult decisions that you make day in and day out you know um we are facing tough Economic Times and we're at the like tip of the iceberg of it so U be happy that this vote is going to go your way uh because it sounds to me like a Time's coming when uh when votes are maybe going to not go people's way because we'll been in a more necessary position but I want to ask a bizarre question I heard that uh if if school boards can't figure out how to cut the budget that the state or somebody just sends somebody here and that person just sits there with you and they just cut the budget for you yep so really that's kind of um pretty lame I think and cowardly system because it enables us to just sit up here and say you know oh you're so valuable in that situation it's all so valuable and every single person as staff tries to like send up you know proposed cuts to a budget that's got to get cut we could always have the comfort you know to just sit up here and say well I just can't I can't possibly cut that incredibly valuable thing you know and we can look good and feel good and then we can complain three years from now if some auditor type person is sitting up here with us saying well you got to do this this this and this because uh otherwise your books aren't going to balance and we can just say that's just just you know a totally terrible Injustice that they're that they're making us do that you know and then I I guess somebody could go to sleep at night feeling like they had always stood up for people who deserved you know that service and it wasn't their fault that it got cut you know that's that that seems to be the world that we're living in and I think that exact thing has happened here and that's why Kevin Bola your predecessor actually came to work for Chico Unified School District because he was that person who was here you know making those difficult decisions because nobody else you know had the guts basically to do it you know so why should I stick my neck out now for staff who've just kind of identified what they thought was a a responsible decision to to make that would bring our books into balance over the next few years so or it could be that no one's being a coward and instead we have a principal disagreement um for instance a lot of people have spoken about up the fact that when special ed goes arai it costs us a lot of money shipping students to nps's uh loss suits and uh uh hearings regarding broken IEPs but haven't they thought of that haven't they thought through those sure they have scenarios I'm sure they have yeah yeah I won't belor the point yeah I hear you and I do worry a lot about the expenses we already incur um on the special side and I think that again maybe we are if there's possibility that we're missing the mark in terms of of the overall expense in cutting these down the line as well I think it's a I think it's a premature decision um before we can see how it it it really is run fully fledged I would like to see it for at least another year and then I won't won't be up here anymore but you know if Cuts come harsher and faster then you know we might be right back here and like that's that sucks and that's the reality but I think that at least for me philosophically in an equity stance versus an equality stance I think that you know the handful of students that are going to benefit the most from this are are are worth the struggle that our staff are if this board decides to to um approve this motion um staff's going to have to go back to the drawing board and it's going to be tough and they're going to be a little bit upset about having to rework numbers and everybody is worried about cuts in other places that also are going to impact students but um there has to be Solutions somewhere in my opinion and that's what we're up here for and I'm just going to jump in here for a moment um this is you know obviously not about two individuals or really even um about saying that we don't value or need these positions This truly is we are looking for ways uh to get our budget imbalance but that said absolutely I mean I think everybody we have in this district has value and I need to address something that was said earlier that really bothers me and I just I I need to uh set the record straight here we had some very disparaging comments made about our uh IES and our school psychologist and I just want everyone to know we have outstanding School psychologists we have outstanding individuals that serve in our I positions and um you know I'll stand those up against anybody anywhere and I'm sure we can do exactly the same thing like you said it is a new program so we don't you know we don't know yet how well that is going to work out but I'm I I know these are wonderful people as well we've never heard anything bad about the individuals it is just um is there redundancy that we can eliminate we've heard no from some people we've heard yes I agree that it is you know there's just may be a difference of opinion but I don't want anybody to leave thinking that we don't have fabulous support staff in our IES and our school psychologists they work very very hard every single day with really difficult students thanks for thanks for saying that as I had the same feelings um with that let's move on to the vote um let's start with uh Miss Robinson since it was your motion Robinson I tennis nay Conan I Doby I Lando I okay so the resolution passes uh with the behavior specialist Struck from um the layoff list thank you and thank you everybody for uh being here and speaking tonight including staff um with all these difficult conversations um we have a few items left I could use a break but also could try to power through is there anybody that's like really really needing to take bre and I think we should use our desire for a break as a motivator to move more quickly and ask fewer questions and make fewer comments okay just making sure that nobody's hurting um okay so we are moving along to 9.3 two discussion action resolution number 16 37-24 non- reelection of probationary certificated employees thank you madam president so before you is a resolution it's it's an annual resolution as most of you know by March 15th we need to notify our and and uh any non- reelected probationary staff and as you can see here we have three staff on our non- reelection list who have not submitted resignations hence the the three uh student or uh staff ID numbers um um president uh SN U Charlie Snider isn't still here but I wanted to thank him for the the uh participation the conversations we've been having with staff as we've been making these very difficult decisions um before you as I said um California Education Code 449 29.

and March 23rd at 2 p.m. and 700 p.m. in the auditorium a five act play that covers some of mythology's greatest Stories the drama club after a 4-year Hiatus is full of talented performers who are working hard to present wonderful performances please come to the see this play the library hosted the annual Galileo trial with the advanced European history classes on February 29th they had 38 family members serve as the jury and the students did a wonderful job Jarett krasa bestselling author and illustrator will be visiting ghs on April 2nd he will give a presentation to the entire school on his 2018 National book award finalist graphic Memoir hey kiddo how I lost my mother found my father and dealt with family addiction some students will also be invited to a small reception after the assembly where they will receive a copy of one of the author's books and have it signed um krosa will also speak at Green field public library in the evening and we encourage families to attend if they are interested the program is gener generously funded by the friends of the Greenfield Public Library the opioid task force Massachusetts library Board of Library Commissioners and The Institute of Museum and and Library Services Library Club wrapped up the book to movie series for this year in February they showed It's Kind of a Funny Story and on March 1st they showed are you there God it's me Margaret both of which had a nice mix of ghs students and a community members and attendance they also had a lot of fun on game day and are looking forward to making creations at an upcoming meeting and last but not least our school's trivia club team um attended a show or a competition called as school's match wits and our episode will be filmed uh or was filmed in January and will be airing March 16th at 700 p.m.

21b provides that um they need to be notified prior to March 15 so these are our either probe one or probe two non reels who um did not uh resign you did approve some others uh who were going to be non- reelected however they chose to resign and you approved them on your consent calendar all right any further questions for clarification seeing none public comment hearing none uh I'll ask for a motion I move this resolution I'll second that motion okay we have a motion by Mr tennis and a second by Miss Robinson uh for the uh passage of resolution number 1637 d24 uh any further discussion all right um we'll do a a roll call vote again um we'll start with you Mr tennis tennis ey Conan I Dolby ey Lando I Robinson I it passes unanimously thank you thank you madam president just want to make sure Charlie knew that we thanked him he's back yes you were thanked while you were absent and you were waiting for it all night yeah yep hear you um moving on to 9.4.1 this is under board it's an informational first reading of revised and updated and new board policies so you do have in front of you um board policies that are being revised and updated and this is the first reading on those so uh if there are questions we're happy to answer those but typically the board will take action on these at our next meeting I have a question about some of the language that's in a lot of these and it's a kind of similar language threw out a lot of them and it says like uh oh gosh I should have put a screen of it up here um so I could read it but it was like no books shall ever be removed from the library that describe you someone's contributions or something like that you know obviously it's very specifically drafted by somebody who wants to put a certain kind of book in libraries and make sure it stays there where did that come from legislation there's legislation that actually says it should do this okay okay thanks yeah just for further clarification these board policies were updated this is like a csba standard update that most districts are are getting because of new legislation that has been passed in the well sometimes it's new legislation other times it's like case law somewhere but but you know I deserve to be able to ask I'm not I'm not I'm not you're like all putting me down I have to use the bathroom and I really don't appreciate you making this last any longer okay fantastic um it is a first reading um obviously we've perused it a bit we have another few weeks to look over it further before I have to um and then uh it'll come back next meeting for us to approve next next meeting Adam president yes I would just encourage everybody to read all of the because there is a lot in what's being submitted yes I um it's a lot a lot to read and so my my method is to look for the red changes read those and if I'm if it pequs my interest I'll read more context around it and move right along thank you um okay next is items from the floor and that's another opportunity just to address the board if there's anything else that anybody wants to say that's not on the agenda no NOP I think everybody here has been able to say their piece tonight fantastic um next is 11.1 this is under board member request to agendize item um discussion action board member requests to agendize a discussion regarding limitations on cell phones at school uh so um I floated this out um on the the um interwebs about a week and a half ago um yeah there's one uh parents web page that's really the gold standard of what do parents want to need in Chico Unified uh and I floated it there and uh there was now there were some uh like you know the social media equivalent of raised eyebrows like oh are you sure you think you can take this on etc etc and some some some good questions but not a single thumb down on any from anyone and there were many many many many many thumb UPS uh all the feedback that I've had on this has been basically neutral or extremely positive you know there's a few neutrals there are many many extremely positive uh parents I haven't had any any letters from any students thanking me for bringing this forward and and at this time but um would there be challenges associated with such a policy absolutely um but you've already had we don't normally get email uh in favor of something at this stage when it's just being put on the agenda so I think that this at this stage of the game anyway kind of sells itself that we should have a discussion about this uh for action in the future not in the not distant future because it will take some time to implement yes Eileen Robinson um thank you Mr tennis I'm looking again at where exactly are we on this process because I have had in put from students we are we are in the process deciding deciding if we're going to put it on the agenda on the agenda okay then I'll be quiet so I move that we put this uh on the agenda a future agenda I second oh oh I was going to Second as a discussion action item to clarify absolutely I I I I'm I also project for you all that I'm going to take a pretty hard line on this I actually think we need to get cell phones out of classrooms in in in a pretty big way right so we have a motion and a second a motion by Mr tennis and a second by Miss conin and um let's do a roll call vote starting with Mr tennis tennis ey Conan I Doby I Ando i Robinson I fantastic all right we will get to it out yeah all you guys thank you thank you yeah uh yeah I think special meeting next week please um is the is is the regular meeting for April would that be an acceptable time frame a month a month away the regular meeting uh it really depends on how much staff time that needs to go into this and I and I really don't have a feel for that at all in terms of what kind of research that you want to come back to yeah I mean I think that part of this would be um just you could jump into but fiscal implications for some kind of implementation if there are any associated with with um cell phone policies and what to what degree we could potentially Implement that let me tell you something it's been I've been informed that Mr Gunderson at Chico Jr has a lot of firsthand knowledge of one uh intervention let's just say method and he's actually from what I understand he has actually some experience dealing with this uh so you might consult with him I would ask that you would consult with him on it um I think there's a couple of uh really valuable uh media articles one that was in um uh I'm going to pull them up and I'm going to share them I'm not going to inform you on how to do this but I'm going to give you just some resources that I've been made aware of yeah yes I want say San mato I think do you feel like there's enough direction from the board at this time Mr tennis were you because you said classrooms or do you mean schools I'm open to schools okay I think that's unusual I think that's more unusual but uh but I'm open to it okay I just want to know yeah and I think that that will be a good part of the discussion for us to have is is what does it look like at the site level or if it was going to be District wider that's part of that discussion um a motion to adour what this regards what to direct staff to do adjust FYI this was one of the topics that the students brought to us at the lcap meetings they are interested in seeing the same thing so I would suggest we asked the students for some suggestions on how to accomplish this they've got ideas thanks e motion to adjourn still Mo thank you your

on NE PM it was an exciting game and the second year of gs's participation after not having a team for a number of years so we hope everybody watches to support um that concludes the report but if you have any questions we'd be more than happy to answer any questions for our student Representatives please Stacy member ston thanks uh first I just want to say that we are all so incredibly proud of you all not just the two of you but all of the students that you're representing uh through your report uh I did want to I just was wondering what was the nature what what was the workshop that's you mentioned that seven students did a workshop what was that about um so I one of them I can't speak to because I wasn't there and I didn't get a chance to attend as a ghs student um the other one I did help run um and so as a whole the State student council is called masc and we have a theme every year um this year was mcar so it was a little plan words but this uh Workshop that we ran was called assembling your pit crew so it was about finding people at the conference who you could work well with finding a good group of collaborative leaders and it was really about um solving manyi challenges like we had them um use like strings and rubber bands to make cup towers and all sorts of like little bonding um tasks to bring people together and develop communication strategies and develop their General leadership skills awesome thank you um just one more thing and this is uh like nothing too serious but I don't understand what a creation is and I do want to caution you that in certain C schol that word is actually a slur an ablest one so just be mindful in forward moving forward with your language and maybe pick a better word that tells us what exactly that actually is um could you highlight in what section that is just so under Library Club it's in the very last line gotcha I I appreciate that um yeah I did not know that and I didn't know that was included so I will definitely um keep that in mind in the future thank you yeah absolutely thank you other questions or comments for our student reps yes mayor dorer I probably should know this but what is um the schools match wits um what like I I just don't know anything about that yeah that's okay um so as school's match wits is a um trivia competition throughout um largely Western Massachusetts um high schools that choose to participate have teams of for students that go and play against each other um it's in it's hosted at Westfield State University so you go with your group you participate and then the top I believe it's eight scoring teams move on to the next rounds in advance um and it's televised down any PM it's so that's where we could find it if we want yeah um it's similar to like a Jeopardy structure and um yeah it's online if you miss the Airing you can always find it there okay thank you any other questions thank you very much I um inadvertently skipped over the public comment section is there anyone here um in person who has public comment I don't see any but there is someone online let me see um I see someone online are you interested in making public comment if so come off mute okay um I guess we have no public comment tonight and now we'll move on to reports of the administration and um the superintendent has the business manager's report as well as her own there you go I was just gonna steal Mrs Pat notes so um thank you I have a brief budget update at this point we have had meetings with the special education department to review tuition and contracted service expenses and in the upcoming months we will be doing budget transfers to address needs and we will close out um any purchase orders that no longer required some of the transfers because I'm sure those are coming that questions coming some of the transfers are from potentially staff lines into contracted services for psychological evaluations um that's one of the primary things that would um be relevant there we um Karen and I and Andy have also um been looking at the needs from the technology standpoint we've met with John gamaldi the tech director um to review the technology purchases that's primarily coming out of the last of the eer Grant I believe I've mentioned that previously so we'll be processing those um in the upcoming weeks the revolving accounts will have expenses charged at year end I and preschool tuition we still have close to 50% of revenues to be collected so we expect the deficit showing on that line to be addressed when we get those um revenues and then in Grants the special ed Grant was approved thankfully so those funds will begin to be released and the offsets addressed so we are at typical operations at this time of the year we're beginning to look at the open purchase orders we'll be following up with vendors whose invoices are slow to come we'll be estimating expenses in some of our yearlong purchase orders many times we do what's called um having an open po so things like our buildings and grounds if we will have purchases throughout the year for example with one of our local hardware stores that our maintenance folks might need we allocate a certain amount of money and we have an open purchase order and then any charges related to that are charged against that open po so we start to look at how much is remaining and the time left in the school year and start to um talk about releasing funds back into the available budget so the committee who's been on may remember at this point of the year the budget the account start start to fluctuate quite a bit it'll be negative and positive and negative and so that is all normal operations so please expect that as we go into the next couple of months and you want me to re explain the open po or you're good um no but okay so when we have an expense that we know will be across the year I'll use um special education tuitions that's the easiest um example I think we don't just charge we the school department works on um incumbrances so any expense even if it's 50 cents we require a requisition and then once the requisition is approved by all the layers of approval um we then generate a purchase order that encumbers funds so it takes it out of the available balance and sort of puts it in a to be used column you'll see that on your budget reports it's incumbrances so you can see of those lines what we're expecting to utilize out of those funds tuitions this is a a great example let's say for example we know a student's tuition for the year will be 50,000 I'm making up numbers we encumber the whole amount because we know we expect to spend that each month when the bud when the bill comes in we just reduce that it's like taking it out of of a savings account that we have put aside for that one expense if at some point that student were to move and we don't need that money held anymore we we would have to release it back to the available balance so the same holds for any other expense that we know we know across the course of the Year our maintenance folks will need a variety of small tools and nuts and bolts and other things that I don't know what to do with um so we do a purchase order for Home Depot or aishan Hardware or or Lowe's or whatever vendor we will use say for $100 they can go give us the bill we charge it against that money that we know was set aside for that expense at this time of year we start to look at did we overestimate how much we might use did we underestimate how much how much we might use and we look at how much of the year is left and then we make adjustments to what's encumbered and if we thought if we put a $1100 aside for hardware and we've only spent 20 to this point I would say to Mr budro you're holding too much money available for Nuts and Bolts Etc so let's reduce that PO and that money goes back into the column that shows remaining balance or available funds is that any better yes but I'm going to just Bel labor this for a minute because I'm getting to the end where I am and I had another question so we have a different procedure than you do and I just didn't have the time to pick up to call you pick about to call you but so when our budget ends at the end of the year we close it out with this the the state and then it anything that's left can't be moved to the next year we don't move things to the next year we just put it back into the available budget the local or the grant that it's coming from so we don't move between years we take money out of this budget so if there were $500,000 budgeted for special ed tuitions and we know the five places where students are going we say we know we're going to spend 50,000 for this one so we do a purchase order 50,000 for this one we do a purchase order and so on and so on so we know how much of the money budgeted we have sort of spoken for if something changes and that money is is no longer spoken for it just goes back into the available budget for the current year okay I feel like I should take that offline with you so everyone else absolutely happy to give even specific examples that might help I don't want to take everybody I have a soup analogy if it's helpful but if you were like having some friends over for soup for for the night and that you knew someone was coming you wanted to set that a bowl of soup aside for that so you you so not everyone can eat that soup it's set aside that's like if you were to encumber it but then if you found out your friend wasn't coming after all you put the soup back in the pot so you can share it with whoever but it still has to be eaten by the end of the night but someone else can have the soup that was a really good analogy in my opinion that was a really good analogy well I don't know from the mayor's expression I'm not so sure but that was no no I feel like I take that offline because I'd be taking everyone else's time for that but it is a very different path that you have than what we do and and so I'm just wrapping my brain around that and I will not a problem you let me know but it is different than the city's process thank thank you I'll I'll be giving you a jingle okay so normal operations at this time of the year and I just want to reiterate you will see funds moving up and down in different budget lines don't be alarmed it is normal expected procedure at this stage okay any other questions about the business manager update all right Karen love to hear from you thank you uh first our update on professional development the administrative team spent um most of yesterday with members from the Des ssos team along with the teaching lab and we were given professional development on our next instructional strategy which is scaffolding and checking for understanding the administrative team uh principles in their buildings will deliver the professional development in two sessions to their staff March 27th and April 10th next Friday uh we do have a half day and for the high school they have a half day of professional development they'll be engaging again with the teaching lab and our Math teachers will continue their ongoing professional development with illustrative math some curriculum updates um just really want to thank the high school history department for uh really taking on and expanding students opportunities to engage in Civic experiences this year um Rebecca Zimmerman our eighth grade history teacher has organized a field trip for eighth graders they'll be going to Old sturb Village on April 10th and they're going to attend the recreation of an 1830s town meeting and the kids will really get to engage in a town meeting from theast so they're looking forward to that uh Luke Martin in the fall uh organized a trip for US1 and aush students to Boston they went to Lexington and Concord they walked parts of the battle Road they took a tour of a Battleground at Northbridge they went to the Freedom Trail Old North Church Paul Rivier house faniel Hall and the old state house and I always love to include pictures for you all to just see uh the joy and excitement that our kids get from leaving campus and really experiencing life outside of Greenfield so I included a few photos from their Excursion last fall curriculum mapping um Ela um teachers at grades K and four are going to begin reviewing the draft Curriculum maps that we have uh completed thus far and they're going to tackle that they started today at a faculty meeting and are going to be working on that through collaboration I really want to thank um the curriculum mapping folks Margaret Rancourt heatherbell Missy art Brian Tucker um they've been really working hard on that so they've done a lot of good work and Matt cek has been working hard on the music Curriculum maps we also started a science curriculum group and we had our first meeting last week because we are going to begin the process of vetting highquality instructional materials for grades six through 8 as well as biology and physics so that was our opening session and we have a professional development meeting with opsed which are the free science resources from desie uh in two weeks so that's exciting um per the policy you need a yearly homeschool update so I wanted to provide you with some homeschool information we currently have 116 active homeschool files um we had 147 this time last year so those have decreased um there are some that are inactive and incomplete and uh Miss Tower my admin assistant Works weekly on just trying to connect with families to see if they actually still live in Green Field or if their students have transferred and um we try to keep following up on that so that we know where these kids are four of those families re-enrolled in Greenfield Public Schools one in grade two one in grade six and two in grade8 and then you'll see five students actually aged out and 19 we have confirmation that they relocated to either a surrounding School area or another state and then last but not least um my February uh break our interventionist in title one always try to provide activities that engage students in reading and math challenges and they do lots of prizes and giveaways when they come back after the week of vacation when they've completed those challenges and the title one interventionists love to share their happy winners when they give away books and math games um so I included some photos from the Middle School Federal Street and Newton for you to just see all of the happy children winning their prizes because they did a lot of hard work over February break and that's it thank you uh superintendent and then we can get questions for both of you okay just a few updates I'm very pleased to share that Sarah Crawford has returned to Greenfield as an assistant director of pupil Services she was here with us prior and has returned already um a few hours a week as she transitions out of her current position in another district and she'll join us full-time after the April Break um I'm also pleased to welcome our new assistant superintendent but Karen appropriately shared her remarks and um I want to share just with the committee that staff turnover is a very typical expected part of operations in a school um compounded with the fact that there are Staffing challenges in all types of industry and employment at this point this time of year is not surprising to see turnover and it will continue all the way through the start of the next school year so I just want to encourage the committee to not get too um discouraged or to read anything other than it is normal for people to leave one employer and to join another and for staff who leaves us you know many positions we are filling with someone who we have gained from another District so um I just want to I guess reind everybody that it is normal operations for staff turnover um the other part of our normal operating procedure is that very shortly around the April break we will be posting for all the positions that are open such as perfect example our school psychologist positions have been open for several years we will post those we will post any position that has been filled by a substitute for the bulk of this year and then the other place that we do need to post as anticipated openings are any positions that are held by a staff person whose license is scheduled to expire prior to the start of next school year most of those positions will be maintained by the current employees in them I don't want that to be alarming to people and think we're losing you know 30 people um but I do need to go through the same process we've gone through for the past couple of years so please do not be alarmed should you see a number of postings um we we will be fine with our staffing as much as we're fine with our staffing at any other time so um I'll provide updates to this committee as we go in the next few months with regard to the Staffing piece we do however continue to need instructional assistance across all levels so if you know anybody who's interested in being an instructional assistant as well as substitute teachers and substitute IAS we would love for anyone interested to check out School spring check out the link on our our website for employment or contact my office and we'd be very happy to talk with you about um available spaces so the next thing kindergarten registration is happening we have done um building specific registration evenings at each of our three elementary schools our current registration numbers are higher than they were at this point last year so we don't know if that's going to mean a higher than anticipated enrollment or if we are just getting folks who want to enroll their students earlier but if you know anyone who will be five by September 1st please encourage them to call us early there is a screening date in April and we would love for all of our kindergarten students to be registered by then so they can get screened I will not rehash the college in career fair other than to thank Mr Bostrom again and also to mention that he shared that Tammy silk the administrative assistant the guidance Department was very helpful in coordinating all of the college fair so thank you to them both the Greenfield Middle School students participated in a penny wars fundraiser in collaboration with the PTO they raised $3,138 $62 cents which I thought was rather impressive and they donated it to um Shriner's Hospital Franklin County Sheriff's Sheriff's Office Regional dog shelter and Community Action and I had a typo I put communication I'll fix that repost my report um so we greatly appreciate the time and effort of everyone who contributed including Anna Marfa and Caitlyn Wilkins of our Middle School staff the budget at this point I have submitted the oneline budget request from the school committee to the mayor's office in an official memo and now we just wait for the next steps from the mayor's office and city council mobile dentists that's been in these um par updates weekly for a while and going out from buildings has unfortunately needed to be cancelled because of staffing issues at the dental practice that deals with that so if I get any updates I will share them the eclipse you may or may not have heard we're going to have an eclipse it's quite the topic it's on April 8th and unfortunately despite our greatest hopes that we could change the time of the eclipse it will be our dismissal will be during the eclipse so we have ordered eclipse glasses for all staff and students and sharing that because you may or may not know it is definitely contraindicated to look directly at an eclipse without the appropriate glasses so we will be sharing information I will share it with families through my updates it will be on the website we will have it sent out from the school news letters and we will do some education with our students in the days just prior and they will all be given eclipse glasses prior to departure on April 8th so that they can wear them for dismissal and hopefully wear them for dismissal so we would certainly ask parents to encourage the kids to participate in that um that's it thank you on the eclipse questions for the superintendent or the assistant superintendent not seeing any oh you do great I I know what it was I had a question for um uh assistant superintendent um on the The Homeschool updates um what is I just don't know this do we like watch over how they're progressing kids that are being schooled at home and I probably should know that but I don't they have to submit a year-end report at the end of the year and then we review that before their next year's H School application is approved thank you I just didn't know how that worked other questions Brady um regarding kindergarten registration there will be some Outreach to the um homeless families at the yeah I have a we have been um as a matter of fact I was in communication with them this morning um I participate in a weekly meeting with service net other community providers um our legislators regarding any change any programs or supports available and that has been something we're coordinating with them sending us they are um Gathering a list of students who will be kindergarten appropriate um age appropriate and then we will send staff to the days in to facilitate what we hope will be an organized kindergarten registration but yes we've been thank you you're welcome other questions seeing none thank you very much for your reports let's bring it back to my agenda here all right we are moving on to the consent agenda I believe see okay um we'll make a motion for the full consent agenda any member can take out an item one item I will take out is the approval of minutes for January 22nd as though you those were not included in your packet so but we'll start first with a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented so moved a motion for member Martini a second second second from Member Den um is there any item that anyone would like to remove from the consent agenda besides those minutes okay uh any discussion on the consent agenda okay um all in favor of approving the consent agenda as presented with the exception of the January 22nd minutes say I I I I motion carries unanimously we'll move on to school committee reports I do not have a report um budget and finance do you have a report no okay um as chair of the policy and program subcommittee um I'll say that um so oh me yes did we oh um those were all included in the consent agenda I believe yeah um great so um yes so uh just a little overview um uh many members of this staff and the administration and um member PRI worked hard on uh developing a a wellness program uh program is separate from policy work it's basically uh the way this the superintendent and the administration decide to um implement the policies of the um committee and in alignment with laws and other best practices um so um you know normally when we have a policy we have a first and second reading um this is not a policy see this is essentially a a vote of to endorse the the program um as the superintendent has presented it to us um and so it's basically our way of saying uh we we really support the the work that you're doing and we see the thought and time that you and others put into creating this and um we've got your back so uh that's essentially what so may I have a motion to endorse the wellness program as presented so moved is there a second second all right a motion by member Charles and a second by member Martini uh superintendent anything you want to say no other than thank you and I will attach a link in the upcoming parent update so that the community can read the wellness program as a whole and then we'll um we will implement but but thank you any other questions uh or comments from the committee about the wellness program all right let's uh have a vote um all in favor of endorsing the wellness program I I I motion carries unanimously thank you you're welcome um there wasn't a meeting of the executive subcommittee um redistricting and reorganizing I'm glad we saved time on the others cuz this one might take a few minutes um we do have an update so we did meet the last time we met was February 21st um and just as a reminder for the community there are sort of two main matters right now under the consideration of the this uh subcommittee one of them is to do with Green River School which we have heard from some community members about which is great continue to send us your thoughts um and then the second is really to implement or continue to carry out and work through the sort of follow-on decisions that need to get made as a result of the vote that that occurred related to redistricting um so I'm going to give updates on both of those items first on the The Green River School Dr DeBarge is diligently working through all of the administrative hurdles that it takes to do anything with a school building and so we're sort of actively working to even get ourselves to the point of a process process where we can have a conversation about what we're going to do so we're getting ourselves set um but to the best of my knowledge there's like one more thing like you're like we're getting really close to being able to have a good Community oriented discussion about what to do with that building and understanding what that means um for for the town the second related to carrying out the vote we had um a discussion related to whether or not uh and this is um so you might remember um under redistricting there were also sort of two key issues that played there one was related to school choice which we handled that decision is done the other which still sort of remains on our plate is about redrawing the actual District boundaries and sort of shuffling students across the schools um and so the sort of decision that we were coming to and were asked to make a recommendation to the full committee about um was allowing students to age out of the school that they are in um when the when the lines are redrawn and I will just say this right now it was a um a unanimous yes recommendation to the full committee for a motion to to do this to allow the age out um mostly because it mirrors the way that we the the way that we set up the policy for school choice allowing students to currently age out of the the school that they are in um there is another um matter related to that uh about transportation for those students and we were actively awaiting information from our transportation people which we have gotten and we will discuss in a Tob scheduled uh next subcommittee meeting but that's sort of where we're at with that I would say the the main item uh for consideration tonight for the main body um is that we have made a motion in the subcommittee to recommend to the full committee to allow students to age out of their school of origin after redrawing the lines and that was unanimous so now I think we need to have a vote here in the full committee um assum you know barring discussion about that okay thank you for that um I am coordinating something with our our Council about our executive session item that's happening later and I need to get on the phone with him so I think we need to call a brief recess before we can take that up um um I don't know do we need a motion to have a recess or can can we just call a five minute recess yes mayor D I believe you can recall it and if if no one objects it's okay that's what we do five minute recess [Music] a [Music] a [Music] a [Music] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] he [Music] a [Music] okay we are back from our recess thank you very much um member ston sorry about that if you wouldn't mind um bringing us back to where we were yeah no worries um where we were was we at the subcommittee level had unanimously made a motion to recommend that the full committee make a motion to allow students to age out of their current School regardless of the school that they would go to when the lines when the district boundaries are redrawn okay thank you for that um and um let's see superintendent did you were you aware of that that motion at all or okay I'm sorry if I look surprised absolutely we were we were in agreement with um I was in agreement that that is in fact what came out of the redistricting meeting yes great okay I'm sorry if I looked surprised no no no that's okay I'm just checking um so um so why don't we have a motion and then we can discuss so um can you state the motion for us yes uh I would motion that we allow students to age out of the school that they are currently in regardless of the school that they would be assigned after the redrawing of B School boundaries within the district thank you is there a second seconded okay so the motion is from Member seon the second is from Member child's and Susan were you able to get that can you read me what you've got when School boundary lines are redrawn maybe we should be specific with this in in Fall 2024 five 25 right yes and actually would it be okay if we said the school they are in at the time yes is that okay yeah okay such uh sorry yeah okay so let's that they are in at no at the at yes that they will be in at the time that District boundaries are redrawn I think we did it and thank you for bearing with us uh Susan I really appreciate it um all right so we have the motion in the second um I guess superintendent can you talk about what the implications of that motion would be for us the um the students who are in the schools where they they're already in the schools so they're remaining in those schools we don't anticipate would have any impact on class sizes because that's who's being factored into that's who's in the schools currently um the piece that would be um that would need to be addressed by families is no different for students in that situation than are in the intradistrict situation where incoming students would be enrolled in the student applicable to their boundary location so for example if a third grade student is in Federal Street and when the lines are redrawn their address would then go to Newton I don't know this is just an example um they could choose their family could choose for that third grader to stay in age out of Federal Street but if there is a younger sibling that younger sibling would need to enroll in Newton so families could have students in two different schools but that is no different than the situation with students who are um at schools through intradistrict Choice their siblings who may be looking to enroll in kindergarten currently are not allowed or not able to enroll in a school other than the one that they would enroll into because of their address so we already have families who may be split so this is a consistent consequence of that decision um it would address the concerns that families certainly could have about changes needing to take effect it could impact students who have only been in a building for one year and then having to change so quickly or students who've been in a school for multiple four or five years and then having to change with just that one year left so this does in fact give families some Choice um certainly if a family has older siblings in one school and the younger sibling is needing to enroll in a different School the older students could certainly be brought over to the school where younger sibling is now enrolling so that there is flexibility but um that I think that was just a decision that the school committee needs to make in terms of do you sort of have the same structures in place for intradistrict and for those who would be moving because of geographic changes in the district the piece that we need to still follow up on is the um busing the one piece that um the bus company did say is that and I'm GNA look at Karen they could do this yes yes I know I'm checking I'm checking um working we have to double check before we say thanks um because mcus did indicate that we could continue to bus students even if they have even if they are remaining in their school that of origin I will say rather than electing to move into the school that is their new school by redrawn lines um so that was an option discussed at the subcommittee because um they were those students get busted and we the district would be making a choice that required a change so therefore um this discussion was would that be something the committee would want to do in continuing to offer Transportation until they aged out unless they were within the walking range and then certainly they would continue to be within walking you know if they were still if they were a walker they may still be a walker depending on the address that wasn't very articulate but I can answer questions questions for the superintendent about implications yes mayor dor I just have a comment I I I think that sounds I think this sounds very wise because you're actually giving some leeway to to the families um you know and then they'd have the opportunity if they had a little one coming up whoops and it was redrawn that the parent could make a choice one way or another and we're still accomplishing what it sounds like we're still accomplishing what the community wanted um and the it's all going to happen happen in we're redrawing them for fiscal year for the school year that next school year no the year after but what were we telling when are we telling people when do we when will people know that there's going to be a line change you know like how far ahead of time would the people know because they What specifically the line change is you mean what I at some point I would think fairly early in the next academic year so they would have pretty close to a year to be aware of that there are proposed changes already that were done as part of the redistricting process and those are on the website they have been there in the same section toward the bottom of the website with all of the other redistricting information I can't guarantee that's exactly what will end up happening but that was a a draft of what streets might change schools um at some point in the process well I think it was a thoughtful approach that's that was my comment thank you other comments or questions yes member Childs uh just a quick comment supporting the motion I think it is so important that we have a set of rules that applies equally to everyone and so we need to make sure that even the kids who are not in TR District choicing but are being moved have that same option to stay where they are the committee voted uh last fall winter that it was important not to disrupt kids without the family's input to allow them to finish where they had started and with that vote really to be consistent have to give that same option to the other kids who are being moved without their families say so thank you other comments or questions M deneve just want to Echo what member child said considering that we made the vote choice that we did in the winter time and the fact that we are trying to pursue Equity across the district this is a really reasonable Choice thank you other comments or questions all right let's have a vote all those in favor say [Music] I uh all those against and I'll abstain so it passes with five votes thank you very much for your for your work uh handbook committee yes hold on second I'm just writing down what we just did the handbook subcommittee will be meeting on March 25th 5th at 6: p.m.

and I believe it will be at the middle school library but that's not definite yet but when that happens the public will know and they can come and make public comment but it will be in person great thank you very much um let's see do we have anything no okay great um uh Amy can you give us report from the collaborative sure there's a summary report from FY or uh I guess calendar year 23 that's included in tonight's materials of all the collaborative um initiatives um it's gives a good overview of of what they're doing and I think our next meeting is in at the end of the month in a couple weeks that's it thank [Music] you an you're uh City Planning so we did not have a regular meeting with discussion deliberation what we had was a tour of the new fire station before everything is moved in it was a lot of fun and our elementary kids are going to Love Field Trips there it it's nice we're definitely getting something special uh the next meeting uh I believe will be at the regular second Tuesday of the month 4:00 on zoom and that'll be posted on the city web page thank you um secretary genive our legislative representative okay um so we have two things upcoming we have the um dat on the hill which is happening in Boston Beacon Hill at the State House on May 6th I originally said May 4th because they hadn't actually set the date yet and that was what it was last year but a few weeks ago they officially set the date and it is May 6th so I'm still not sure um if we'll be going with any of our local committees together but that's something that's in the works and um on March 27th at 6:30 p.m.

in the library we will be having the um the uh legislative day preparation event which is being hosted by us and um I originally thought that I would need to work very hard to invite all of the local school committees but they are really on top of it and masc has created an invitation RSVP link and have sent it out to everybody in our division 5 group um which sort of leads into the division five thing next uh the chair of the division five is Humera fasah hudin and she sent a transcript of the March 1st joint committee on ways and me means hearing on fy2 local education Aid if anybody would like to listen to that transcript I'm not sure if I got emailed to everyone but I can forward it to you it's just a chance to listen to it and get an idea of what bills are coming up what kind of Aid we can start asking for and to uh prepare for some of the resolutions that we will bring here after the day on the hill thank you you're welcome all right and uh is the district Wellness committee continuing to meet or are you all yep we meet quarterly we just met on Monday um it is it's a group that's comprised of um folks from uh there's a furog representative there's a school committee representative there's I think two or three parent Representatives um couple of teachers the athletic director um and we do have someone from desie that joins us at most meetings and um at this point we are um looking at you know the top level uh pieces of the program um uh athletic director keski brought up Mike keski brought up um wanting to look at initiatives we could do within the middle and high schools around vaping and so we did some discussion around that um and that's kind of how it works is is we look at at what is in the program and how we can um generate uh priorities around the work um that then gets taken back to the nurse leader which is Melissa benari um and hopefully the operationally things will begin to happen that are uh from that plan um and like I said we meet quarterly so the next meeting is in three months thank you all right um so our next item will be to go into another executive session the superintendent and assistant superintendent are going to say farewell now thank you so much for everything um I just want to say we'll do the motion now but um we do need Town Council with us tonight and they will be here uh around 7:40 7:45 so we will have an extended recess after the vote to go into executive session yes member ston can I do something totally unrelated for two seconds real quick unrelated if it's not on the agenda I don't think so okay never mind but we can have a offline discussion um so um let's see so I'll I'll read the uh executive session um motion um vote to enter into executive session pursuant to mgl chapter 30A section 21 A1 to discuss the reputation character physical condition or mental health rather than professional competence of an individual or to discuss the discipline or dismissal of or complaints or charges brought against a public officer employee staff member or individual the individual to be discussed in such executive session has been notified in writing by the public body at least 48 hours prior to the proposed executive session provided however that notification may be waved upon written agreement of the parties on I don't have that so we will be in executive session to comply with or act under the authority of any general or special law or Federal grant and aid requirements approval of executive session minutes from January 10th 2024 meeting the committee will not return to open session we have a motion to enter into that executive session moved is there a second second member Den will you call the roll call Y oh hold on I'm sorry was that member child was that okay yep sorry okay Den I'm a yes Vice chair Martini is no longer present chair Johnson mad yes mayor dorer yes um member PR yes member ston yes and member child's yes all right the motion carries do we adjourn that open session okay um may have motion to adjourn the Open session so moved is there a second second okay um we do U all those in favor I I uh so that passes unanimously so the Open session is resumed and we'll do our executive session at 7:40 or 7:45 or so

[Music] a [Music] w [Music] yeah dogs have a great time with this board members please make sure your microphones are on the green lights on thank you Barbara sure you give Ethan a signal I'm in one of those winds tonight I'm tired okay I'm Ur I call to order the workshop for Bullhead City School Board on Thursday March 14th 20 24 at 5:30 p.m.

e for e good evening and welcome we'll rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands one nation indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you everyone uh I'll just mention that all board members are present and first up we have audience with individuals Miss Pritchard we do have several people wishing to speak tonight so I'll go ahead and read the statement this is the time for the public to comment members of the board may not discuss items that were not specifically identified on the agenda pursuant to ARS 38-43 1.01 action taken as result of public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the matter responding to any criticism or scheduling the matter for future consideration decision at a later date in order to facilitate accomplishing the business of the district in a timely manner a time limit of 3 minutes will be imposed for each individual or group addressing the board when you approach the podium please state your name for the record and first we have Danielle Mills good evening my name is Daniel M as a mother to six from a Law grad to a fourth grader I know gone are the days of a mother's primarily raising children gone is the illusion that the Educators have our children's best interest in mind gone are the days knowing your child's teacher was raised with the same core values you're instilling so we rely on you our school board to be the checks and balances our education system needs even if our Styles aren't exactly the same as long as your intent is positive is pure resolution is possible however if I ask you the personal question what would you as a parent do if this was your child and your comeback is like that of assistant principal Moore at valy Vista High School of don't threaten me it makes me wonder why my our children don't get the same reaction or protection as a parent at valy vda high school for the last four years I have seen the revolving door of Administrators and staff I have encouraged and supported as a volunteer and parent while dodging ducking and embracing those put in place of authority that often only make me wonder and question what the vetting process currently used is that has ultimately brought me to your email and now this platform examples valy Vista High School principles present and past have ignored willing and participated as byst standards to staff and student bullying of students including my children blatantly disregarded concerns of health and student safety and have done nothing to provide a true trust in leadership after core character flaws were addressed daart employees also valy Vista High School administrators are operating small businesses than using said small businesses in mandatory for grade fundraisers the Valley Vista High School counselors are requiring all Juniors with no exception to take the armed services vocational aptitude battery test which is not required by any legal entity such as the state or federal government it is however required by the United States Arm Forces to gain entrance into any of the military branches and the only way to excuse your child from the administered test is by absence on test Day School athletic directors not only have ignored reports of child abuse but established a level of mistrust with the misappropriation of funds attempted insurance fraud and blatant sexist and discriminatory policies when requesting support of girl Sports violating Title 9 also but not including endangering the community as a whole by not containing and eradicating the infectious disease out of spite School nurses violated parental student rights By admittingly ignoring our signed enrollment form with no accountability the only response I received from Principal Frasier was there would be a change in future wording printing of said policy by the district as to not be held legally liable for when these violations are committed in the future school security Dart and Valley of publicly announced upgrades yet are still operating a failed security system with 50 acts of vandalism missed due to known broken Endor inop inoperable cameras verified camera by camera by an assistant principal toi special thank you Mrs Mills thank you Dr curle can we follow up with Mrs Mills on her concerns and I believe she may have more yes okay thank you can you also follow with the governing board on that outcome yes thank you so much next we have Steve Gilliam good evening my name is Steve Gilliam and I've lived in the same home in El Mirage 20 plus years um and I'm here to talk about the bond the upcoming bond that you guys going to try to put through I am against it and I'll tell you why I'm against it um I was raised in Maryvale I went to pral school and graduated from St Mary's in 68 I'm the first of 11 children of World War II vets my five children went to public school and they turned out real good the the Catholic school gave me discipline but uh I I went to two years in college but the reason I'm against this is what's happened in the past in this school district and a lot of other ones cartright in mville where I came from Phoenix Union you have a building and all of you drove a car here and if you don't maintain your car and if you have poor tires and you don't put G uh gas and oil in it and it breaks down that's Foo fooo on you that's what's happening in this school district you've had buildings for years the surprise Elementary School on Greenway has been there since 1978 the dice art High School's been there probably for longer and they're dilapitated they need all this money that youi get need to fix up what happened to the superintendent and the school boards prior to did you forget to put new tires in your car you put add oil in there when they break down it's on you so whoever is responsible for doing that should be accountable whoever designed Willow Creek the athletic field with no bathrooms that person whoever is the architect should be never allowed to work in this school district again should have a a a a crank going against his credit because now if you want to spend millions of dollars to put bathrooms out there instead of Porta ponies which one of you women in here like going to a porta poy or walking the length of a football field to go do your business totally asinine and improper in more we wouldn't do that our children so why are we doing it to the adults to pay pay for this when I moved here when my wife died in ' 03 to El Mirage my house I bought for 173 it's paid for and it's evaluated at 450 so my tax is elevated because it's based on your tax value what am I getting for my dollar I got four neighbors Manuel who's Hispanic has three children Emma's got four children they're white Sam's got two children he's from Iraq and became a good citizen and Daniel's from a mixed family he's got two children that's 11 children I can throw rocks at and hit their houses and not one of them goes to public school they all go to Charter School and why discipline and parent involvement and they'll take their kids at school they don't need a silly bus costing thousands of dollars and I found out it cost the last Bond to issue that we voted down cost the district $255,000 that's a lot of money wasted for nothing and if you're doing to put more money into this one that you're going to hit us in November that kind of money could have went to something else you thank you thank you uh next we have is it Tanya sibl hi my name is is Tanya sibl I am the grandparents to four Scholars that go to Thompson Ranch I am concerned that some events that took place that transpired over a period of time that my grandchildren's mother were trans trespassed off of the campus of Thompson Ranch and withdrawn without her permission from the school but re-enrolled shortly after and all but one child which is the prek because Mom has been trespassed at off she's not able to take the her three-year-old to school and pick up I know that we're not here to overturn anything we just want to see if there's any way that there can be accommodations made for a mom parents right to take her three-year-old to school the other three are re-enrolled back um I have just signed up for volunteering I do work in the area I'm a nurse practitioner um and I'm in the area only two days a week so I could also help I also wanted to make sure that policies and procedures are not being breached or V or violated her rights as a mother for her children to make sure that I mean it feels like Injustice she will be speaking so she'll tell you what what the matter is but it feels like Injustice and we all know that Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere and so I just wanted to see if there is any accommodations that can be made for the mother maybe someone come out and bring the three-year-old to the curve since she's not allowed on the property and we don't know indefinitely when that will end so I'm just here just see what can be done because it just feels not right not been in this predicament before I just want to make sure that nothing inequality is taking place here thank you thank you next we have Ashley Johnson and Dr Coto are we able to follow up with any accommodations we could possibly make yes thank you yes we thank you greetings to each of you I'm Ashley Johnson I'm a parent of four Scholars who is enrolled in the daart school district grades ranging from prek to 7 today I would like to make awareness about today I would like to bring awareness to the school board about my current situation so before I get into details I would like to give you a little backstory regarding the situation which why I'm here today on March 1st Friday evening while waiting in my car to pick up my children I was approached by El marage Police Department who handed me a letter informing me that the district has trespassed to me being that I was trespassed and never were there in a an investigation I just feel like that it was handled inappropriately um saying that I was trespassed at from Thompson Ranch Elementary Monday morning March 4th my children's grandmother who just spoke dropped them off at school um only for my seventh grader to have text me that her teacher made her aware she was dropped then I caught the office spoke to miss Danielle who told me all of my children were withdrawn without my consent my knowledge my signature nothing I then became concerned I also um I then became concerned because I did not withdraw them and wasn't made aware of the withdrawal so I expressed my concerns to miss Danielle um that I was on my way to pick up my children being that they were no longer enrolled she um told me she cannot release my kids to me because I was trespassed it about 20 minutes later um El marage Police Department contacted me Jason Vargas mentioning that he can help escort my children to me and that I needed to be at school at 10:05 in order for my kids to be released to me once I made it to the school my kids were escorted by a resource officer as well as a undercover police officer these um situations are a bit extreme and traumatic for my children um so my presence here today is to see if we can get any accommodations for my prek um um the district did make it right they did reenroll my children but if I am trespassed it from a situation that wasn't investigated just made the decision um I just feel like that it should be accommodation because my three-year-old he is a scholar he's eager to learn he he cries when his siblings are being dropped off at school it took a toll on him because he was only enrolled for a week so now I'm trying to F figure out how can we get him back in school to where I can be able to pick him up drop him off his dad passed away of colon cancer of 2022 so I'm the only help um my mom my kids grandmother she does help me where she can but she has her own life as well so I'm just looking for an accommodation to see what we can do for my Scholars thank you thank you next we have Roslin Akin greetings to each of you and um I'm thankful for this platform just to express my concern I'm the grandmother of the children that were just spoken about and um it is really uh a huge concern for me that the children were disenrolled that Mom was not communicated with in regards to this disenrollment and my um seventh grader was escorted off property um by police and there's some shame around that because she had to contend with classmates now that she's back about why that happened and with mom having no knowledge of this going on there's no signature on this disenrollment um we're not sure what the policies are in regards to this and we absolutely are involved um parents uh we try to support where we can and you know there's just a real concern um with the details that surround this entire situation and so it is with much humility that we're asking for you to take a peek at the details of this and in the investigation that Mom referenced the staffer that was at the scene of what is in question is the only staffer that was not interrogated to give Clarity to what happened she advised Mom to get in her car and exit the property and Mom complied and so there's a real concern about the way um the investigation um was conducted but I do think there is room to speak with this staffer it's it's your staff and I think she's on staff because she's integral and that she has the details of what happened and consequentially this makes mom appear as if she has a pattern and so I would ask uh respectfully that you revisit the investigation and that again mom is asking for accommodation to have her little one put back in school because being a scholar is what we all strive to have our children to be thank you for listening thank you thank you Dr Coto in addition to uh the information on the accommodations can we also um get a board update for the details around this investigation yes ma'am we can do that thank you okay next we have I believe it's is it Haley Sibly okay hello I'm auntie and I'm an all fairness stepping to ask for accommodations for my sister um my nieces and my nephews have been traumatized by this experience and I am coming to advocate for accommodation so the scholars can continue to exercise their intellects and apply themselves in the best way that they can that's what I'm here to advocate for so that's all I have to say thank you and next we have Sarah Rivera good evening Madame President board members Dr croo and cabinet as you know my name is Sarah Rivera and I am the President of the special education PTSA here in daart I'm here to provide an update for you as what we are doing within the district over the last next few months sorry first I'd like to commend Miss da Martinelli on her outstanding coordination of the Festival of the Arts and to Express gratitude to her and Katie McCarthy for their efforts in enhancing accessibility at the festival including the addition of the adapted art experience and other accommodations we had many families very thankful for uh those efforts and the additions of those accommodations we are currently in the midst of voting for our 2024 Ginger Leaf Francy Awards and we are delighted at the strong turnout of over 1300 votes so far there's still one week left to vote we have received nominations for 31 individuals across four categories special education teachers par professionals general education teachers and St staff members these nominees represent represent 13 diart schools and two departments ESS and transportation additionally four organizations have been nominated for our community champion award all nominees will be recognized this Saturday on the field of the spring training game and the official award ceremony is scheduled for April 9th and you are all invited to attend the week of the 9th will be a very busy week for us as we host the second annual walk-in roll for inclusion on Saturday the 14th this event is held at dreamcatcher Park in Surprise promises to be a fun-filled family day raising awareness for accessibility and inclusion we will feature an inclusive practices poster Fair open to all high school students to enter along with games as silent auction Makers Market exhibitors food trucks and an awareness walk around the pond you can also preorder this amazing t-shirt that I'm wearing so let us Taco about inclusion proceeds from this event will support our accessible playgrounds initiative aiming to provide more accessible playground equipment and surfacing to all school playgrounds in the daart schools districts speaking of which uh we have submitted our first Grant application to install poor in place accessible rubber rubber surfacing to get rid of wood chips on our first playground and we're eagerly awaiting the announcement to see if we are awarded that Grant thank you for your time and I do hope to see all of you at the Walk and Roll for inclusion thank you that's everyone all right next we have item C1 superintendent update thank you madam president just uh four quick ones here tonight uh this week we had the opportunity to go out and congratulate our dice Art Heroes so uh we went around to the last three days we have one person yet to hit but congratulations to all our dice Art Heroes that ceremony is coming up on April 18th so we can't wait to celebrate all our dice Art Heroes on on that day uh couple board meetings ago couple months ago we had some National Merit semi-finalists that we recognized here um we are happy to announce that those semi-finalists have now become finalists so Shadow Ridge High School lukesh Donovan Lura Troy Orton and Wyatt Wilson are now finalists and in line for some big scholarships so um we are awaiting that but uh great news and congratulations to them um also the Festival of the Arts uh da Marinelli shout out to Da for an amazing job uh and everyone else that helped make this possible uh what a great event again continues to be an awesome environment for our community so thanks to Da and everybody involved uh for that awesome um event and last but not least um we have another award and um our board president uh Don denmore has been awarded the school board member of the year for 2023 by the Arizona Coalition of school board members so congratulations and uh that's all I have on my update thank you thank you so much Dr Coto uh next we have governing board updates start and actually um just to piggy back off for Dr Coto Miss Densmore I've just always has been inspired by your leadership and it's just such an honor to serve with you and congratulation on such a well-deserved award so thank you for leading our district yeah um and I apologize this is a little lengthy but some of the length of it a lot of it is um just based on inspiration I wanted to share a little bit of it but I did try my best to condense um last month I was thankful to attend the Innovative School Summit conference and I attended sessions that focused on community and parental engagement strategies to increase student and staff buyin towards effort to achieve academic goals improving School climate culture concept of collective efficacy and creating teams that with trust in each other the list goes on um but in the interest of time I won't outline every aspect of all the sessions I attended but really wanted to touch on some of the overall themes and takeaways um one of the keynote speak speakers was a former special education student who was an an ed classroom who shares his experiences specifically how the interactions with his teachers and staff helped shape his experience um he spoke of the importance of using language that lifts um being mindful of whether you're speaking to us to a students this is all what they phrased their pity like hey they come from a bad home life let's give them a break let them take a nap in the corner um they've had a rough night versus speaking to their power and recognizing um the potential that all students have within them to make students feel U seen and valued um this year the conference focused a lot on the high level trauma that students are carrying with them whether it be linked to the Fallout of covid or the traumatic events that they may have experienced in their lives and it was interesting to learn that when reviewing the results of a functional MRI the insult to the brain due to emotional trauma is greater than what's caused by physical trauma which I did not know that I thought was very interesting um and these students are the students that are coming into our classrooms daily so there was a great focus on learning how to create environments that heal and this doesn't mean providing therapy sessions during during the school day it means providing our teachers and staff with tools to recognize and manage the various trauma responses that they may that the students may be exposed to when they come through the door so many district and I talked to Dr crow about this briefly they're providing training to their teachers and staff to help them be more prepared to manage these specific trauma behaviors and give them more tools so it's a way to support our staff because these kids are still coming through their doors and just having ways in in their approach to deescalation strategies perhaps or just how to manage and and help a student um get in a place where they're ready to learn for the day um so also more with like the the traar students are facing keynote speaker Dr laquana Nelson used an analogy this is really I really like this um pertaining to boiling water so boiling water can represent life challenges Hard Times trauma Etc and how it can impact everyone differently depending on their makeup their level of resiliency and perception so you put a carrot in boiling water and it becomes soft sometimes turns to Mush you put an egg in boiling water and it becomes hardened but you put a coffee bean in boiling water and it changes the water forever and it can be the best cup of coffee you've ever had the way she phrased it was way better than what I just said it but it was really impactful because it's multifaceted it speaks to how trauma and life challenges can impact a student in in different ways but it also speaks to the fact that really good things can come out of hard times and how we as Educators administrators School leaders can play a very important part in that process for our students so Dr Nelson also ended her session with two powerful statements that when you hear them you'll know why they meant so much to me based on how I feel about our title schools um dialect doesn't determine intellect and my personal favorite zip codes don't determine Destinies which goes back to what we always say in daart that all students can learn no exceptions and my final impactful takeaway from this uh was it for presentation that emphasized the importance of knowing your why why you're teaching why do I I want to be a superintendent why am am I on this board and the speaker talked about how when you know your why your what becomes more impactful because you know your purpose and they illustrate he Illustrated this wonderfully um by using the song Amazing Grace he had a little clip from when he did this presentation elsewhere and he picked somebody out of the audience and he told them to sing Amazing Grace and the man reluctantly but saying Amazing Grace he's like okay now I want you to sing it as if you're you're singing it at your Brother's funeral who died tragically and this he painted this whole awful picture and the way this man it gives me goosebumps just even reference it sang this song was the most beautiful version of Amazing Grace I'd ever heard um and it just really it was a great way of illustrating the importance of never losing sight of your passion and using that as a driving force to continue to put meaning into what we do so I just hope we all remember that and no matter how our individuals roles May differ um it's important for our students that we really never lose sight of our why so like I said that is a very um condensed version of of the conference but I really appreciate the opportunity to attend and it was very meaningful uh moving on uh wonderful attending the diert Festival of the Arts on March 9th um congratulations to miss marelli and her staff and all the students that put hours into making that event um as amazing as it was I always say it's a staple in our community it's not a school function it's it's just a staple that just I think more and more people come to every year we put it on so thank you so much to everyone involved in that effort and then the last thing um today had the pleasure of surprising many of our deserving teachers and staff with the Hero Squad to notify them of their Dysert hero status and it's just always a joy to see the smiles and the happy tears all around um and look forward to celebrating them and their upcoming dinner next month and finally have a safe and happy restful spring break that's it sorry my coffee is cold now I know I know just kidding no I had the honor of reading to students at Freedom traditional in Rancho Gabriella and I also attended the daer Festival of the Arts which I do agree continues to get bigger and better every year um just in years past knowing that they had stages outside and they had everything outside they've got artwork outside it was great on Friday evening when you hear the thunder you hear the thunder you see the lightning and I just knew the text messages were going to start flying because when once you have everything set up you know and of course Arizona who who thinks you're going to get a thunderstorm you know but but it was wonderful and you couldn't you couldn't even tell you couldn't even tell the performances were great the artwork was great it was just a very familyfriendly atmosphere it was positive it was a a be and the weather was gorgeous it was absolutely wonderful so good job to all of our students who performed our teachers and everybody who helped organize it um we are very fortunate to have Miss Marinelli in diart so I just want to say thank you for that and last month we had the opportunity to hear about all of our CTE programs and I just want to take a second to say thank you for everybody involved in that um we just had a study session before so we were a little tired I may not have said thank you very much but thank you to Mr G shabber and all of our CTE and that's just pretty cool that the fire department is going to teach our fire science that that is that is super cool I'm so excited about that that's awesome so thank you I also attended read Across America I read to freedom and Canyon Ridge lots of fun uh Freedom was the second graders um and their expressions when you read books to them it's just it makes your day um I also attended the Festival of the Arts the talent that's out there is amazing of our students the the time and effort Dedication that they put into these um performances is just absolutely amazing you can tell that they absolutely love what they do um and then also I just want to tell everyone have a have a very safe and happy spring break I'm ready for a vacation okay um well uh last week was National social workers week so I do want to give a shout out to all the social workers that are in the district and I want to thank the city of surprise Mar and Council uh at their last meeting that recognized uh social workers um I also participated in read Across America and I think there was a trend because I only read to first graders so I think they now know I can only do first grade or something I don't know but um it worked but I was at freedom and uh Canyon Ridge and also Rancho Gabriella and I also attended the Festival of the Arts and just a shout out to everybody that participated in poor Danielle I know with the lightning and thunder even I was worried about it um but thank you to all the volunteers but most of all um thank you for highlighting these very talented students that are in the daart district that it it's just wonderful for parents and grandparents and other people in the community to actually see what's going on that they normally wouldn't see what's going on at other schools they only see their school so it was was a great opportunity and finally I just want to get this is really cool that Luke Elementary has been nominated for the best school best public school in the best of the daer the Desert Community Choice Awards and so voting is taking place now through the 27th so I hope people will vote for them and good luck to Luke because that's quite an honor for them to get I also attended the dice Art Festival of the Arts had a great time um as everyone here has said um D Marinelli is absolutely amazing just so impressed every single year um not just at the artwork and the students but the community really comes together and volunteers and puts um on an just an amazing event so very thankful and grateful for that uh I also read um for read Across America at Freedom traditional and that is always super fun I read at two classes but I always make sure that one of those classes is my son's class um and so it's interesting because I read the same book every single year and it's just fascinating to see the students recognize the book that I've read for the last you know three four years to the same people um but they get something out of it uh something new out of it each time and um it's just it's just great to see that and I'm very appreciative of um all of our dier heroes congratulations to all those that were nominated and all those that were awarded and that's my update all right next we have item D1 I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda items second second my coffee didn't work we need more coffee motion carries next we have item F1 Dr crto thank you madam president tonight we bring you uh the monitoring of adopted policy chapter 5 on students um in your materials there are minor changes to wording and if you have any questions Dr asai um has this section I just want to thank thank you for the update to the gifted um student uh section of the policies um I don't have any content suggestions or changes but I would like to see when the the next read comes through or when we're finally approving this if we could just do a double check on grammar and spelling and formatting I did see some minor things but the content was good anybody have anything else okay moving along to item F2 Dr croo thank you madam president tonight we have our bond override committee presentation and Mr muy will introduce this item Madame President members of the board Dr Coto uh tonight we're uh uh very thankful to uh our spokespeople for being here this evening to provide that presentation and and obviously a a summary and and bring forth uh the information and and how to how they're recommending to proceed so I'd like to introduce uh Mr Patrick Campbell uh Mr Johnny Melton and Dr Shannon Frasier uh our three spokespeople that have put in a tremendous amount of work and very much appreciated it's on good evening Madame President distinguished board members Dr CAU cabinet and guests um I said my name is Patrick Campbell I'm one of the co-chairs uh three for the bond override committee um we have a presentation for you here tonight so we'll be using the slideshow uh this is a wrap-up for everything that we've done for the last six months at the request and direction of the governing board um so the purpose um this whole started back as you know in September 14th 2023 the board meeting they were directed uh the superintendent to form a committee um which has been done of Representatives of various stakeholders um and representatives from each of the schools um initially um they put out um there was 132 interest forms that were submitted total uh for people that were interested in being part of the committee um this is the history and the background of it 35 members were selected all School Representatives um all schools were representatives and community members at large were selected um as it started the um the first meeting official meeting was October 24th um 2023 um they were held in discussing open meetings the first one was uh law survey development School Finance District spending um the bond the sales the tax and we basically went through no stone was left unturned um in this along with this um the process itself it should be noted that besides the seven meetings that you see we did a facility tour which was was fabulous to see on on board I do have a few pictures of things that actually really hit home with us once we got out and got to see some of the needs of the district in more depth um in addition to those seven meetings there were seven governing board briefings and there were countless hours of research and interviews and other information gathering by the committee members behind the scenes that really doesn't represent on the slide I can't tell how many hours there were it was a lot um bring it all together um but the facility tour in particular was very eye openening so what we came up with was as you can see on on the slide here the the actual needs of the district and they were divided into the categories and I'm going to briefly touch on each of these as we as we move forward um the bus replacement and the age of the buses I'll go into those in a minute um the new K8 elementary school and you can see the Ms um the high school land and we do have some photos and some Aerials of the growth of the Assante area which is which is incredible to look at facility Renovations um Safety and Security and the total approximate cost which right now we came in at17 million total um first up was the buses um when it came through I wanted to uh we wanted to take a look at some of those um there was a replacement need for 78 total buses purchased from 2008 until prior um 70% of the fleet is 15 years or older and that what we've been told by mechanics and other people that keep these buses running and they do a phenomenal job uh doing that is that once you hit that Mark a lot of things come into play and it's not just the age of the bus but it's being able to buy parts and all the things that go with it similar as what you would with one of your own cars you can do it but then it becomes more expensive and then you have to start weighing that out um 46 regular education buses total um the cost was at 11.4 million and 32 Special Education buses or sped buses at a cost of 5.6 million total cost being 17 million just on the buses um next was the growth of the high school land in the K8 Elementary School um I'm told I have a laser pointer but I don't want to make you guys have to turn around but you can just see if you look at the slide on your left you can see the 2004 that's an aerial shot of the Assante area um there's not a whole lot there lower right hand corner of that that's what is now the 303 Loop and you can see the area around there and if you look to the right you can see the slide and you can see the growth um one of the things that should be mentioned here is that and there was a really good briefing done and I'm going to give special thanks to all the people that came out the subject matter experts if you will um and one of the things that they had pointed out to us was the expectation and or potential for growth out there was additional 26,000 new homes projected in the next 10 years bless you so if you look at what's there 2004 you look at the growth that's already exist now and you look at the additional need for 26,000 the next slide will show you um where the schools are and you can look at the area from Grand Avenue around the 303 Loop and you can see we've got a total of one Elementary School out there for what is potentially additional 26,000 projected new homes families Etc um in that time and so obviously there's a there's a large need for that um before I move on though I wanted I did want to give special thanks at this moment right here to each of the people that came out um Todd bler um from maintenance maintenance director he came out uh Jason jger Karma Valente and Kevin Shipman did an excellent job at educating the board um or not excuse me the board the committee and the members for all of the details and stuff they took a lot of time to be accessible to us answer questions give us detail and a lot of information so I just wanted to give special thanks to each of those individuals for coming out um and helping us okay so moving on one of the other needs was the k through eight Elementary and high school land estimated cost for the elementary school is around 35 million and the cost for the high school land was around 10 million um we did on our facilities tour actually take a bus ride several people U including some of the cabinet members and governing board yourselves were on that bus and it was fascinating to actually go out and see some of the projected areas where we could potentially build uh new high school and stuff and it was it was very interesting to see um next uh Todd lutter as as I said he came in and he gave us a really incredible briefing on exactly what the state of uh diart facilities and some of the things that are in need and as you can see on the on the list in no particular order mechanical the HVAC system uh plumbing needs flooring needs Roofing needs weatherization uh freezer Walkin High School Community restroom facilities that's very specifically at Shadow Ridge High School and Willow camp and then the dart High School auditorium so to Total renovation cost on that was around 48 million and there's some pictures here that just kind of send it home so if you take a look at this and I'm I I'm not a maintenance person by any means but when you could see this in person and honestly I don't think the picture does it as much justice but on our tours we were able to go behind the scenes if you will things that most people wouldn't see and actually look at um the state of some of these things and just how hard some of this is on the the Ariz on a climate is to the facilities our maintenance department and the people that operate and keep us moving and grooving if you will do an incredible job behind the scenes but um at some points you know they need they need some help um and these pictures can uh can do don't do the justice that we saw in person we walked around but it does give you a little bit um of a of a an idea of what we're what we're dealing with um next was Safety and Security um Jason Jer came in and gave us an EXT excellent briefing and a list of things it should be noted that at several times throughout our committee meetings we sat down we did tabletops we did whiteboards we did you know um just basically what are the needs what do we think we went out into the communities we talked with principles we talked with other people from our um Dart Community um as much as we could and the feedback that we got overwhelmingly not that all of these things aren't important because I believe they all are there's no one thing I would point out and say that's that's you know that can wait um but Safety and Security time and time again came out on top it was the number one item of concern from just committee members and people that we had talked to so during that you can look at um some of the things that um Jason and um and um Kevin have identified as needs um some of the automatic gate openers and these are things that if you worked on site I obviously work security at Shadow Ridge so I see the need for some of these things firsthand um the building access needs including potential key cards and stuff checking in and out of bus management standardized lockdown systems um fencing gate repairs um the the first layer of security if you will um the Tactical diagramming safety related communication systems fire panel upgrades Etc and the list goes on this is really just a short list but these are all needs um things that have been identified and you can obviously see the cost for those right now that's and I I think it's conservative estimated was right at $17 million so the committee tools that we utilized the survey conducted was an external consulting company I gave that in my last briefing about um how that was how that was done and the numbers how they came back in as far as the support from the community Through the surveys um the district facility tour as I spoke to we use those um we got to go see not just the bus yard the entire fleet um I should give um I I should give a shout out to some of the mechanics and people other people that were there um to actually help us walk us through answer questions how things work and and Etc that was really nice and the bus driver I'm not going to lie I forgot his name but big shout out because he was nice enough on a Saturday to drive us all around um but we went to the daart high school auditorium we went to Countryside Elementary which is where you just saw the picture of the chillers that we um that we just had in the presentation went to Willow Canyon High School for some of the safety and outdoor facilities or lack thereof and then the last leg of that was the um Asante Preparatory Academy and the observation of the growth in the area including looking at land for where we would uh potentially build a new high school um that said the the committee recom recommendation um the initial M the override because obviously we had options it could be none it could be one it could be the other it could be both um so there was an initial recommendation um from the committee for an M override which we currently are in year three three um and that that was put to a vote that emotion failed um 11 to5 reasoning from the from the committee was basically we have time with the with the m override because we are only in year three and we still have time to work on that um the recommendation from the committee formally is to wait until year five of 2025 for an ml override election if the governing board Andor the um cabinet would see fit next we there was a recommendation uh formal recommendation from the bond election um in the amount of 127 million the number that we that I've spoke to earlier um there was a lot of discussion about this very intelligent back and forth what do we think what's the best move for the district what's the best move um for recommendation from the committee based on six months of research and a ton of time put into thought and preparation and exactly what this would consist of that motion passed unanimously 16 and0 um I think there's a um the thought that that was from the committee members themselves and we respectfully just like everybody else in life we disagree with each other from time to time but at the end of the day after six months of research to come up with a 16-0 unanimous vote from the committee for the bond for 127 million is a powerful statement and I do not think that that should be taken lightly so that said um I want to give special thanks to Dr Coto um Mr musy meridel spido Dr Shel asai for and the production people who were here every step of the way to put us live record everything that we needed this none of this could have happened without them um The Clarity the openness the ability to give us anything and everything that we asked for um goes a long ways and the committee it does not go unnoticed that that is something that is a strong statement in relation and trust that is built um with the committee and ultimately into the public um I also want to give a special thanks to all the governing board members who attended meetings and were there to go with us on bus rides and you know listen and hear what we had had to say um I do need to give special thanks to the co-chairs Shannon Frasier and Johnny Melton sitting over here um obviously we couldn't have done it without him and it's been an honor and an overwhelming pleasure to serve as a committee chair for the last six months and with that said I'll stand for questions thank you very much for all your hard work I really appreciate it um couple questions for clarification so and probably Dr Coto might be able to help with this um so the bond if we were to I know the school facility board isn't quick to fund a lot of things right now because of the budget but if they were to come forward and say we're going to cover the cost of the children or or whatever Roofing whatever um we just wouldn't sell those bonds we would we would use their money we wouldn't use money that we would potentially get from the bond and then if you don't sell those bonds then your taxes aren't going to be as high correct yeah that's it thank you so much for the presentation all your work going into this greatly appreciate it Madam president you're welcome Madam president if I could anybody else um I just want to personally thank on behalf of the district um Patrick Johnny and Shannon um for your hard work and effort it's been a long six months uh you guys were there uh you you went through all the stuff and you ran that Community or that committee so thank you for your time um the district appreciates that more than you know and thanks to the committee too everybody involved so thank you good okay next we have item G1 Dr croo thank you Madame President uh Dr polling will take this item good evening Madam president members of the board cabinet and Community Administration is proud to present the following administrative recommendations for the 2425 school year richel matus is being recommended for the assignment of assistant principal at dyser High School Jessica Brun has been recommended for the assignment of assistant principal at Ashton Ranch Jackie older has been recommended for the assignment of assistant principal at Canyon Ridge Amy Crow is being recommended for the assignment of assistant principal at Freedom Traditional Academy Holly Johnson is being recommended for the assignment of assistant principal at Sor Heights and Lupe Leos has been recommended for the assignment of assistant principal at Western Peaks all candidates will receive a salary and benefits for the position education and experience they have and all rums are attached for Board review and we used our comprehensive selection process so with that I'll stand for any questions thank you I just have to say that I always review the resumés of all the applicants or who's being brought forward for recommendation um and everyone is is very qualified and I'm just it's a pleasure to um be able to recog recommend these individuals and I know she's probably going to kill me but I do have to say in reviewing one particular resume um for Rachel matus on the resume there was uh she said she has multiple coaching Awards and recognitions for girls basketball this individual has been a coach for a six-time state championship girls basketball team at Valley Vista High School Arizona High School uh coaches association Hall of Fame in 2022 National High School coaches association Hall of Fame in 2023 and with multiple Coach of the Year Regional Coach of the Year Awards so to say I just I'm sorry I just couldn't move forward just having she has multiple coaching Awards and recognitions for girls basketball I just couldn't do that so I apologize if I put you on the spot but that couldn't happen long long long overdue and with that it brings me great pleasure to move that the governing board approved the appointment of Rachel matus Jessica Bron Jackie older Amy Crow Holly Johnston and Guadalupe alos at assistant principles for the 2024 2025 school year second motion carries congratulations Madam president they are all present in the audience so if we could have them stand to be recognized that would be [Applause] great all right going moving on to item G2 Dr croo thank you madam president uh tonight we bring to you the governing board meeting schedule uh for uh the following year and the monitoring policy for uh next year this is a yearly item um and these are for 2425 so with that I will stand for any questions or or the Motions so all yours I move to approve the 2024 2025 governing board meeting schedule and the 2024 2025 policy monitoring cycle as presented second did you catch who seconded okay motion carries okay next we have item G3 Dr croo thank you madam president uh tonight we bring to you um our final action discussion item and administration is recommending to consider uh discuss uh amend deemed uh advisable adopt a resolution ordering for special bond election uh for November of this year thank you um I'd like to start just by sharing my deep appreciation for the bond and override committee it has been an honor to witness the Deep commitment of each member it's also been a privilege to observe our District's leadership um just really hard at work throughout this entire process answering of any uh questions from the committee presenting factual unbiased materials throughout the process offering full transparency with an open meeting law and taking um taking my suggestion for live streaming I can't tell you how much I appreciate that as far as it goes with transparency with our community and I'm truly just so proud of our district our board and this committee um again for all the hard work in creating the most transparent process that I have ever been a part of uh in my time of Jer uh with all of that said we have some very big needs that have been identified I stress needs versus wants um there have been some mentions and and comments that pieces of this may have been rushed or perhaps um we didn't survey enough people um being representative of our community um I just want to make a statement that you know we are a five member board and we we represent this community um and this five- member board appointed a 35 member committee to represent this community in this decision um so with that said I move to adopt the resolution ordering and calling for a bond election in the amount of 127 million do I get to ask a question sure okay the motion is out there but we can still talk okay yeah so my question is um I feel like this bond is fixing a lot of things that have gone it's things of you're asking for a bond to fix things that we've let go over time the daart High School auditorium has been ignored my question is is how are we making sure that we're not in the same boat in 10 years from now we're not I I feel like we're always being reactive instead of proactive I feel like with this Bond you're asking to be proactive with a lot of the Safety and Security which is good but a lot of the maintenance and the buildings it feels like we let things go so long and then oh my goodness the only way we're going to we're only way we're going to fix it is if we get a bond and then and so what are we doing to make sure that we are not in this same place again in 10 years are we being are are we addressing needs as they arise instead of just ignoring them until we have this gigantic snowball of a bond um Madam president member Chaffin uh we are doing the best we can to identify the needs and not be in this situation unfortunately we are in this situation some of it maybe oversight as you said but we also need to remember that um the district has been shorted a lot of money by the state of Arizona a lot in the millions Miss badell how many millions have we have we've not received in capital funding since um since 2014 we provided to the committee the summary that the district had had a shortfall reduction of our state aid of about 65 a little over in the in the mid-60s million dollars that we did not receive so we continue to do the best job we can uh we do not want to be in these situations but um we are up against some real factors that um cause us to ask for these type of things in in state of Arizona and funding so uh we work hard we we try we do not want to do this but we also want to provide the best for our community and for our kids so I understand the severity of this um as long as I'm sitting in this chair we will be proactive and do the best we can uh with the money I can't answer for the past and obviously can't answer for the future but as long as I'm sitting here we will try to make the best of the entire situation thank you and then also on this PowerPoint I noticed that we have money to buy High School land but we don't have money to build a high school on that where would the money to build the high school come from Madam president member Chaffin uh that will need to uh hopefully down the road when we trigger the um square footage need for our high school students that will have to partially come from the state of Arizona but as you know and as I have alerted uh the governing board on T on Wednesday uh school facilities division has shut down for the year they have no funding through June 30th um for the remainder of the year so the projects and everything that they've agreed to do will not happen so I don't know in the future where that money high schools continue to gr go up um they are in excess of More Than This Bond uh it's my understanding and they in the range to build one high school in the state of Arizona right now is $150 to $200 million just for the facility um so that is something we are going to have to work with the state um because we do not have that money and we do not get funded for high schools fully so if they decide to fund a high school it could be a partial funding so we will have to work on that in the future so would we be potentially calling for another bond to build the rest of the high school we could but that's not going to be anytime soon um we we for seee hitting those numbers possibly um in the next 3 four years but we would have to look at that and again like I said that is a huge amount so we will need to um try to think out of the box and figure out how that's going to happen thank you and then it just also blows my mind that when building Willow Canyon the Athletic Facility we didn't have the forethought to build the restrooms I I I would hope that whoever is making those decisions in the future does better because that just blows me away at at the sheer ignorance of that and I as I said I can't answer I do not know why that decision was made but as I said in the study session this district has worldclass ath atic facilities they need to be brought up to world class athletic facilities and they are not they are lacking some things right now for our guests that come and use our facilities so and I agree when we build that High School we're going to have restrooms we will have restrooms and plumbing plumbing and restrooms are will be included in the building okay that way we don't have to use the porta potty during the band jam and I I went on record and said that so plumbing and restrooms will be included yes yes indoor so um I stated at the study session if what was the motion was the motion for 127 if we pass a bond for 127 million that's about $168 extra we are estimating for each household in taxes was that correct Miss pedel yeah yes that is correct I was on about a $200,000 limited assess valuation home okay so that's $168 in taxes which to a dual income household who does fine might not be that much but my concern is what about those single parents out there what about the the the retiree freed on a fixed income what you know I feel like I feel like it's never enough more money isn't always the answer you know I it's just and I don't I I don't mean to diminish any of the work of the committee because you're there because you care you care about our students you care about our communities you care about our schools and you're recommending that we fix everything that we need to fix it's just a difficult situation because we need buses but when some of our families are struggling to buy food you can't buy bread milk and eggs for under 20 bucks it seems like it's difficult you know I just want to make sure that we are looking at the very reality of we've got we I mean inflation is very high right now and and it just seems like it it's not stopping so as as a taxpayer if this Bond goes to the ballot how can I know that my money is going exactly to where we say it is U Madame President member cha and that is great question as we had with the bond committee um you will have uh updates uh at least yearly updates if not more yearly are required but you will have updates um on showing you exactly where the money's being spent and how it's being spent so that there's a guarantee this this board will stay informed in this process um and we will uh come before you and show you what we are doing with the money thank you for your answers excuse me but just for clarification that $168 figure that's an annual figure not a month that is correct that is an average estimated annual payment so estimate monthly would be an increase of well so just to clarify we do already have with our current existing bonds as a current estimated annual payment of about the based on the 200,000 assessed valuation home from about 160 to 170 so um layering on these bonds now the continued annual payment would be about $80 or so um with those Bond payments so um it' really be an increase of yeah correct can I make a recommendation also if this Bond sorry if it goes to the the ballot and the community um accepts it says yes I want it I would like the district going forward like meeting with our transportation and our maintenance people and say okay we have 78 buses that need be replaced starting today let's look at the rest of those buses going forward the ones that are going to be needing maintenance or replacement down the line that we start budgeting now for for this stuff um so that way we're not in this predicament 10 15 20 years down the line and have to go back to the taxpayers again wanting more money I think if we're being proactive like she said and like Mr Gillard who came and spoke earlier um I think I think um the district would be pretty good down the line that's just my recommendation that's how I I run my household you know I live within my means um so that's just my recommendation Madame President um member Drake that's a great recommendation thank you um just a note about transparency even with our our our last Bond that was nearly 20 years ago passed in this community um it's a requirement I believe that we house all that that all of that information about how it was used um on our website and I know I've seen it multiple times I've gone through it just for comparison um that Bond 20 years ago was was much more than we're recommending tonight that I've recommended tonight um but I'm assuming that going forward if the community were to pass this we would be required to house that information on our website what it's going towards what we've done progress made Madam president that is correct thank you if there's no other discussion we'll we'll have a vote oh it was seconded sorry seconded by Joe gramp and I believe this needs to be a verbal vote right yes I I no I I thank you motion carries okay next we have item H1 do we have any requests for future agenda items I guess not okay all right and at this time I'll motion to convene to an executive session second second seconded by Miss Pritchard it's okay motion carries

e when Dr Lopez goes to adop the agenda she's ask okay we're live thank you good evening and welcome uh can I call the meeting to order please can I have a roll call Dr Lopez here Mr Carlson here Mr Holt presid Mr Willard I am here miss mccon is is absent can I have a motion to adopt the agenda but before we do that are there any changes to the agenda there is one change president Lopez please remove item j9 from your agenda I move we adopt the agenda without j9 I have a second second all those in favor I I next item is item D recognitions and presentations oh sorry we have to I crossed that one out can we please stand for the pledge allegiance in a moment of silence quick Al to flag of the United States of America to the stands thank you next item is item D recognitions and presentations guys want to join me down below [Music] all right we have a fun evening for everybody tonight a couple of great recognitions um so this evening it is our pleasure to recognize the Mountain View High School Mock Trial teams and their co-advisors Mr Steve lockwitz and Andrea Rondo would you guys please all come up so the three teams competed at the tank of bir's mock Hawk competition this was back in November and we had students recognized in the following categories in the judge's award Luke vial for outstanding Advocate Tyson Woodward for outstanding performer in the best witness award Luke via roale two certificates tyon Woodward two certificates Gavin Jordan three certificates say Sha batiz two certificates Cynthia Ortega one certificate and in the best attorney award Tyson Woodward two certificates Gabrielle meles two certificates Nicole marado one certificate Luke vial one certificate s Chaba one certificate and Cynthia Ortega one certificate the mock trial officers that was a lot by the way that's impressive we can clap for that kind of clean house the mock trial officers Tyson Woodward uh president Luke vial vice president Nicole Marcato Treasurer and Hima Zola secretary shared the following information with me the Mountain View mock trial Club is one of the largest most decorated clubs in the Northwest Tucson area students participated in competitions all around the state and have distinguished them distinguished themselves by winning both local and federal recognition from the House of Representatives the club provides a myriad of benefits to the students who participate not only is this club building experience with students wishing to enter the legal field public speaking skills and communication abilities are improved the club also cultivates a tightly bonded team ethos promoting personal diligence as well as constructive criticism skills developing the capacity for self-sacrifice for the good of the team the Mountain View mock trial Club also boasts one of the most uh student run organizations on campus with their elected officers running all meetings assigning teams and teaching new members under the administration of their adviser this year alone the student leadership raised over a thousand dollars for the club trained new members and led the teams to Triumph and Glory at the local uh mock Hawk competition the club off officers also wrote that their adviser Mr lockowitz is an incredibly hardworking teacher who takes on tremendous responsibility for the club coordinating the teams advising the officers and organizing the club's admission to competitions around the state the students are incredibly grateful as is the administration for Mr lo I added that part Mr Lock uh incredibly grateful for Mr lockwitz and all that he does for their club and I would add all that he does for Mountain View High School the club officers also wanted to share that it is such an honor to be recognized by the district for all that they have done at Mountain View High School and in their Community please join me tonight congratulating these outstanding students and their [Applause] advisers all right Pi picture time so we're going to figure this out we're going to take Direction squeezing bring the governing we're squeeze in on side here we there I can go stand over there maybe well squeeze in Tom squeeze in everyone squeeze together uncomfortably okay okay ready I'm just GNA taing lovely awesome thank [Applause] you back to the class the print is small today all right next please join us in recognizing Mr Mark Colton a physics and AP Physics teacher at Morana High School Mark was selected as a finalist for the 2024 University of Arizona amazing teacher of the year he was selected by Committee of Educators and community members as one of nine High School amazing teacher finalists representing Southern Arizona schools Mark join us up front [Applause] please as the physics collaborative team lead science department lead and a stemazing teacher leader and a member of the moranah high building and instructional leadership teams Mark serves his students teachers and school in a variety of capacities where not all of his roles are captur Ed in professional titles he is a committed teacher and true role model for his students with his passion for Science and the ability to effectively engage his students he has inspired countless students across Morana High School Mark has tripled tripled annual enrollment in AP Physics that's impressive [Applause] come 28 students 5 years ago 90 students students for the past two years he has increased the number of students taking the AP Physics test from 14 to 50 with scores at the state and National averages he inspires his students each year 10 or more have majored in physics or astronomy or engineering at their University Mark has coached and mentored four of the top five academic to cathlon students with the highest individual scores in school history and he coached the academic the cathlon team to three top 11 finishes in the state fellow Morana High School teacher Mrs Edmonds stated Mark once told me that he wears the same type of buttonup shirt and khaki pants every day because he wants to be a stable and predictable presence in the lives of his students this Simple Choice he makes each day exemplifies the type of teacher and teacher leader that he is he is stable he is measured purposeful and a dependable force on the Mirana high school campus these qual these qualities are present whether he's coaching academic to cathlon teaching a physics lesson leading the science department or presenting professional development to the staff he's a very special teacher who shines every day in the classroom as a part of the nomination packet Mirana high school graduate shared his deepest respect Alex stated not only is he a fantastic teacher but he also cares so much about his students he was really good at being our friend in that class while also maintaining our respect as our teacher I looked forward to seeing him in class and felt he looked forward to seeing all of us students as well that kind of relationship fostered an environment so open to questions and I felt like I could ask him anything about physics or just life all in all he is a great teacher and I'm super grateful I got to take AP Physics from him as a part of the UVA amazing teacher of the year program finalists are recognized at a pregame presentation at a University of Arizona Wildcat men's basketball game and featured in a special kgun News 4 clip and received $500 please help me congratulating Mark and mark thank you for all that you do for the student and [Applause] staff go this way now we done next item is item e board Communications do we have any okay we'll move on to item F remarks from the public we don't have any so we'll move on to item G superintendent comments right president Lopez governing board members members of the audience uh it's been a uh fantastic third quarter uh I think I want to start off by just wishing everyone a restful and well-deserved spring break that starts uh tomorrow at various times in the middle of the day around the district but I hope that you all take this time to relax recharge make wonderful memories with families and friends and we look forward to to seeing you back for the fourth quarter that's the important part you have to come back for the fourth quarter um I do want to recognize uh had a fantastic visit to the Picture Rocks uh Community I just want to thank Picture Rocks for opening their doors to Miz M cronis and myself last Thursday for our superintendent board campus visit uh Mrs Citi and her team put together a just a a great agenda that allowed us to V visit many classrooms as well as meet with employees uh parents and students during our day it was a busy day it was a great day uh one of the common themes that that emerged as we met with the different employee groups at Picture Rocks was the strong sense of community family and support amongst that team some of the specific comments include Ed we are a family there is a great support system here the Picture Rocks family is just that family and there is a sense of community and belonging here what was neat about this visit was that theme was also evident during our visit with students and parents uh you should be incredibly proud of the relationships that you've built some of the comments from students and parents were the teachers here are the best my teacher makes my day every day and everyone here genuinely cares about the kids I want to uh thank the Picture Rocks team uh you should be incredibly incredibly proud of the work that you put in uh we not only enjoyed the conversations but walked away very impressed with the level of dedication at Picture Rocks I also want to recognize our staff over the last few weeks that have engaged engaged in our solution team uh meetings this includes our uh special education solution team our technology solution team our had Services solution team uh we've had great turnouts at these events we had some great dialogue around uh just some of the topics in our district that that we're working through together as a campus or as a district I should say and then finally uh tonight we are recognizing or or we will be voting on some principal recommendations uh I want to thank our staffs that have been engaged in the process I want to thank the board members that have been a part of of their uh different selection committees uh parents and community members that have been a part part of this process I am excited uh to get to those recommendations so without further Ado that concludes my report tonight thank you Dr streer item H is a consent agenda can I have a motion I move we adopt the consent agenda as presented do I have a second or is there any questions or no I just want to thank gladen farms for having a crochet club that brought back many memories and entering crochet into the fair it was always fun it is a great skill so thank you for that no yeah second all those in favor I I item I is unfinished business there is none so we're going to move to item J Dr streer president Lopez governing board members members of the audience Dan Johnson has served as principal of Coyote Trail Elementary School for the past 29 28 years uh since its opening uh Mr Johnson submitted his retirement effective June 30th 2024 as a result the principal position was posted 14 applications were received for the opening a screening committee including a board member a principal two teachers a support staff member a parent the executive director of state and federal programs and myself vetted applications and selected five individuals to interview the candidates were interviewed by the same committee candidates were uh forwarded to the final interview with myself and governing board president Dr Lopez and tonight we are pleased to recommend Mrs Jenna banet for the position of Coyote Trail Elementary School principal Mrs biset is currently serving as the associate principal at Coyote Trail a position she has held since 2021 and prior to that she was a fourth grade teacher on that campus can I have a motion I moved at the governing board appoint Mrs Jenna banet as the principal of Coyote Trail Elementary School effective July 1st 2024 have a second second all those in favor I [Applause] so I I have to ask you got to hold your boys up because I have to see [Music] them and this is my 11 month my husband Jessie so we appreciate all the things that provides futa absolutely exced well thank you [Applause] congrats we will move on to J2 Dr strer president Lopez governing board members members of the audience Colleen Frederick has served as principal of Estus Elementary School for the past eight years is that correct all right uh Mrs Frederick submitted her uh resignation to retire effective uh June 30th 20124 the principal position was posted 12 applications were received for the opening a screening committee including a board member a principal two teachers support staff member a parent the executive director of State Federal programs and myself vetted the applications and selected four individuals to interview the candidates were interviewed by the same committee and candidates were forwarded for a final interview with myself and uh president Dr Lopez tonight we are pleased to recommend Michelle bergerson for the position of Estus Elementary School principal Michelle bergerson is currently serving as the instructional coordinator a position she has held since 2011 prior to that that she has served as a literacy instructional coach at Estus Elementary School for four years and was a teacher at Desert Winds for nine years can I have a motion I move with the governing board and appoint Miss Mrs Michelle bergus as the principal of ests Elementary effective July 1st 2024 have a second second all those in favor I I thank you [Applause] okay item j3 Dr streer president Lopez governing board members and members of the audience Lona Dixon has served as principal of Morana Middle School for the past seven years Miss Dixon resigned her position effective June 30th 2024 the principal position was posted 9 applications were received for the opening a screening committee including a governing board member a principal in the district two teachers a support staff member a parent one of our assistant superintendents and myself vetted the applications and selected five individuals to interview the final candidate was in was interviewed by or I'm sorry the candidates were interviewed by the same committee and and candidates were forwarded for a final interview on March 14th this morning with the superintendent and president Lopez it is my privilege tonight to recommend Mr Ben rorm for the position of principal of mirand Middle School uh for the 2023 2024 school year can I have a motion I move that the governing board appoint Ben roram as the principal of Miranda Middle School effective July 1st 2024 I'll let Tom do it [Laughter] second hi [Applause] hi you they're all they'll be read together okay he was waiting for flowers so all right congratulations to everyone it was a great process we'll move on to j4 miss Harper good evening excuse me good evening president Lopez Dr streer governing board senior staff and the community um hiring schedules for teachers and speech language Pathologists for 2024 2025 are attached also attached are the extracurricular and coaching placement schedules the new forms of certificated employee contracts for teachers are attached for your review and approval the CER contract teacher contract 10 teacher contract 11 for tithe in extracurricular activities teacher contract 14 for yearend teachers extracurricular contract and the volunteer coaching agreement also attached is a list of returning certificated Personnel to whom we intend to offer a contract for the 2024 2025 school year the list includes teachers counselors Librarians speech language Pathologists and other instructional Personnel can I have a motion I move that the governing board approve the teachers spe language Pathologists and the extracurricular and coaching position salary and placement schedules as presented I further move that the governing board approve contract forms as indicated in the attached exhibits I further move that this CER uh certification of employees identified on exhibit a be offered a contract for the 2024 2025 school year second do we have any questions all those in favor I okay we'll move on to j five this s it's me again um hiring schedules for administrators psychologists therapists Specialists and exempt employees for 2024 are attached also included our contract terms for administrators the new forms of administrator and exempt employee contracts are attached for your review and approval administrator contract two for senior staff administrator contract three for principal administrator contract four for director administrator contract five for ass associate administrator exempt employee contracts six for 12 months contract seven for less than 12 month contract 7.1 for counselor year end contract eight for professional non-teaching contract 8.9 for professional non- teing year end and contract 9 for psychologist intern also identified on the attachments are those administrators and exempt employees to whom we intend to offer contracts for 2024 and 2025 2024 20 25 these include senior staff members associate principles directors associate directors coordinators facilitators managers social workers psychologists nurses and therapists can I have a motion I moved as the governing board approve the 2024 2025 hiring schedules and contract terms for the administrators professional non-teaching and exempt employees I further move that the governing board approve contracts forms as indicated in the attached exhibits I further move that the governing board approved the offering of contracts for 2024 2025 for the administrators professional non-teaching and exempt employees second second any questions all those in favor I thank you thank you we'll move to item j6 discussion approval of formal decision regarding second incentive retention statement Mr thank you during the negotiations process with Moran education ass Association agreement was reached to defer a decision on the second retention stien until the governing board could be certain that the district's budget um situation was sufficient to Warrant the payment of the stien further the agreement requires the governing board to take formal action before March 31st of 2024 hence this meeting I have confirmed sufficient funds are available to pay the full $500 for the second retention stien um to all eligible employees this includes all employees who are issued a contract by the governing board okay can I have motion I move that the governing board determine that signif significant funds are eligible to pay the second retentions um initiative stien of 20123 2024 fiscal year to all eligible employees do have a second second any questions all those in favor thank you Dan so we move to j7 Mr contor up yeah policy gcbd which is professional support um staff fringe benefits is a need of revision to bring it in line um the policy language in line with how we currently um with with our current short-term disability insurance plan document a few years ago the district with the input of the benefits committee amended the plan amended the plan to provide a waiting period of 45 days from the previous 60 days which is mentioned in the policy this means one becomes eligible for this benefit 15 days sooner the current insurance plan document also provide or provides set insurance for 22 weeks from the offset from the onset of a disability pending the medical certification this is a time um this time um is enough for to get an individual in this situation to long-term disability through the asrs Arizona State Retirement System previously in the previous version it actually mentions um it's 180 days which is too long I mean they've already um qualified for long-term disability so um how so this district and the district in essence was paying for a month of coverage that no employee could actually use so that's when we had we changed the plan document um I wanted to mention the benefits committee that just in case nobody knows that we have a benefits committee um we actually have administrative staff benefits Personnel uh myself support staff and teacher representation on that committee thank you Dan can I have a motion I move that the governing board approve revisions policy G CBD professional support staff fringe benefits can I have a second second any questions all those in favor I thank you next item is item j8 discussion approv approval of policy considerations thank you Miss Harper good evening president Lopez Dr streer governing board senior staff and community members uh policy gcca professional and support staff sick leave revisions are made to reflect current practice regarding the substitute leave time and policy gdl support staff workload revisions were made to remove outdated language and add specific definition of a required Lunch Period can I have a motion I move that the governing board approve revisions policy gcca professional support staff sick leave and policy gdl support staff workload second all those in favor I I we'll move to item K board member requests for future agenda items do we have any okay we'll move on to item L future meetings next meeting is April 11th can I have a motion to adjourn I move the governing board adjourn second all those in favor I I thank you

keep sing all right Wildcats it's Friday we're going to have some fun today we're in the pool everybody's favorite spot at West Chicago high school and look who I Came Upon three time not one time not two time but three time state champion Brady Johnson how you doing today congratulations on your recent success in thank you I'm doing good I'm excited to be here is it your first time on Friday Funday this is my first time on Friday Funday I've watched it all right so we got a big fan here on Friday Funday we want to get to know you a little bit so congratulations on the three state titles you won one last year as a junior two this year a senior did you ever think you would want let alone repeat win three was that even in your Realm Of Consciousness so obviously the goal is to win you don't want to win and just stop we constantly want to keep improving so the goal this year was to get the state records not just get the win thankfully we broke both of them and I couldn't be more happy when you were a kid did you think that this was possible you think someday I'm going to be a stay champ or was the goal just hey I want to swim and have some fun so when I was seven I started in this pool and I look up at that record board and I just saw all those fast times I was like oh I want to be one of them so it's no sec swimming is a grueling sport tough how many hours a day do you swim so I swim anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours a day on weekends you know I'll spend 6 hours at the pool and then I'll be lifting for 2 hours afterwards so long sessions almost all the time why do swimmers dye their hair we dye our hair this dates back to before my parents even went to high school it's just a tradition you know other sports do it I see hockey players do it all the time you know it's just a fun time right before our Championship season where the whole team gets together and we just want to do something crazy you know good team bonding activity how tall are you 6'4 and how much do you weigh I'm 210 lb wow so you're like the size of like a small dolphin swimmers are notorious for their appetite take me through like the day of a big race what do you eat so in the morning I'm stacking up as much protein as possible eggs sausage bacon all that and then right before my race I will usually have some type of sugar so any sort of electrolyte drink Gatorade all that Donuts so after a race You've Won obviously you're able to celebrate what do you have to eat to celebrate afterwards so after a big competition you know we've been resting for 2 weeks eating healthy so we'll go all out crazy we usually go some pizza joint Burger Joint anything that we can stuff our faces with we we get to it so you can eat a whole pizza in one city oh yeah done done before so join swimming you can eat pizza as much as you want all right so swimmers have to have that race mentality right before they go usually like playlist music what's the song that gets you going number one song I listen to before every race is command by Kesha getting so next year you're going to Arizona State University congratulations as you're getting ready to leave West Chicago to graduate in just about 8 weeks anything that you're like left undone or have you accomplished everything is there anything that you still want to do you know if I could choose anything it'd probably be to have one last race in this pool this pool right here have you ever raced a 45-year-old man I haven't no well you're about to all right wild cats we're almost ready to race have you ever raced anybody in a swim shirt before I don't think so this is my first time okay we'll see if it increases my drag at all you know I haven't swam in a little while so if you don't mind give me a little bit of a head start I get 25 M Head Start we'll do a 50 down and back you think you can beat me totally we'll [Music] see take your Mar when you want to give up try again keep on swimming keep on swimming when you want to give up try again keep on swimming keep on [Music] swiming [Music] good [Applause] job all right wild cats don't let anybody tell you that swimming is easy my goggles fell off I'm going dive in otherwise I think I would have won great race Brady good job thank you thank you here's your participation award thank you thank you I earned this I earned this and I feel like I deserve it Friday March 15th 2024 raced Brady today did good almost beat him next time is my time all right wild cats hope you had some fun today dive into the weekend think you can do better Cannonball than me I think I can no way [Music]

e [Music] hello Billy how you doing good e spe I got [Music] this [Music] after good evening I have 5:30 I will call the March meeting of the school corporation board of education for uh roll call all trainers and board members are present with the exception of Susan alri I would like to remind everyone that we are character counil Corporation and the Piller of caring being highlighted this month at this time I would invite everyone to join me the pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands one nation God indivisible with jce for thank you first item of business is to approve the previous meeting minutes there any addition FRS not I would entertain a motion to approve I approval second all in favor I I next item is the building principal report we have a lot to celebrate um this month at CMS so we have just successfully submitted our high reliability schools uh certification we are completely finished with it and I'm very excited uh it was a lot of hard work and so tonight I want to start by recognizing um some of the staff members they're not all here if you guys could stand up if you are part of the HRS certification including Mrs O'Neal and her beautiful family back there Mrs Lane I just want to take this time to thank them it was a long process we learned a lot about our school and they are the leaders of our building who are going to help us make changes happen through the HRS process so um I'm very proud of CMS and I'm excited to see where that process goes next so thank you very much and I appreciate all of you thank you so much uh each year we have a a student Leadership Retreat and this year we have some amazing student leaders some of them are going to present uh some highlights of CMS for this year and then later we have another group that's going to present our eth gr field trip so I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to the members of the uh Council that are going to come up and do that so and I will be your your SL for you okay [Music] I'm So at the beginning of this year we got we talk about things that we can focus on our school making everything better so we asked how can we raise attendance rates and make kids want to come to school how can we lower the amount of vaping incidents in our school how could we get some kids involved not only in activities also by having a St in our school and how can we make CMS as safe as possible this school year 77.8% has gone almost 10% last year 68.7% he believe that the various inces that we have recently imped to our school have contributed to Ste to the Ste rise inam like sh and students to over the pasts has G down by %.

our goal was to um look for a master students that will be and now we're just trying to like work with her schedule and ours super cool all right I think we are I think we are back our live stream is going again so we were looking for a motion to continue 151 Main I'll make a motion to continue the site plan approval application for 151 Main Street to March 28th I'll second that an a roll call vote Anna tuski I Marcel hona I Katherine Jersy I and Trisha Kendall I so we will see that on March 28th All Right Moving on our second public hearing is um 9 to 49 Homer Avenue this is the um project we've been looking at for a little while now we're getting into the the um the end part I guess of it um site plan and special permit application so I think the um Peter do you just want to yeah I can just give a quick update uh obviously this project has been with us uh but we have been uh at the last meeting we comb through the special permit and the site plan uh findings and conditions um there was some edits made uh those are highlighted in blue um I believe I sent uh them to to to all the Plenty board members and we have printed copies here tonight I just want to make a note that Terry Morris uh the attorney for the project and Mr Charlie zudo part of the application team Andor owner of the the land area is here tonight along with Ron Bor I know one of the items that did come up obviously in conversations um in one of the Loose Ends was um the pergola within the pocket park and so I believe um in your binders you'll be able to find a rendering of the pergola um this is from a excuse me a earlier rendering of the building so please um don't don't pay any attention to the colors per se but you can kind of see where that purle is going to be located within that pocket park and how that will be built obviously it'll be Timber um and uh it will have matching asphalt roof shingles to the building and and that's just something that was going to be added into the decision uh just as as a loose item so as the conversation uh continues with with with the decision uh I'm sure I have all more to input but I just kind of want to make a clear note of that um that information was collected uh to date and Marcelo and Amanda I can share my screen and show that to you um yeah I think we can we can go back to the pergola when we get like as we go through when we get to that part yeah so maybe we should just start um again with the with the special permit um and make our way through obviously everything can always be asked but the blue areas um and and and maybe we want to bring it maybe we want to bring up the special permit document um yes online as well um but the areas in blue indicate the things that are changed since our meeting to weeks ago and the questions that were still remaining um on those items I have a question in addition to the blue did the last meeting we make it through everything cuz I feel like we were close but I um I'm not sure we we as a board got through the entire draft because it was coming along pretty well right we were agreeing we were doing some live edits but I just don't want to um maybe miss that and just focus on the blue if that's if it's not true that we didn't fin or if it whatever yeah I mean um obviously we'll continue on the um on all the conditions as we go through them um but most of them and we can ask when we get there but I think all the things like special project conditions are um are things that are tip more typical project conditions they're probably not okay yeah like I don't unfortunately remember what page we got to together like last time well I think we're really starting um on page nine again with the blue so we're kind of going back there was no blue anywhere before that I don't think so um and then most of the end of it is just is just really our standard conditions about processes and um the stuff that's always in there so um so anyway the first place of blue is um this is in the FI no it's in the special permit criteria so it's in the findings and that's just um an uh approval or a waiver of the typical parking dimension of 9 by2 to be in the subsurface spaces it is 9 by2 on the surface spaces on the subsurface spaces the the um spaces are 9 by8 with a 24in wide aisle um the uh uh gcg um I don't remember their exact wording who would be in the documentation that was acceptable I think that's what they said um but it needs the approval of the planning board so that is in the findings any and the standard is 9 by 20 the in in the Ashlin definition of a parking space we have it as 9 by 20 anyone is the is the reason for that because is there something going on subsurface that this type of modification allows for some other important task or accommodation like a access point do we have a sense of what why it's necessary for the project I think anytime we're kind of going off the norm it's good to understand I I think I think we can ask Ron but it's important to understand that this the idea of a norm um like the Ashland um bylaws as far as I know do not specify the width of an aisle they only specify the width of a space so often you'll see 20 202 used um I think the fire department prefers The Wider aisle the 24 aisle fire department is always going to want a 24 24t aisle when you start looking into these parking Dimensions these parking lot Dimensions parking stall dimensions mentions I'm going to tell you right now uh 20 20 is the biggest space that's typically ever practically provided um and so a 18 uh 18t space is a common and it's common across the board in any um Plaza you know Shopping Plaza Mall um any any any sort of development of that nature where you have a lot of parking you know some parking spots all together so I think the request is in line with other elements that we've other other projects that we have permitted um and so I have also seen through research that that 9 by8 will be decreased for a compact space down to 8 by1 15 in some locations uh and so what the the the definition of Norm is going to be across the board right and so I think a normal space uh would would be 9 by8 in Ash we just call for 20 I meant like contrary to our bylaw so that's what I meant if the BW says 9 by 20 and we're doing something different our Norm our bylaw Norm but I mean I don't have a problem with it because I what I'm hearing is this is sub um subsurface it appears to um so I'm okay with that as long as we don't create you know a precedent where every little parking space we do we go with this so I can see how if it's sub surface I'm okay with this um the only continuation that I was searching for and I could not remember is one of the reports if I'm right maybe it was a gcg report where there were columns and some of those 9 by8 parking spots which I don't remember if they came back and said they reworked something and cleared that I that's I was looking for those drawings I was like could not find it yeah I did I did um I looked at that note I know the note you meant and they said that the parking spots are 9 by you know 9 by 18 but whenever there's a column which of course isn't every parking space um then that's going to reduce the size of that spot by half a column sure say and um yeah so up and typically those are at the end of at the end of the spot not at the if you're pulling in it's not where your door is yeah so I would imagine it would go into you know 6 in on a side or something like that they didn't loot loose spots because of that condition anywhere number of parking spots no the parking the number of parking spots is still what it's required to be if that's your question like I know we talked about it and I just couldn't figure it out thank you all right so everyone good can we we can move on okay uh next under neighborhood character and social structur so this is just a move um the first part of that was that changed I don't remember the addition of a pocket park for yeah I think the first part of that is just I don't think anything changed there no nothing changed there um but the second part of that is about the um is about the mural wall because um so we moved it as a finding because of the difficulty we're having in that there is no there's there's no way to put a responsibility on it there's no funding mechanism there's no none of these details which have to be worked out in order to make it a you know in order to really have this be structured we're kind of having this difficulty with the Starbucks mural right we kind of threw it out there and now we have to kind of um figure it out on the fly so what this does is still accept the gift that we've been allowed to do this but it leaves it a little bit open-ended of how are we going to do this and who's going to do it and where's the funding going to come from and what it actually is um so um we thought it was more appropriate Peter and I after talking to different people in the town found that this was maybe the more and I've done some research on this right and I I looked at chapter 4A I've talked to folks in town Hall uh and I actually wrote a memo on it and that the number one thing is that under chapter 48 under the zoning board responsibilities we really don't have the pting board doesn't have the responsibility right indor the power to in to to to to put in in like we did right with with the Starbucks right we we took it but then we we brought in a third party entity which be the town of Ashen right and so I think I in in looking at everything that's kind of evolved you know I think the best move for us is to move it into the finding section because with a condition we really not allow it to to take something and and and put it on a third party entity right it doesn't really become enforcable because it's not really with the project and we don't really have the power over a third party entity right and so therefore it was I found it to be most appropriately placed in a finding section under neighborhood character I'm not convinced moving it somehow relates to third party which would be the town of Ashland I I think where I'm coming from is it's on a project that is just site plan review um you can't force you can't force a pocket park um this is special permit we have a little bit more leeway but even here I don't think any of us want to force it I think the consensus of the board was we did not want to force this at all instead it was I recall it as a conversation I think it was first brought up by the applicant not by the board in this instance it was yeah and so where it's being offered and we accept it where it's located in the decision condition or finding as long as we're not forcing some random entity to do it I don't really see that it matters where it's located in the decision I do think it's really important to recognize that we absolutely have jurisdiction to work with any applicant who's willing to offer this and to accept it and I also believe we have a right as a planning board in those situations to come up with a protocol that might include talking to other entities to figure out how they might want to be part of something like this either for this project or any other project and as long as there's consensus like down the line I'd love to get this board to a point where we have an understood protocol that works for other entities whether it's our art rated nonprofits or our town entities where there is a mutual um interest in making something like this happen and it's more likely to happen in partnership with the select board or with these entities and I think where it is in the decision I don't think in some way yeah over steps or bounds yeah I think the question is here um I think the critical word Peter left out and what he just said versus the way he described it to me is that conditions usually are are able to be enforced right and so how are we enforcing a mural where we don't have an artist or funding or maintenance we don't really know what it is maybe it's maybe it's something different maybe it's a different kind of artwork right so it's a it's still that the the applicant is um has offered and the planning board is accepting this this space right but there's nothing to we don't have anything in place as a town or as a board where something is enforceable right so this is where like I'm not sure I think that we C we absolutely have a right to enforce uh design right and so we have a right to say we want if the applicant is agreeing which I believe they are right they're they're offering this then in a sense they're offering a space we can't enforce a painter to come in and paint it we can't say you the applicant must find a painter and get this done but we absolutely can enforce a design that we come into agreement with where a wall is available for such a project so I kind of disagree I I agree that we can't force the the drawing but we design is the part that we can absolutely have jurisdiction over assuming it's a condition that is agreed upon in a special permit well let's see where let's see where everyone sits on it and what I'm trying to and also what comes into play is we can't pull in a third-party entity such as the town or somebody else to be dependent upon a condition right and I think the last time we all agreed that we would not I don't recall us ever saying oh let's Force some entity to make it happen I think we talked exactly about this idea that we would want to work with the applicant to develop a protocol and maybe we as a planning board would create some sort of precedent because I recall the last time we were like huh this is something new that we seem to be doing we're learning as we go between the Starbucks and this project maybe we should come up with a protocol so I I absolutely agree that I would not want to force any entity to come in and save the day I think it's our responsibility to come up with a protocol that we partner with the right entities who are also interested I think there's folks in this community who love public art let's well let's let everyone weigh in I think we understand where where you're sitting on it Kate um well I I have a problem having something in decisions is not enforceable so I think I mean it's kind of along the lines Anna is thinking I I don't understand why wouldn't be enforcable for telling them what color they have to paint it and what materials and what color the roof is so I I to me it seems like a disconnect that we're this isn't enforcable and I that that's where I have confusion why isn't enforceable and then certainly moving it to a place where you're telling me it's not enforceable then it shouldn't be in our decision I think that's not quite how I don't think that's quite coming off the way I think it comes off but um but I see what you're saying I guess I I mean I think it's fine um wherever we put it as long as it's just as long as we just keep it open because we have no we have no other information on this we have no other there is nothing else to add which is why the Starbucks mural is behind the scenes has been tricky right so but let me go to people online if Amanda or Marcelo want to weigh in yeah um I I I really don't have a problem with it one way or another I think probably would kind of in my opinion spending kind of too much energy on something that it's kind of relatively tangential to the project I think that the phrase looks fine and uh the only thing I would say and and I guess whether it's here or there it's kind of to me a distinction without a difference I I think we're saying here that it has been offered and has been accepted the the part that I think is a little U confusing to me at least is when they say at the end that the applicant may choose to work with the planning board to develop a process for implementation I guess the word may could be May yes or may not so I I I think the intent is that we accept the space as offered and I think maybe what we should just say is that the the the planning board will follow up with with steps for implementation just like Anna said that we we will maybe develop a protocol in the meantime it it it it gets on the record that we accepted uh the offer so Marcel would you where it says may would you change that to will like will work with the planning board is that what you were or just kind of reverse it just say that the the planning board will work with the applicant we'll we'll set up uh the steps to working with the applicant to to implemented and that and that goes to the point that maybe we need to just spend a little time thinking on on the protocol uh the implementation this is not critical to the project this is not germine or imminent that has to get done and I I think I I like the idea of developing a system um instead of just going willy-nilly on on on Project after project with with with lack of of tools I I think just saying that that has been offered and accepted and therefore now that space is is basically reserved for implementation under the direction of the planning board and that that's that will be enough for me thank you Amanda do you want to add in no I agree I think it makes sense in this section um just given that you know I think this type of an art installation is absolutely something that's going to add to Neighborhood character it's it's a valid social structure I think concerns around having it in conditions um last meeting were valid and it makes sense here and think um I like that rewarding because I think it makes it it puts the onus on us to work with the applicant to take the process forward but it also REM sort of removes any ambiguity around whether or not it's you know we're saying it's been offered we accept it it's going to happen you know we'll take the implementation process forward with the applicant Deepa um I think that small tweet that Marcelo suggested makes a lot of sense that gives us kind of that space to I don't think we can hear it Deepa online I just seconded what you just said Marcelo um nothing more to add so so would that just be a simple change of saying the planning board will work with the applicant to develop a process for implementation y yeah I'm okay with that I just kind of want to be put it out there you know I think it's on the onus needs to be on the planning board because you know what if happens if protocol cannot be agreed upon you know going back and forth I don't think that will happen but I think just in any instance when you're dealing with art public art it it comes down to an opinion right on what what the design shall be what it looks like so I just want to make sure that we're clear on on um the onus should lie on the planning board yeah I think that's true okay so why don't we reverse that to the planning board will work with the applicant to develop a process for implementation and where do we want to put it I'm something like um approval will not be unreasonably withheld like some language that we do in in our things like because I again I approval by the applicant right I I think the intent is to work with us I think the intent is to get it but words matter and this is essentially becomes a contract on file so I think we should have something like that which I know is still undefinable but we use it to the benefit of applicants right we can't that's fine should we everyone's good with that yeah but qu yes but I wonder how what that process will look like when they have to come back to kind of such a presentation I no I think it's more like what's happening with Starbucks that it's happening offline you know and so our means of doing that was finding someone another committee that's that's actually handling it for us so and whatever that board is is working together but but I think the point of approval is it's it's kind of separate from these I I and I don't I I kind of think it it models it just models the the whole thing the the what this paragraph is saying is just about reserving the space for the planning board to decide on how to implement the process to get a mural or or or an art art project it's not about who's going to approve it or that no we are going to determine that the the this should just be squarely on on on on on the four corners of the offer has been accepted and we will develop a step for implementation um I'm not sure that add adding detail to it when we don't have even the basis so you don't think the last line is needed the approval unwi withheld kind of thing well there's not there's not there's not there's no approval that okay I only suggested that because people were saying they might not like the art and then they can continuously the the worst case of that is I continuously never like anything you bring to me we never get a mural right so I'm trying to prevent Charlie's a mud's hand up Charlie do you want to Charlie I've asked you to unmute but please join the conversation can you hear me yep loud and clear yeah I'm all for the mural I just don't want any political or hate speech or anything like that it's going to be a mutually agreed upon mural we don't want to wind up with something on our building that the community is going to be against or anybody be offended by it yeah that that makes sense I think uh Starbucks is saying the same thing yeah how about the art shall be mutually agreeable or agreed upon that's completely reasonable that's fine and doesn't doesn't the school have an art Department like the kids can do murals yeah I mean I I don't want to go through the details here it could be almost anything so we're just trying to keep this General so that we can have this very general condition in here and we can move on this isn't something we're going to work out today when it's still in process with the Starbucks mural right that planning board will okay that's fine yeah so the planning board will work with the applicant to De to develop a process for implementation that's good okay thank you so artwork shall be mutually agreeable by both parties or okay and I see Terry and ROM's hand up but unless you have something extremely different to add then I would rather move on oh Terry um I can ask you to unmute sorry I okay can you hear me yep okay um I still can't stop my video though can you let me do that too uh yeah hold on Terry okay but we can still hear your question even if we can't see you so yeah so can you give us your question we have a big agenda tonight I can speak but I can't anyway um I thought I listened to the I was aever to hear of the whole discussion I I think I agree with marello uh and the change that youve made to the to the to the the language that I see in front of me I think it's fine okay all right thank you then we'll move on the opportunity to comment okay all right so we're going to page 11 where just adding one word there those new pedestrian Pathways which are the same kind of raised sidewalks that we put in on Starbucks as are on the entrance and exit um that might come up in a couple places because we had to add that on uh let's see okay number six this is about um this is about the existing building and how the existing building um doesn't meet the current setbacks of the downtown zoning but we don't want to tear it down so just says the board also approves the current setbacks of the existing commercial building to remain nine Homer AV which are non-conforming under the Ashland downtown district zoning so just taking care of that number 12 um inspectional survey so I I have one question oh sorry Marcel didn't see you just one question about the last paragraph um are we saying I mean I understand those there's a commercial piece of property there that is nonconforming that that's fine U but when we say that we approve it does that mean that they decide to redevelop those buildings uh are by default approved as non-conforming well it says I mean I'm not sure I mean we have the we have the wording that says um approves the current setbacks of the existing commercial building to remain exactly but should we do we need to approve it's just a question or should we say that we recognize that they are non-conforming and will [Music] remain I don't know if it makes a difference but I will defer to Amanda and and and [Music] Anna I'm trying to remember the language that this this came what what I think the language is pretty close to that from gcg yeah I I think I think gcj I think gcg said planning board approval yeah yeah I think I think okay either way I I think it it's saying the same it's it's the same item it it's getting across the same point okay then I'm fine all right so on page 12 we're on inspectional survey um we just added we had blasting and ho ramming and we added ground settlement to here um and um do you want to review the other things from Mike Carter uh sure is that the right place for it well I can review the number number four I just want to kind of go over so well but but number four isn't we're we're on number two oh I'm sorry oh yes number two these are a couple questions that um Kate had made about potential ground settlement I mean we had talked about blasting we had talked about H ramming potentially disturbing some of the um surrounding properties and that those would be monitored youa oh sorry yeah you give them to me didn't you um pet Peter just so you know you're still showing the the number six oh I'm sorry sorry everybody budy where are they I them oh you do um no know that's something El sorry everybody I have to hunt for a missing email it's here somewhere oh wait here they are is that it yep okay so just a note uh sorry to follow up is that um we did receive an email from Kate and you had a couple questions on that settlement and um do want me to read the email or just kind of review it I think it's pretty short so it's pretty short says hi Peter uh did you get any information from gcg if they think there is a need for and if so the method for monitoring for a settlement I noticed it is added to the list for po poal construction related impacts the way this is listed the applicant is required to complete an inspectional survey to set an existing conditions of Baseline that was an email from from Kate that email was just sent over to Mike Carter for review um I hope that was okay um in his response is uh says concerns about the way the condition is written so as written as you see it today says one there is no details that would that the preconstruction existing condition surve survey needs to be there for excuse me there why you read his respon oh yeah I'll read his response a video and pictures of the existing adjacent buildings in property should be provided so I think we can add that set an elevation on the side of each building to be checked over a period of one year after completion of construction number two said there um number two he had no comments and and I I can read it it says there is no requirement to submit it to the town oh I'm sorry says there is no requirement to submit it to the town mer merely required to complete some sort of existing condition survey I'm sorry this wasn't highlighted in red we should have it submitted for approval so I think we need to edit this number three says there is no requirement for ongoing monitoring without some monitor okay say without some monitoring how will anyone know if settlement is occurring okay this is a I think this is a question from K correct sorry says submit an elevation report every month until one year after completion certified by PLS so those are elements um that we can add oh to clo says to close this can we okay can we okay it says um we can uh can we get a settlement a settlement from gcg that they don't believe monitoring for settlement possible or other construction impacts is needed uh we had discuss discussed having a monitoring plan okay I think this is from UK and then the last Point uh there is no comment back and so yes I think we can take what gcg wrote back to us and edit that condition Yeah so basically basically basically I think gcg is saying um that a video and pictures of the exterior of adjacent buildings and property should be provided that they set an elevation on the side of each building to be checked over a period of one year after completion of construction and then they submit an elevation report every month until one year after completion CER certified by a professional land surveyor good okay so we will add those things on but offline I mean we can do it now no no 100% probably be going through a lot of iterations and yeah so at least let's do it at the end instead of right in the middle here okay all right uh construction Logistics plan and phasing plan we on number three we just added in there applicant shall submit for approval um it there was just some other phrase in there I can't remember what it was but it made a little bit more definitive number four is water pressure and Sewer capacity so um Peter you have an email oh you Peter had written this condition sent it to so this condition comes from uh I wrote it over the course and then uh today uh just I had the chance to talk to Dan Mau Dan ma is our water and sewer superintendent um and I also was able to meet with Greg eldrid today who's is our third party engineer uh and just to read the condition it says prior to the insurance of the building permit the applicant shall consult with the Ashland water depart excuse me the Ashland Department of Public Works Water and Sewer division to confirm water capacity in available sewer capacity for the addition of the project to the existing Town infrastructure it may be requested by ashen's Town excuse me by ashlin's water and sewer division to collect and submit historical water usage data from the past three to five years for comparison against a proposed usage in flow ensuring capacity and I sent this to Greg Eldridge and Dan Mau and in reply from Greg Eldridge who is vice president senior project manager for uh Halen ward he wrote back Peter we reviewed the proposed language and we feel like it ensures waste excuse me Wastewater and capacity are reviewed uh for this project Noe uh having a longer discussion with Greg and Dan they felt comfortable with the language and uh and they will obviously Dan has been Dan and Greg have been re reviewing this project Greg has been working in the town of ashon for 25 years on our Wastewater systems and he felt comfortable so that was one of the things that was remaining on our outstanding items list do anyone have any questions or concerns about that or is that checking off that item on our list all right seeing none go to page Lucky 13 uh uh so this is uh just item 11 and this is just the sidewalks and curbs again and talking about that raised sidewalk so it just said entrance and we added to the Alden Street exit that's again one of the things I mentioned before that pops up a few places now we're on page 14 this was about the shared parking we were looking for a little bit more information about a shared about a shared parking agreement something that would be legally binding in case say the railroad station is sold along with its parking um Peter is that document is that something that um is everything okay Amanda yeah I was just saying can you advance the doc oh I'm sorry you know what I'm trying to I have paper in front of me and I please remind me we're on page we're on page 14 14 sorry about that so um is this the language has this language been reviewed by Lisa me yet or was just her it was her s some of her suggestion so this was a summary of a email that I got from Lisa me as a follow-up item and this comes as um a email to Lisa a email from Lisa and what I did is I asked Lisa and I attached the uh gcg comment below and I ask her the question her response and reply Peter I agree with Mike verification should happen to be sure there are are significant Surplus spaces to provide the offside parking either a lease agreement between the two parties or an easement is acceptable I would support the lease agreement uh said I would support I would suspect the lease agreement would be more appropriate but either works uh I would also require that the lease agreement is for the term of the special permit and until the usage change or lease must stay in place further that the parking should be uh dedicated for the uses across the street and there are any changes to the uses on the site um of the lease may not increase the required parking such that it impacts the number of spaces covered in the lease the lease should also require notice to the building inspector should the lease be terminated for any reason and so therefore I was able to review I summarize Lisa's email and I tried to create the best condition possible uh I have not been able to verify that and and check off you know Lisa has reviewed this personal condition however I did verify with Lisa what that condition would look like I think this is a good one for our to attorneys to take a look at the language knowing that Lisa me will be looking at it um but to see if it reads if it reads clearly it doesn't seem to cover like a sale of either property it seems I mean like overall pretty good but then if the current applicant owns both properties so let's say they sell one or the other mhm how is that enforcable well I think that's why the lease agreement is between the two properties so regardless of ownership a leas still stands yeah that's that that's how I understand what Leisa is suggesting and they still would submit it for approval to the town so presumably that's within the jurisdiction of yeah it seems to me that it would only happen if if one property is sold and they decide not to continue the agreement then they would have to notify the town and the inspector and I mean the lease is between those entities so if somebody else comes in it's not their agreement it would not be enforcable so I I think the premise is that this is for the duration of this use you're concerned that what happens after no I mean they either one of those properties could be sold tomorrow but we're approve we're potentially approving a project on a condition that there's access to other parking that tomorrow they may not own that's my concern I mean that's been the concern it was kind of flagged through gcg report so I don't think that's taken care of just because there's a lease because a new owner isn't going to be obligated to someone else's lease well it's it is being recorded with the registry of deeds so it's but how would how would they carry over a lease that they didn't well a deed restriction is not a lease though I mean a deed restriction is a thing and a lease is a thing I I think where so it says lease agreement or easement I think easement hints at at a potential restriction that could outlive this particular owner a leis agreement is really between the parties so I I would say we should go back to Lisa and just clarify which one is it is it a lease agreement or an easement okay yeah I think that needs to be the same go ahead Amanda I have the same question I'm wondering why she preferred the lease agreement over the easement because the concern about transfering is I think handled by an easement yeah an easement would be essentially kind of stuck in time for everyone to deal with because that would show up as a problem for the next the next purchaser would say oh there's an easement what do I do right and it would infuence the value of the purchase a lease not my problem these other people have a lease but it's not me so we can't really say lease or or easan they're kind of different so why don't we this obviously needs to be checked by which who's going to look at the whole thing anyway right yeah she she's going to look at the whole thing I just want to make a note the Attorney Terry Morris has his hand up we can yeah so Terry if you want to have a comment you can but we'll have Lisa and we'll not to her the question about the potential sale of one property and then what happens that we want to make sure it addresses that concern I think you made that clear in when you talked to Lisa about it but to make sure that she understands that concern I can I can do that uh Town planner to Terry Terry do you want do you want to weigh in on this matter yes I do easement is a stronger document from the rather than a lease the easement can runs with the land but was as long as the properties are under both uh the same form of ownership you can't Grant an easement to yourself so until such time as this I think Katherine's observation about covering it when you change owners that's when the easement should be required to be put in place because that's what so it just needs to be afraid so it sounds like the condition should be there shall be a Le lease and when that lease ends an easement okay if if ownership changes there's an easement and there is an easement so we just need to be very firm okay I think we'll just have to I'll clarify that condition obviously with liser and then we'll come back to it okay so we'll put that one in Lisa's court all right uh sorry next on the list is commercial hours of operation this was suggested by gcg because the parking is shared in the downtown area and there was so so much reduction of parking in the downtown area and this is why so that we get this more density of uses but to make sure I I think it's basically making sure there's no overnight parking by those businesses that those those spots need to be used by the residences so um this language was just uh taken from another project we're not saying that this is the right hours of operation so but it was a placeholder for our discussion today I believe it came out of 100 Chestnut yeah am I crazy or isn't this something that the select board has jurisdiction about so the select board yes and no I think I would so the select board has Licensing hours and that's where we kind of got into this got into a situation remember that it was a situation concerning I think concerning um Starbucks it was a big situation but but it's a different situation it's a special permit well Starbucks wasn't sharing parking with residential this is shared parking between residential and Commercial so I think that's I think that's one of the differences Starbucks was just Starbucks they're not sharing with anybody so they don't have other people that need to use those spots right the residences need to use the spots in this case so are these hours proposed by the applicant I you know I think these were taken from the uh Village of the Americas I can double check and look at it uh and come back one we can check in with Charlie zudo he has his hand raised but I don't know if he just I have asked Charlie to unmute yeah again this is kind of one of those you you are correct we kind of got in you know because the the the the the select board do have obvious I mean if it's a bar moving in there the select board is gonna be deciding how late it's open correct so what are we doing I don't think we should be going to this okay I think the only thing I'm comfortable doing just to not step on the select board's toes is whatever hours that the select board chooses for whatever establishment the lighting only being on during those hours would would in theory be on us because that's part of the the overall presence of the building but I don't think we can drive those hours without knowing what's moving in and whether we have jurisdiction if it's a bar it's not us I think one of the and I just jump just popped into my head right is that I think Trish you just hit a note right there should be no overnight parking by the businesses right so allow those to be opened up by the resident for for the residents right and I think that's a very nice way to to move past hours of operation because it's not in our jurisdiction and then it might be because it's special permit we might have a little bit more power than we did with Starbucks which was site review I believe site plan review correct so we may have a little bit more power but I don't know if we need to go there because we don't know what the businesses are so I think the other option in this which we also implemented I believe in 100 chest Street was that if there becomes a problem with parking that the applicant agrees to issue kind of a parking permit mechanism to limit the amount of cars that are parking do you remember that like the true so so they need to control their parking problem that that everyone has a spot you know the businesses and the residential because it is a in the downtown area the bylaw does allow a significant reduction in parking for being downtown right so um I can go back and talk to Lisa one more time I would make sure that we and get clarification but I think you know this conversation has kind of highlighted um this situation I'm all for doing that language if it's allow I don't want to have us do a repeat okay that make sense said I think it's a slight it's a little different condition but we still need to pay attention to it absolutely okay yeah those two items 14 to 15 I'll trying to say something consult with Lisa uh Terry is that your voice I hear huh are you are were you trying to say something you had your hand up that's why I called you yep he's talking to he's talking to he's talking to Charlie oh oh what Charlie talking what can you can you I have I am unmuted now they they can only control them you all right so yeah all right so we can go back to that if if if we see a hand up again meanwhile we'll look at deliveries um uh just again gcg recommended um just limiting the size of the truck um so this is the su3 truck which I believe I have is Starbucks I think the fire department approved an Su 40 for their own equipment so the su3 is obviously smaller than an Su 40 what does SU stand for does anyone know I think the 30 is 30 feet but I don't know what the 40 is Su means uh single unit single unit he not an articulated truck oh okay it's like a box truck basically thank you Marcel and am I right that the 30 is 30 ft and the 40 is 40 yes yeah okay all right right um just let me know if there's more discussion otherwise item 17 utility poll there's one utility poll being moved and so this is just um putting on the applicant the responsibility for they have to coordinate the obviously the relocation um with the town and the utility company I'm sure they were planning on doing that anyway and they Bear all cost relative to the move of that utility poll is this still true I I remember that the the the original design that was true but when they revised it I think it went away because he did the that's my recollection so I I don't know that is correct wait uh who who's speaking there that was correct Madam chair that was marel is correct we did rev uh we revised it so that that poll does not have to be removed I think it's shown on the latest plan so that yeah we went we went through it TR the there was a revision of the of the of the Inception of the of the driveway um and and and it misses the the the poll so this is outdated I don't think we need to have this one so when it went from The Wider driveway because it was an entrance and an exit to it went to the narrower driveway that there's yeah when they were doing the revisions uh including all everything that the fire department said the one of the revisions Reign the entrance to the driveway to to miss the pole so I think that condition is not necessary so there is no poll being moved no okay I can confirm that I'll I'll confirm that with Rick okay um 18 is outdoor and Street lighting all Exterior Street now truth be told there was as far as I know there was no lighting plan submitted the design review committee made a note of that um so but um I think the the main points we typically make is that the exterior lighting needs to be dark sky compliant and that light doesn't leave the site boundaries those are the things we usually get out of that so that's why that condition was added in any comment on that okay reason all right um building brick we still need to add that in whatever that is my it's that's a Peter thing okay um I think other things are updated there and then the the new thing on this um on the materials is the pergola so this was something in the design Review Committee notes that both K Kate and I kind of noted that um we talked about the paving um on the pergola but I went back and looked at the final the drawings that we were always looking at the set of drawings and the pergola is always just off the view you can never quite you see it in plan but you can never quite see it in an elevation so um yeah these are do you want to bring them up on your screen I can bring them on my screen I just have to stop sharing so I think the general did everyone I think everyone has those okay yeah it's just going to be for uh so I think that yeah so this is what Peter had started to describe excuse me no a lot of illness going around right now again um so I think the general materials um and Ron is on there so we may need here to him to pipe in um is I I believe wood to kind of match the wood of the train station across the way trim that matches the wood across the way and shingles and it looks like there's also a kind of a swoop to the a curve to the bottom of that roof um to match the train station as well or to reflect the train station uh so this is uh Marcelo and Amanda and all other present members this is the pergola that was uh in question and obviously out of view of other renderings is is this open to the public from the street level yes that's public a public pergola and then I also have a closer view I can switch off so I can stop not to be completely terrible at Direct directions or proving that I'm not to be trusted with directional things but like if I'm standing in front of this building and the post office is to my right like if I'm standing at the old train station looking at this building where is the pergola it's going be right across the street right across it's on the left side of the pocket park there's two benches facing each other and it's it's over the left bench away from the building away from the building so you have the painting the mural where's the train station relative to this thing over on the side okay I'm just trying to visualize how this would be used by the public this I think with this you can see this is like in theory if there's a business at the train station 5 years from now people could walk across the street to this thing yeah to the perola this is the entry into the so it's there okay over that bench okay gotcha there's Homer there's okay that helps me because I couldn't quite understand how that visualizes with the rest of downtown thank you I'm not to be trusted when I drive obviously that's a good question I'm just like what if somebody said to me go go to the pergola I'd be like I don't know what side of the building it's on plus what is a pergola I've learned something new today I think there yeah I guess it's a little well I don't know it's a one of the a covered bench a landscap yes so um does anyone want to weigh in on the pera the pergula we need some help structal Rao scale of column and the a little it looks a little heavy maybe I mean we haven't seen anything on this I mean yeah it looks like it just stopped in there I'm always hesitant and having things come back but if we're not you know we could ask to see it before it's constructed is this something new that the design review did not see the design review noted that they had not talked about it or had not really reviewed it but it remained kind of unreviewed viewed um I I I think what um maybe what what I I feel Deepa is is touching on is the the fact that it's just a two like like it has two supports and and the roof kind of the roof geometry suggests that would be something with like four supports in the corners and I don't know if it that's what makes it look heavy but um um yeah the structure is a little questionable from the architectural point of view like it it's like an umbrella right yeah it's yeah like an umbrella I I I think that I mean that clearly it is intending to to kind of um um you know take take Clues from from the station which which it's it's fine to me um I I I think I be fine with it if he just had support from the four corners and I think that that would work but um I I I don't want to unless we we really want to do that I think the architect can make that decision and you want to unmute roning uh can you hear me loud and clear okay good uh go to Newton Center go to some of the old train stations there's lots of two poost canopies out there so it's not a structural impossibility yeah oh no noan vocabulary okay so so you are basically basing it on other examples of similar yeah approach okay I I I I I think um if if if the designer feel that that's the way that that it needs to be I I I I wouldn't have an objection yeah I mean I I prefer it two over four because I think it'd be a little bit lighter and a little bit just fewer it's a small Park and so having fewer posts but I would also acknowledge that maybe the whole structure might get a little smaller or lighter um if if needed for you know if if needed for those two posts but I'm I'm okay letting it in the realm of the AR the design architect as well um it could also be the view of the camera the way we are looking at it um especially the closer one looks skewed a little bit May maybe if there is inspiration images of where this came from then I'm good okay all right so we will put a condition in there we're just that we that we've discussed the materials M you know of the and that it will reflect the you know reflect the drawings okay next we're at gcg recommended conditions the first one is a test pit I think that's um is just something we're typically putting in now right don't that I think that came from I'm sorry are we going to fill something in yeah we're going to fill something in I I just know our time is limited so I kind of wanted to get through kind of the major things just yep so we're imagine just a reference to the rendering of some kind yes maybe listing the materials we talked about wood blah blah blah and um and reference the drawings but you'll still get to review it okay um so the the next one is the the garage basement um this again was the gcg recommend uh recommended condition um and that's so that um there is a a water table that there will be hitting and instead of having sump pumps that will bring all that surface water up to the surface they're basically making a watertight basement um to deal with that condition um which has been in their plan for quite some time actually um Peter you're you're not in that section I believe I'm sorry yes so um the next one is the one-way signage again this is a gcg uh condition and they were just asking for um because the garage is kind of tight and the site's kind of tight they were asking for um the professional development of the signage to meet um professional traffic operations um uh for the onewave movement in those areas so um I put that in basically as they as they kind of gave their concern on that just trying to give an overview at least of all the the blue areas before we need to wrap up today um on page 16 um this is a condition I added in um that it just says um for the building design any mechanical electrical or other equipment or vents visible from public streets but not currently shown in the elevations must be carefully placed Andor aligned so as not to Mar the approved elevations so this we all know that there's going to be likely some little things these aren't construction drawings right nor they can they can they predict everything that goes into a building at this stage there's likely to be some stuff and they have to do that carefully I um as any good architect would I'm sure Ron is one of those um placement of larger mechanical electrical or other equipment or vents on these elevations so on the public Street elevations is not allowed without approval from the planning board say big electrical equipment or mechanical equipment that isn't on the drawings now I mean I love it my concern is say what's larger to me compared to the applicant or to you right and I I know it's hard to Define but I think we have to try to put some kind of box around what that larger means well yeah I'm not sure if that's like I don't I don't know what to how to do that right I think um the this is something that we discussed from the beginning and and we asked uh the architect to Endeavor to put all the equipment on on the wells that they created for that purpose specifically L and I think they confirmed that so larger I think would be taller than the parit that has already been designed I guess but we're can ask Ron on on Ron do you want to weigh in on that I see your hand is raised might be raised from before okay can you hear me now I was muted we can hear you I didn't raise my hand but I'll um I'll comment um so the wells that we created in in the uh recess spaces on the roof to help um conceal any mechanical equipment uh will not be visible from the street the solar panels we've strategically placed on the sides that aren't the public facing sides and any um mechanical units are in the basement will be in mechanical rooms the only thing we really don't have control about is of is the um the electrical Transformers that the companies put in uh they sort of dropped them where they want and the best we could do is react to it like landscaping around it um yeah I mean I think that that may be the source of a a pro you know the problem if we have these right now the electrical Transformers in the back right so are you saying that there's a possibility they can put it in the front of the building no what I'm saying the the U and Charlie you can comment on this because you've done this plenty of times but there are times when they you know you there's no real interaction with the owner on where they put these things and um um I just want that to be kind of understood that that's something that we don't necessarily have control over okay so you're saying you have no interactions with the from the from the I'd like Charlie to comment because he's he's more more an expert on that than I am okay so I'll uh I'll let Charlie come on can you hear me yes so um we won't have any Mechanicals in the front the only thing that might require Mechanicals is if the commercial space tenants needs to put a return air or a condenser or something but we can hide that in the like a r landscape but everything else the main Transformer will be in the back and everything else will be on the roof so it's just sometime the commercial tenants if they're broken up into little spaces we might need to separate a system but mainly if it's one big space we can put it in the back okay I think I think that's I think that's kind of exactly what we're talking about like so it sounds like like individual Plumbing Vents and things or like exhaust vents for bathrooms or kitchens those are all going to be into some kind of main system and are going to be hidden in the main parts of the roof right yeah we could for the all the events we can put a trunk line for the um dry events and stuff like that that comes down yeah will see it so I think it's when there are those larger pieces of equipment like what you're talking about if something has to be basically in the public spaces that have been so carefully designed those are the things we want to see before they getall yeah that we won't know until we get to that point like right if the space is going to be divided and right might be 10 years we can't if we can't rent the space somebody might only take a th square feet and might need to put a little condenser in a something but they're they're only I three feet tall by two feet wide they're not big so it'll be easy to hide them with a bush yeah but I I think the point still still valid right U the the the whole front of of facing the street was something that was intended not to be the noise and the and and and the visuals of a mechanical equipment I I guess I would ask Ron maybe Ron has an opinion on this I don't know if those those mechanical Wells have been exhausted already with with with with the you know the projections or if there's any any available space Maybe left I would say that they should Endeavor to leave some uh some spare lines to try to put any any tenant um equipment there first and then look into other options if it's possible and the the thing of it is is it might never happen yeah it might never happen and that would be great that's why we want uh that's why we want something in there to say if it is going to happen we want know about it yeah I mean all the commercial property I own I never ran into that but sometimes if you we have to subdivide spaces into small spaces that could be a instant where they might need to put a little condenser or something okay I think that's when you so that's when you're going to put into the lease with the commercial usage folks that hey I have this restriction if you need something bigger than 4 feet you're going to let me know so I can bring it back to the planning board right you can put that right into your lease I suggest we put some limits on this three four feet so yeah if we do three feet by three feet or four feet by four feet and then anything over that but honestly I don't think it'll ever happen but you never know I mean I think we need to Define what's small and big is because it's like what is that story with the three bears and the chairs yeah it's kind of like that like what I consider to be a big bear you might find like right now Beth had a lady reach out to me that wants to do book store in a in a wine tasting shop or something right but then to us 2500 square feet but I mean right now the building's going to be new so we can design it for that okay but you know I mean it's in 10 years when the building's done okay and somebody wants to chop up a small space we are going we're we're going to have to cut that off there because we have a room full of people now um the only thing last thing I'm going to say on this before we continue it is on page 17 is that there's just a little note there about trash pickup when the trash pickup is made they're not going to park on Homer or Avenue to Homer or Alden to get the trash that can go into the lot and pick up the trash yep okay all right on that on that note uh like I said we have something else we have to cover for our planning board tonight we have the select board here staring at us so um we will be we have room on our agenda so the the our clock on this is March no yeah our clock on this and and I've taken care of the mechanical stuff with with no pun intended with uh Terry and so but at the next meeting hopefully um we can have a a f a vote and we can file it with the clerk's office the next day so March 29th our next meeting is March 28th okay so March 20 we're continuing this to March 28th we should have um keeping that meeting as open as we can for us to try to wrap up some of these things we have some shorter projects we'll see as well but we should have plenty of time to see that we're going to make the modifications that we talked about Lisa me things like that and get a copy back to the planning board again with those areas highlighted so that people can keep seeing the just the changes that we talked about right questions I just so the ones that we basically approved agreed with tonight those should be taken off blue just to keep this those will be taken off blue only the new stuff maybe we'll choose another color okay yes so um thank you to the applicant for joining us um but we do need to officially continue this to the 28th I'll make a motion to continue 949 Homer Avenue site plan and special permanent application to March 28th second second and a roll call vote de Anna teski I I Katherine Jersey I and Trisha Kendall I all right we will see you on the 28th all right thank you very much thank you all right um grab a name tag any anybody you want you want to be tonight grab a chair we're going to try to move how you doing some of the microphones down maybe no rest for the weary okay um before before we do anything do you have everyone here Rob here online one two three four you see them um and is the consultant on okay okay so Rob you want to open your meeting um so I'm going to open the select board uh portion of this meeting uh March 14 2024 uh we're meeting in a joint meeting with the planning board and I'll read the um um just our boiler play from the agenda uh this meeting is being recorded and broadcast live by waca TV and live stream on Facebook remote participation is available using a zoom video conferencing platform any disruption with our video conferencing platform will result in the platform being shut down meetings will continue to be broadcast on waca TV and live stream on Facebook U this is a a joint meeting with the ashin planning board reference the MBTA Community bylaw discussion and a possible vote to endorse zoning changes and that is a bit of a change I just want to make sure people aware that we could potentially vote to endorse this tonight if uh if we um if we so um decide and then the other part of the agenda is a comprehensive plan steering committee preced one appointment which I think Michael's been working on um so I'll so I've opened the select board me I'll turn it over to you uh Madam chair for the intro all right thank you um I'm just going to give just a really brief intro as to how we got here for anybody listening who hasn't been following um the process um so everyone I think understands about the the MBTA Community regulations that were that came down from the state um we'll get into those obviously later in the meeting and we've described those before um but what this is about is that at some point in the fall I believe um The Joint a joint meeting of the select board and planning board formed a working group um which consisted of town planner Peter machic assistant Town planner um ELO and then uh Joe manani from the uh select board and myself um the four of us to kind of um to um work on a means by which Ashlin could fulfill the requirements of the MBTA communities that was our mandate um from The Joint boards so we began that process looking at a lot of different properties to see what we have to see what we could use um we had um a public forum I believe it was at the beginning of February the first one February 6 the first one um and so that was held via Zoom um after that meeting we took the public comments and we tried to revise um our proposal we had a second public forum where we needed to add in one more property in order to in order to make our proposal work and that's looking at the more complex regulations um with the state not just kind of the the basic information I'll call it that that's kind of the easier part to understand so we had a second Forum we presented that at the second Forum again held via Zoom we got the responses from that and um based on that we have the proposal that we were going to that we're going to bring to the select the joint boards tonight um that is just kind of the the really quick version um so where do we want to go from here I just want to go into to ELO's presentation yes we have uh Tom planner Peter magic thank you uh so much and great to have the select board here uh but we have two things tonight obviously we have a presentation uh from Alvaro assistant Town planner who I will tell you right now has been the backbone to NBTA zoning and so without Alvaro we wouldn't be able to be where we are today I just want to make note of that um in number two we have rkg Eric uh and I'm apologize Eric but I'm going to let you pronounce your last name uh and not me uh sure uh Wiis thank you so much uh so Eric Wiis uh is from rkg um previously just to make a note in the fall um we did receive a grant from Mass housing Partnerships and uh with that Grant we had uh Consultants uh one uh rkg our first and rkg completed economic analysis and our economic analysis is going to be tied to the amount of inclusion Ariz zoning excuse me affordable housing that we going to be able to link into our MBTA zoning districts um second we were able to work with Emily in uh in the process of developing our zoning bylaws and so Alvaro and I uh have been working with Emily uh along with attorney me to make sure our bylaws are at a point um they're still um they're they I would probably say uh they're they're complete uh and we are going to be uh in the process of cleaning those up with Lisa and really kind of tightening those up I think tonight we're really just to talk about a method of how we got to where we are in the direction that we need to go in um and so with that said um I am going to let Eric okay we are going to start off with Eric uh from rkg uh just to make a note rkg may be similar to some people at this table rkg was hired in 200 and 17 and rkg was actually the firm that completed the economic analysis tool that the use for service uh furthermore rkg is the subc consultant of uh our comprehensive plan um consultant uh J uh JG goson uh and so with that said rkg does know the town of ashin and has history in the town of ashin so um with after that um Eric I'm going to hand it over to you you are a co-host feel free to share your screen and please walk us through the economic analysis study sure thing uh let's see um can everyone see that okay y yeah okay great um okay so thank you everyone for the time this evening um so I'm just going to briefly walk through what the EF the economic feasibility analysis is why we have to do it and then I'll go over the results I'll try to keep this pretty brief and concise so that we can just leave time for questions or if you want me to walk through any of the uh slides um so just start things off um the affordability requirements that eoh hlc's compliance guidelines for the multif family districts um has set they have specifically set those so that Municipal municipalities must require no more than 10% of units in a project to be affordable at 80% of Ami if you are considering anything above that 10% that triggers What's called the economic feasibility analysis and the simplest way of describing what that is um is it's effectively a Prof forab based model um that you would use in any sort of real estate development analysis and what it's doing is just testing does your affordability requirements and your zoning cause any barriers to development and if that is the case then adding any increased affordability would be deemed economically infeasible and I'll go into a little bit more of what that exactly means um but just to go over a little bit more about what the EFA is doing um we're looking at construction costs so design and preparation the hard cost to build multif family the land costs the acquisition of the land and the physical location we're also looking at things like financing costs your debt debt and Equity to pay for the project marketing management property taxes and then we're also looking at revenues whether that's from the the the apartments themselves sale prices as well as parking Revenue so those are those three sort of U main layers to how this model Works um the I do want to underscore the things that the EFA is not um the whole point of the EFA is to test zoning using a real estate method so it's really just a policy sensitivity testing tool it is not an actual site specific real estate development performa so what I mean by that is we're not accounting for any actual architectural plans or building specifics so any of those sort of nuance costs for a project a specific project wouldn't be included in this analysis um other things like land costs those are derived from residual land value since no actual trans transaction has been made um as well as with the construction hard costs and some of those assumptions around the cost to build we're using uh proprietary data sources we in we have tons of interviews with developers and contractors but we're not getting actual estimates on an actual project this is sort of your on average development conditions which we then test um the feasibility of and then the final point is interest rates the financial assumptions all these things that sort of impact the model these things change over time and so this is a point in time on average analysis of what type of development is feasible versus what is not depending on your zoning uh parameters so the next two slides I won't go through every statistic I'm happy to speak to any of them if anyone has any questions but we present these in the report and I'm showing you these here because EOS hlc requires that we submit these tables just outlining all of the inputs that we use in the model um this is for them to sort of get a sense of where we're coming from as we develop this and we're testing um your zoning and your districts um so again here's some more statistics again happy to speak to any of these if anyone has any questions um but to kind of get to to the more um result side of this um the three sort of metrics that we think about um when we're thinking about an economic feasibility analysis is uh Financial return measures so I have these three referenced on the slide here your cash on cash um this is the return measure for the amount of cash flow relative to the amount of cash invested your return on cost the simplest way to think about this is just return on investment and then your irr which is your annual growth rate um from that the investment is expected to generate so we use all three of these return measures to basically determine if you were to build this type of development what would what would the returns be and do these meet Market expectations if they do then the zoning as you have them outlined would be feasible or perhaps they may not be and I I can demonstrate those in in the next couple of slides um but to really just sort of sum things up you know what does this all mean in the shortest sort of um phrasing possible based on what we looked at in the EFA model we looked at if you were to consider instead of 10% what if you did a 12 and a half per set aside at 80% of Ami and what would happen if you did a 20 or a 15% um set aside at 80% of Ami and so we looked at these for the rail Transit District the Wildwood mix use special district as well as the pawn Street multif Family overlay district and the the sum of the results is the 12% set 12 and a half% set aside is financially feasible in your uh rail Transit District as well as in the Wildwood misuse special district but it is not in the pawn uh mixed or multif family overlay District um so it can support no more than the 10% requirement that the um eohc has for compliance um and so to kind of show what that looks like um if you look at these tables on the right here uh we're showing all those return measures that I was just speaking to and you'll notice all these different unit counts that we're testing those unit counts are derived from your MBTA compliance model which uh if you remember when you're testing different districts it renders a final unit count that all of the parcels could um based on the parcels that you use in your district and so we use those as a set of scenarios to see and sensitivity test if you were to maximize the units on this parcel what would happen if you were to do a little less what would happen and if you did a minimal amount what would happen and so that's effectively what these different scenarios are showing and as you can see here with the 12% set aside uh your return on cost which is the really important measure is over 6% which from a market expectation standpoint that is uh considered financially feasible um and then as you and the ones in the red here as you can see for the pwn Street District they're not financially feasible uh just by a hair they're in that sort of 5% range but what we've found from some other communities we've worked in eohc is really paying attention to these and we've we've seen that if we say that it could or Is On The Border they're going to come back and say that that's that's not feasible so that's why we sort of caution at that cut off at the uh 6% and then to kind of show if you were to go to 15% as you can see again readed here in the pwn street but then as you can see uh by multiple measures it starts to be a little bit um less financially feasible and again as we've seen from work in other communities when it starts to really become infeasible by multiple measures hlc is going to come back and say uh this isn't financially feasible so we go with the more conservative estimate and that would be that 125% as opposed to the % set aside um for the rail Transit and the Wildwood um mixed uh multif family District or mixed use District I apologize and then for the Pond Street um no more than 10% um is financially feasible and then I believe that's all I was planning to present um just to kind of give an overview um I wanted to just sort of open it up to questions I'm also happy to speak to any of the slides I presented or any of the other pages in the in the report would it be possible to get that after the fact it would have been great to have had it before yes we we just got it oh okay yeah just get L under the gun it came in yeah no we have it and we'll post it a lot of data to try and summarize summarized it pretty well no I think everyone we've been on a very tight timeline and and so this just came in under the gun and so we just figured it would be easier to present present it have it presented and then obviously circulated after yeah but we do have a PDF and we're happy to we'll post it on our website and then we'll send out the link yep are there any questions related to that Brandy so um thank you for the presentation the numbers are great to to see um my question is you know I know we haven't gone through what we're proposing for for um for Ashland on the MBTA Community side but um you seen communities split the zoning like because if we decided to do a 10% afford if we decided to include pwn Street in the um in in the new zoning and capped it at 10% but then we also wanted to include the rail Transit District could we do 12 and a half% at the rail transit district and 10% at Palm Street or is it or is it best practice to have have sort of one affordability percentage for the entire bylaw I guess is my question so in in my experience we've seen it both ways um you could have the 10% and then also have the 12 and a half% or you could just make it a blanket 10 10% um okay okay thank you Kate um on the pwn mix use overlay it the basis for the 10 I think if I read because there was a lot of information that it was based on Assumption of five stories but people don't have to build the five stories so I think we need to have some data so everyone here knows if if we're only asking for 10% ashin will never hit the 10% right let's just be clear we know we know that we just want to make that clear so and everyone here that I've been on boards and committees with believes in pushing to get affordable housing somehow ashin fell way below and we're at 5 point something per.

e oh you you you can be [Music] WR spe [Music] for [Music] for [Music] for spe [Music] e spe [Music] e for [Music] no [Music] spe [Music] time [Applause] [Music] care there's here how are you yes all [Music] right [Music] you [Music] s that song [Music] my [Music] Tom come on taking the weekend off so we I kind of it was nice yeah to coordinate so your birthday the New Year Cor all right welcome and we're we uh waiting for Quorum at this time so as soon as we have the third board uh trustee walk in we can go ahead and call the meeting to [Music] order [Music] all right looks like we have Quorum welcome everyone uh we're go we're going to go ahead and call the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m.

roll call Melinda sabraski here Charlene indas here Fred rushon here Barb ziki here Sheila Barnett here well we are all here physically there were there were like I want to say a million but there really weren't a million board board CH or policy changes did anybody have any questions on them when I read through them they all kind of made sense to me did anybody have any questions no okay so can I that's just information um I think the only one I saw was was the high school one that said basically and we don't have anything to do with high school so yeah so it didn't matter yeah no um item 1.4 District spending analysis this is this was sent to us by I believe it was ad no you forward I forwarded it to but came from ad right uh no it came from the auditor General's office all right uh oh that won't work for this will it so yeah so you asked to have this on and for us to have a little time to talk about it yes okay so one of one of the things that I want to say to you uh is we had long conversations off and on uh when when the auditor General's office was seeking information from us to complete this report and uh uh because they were asking for salaries and those kinds of things uh it seems pretty obvious that this time they Chang the way they calculate the formula for instruction in the classrooms and that was part of the conversation we had with them since I came into this position uh I calculate the salaries the actual salaries for instruction as teachers contract amount plus whatever it is that they uh that they get from classroom site fund AKA prop 301 because everyone gets those um in the past the auditor General's office seems to have included in their calculations um some of the supplemental pay so if some people go to professional development for which we pay salaries but other people don't it seems that in the past they've included some of that and so that has elevated the average salary but not everybody attends that to me it it needs to be you know something that everybody's eligible for the other thing that seems apparent this year um it was optional this year that uh we use the new coding um that uh the auditor General's office has um created it will be required for next year the optional is um that they only consider in teacher salaries teachers not Librarians not the instructional coaches not the uh not anybody who is not a classroom teacher okay and um and so uh in our calculations we've used anybody who who is in the code book at the current time 6112 which includes Librarians and coaches and uh uh counselors and whatever uh support people who really do provide services directly to students but with the new numbers that is restricted now only to teachers classroom teachers so that would reduce the number of folks who would be used in these calculations so I I believe that that's part of the reason that this looks like such a drop in spending for uh for instruction uh but the section then that is student support is a little bigger than it's been and then some folks that they obviously consider as Administration uh I'm not sure who but some people that they consider as Administration that we don't uh because clearly we have not increased the number of Administrators we have in our district so um I think next year will have a little better idea of how to compare the the spending uh splits uh when they use the same formula next year as they're using this year so I think part of it is a different use of the formulas this year but every school district in the state used the same basic formula that we did right not in the past I don't think no for this oh for this yes they're using all the same thing but that doesn't mean that those districts weren't also using different different things like I I mean a different definition what they what they've gone to here is is really closer to what I've considered um uh in some ways closer to what I've considered um uh the you know the investment in classrooms uh because they've because they've dropped out now all of those supplemental things in their formula they've dropped out the P the extra PDS and the extra duties and those things but the other part they dro out was other folks that I have considered to be anybody who's been 6112 uh in the code uh to be an educator in the changes of the code all of those people will no longer be 6112 so they've already taken those folks out but yes they are using the same one for all school districts I'm thinking though that each School District had its own way of figuring out you know on their own what they posted on their website or whatever they did so well there's nothing in here that says that that's that happens so well I'm basing that on I'm basing my comment on the conversations that I had with them when they were asking us about this and they kept saying no we want you to send us this no we want you to send us this and so I ended you know I sent them what they wanted so based on the conversations that I had um uh both email conversations and on the phone conversations um it was clear that they were using the new optional numbers this year so and that doesn't mean that we might not be spending in less this year in instruction although I don't think so on the other hand think about how many people we have paid salaries from uh from eser3 and from uh you know those things so I'm not sure how those factor in because they also ask us to separate those out so basically what they were asking are just the people who are in the classroom right okay so they ask that from for in the state so go down to to to where it said where it says um next one right there right here right right here yeah fiscal year 21 was before any of the Esser okay okay and uh uh and so you know we had some differences I mean we had some differences in Staffing and whatever um but yeah it looks like a huge drop it looks like a huge change because that was the biggest year and this current one is the smallest year um I'm sure also the other thing that changed is some of the percentages our fixed costs have gone up over those six years we all know about inflation and those kinds of things so uh whatever I'm not trying to defend it I'm just trying I'm trying to get a handle and I've been for since this came out trying to get a handle on how it could be so different um uh than for instance when you look at uh farther down where it shows the fiveyear how it could be so different in in just the last year stop right there stop right here yeah so how the how instruction could drop 6.7% the only reason the only thing that I can see there because our people have had raises every year that I've been here um uh is the only thing I can think of is is excluding the people during those five years that we paid out of grants that we did not pay out of grants in the past so we've paid for Title One people for years that hasn't changed but we had at one point we had um 13 14 teacher positions paid out of Esser uh and and we're now uh down to five this year um so I I don't know I I don't know it has to do with the way they calculate so on down farther a little bit farther Cassie down to where they they're comparing the keep going keep going keep going wait a minute wait a minute let me see what this is spending per student yeah okay our peer average is $155,000 Right $1,500 $1,500 excuse me I'm sorry per Administration it would be different would for administration okay so we're below that we're above the state average but we're below that so they consider that comparable okay so keep going down well and before you go too far cast first of all well point out first of all the spending per square foot uh for the district and uh remember these data are for last year they're not for the current year okay um uh so that was essentially what we were spending I think isn't that right go back up Cassie let me see to be sure yeah fiscal year 23 okay if you'll go back down to that so if you remember we had uh ABM through October um I guarantee you that amount is going to go up for the for the current fiscal year because we are fixing things like crazy um so I think that will go up um you can see our square footage per student is Right dead on the you know the state thing um I I don't know why our uh Food Service spending per meal is so high um that's one of the things I want to investigate because that is pretty high uh Transportation Transportation I understand that yeah going down now whatever keep going down right yeah that one that's the one that makes me crazy instrues yeah they took out the coaches they took out some of our people who are our highest paid what we considered teachers well I find it real interesting that they took out Librarians or um yes um you know what I'm talking about the special teachers so Librarians art well they didn't take no they didn't take out art and music librarian yes because Librarians are coded if they are coded as a librarian they're coded as 2200 but they're still teaching of course they are our our Librarians are now we know that there are places where Librarians are Librarians and you know classes come in and out of their um uh so to me they yeah they're absolutely teachers um to me the coaches are teachers too again everybody in the state had their Librarians taken out everybody in the state had their instructor coaches taken out so this leaves this is the residual after all that stuff is removed from every District in the in the state so we are $10,500 below the average in the state and we've been below the average in the state for a long time but not by that much we wonder why we don't keep and reping teachers exactly so basically we need to look for $10,000 per teacher yeah if we think that $10,000 per teacher is going to get us the results that we need as I've said our teachers have had raises every year for the last five years okay and has the quality of our work improved I that's rhetorical question but it's one of the reasons you know my my thing is obviously not our assessment data indicates that we're not getting what we want and if we want to get what we want or what we need for our kids we can't keep doing the same old things that we've been doing okay now we switched we switched up the subject yes we have and I and I'll go back to this okay but salaries alone are not going to do it will they help yeah would help us recruit some folks yeah we can't compete for salaries part of that that 52,000 for the average includes those districts down state that are property rich and have overrides like Mojave Valley had but Mojave Valley doesn't have B override anymore they don't but they have been continuing some of those salaries and gearing them back slowly okay but it's why they got people when they had that's why they recruited I mean that's why they didn't recruit so don't get me wrong they did not recruit our teachers but at the time they passed that override to begin with they got a bunch of our teachers okay and those property Rich districts wherever in the state the overrides are almost always for salaries and if they lost those overrides they would be in the same boat that Mojave Valley's been in since they lost Lo the vote for their override is that they would have to fall back it's unlikely to happen in those property Rich districts um you know even even though it goes to a vote but it's unlikely to happen in those districts that's one of the things that remember I shared those data with you last year that showed the differences between the districts that have um the overrides and the ones that don't um so you know but yeah you're right salaries are a Factor that's why we've worked hard every year to make sure that we had raises and in fact when we talk about the in the agenda tonight when we talk about the the uh salary schedules that I'm proposing to you you will see big increases in base pay for those folks that now cannot be coded as teachers that we've coded as teachers in the past because the only way we will keep those people is if we can offset part of what they will lose because they will not get classroom sight fund because only people who are coded at 1,000 6112 will get the classroom site fund oh my God only those people so they won't get site funds no and that's not right no it isn't to me it's not right the counselors the the instructional coaches um uh we can we can figure out the librarian thing because the thing is our Librarians teach yeah okay they teach every single day all day all right so we can we can code them we can we can leave the we can Co we can code them 1,000 okay we can fix that we can code them at six because they're already coded at 6112 we can code them as 1,000 because to me they're teachers first M do do the instructional coaches have the ability to go back into the classroom to pick up that up well if we put them in classrooms to teach but then we have no coaches well that's crial we'll get to that because what I've been seeing I don't see over the last three cycles of of testing is they somebody's not doing their job well they are this year and I will tell you they are this year they are being coached and they are coaching they are not doing things that they have done for the past several years uh and one of the things actually one of the things Melinda that we could do that would help them because several years ago I don't even know but it was when I was retired um uh the district chose to have the instructional coaches also be the title one teacher at each site yeah that's right and they supervise the Paras in those positions that's right okay that's a big p we used to have separate Title One teachers so essentially they took a job and they piled it on top of another job and said guess what you get to do say two jobs for the same pay but if they did that now they would get the site the site funds right but they couldn't coach and it's critical the research is very very clear any of us can go to a workshop or a profession appli to Bullhead City yes it does absolutely research because obviously obviously I'm having some very very serious problems I can go back and pull the data for you from the four five years of reading first and the difference it made having people who actually go into classrooms and follow up with teachers once they've learned something there's very heavy research every place that you can go to a workshop I can go to a workshop I can make notes I can go back and have the best intentions I could try try something if it doesn't work I give it up but if I have somebody come in and observing me trying to do those things and coaching me and supporting me in that role the difference in in implementation of what I learned in that Workshop changes from 5% to 85% I just need to see that data I will try to find it I you know I I'm not seeing anything question but Melinda we are less than a year we are eight months into systemic change and that's what we're going to talk about next is systemic change and difference I understand systemic change okay okay I understand that but if the coaches are now doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing then we should be seeing some kind of movement you won't ride away it doesn't happen in immediately we see changes in behaviors we don't necessarily see changes in outcomes for three to five years that's systemic change and if we're doing it quickly we'll be really happy to see systemic we to to see dramatic outcome changes next year next year not this year my my question is how many hours a week are those coaches in classroom right now yes way more than they used to be when they were doing Title One and doing other things that they had no business are they in a classroom continually all day long I'm going to say 80% of the time is that reasonable Jen I mean they're meeting with teachers so they're not just observing also having coaching and they're also sitting in on PLC meetings to help with planning so I can't say that they're actually observing classrooms all day no and part of what we found Barb is that our folks somewhere along the line in the last in the last 10 years in the last 10 years lost sight of the state standards they lost sight that the state standards are the curriculum textbooks and all those other things are resources that we use to teach the curriculum and they've lost sight of that so in about September or so we realized that they didn't have a clue what they're they weren't even looking at their standards so we changed the plc's which are the planning and uh you know the professional learning team meetings where they have to sit there and look at the standards and design their lesson plans as a team for the for two weeks from now based on those standards they have to and right now they're doing it for language arts and math not so much for science and social studies that would be a too heavy a lift right now to be doing that um and and so it means some real big changes in what they're teaching and and how they're teaching besides how they're teaching it um because they weren't doing that and we recognize that because of the outside eyes looking at what we were doing so yes they are coaching coaching is not just being in the classroom watching what they're doing it's giving feedback it's it's modeling for teachers what they need to be doing it is sitting in on those meetings and and listening and making sure that they are addressing the standards and staying on task and doing what they need to do relative to instruction and less conversation about um um so and so's behavior and whatever else used to be and in fact it's proved valuable enough to our teachers because we require it one time a month I mean one time a week one of their prep times a week that virtually every team virtually every team is now on their own meeting the second time each week the second prep time because they recognize that they need to and that they and that they need to do that to improve so in other words for several years now we've been doing it as service to our students I think that's safe to say and I think the other thing that's important with that barb is what IE is saying to these people and and please understand and I'm going to say this again it's going to seem kind of out of out of order here but in terms of what we're talking about here but it's really important we do not employ a single teacher in our district not one including our substitutes our long-term substitutes because I will tell you in some of our schools the long-term substitutes are rocking it okay we don't have a single employee in our district who is not capable of doing what we're asking them to start doing okay not one all right I'm not questioning their intent in the past but I will say to you that the direction we are going right now is based on the same message from IE that Jen and I have been saying for five years that we started saying when we came on board is that fair John yeah sometimes you have to hear it from somebody else that's the same in our classrooms too you know uh you got you three were teachers you know you could you could be teaching something and it didn't seem to be working and Barb could come into your classroom and and say exactly the same words and kids would go oh I get it that's the way it is with us sometimes when we're learning well and I I would add on to that is is that you know any kind of change people have a hard time with change yes and you're not going to get 100% of the teachers on board first first round n i mean you're just not because you're going to have resistors and you always will and so you have to kind of focus on those people who are willing to try it and okay let's do it and maybe that's half the teaching staff I don't know or or three4 of the teaching staff but then you once you get the majority of the people working and and doing what needs to be done they start showing some results then you'll start pulling in some of those resistors are you going to pull in all of them no you're going to have some that are going to resist until they're you know blue in the moon whatever but but until they go someplace else or they go someplace else or retire or whatever they decide to do um but I you know I think we have to we have to give it a chance you know historically going back a few years and is that Bullhead City school district has been notorious for trying to program working it for a couple years not seeing the results they want and then let's change everything and then they do that again and let's try it for a couple years doesn't work let's try something else okay Charlene I'm going to stop you right now okay and the reason why is cuz we're off topic okay okay okay we we're going to talk about that a little bit later so you just you just keep that up um I am very very concerned okay okay um I think we need to do something I look there there you also published or gave us uh a list of teachers and salaries and those are current salaries for this year and there is one that you need to know it looks very low and it's simply because that person only came on about 6 weeks ago and that's the salary for the remainder of the year it's not the annual salary okay and and that's that's okay sure um but there are some salaries I do question okay and this is this is not it's not appropriate to talk about no I understand but there are some so you and I probably need just to sit and talk maybe maybe that that'll straighten me out but the thing is I am very concerned about this Bullhead City is where I live we should be top of the pack at any time or at least striving to be top of the pack if there are only four school districts in Mojave County or three that have comp comparable size to us there there is no other District that has comparable size to us in in Mojave County but I understand what you're saying the three cities yeah okay we should be at the top of that we should be at the top of Mojave County well I want us to be at the top of Mojave County academically yeah but absolutely but we should be at at every level we should be at top that is that's why that's my feeling about this okay please keep in mind that well that's it's another topic well no it's going back to salaries so we'll talk about it when we get to salaries okay I'll explain part of that thing so do you want more on this thing sure I mean on this one uh no okay Cass would you uh get the other one up for me please okay thank you okay okay well you kind of uh you kind of uh jumped in on my this is where Charlene can jump Inta I'm sorry Charlene no it is it's fine it's fine okay so the change process uh just a definition and this is not just for you it's for anybody else out there you know the people in the public and so they know what's going on it's a planned organized approach to managing the transition from the current state to a desired future State and that's exactly what you're talking about Melinda is our desired future state okay there are two main kinds of change one is adaptive and that's usually small incremental changes adopted to address organizational needs that evolve over time so for example uh we have all kinds of forms we use in the district uh some of which you're very familiar with because we've brought revised versions of those forms to you um uh there are procedures that change some disciplinary procedures that change there are things like that that change those are adaptive changes time happens things happen you make changes to accommodate that transformational change on the other hand is larger in scale and scope and those changes uh involve major shifts in mission strategy structure performance and processes and I've highlighted or I've put in italics the three the three of those that really are what we are addressing this year and started this year our mission has not changed our mission is Student Success for life that's you know we have a mission statement that's more this lengthier than that but that's really what it is we want our students to be prepared to be successful in life so the mission hasn't changed but the strategies to get there the performance of those of us who work with kids and the processes of doing so are what we're focusing on uh at this time please stop me anytime you want in this okay cuz I don't really want to be lecturing adaptive change is a a methodical approach within a system so it's a piece of the system okay uh if we're talking about uh the whole idea the whole terminology for systemic and systematic change uh started in medicine so you know if I want to change uh uh change the way my nose looks I might go to a plastic surgeon that's a that's a systematic change it's changing one thing transformational change is a whole system approach to inherent pervasive ingrained often subconscious biases and habits so if I don't like my weight I change a whole lot of things I make a systemic change in my life to affect my whole body for health reasons for appearance reasons for whatever adaptive change is frequently both desired and annoying at worst it's annoying because we have to learn some new form or some new process transformational change on the other hand is always painful and eventually rewarding it's painful it's what Charlene said a minute ago people don't like this kind of change it's hard it's painful it means a lot of work losing weight usually means lots of work uh you know you you don't do that overnight so graphically it looks like this now this is a a kind of cartoon approach to some pretty heavy research that's been done or was done probably 40 years ago uh about what happens um you've got the old situation which we've had for years in our district and we've introduced a foreign element we've introduced some serious change and so at first there's resistance and then there's some chaos there's lots of stumbling around uh there's F there's there's oh there's a transformational idea there is a change a Sy systemic change and we start working on it we start climbing back up we integrate that change and eventually we get to a new status quo we get get to that desired future right now among our uh teachers administrators and coaches the blue arrow on the right we have about 25 to 30% of our folks there they're working on that starting to get it and integrate it we've been calling that the Coalition of the willing because those are the people who from the very beginning said I'm all in and so they've been working on it um U Charlene referred to those people as you know the ones who I I can't remember the term you used but it's the it means the same we have about we have about a third or so in the transforming they're starting to do the things they're starting they're going oh I can do that and it's partly because they hear the ones who are in starting to integrate the changes hear them talking about what results they're getting and they go how did you do that how did you do that and then they're told that you know those teachers say here's what I did and they oh I could do that and so they're moving in that direction and then we have a few maybe not a third maybe a quarter of folks who some of whom many of whom have been around a long time and remember what Charlene was saying and okay here's another new idea and it'll only be here for a couple of years and we'll work really hard at this and then it'll go away I need to know that it's going to stay before I commit so this is kind of where our folks are right now and this is very typical of 2/3 34s of the way through the first year of change it's very typical this is how it looks to employees themselves okay so can I cope with this uh at long last something's going to change because there are folks who've been wanting it to change what's it going to do to me uh we have some folks who are in denial those folks are yep I was here when I was here when this started and I'll be here when it's gone um and then all of the things in between the red arrows right now those are the folks who are kind of resisting that's why um the green we have folks who are going ah I'm beginning to see how this might work and fortunately a few people who are going I'm going to make this work if it kills me um and then they'll be back on the they'll be back on track and we have some folks who are already this can work and be good so I used the red and the blue and the green arrows on this one to show where our folks are for students the change process is exactly the same what they are learning to do is they are learning to own their own learning growth the difference is that because they don't have so many ingrained habits or ingrained expectations it happens faster for them so you see I have the arrows all converged there because we have kids we have we have kids who started with the like where the red arrow is and they're already over where the blue arrow is um and and we have kids and everywhere in between because the process of change is much less painful for for younger people you know they don't have all the habits and that's a good thing that we're seeing okay so I know you want to see the data it's not what you're going to want to see but there are some high points keep in mind this was in February and it's end ofe test in February and it's one of the reasons that you all agreed that in the future we will do beginning in August middle in February and end in May okay this year we will actually have another test in May um so that we can compare uh compare our data uh Jen got that arranged with Galileo people uh I enlarged the bottom part so that you could see um much better than uh in the past the um what those ranges are and you can see how the ranges have gone up and up at the top you can see the um uh the the graphs for the three tests and this is second grade math I'm going to go there are a b bunch of these so I'm going to go through them fairly quickly unless you ask me to stop you saw this graph before or this chart before and wondered why uh there were no kids in the red when we had so many kids who were minimally proficient it's because the system the Galileo uh assessment and scoring system does not put anybody in the red until three consecutive tests so yep a lot of kids over there right now this is really the important graph to me um because it shows what we want to have happen so it's in quadrants uh the end test scores are on the left the expected growth or maintained uh is on the bottom and so the dots that you see in the lower left quadrant are represent students individual students and in uh for those students um they had lower growth and lower achievement the students in the quadrant above the upper left are students who hadow lower growth um but Higher Achievement in other words they did much better on the third test um uh but it wasn't huge growth for them the lower right quadrant are students who had higher growth but still low achievement so they made big strides from where they had been at the beginning um uh but it was still not where it needed to be and in the upper right quadrant are students with high growth and Higher Achievement when we report these data to you in uh in May or after the testing in may we will compare that chart this this same chart at that time with this chart and um and Jen even has it for the you have it for the first test too no it' be for the second one huh because it has to show growth and change so we will have all three so you can see where kids moved this year year uh at the end of the year obviously our desire is to have the most dots in the upper right quadrant okay uh the other thing I will point out for you here is uh if you notice I wish I had a poter if you notice at the upper left uh in the words it says average growth that's the growth for our district for our students it was 73 and and uh down at the bottom where it uh identifies the red dotted line the expected growth was 81 so we were below our students were below um that expected growth our second grade math students any questions about that one okay here's third grade math and you can see the third test came back up some and that is including the fact that the range of scores increased um looking at that one the first uh Benchmark M they had uh basically 50% of the students in the passing proficiency are above high proficiency yes now however in the third one we only have 44% mhm so there really isn't any growth there but there is Barb because look at the proficient range uh in that in that lower table proficient is is 666 to 717 and highly proficient is 718 to 1109 but for the third test the proficient range the lower the lower limmit of that raises to 738 and the lower U uh end of Highly proficient raises to 810 it raises almost 100 points so that's why that's why this not this one well first of all this looks better than the previous graph that you saw because many more kids in on OnCourse low and low rather than moderate and high but that's why this one is uh one that um uh shows us uh the swoop that we want to see as the year goes along so what I want to see in the future is something in from the second test that looks more like this and then the swoop moves over and up for the third test okay so that is moving kids over beyond the expected growth and up above the cut score and now with this one the average grow growth was 64 and the expect it was 80 so we're way under there we're are we are under there and we have some others that look more Grim than that I know but we have but we have some that look really uh very encouraging as well uh and I'll Point those out as we go here's fourth grade math am I going too fast or too slow this is number of students right it is number of students good question J this is a less happy graph yeah fifth grade math we have yeah quite a few substitute teachers long-term Subs at the middle school and I'm not blaming them because I will tell you that they've all been working hard sixth grade math however I will point on on this one this is seventh grade math that our average growth is 32 and the expected was 34 pretty close a small ray of sunshine uh could you go back one one back one on that one for me please one back one more Cass that one but we're still staying at a performance level of a minimum proficient in seventh grade so that's okay it's because it because it works as averages okay that's why I think this one is especially when we'll be able to look at comparisons this one really tells us more about what's going on with our students I think uh because it kind of lets us look at without identifying them looking at what's going on with individual students this is eighth grade math don't have a chance MH that right negative growth yeah this is the this is the saddest one this is second grade ELA a bit of happiness there third grade and this one of course concerns us because student students must pass the uh Ela portion of the state test to be promoted with a few exceptions 50% this is third grade ELA oh it's the it's the same same group yeah you know I noticed you gave us third grade twice and no fourth grade results oh well this is fourth grade oh okay we're coming to fourth grade yeah and this one's a bit of a happy because our average growth was 38 and the expected growth was 30 so despite the fact that it's still minimally proficient you can see that test three went up and keep in mind it's end ofe test so a bit of a a bit bit of a positive there but I understand now the these tests were taken the end of February so in one month we start the State Testing so if this is what this is looking like at the end of February this is basically what our state testing is probably going to look like it may uh but with teachers uh uh really attending to standards and the kinds of items that are on the state test um um yeah but we're in year one of systemic change this is fifth grade ELA our average growth was 49 Target was 30 so we have uh we have lots of kids who have moved from the left side of the red dotted line to the right side of the dotted line they've not moved up into above the green line like we would like but they certainly have moved to the right so this should help you understand a little bit more about why I want to see a swish okay ultimately a swish and then eventually a cluster in that upper right hand sixth grade ELA I would invite you to go to the middle school and observe fifth grade ELA I would invite you to go to Fox Creek and obs OB erve seventh grade math because in both of those sets of people we have high numbers of the Coalition of the Willing here's sixth grade seventh grade ELA not at all what we want to see although I'm really happy with the number that have moved to the right of the red line but still no swish this is 8th grade ELA a very our most shining group and I will tell you that we have I would invite you to go visit the eighth grade ELA classrooms because we have people who have been on board from day one expected growth was only five and we're at 29 why such a low expected growth rate I have no idea somehow the formulas that Galileo does needless to say we have been focusing on Ela and math now the students for on the state level are just third and eighth grade aren't they for Science fifth and eth for testing or fifth and eth rather for science but we don't want to wait till fifth grade to see what kids are doing correct so definitely not we don't have the growth charts for science so other questions not the best news not the news we want not the news I want um on the other hand uh some some rays of sunshine among those clouds um that we can connect to what what's going on in classrooms and the changes they doing another test though just for our information kind of thing at the end of the year we're doing a test in May uh and hopeful that kids aren't tested out at that point but um uh and it will be Jen will it be this the same test again because galile only has three tests per grade level they created a new one for us for for me so um and and worked with us to have you know that fourth one for this year so okay uh because those are important data for us to have in make you know instruction continues even during testing and certainly through May so and and there's a big stretch between early February and early May in terms of instruction and and um uh learning so well I I think the May test is probably going to be um a a better um look because that gel test if I'm if I remember correctly is is a full year so when they tested the first Benchmark in whenever it is August it is a full year of whatever the subject is so the full year math well half the stuff they haven't even been taught yet so well in August they haven't taught any of it well yeah but so by may it should be a better give us a better view of of I don't know if it's accurate but or or closer to what's as accurate as we can get when did they change Galileo to be basically a full year test at all times throughout the year it's always been that one no it hasn't because when I started with Galileo has no okay CU When I cuz I work with Galileo for 10 years years and with the 10 years we worked for it we had it set up basically that the first quarter when we tested it was on the standards that had to be taught for that quarter and each quarter and as it progressed then it became more you know the last one of course was a year one but each quarter was was tested on the standards not this T testing kids on stuff that they've never even seen or never had you're of course you're going to have these kind of scores so why to me this is not even close to being an accurate testing thing well but it's the way you can show growth you can't if you if you just show and I and you know I mean to me that's the value of this is showing growth um uh so yeah and you're right I do recall that that originally it was so you but if you took the test if you took the test at the beginning of the year you hadn't even taught it yet hadn't even taught first quarter um and I don't remember if we did it right away in August or if we waited till the end of first quarter we might have was I know it was always the and then and then we but then I know I do recall that the second one which was for second quarter was usually done in January after kids had been gone for a couple of weeks and and uh so again it was what was taught right then I don't recall when the third one was but still even if it was given third quarter as you say it was for the standards for the whole year which many still had not been taught so uh I don't know at some point you know I don't know how long that's been since we changed that I don't know it may have been when I was Acts fire and then when we came back to Galileo was when we went back to year long so has that been how many years has that been go back to it when we came yep five years it had been Aire during those yeah yeah that's what was used after after I retired and before I came back so for four years so um it it just depends Barb on how you look at it so you know one way of looking at it is like what you were looking at if we had it at the end of each quarter then there would be some real value in in having it be just on the standards taught like first quarter and then second quarter or combined first and second and then combined first through third and then combined first through fourth that makes sense to me um uh if we're doing it that way but that would require for test um and then U otherwise otherwise it strikes me that it is it's more effective more useful to us to show that growth uh if we're going to do it you know if we're only going to do three anyway now see we when we were when I was using it both here and in Mojave Valley we we were using it as a tool that you would test and if a student I if your your classes came through with not having accomplished or passed a standard that was being tested then you knew that the next quarter you had to hit that standard we here when you've got all these standards there they're not passing because of course they're not passing you haven't taught them yet so it isn't a good technical tool for the teachers to be able to use for evaluation because there's all the standards they're saying well you know they're not sufficient in these and you know a lot that same information they just look at the standards that they've taught and look and see where they're at and build their interventions and things around those standards they don't worry about the ones they haven't taught yet and that's one of the reasons that we would never consider using Galileo as part of the grading system yeah because you know because it's oh yeah yeah you can't they so go see you know I taught these standards and this one is still really low they do retach it and then they pull a CFA from Galileo yeah and they use that and then and then like two weeks later they'll they'll test test that just that standard to see if they ret um improve the scores so they are using it in between for wasn't that at some point that the state um changed their focus on the as Merit and growth was a big issue it's a huge issue and so I I think that was about the time the district said no we're going to we're going to do Galileo this way because then we can track the growth yes and and it's and it's a huge factor in the um in the calculation in the formula for our school's letter grades uh because somebody finally recognized that um what's really important is is getting kids from wherever they are with as much growth as possible um uh that you know that that really tells us more about the quality of instruction than uh than having the label of where you know where they fall in those four categories um uh and and uh especially when you're starting with students who are low it getting growth is amazing if you can get a Year's growth I mean think about it the intention of each year of school is that you get a Year's growth okay for student students who are below grade level you want more than a Year's growth because you want to help catch them up you don't want them just to stay static at you know at a Year's growth and continue to be you know behind where they need to be um and and so you have to have methodology for tracking that growth um uh rather than you know just especially when the target moves you still have to be able to show this kid went from from here to here or from here to here from here to here is not acceptable or not what we want from here to here is what we want and and when you can and and the teachers teachers can look at the individual student data uh we're not going to show that to the public and you know and you certainly don't want to see for each kid um we don't want kid in you know kid identifiable data U but the teachers look at kid identifiable data to know what strategies to use with those kids we're at 6:30 y we're we're a bit beyond okay now did you want to continue with your discussion Charlene are you done oh I'm done I I think Caroline kind of summed it up for me okay thank you I didn't want I didn't really want you to think I was cutting you off was just thanks for going back to that Melinda I appreciate okay item 1.6 adjourning the workshop I need a motion to adjourn please I make a motion re the work CH I'll second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I barar ziki a Sheila Bernett okay I'm calling the regular meeting of Bullhead City School Board on Thursday March 14th at 2024 at 6:3 is it uh 6:36 p.m.

here at the middle school we have designed to increase students knowledge of how harmful and vaping can be in various presentations we have also recently added VAP detectiv in all bathrooms to make further attempts at diminishing vaping at our school involvement the involvement rate here at CMS is recently gone up by 15% which is an amazing Improvement students have been getting involved in a variety of ways such as after the Bell clubs robotics anime Disney and weightlifting multiple different Academic Teams various Sports the student suggestion box many leadership opportunities as well as advisor challenges safety recently CMS and CHS have adopted the Sandy B safe Comm school this is a program that we use to keep the students at our school safe it includes an anonymous reporting system that allows students to inform higher ups of incidents of Lo violence self Etc CMS has also increased awareness about the suicide hotline 98 so students can have a safe place to talk about troubling things occurring in their lives at the beginning of the school year students put out survey detailing how safe they felt here at CMS this survey yielded great results showing us that a majority of the St students feel very safe at our and secure at our school so high i r schools so CMS is currently in process or now certified for level one of the HRS program we've been working to make our school a safe collaborative and inclusive place students and parents are able to provide input and have a voice on how the school should run in order to improve it and by being a part of the HRS we can make CMS safer more supportive and collaborative environment to wrap up our presentation overall this year our school has shown significant improvements in all areas including a 10% increase in attendance an 80% decrease in bing incidents and a 15% increase in involvement at CMS we are honored to have the chance to represent our school today and thank you for your attention to our presentation I know it takes a it takes a very brave person to get up in front of a bunch of adults that you don't know very well and talk about our school but I have to give kudos to all the students because at the beginning of the year we had our summer Leadership meeting we talked about what were what are the things that we can do uh to just make CMS better and almost every idea that they came up with was theirs they really were all about safety keeping people healthy getting people here at school and then I kind of WRA them into our overall attendance gool and they helped me think of a lot of ways that we could make students um feel safe and comfortable and when it come to school and I'm just very proud of them they worked really hard on this and I know that you guys might have been a little bit nervous to amazing job so you should be very proud of yourself and we'll give you guys one more round of applause that I do question so congratulations on what you've accomplished so far that's that's really great work what will you do to sustain it so are you going to try to pass down what you've learned to the next grade so the they will have as much knowledge as you already required so yeah so we have like even our student bi Council the people that were coming into and having like building leadership up we want to continue to like share um what we like accomplished and have them even come up with more ideas CU we're only like a few group of kids so as many people that come in next year are going to have more ideas than we all I I see C on high schoolo yeah great work and this group is all this this particular group right here is all e gr but we have seven creers on leadership to too so all right so Mrs HW does a great job of making leadership fun I'm very impressed actually quite learning things from her one would you like to do my report later if you want to next month great job guys I want to go ahead and recognize the rest of our leadership team the rest of you wanted to stand up and give quick wave even though some of them aren't going to present tonight they all wanted to come here and support each other and so uh they are also part of some of them will be part of another presentation later and then the rest of the group has been working on our fifth grade visit day for next week and making sure that's fun and memorable for our fifth graders as they come over and they've also they will also be working later in April to promote leadership so that was their goal from last year was to promote student leadership and get more kids involved and so we have the student advisory Council which represents each advisory then we have these students who are the student leadership team then we have um the 18 which is the service learning club which is another opportunity for leadership we have the blue crew which is our spirit leadership team uh we now have the save promise Club um which is the group that's going to be promoting the C Eva promise and there's lots of opportunities for leadership in that group as well and we are really working with the student advisory Council on eing of our pis program so that will be uh some of the things that you did to hear about in 2025 how we're going to be improving that to to sustain this and keep things um on the up so good job guys than all right moving on to Old business the first item is to consider the 2526 calendar looked at this before any changes to note no no changes so we have discussed it twice um yeah basically keeping our general format moving on in 2526 um for the parent teacher conference week for the elementary we are going to try early dismissal um the parent teacher conference time for teachers to get with parents is significantly more than um say the secondary open house which is important but just trying to give teachers a little bit more time to be able to get parents in throughout that week um and so that they can we can have a professional development day on the 10th so this is a way to try to give teachers that amount of time and for to make use of the professional development de so with that slight little change um and again we've discussed work with the teachers I recommend the board approved to 2526 school calendar so is that Monday through Thursday that's kind of an different color that early dismissal 1 hour for the element Trail any other discussion very I have a recommendation from Dr record to approve the count res our motion so move second all in favor I thank you moving on to new business the first item is considered the e8th grade 2024 Springfield trip is [Music] pres Museum includes two real allowing us to have a look into his life there are also two interesting shows that students can experience one is a movie that reflects upon's life leg the other one is called the ghost of the library is projected his glass making it realistic exhibit one allows Jud to have a look into his life as a child mainly where and how he Liv exhibit to details Lincoln's life after he s Fortune his presiden the Lincoln is an amazing experience students will wa outside Lincoln knows for Lu then they will enter the building and see theine room with back off [Music] with some other family members the Illinois state capital building so students will tour the Illinois state capital building they go inside the house chamber uh look at the many statues um they're going to be informed about this the sunning architecture also by a tour guide so some of the things they'll learn um so the base to the flag is 45 ft the capital building holds the legislative and executive branch of the Illinois state government and then adjusted for inflation the building cost over $145 million to build linoln home was the first and only Lincoln Home is an AR as well a place of stories Andor that's tell The Narrative of Abraham Lincoln inside the Lincoln Home shows a family from Young coup to presidential family down to the White House as well as linol grow from a young law to the president of the United States all eth grade students are doing beginner off the book Chasing this book is about L assassinations with a timeline and events that happened after the Triple A relates to the book by giving students an inde understanding of the events that happened during that time the field trip is a great opportunity for students to learn outside of school students can see monum and gives an opportunity to experience learn new way that support to better we are seeking permission to allow 2024 to 2025 trip on October 2624 so they I thought it would be nice for guys to see some of the Insiders view not just the adults view of what they do it is a very fun trip I think I've been to Springfield 11 or 12 times um but they have they always learn so much and it's exciting to see our students be able to travel out of the state for some of our students that don't get those opportunities some of them have never been on a charter bus before and it's it's a fun day it's a long day but it's a fun day and it's a great learning experience for them so we are asking for permission to go again um next year on October 26 that's the date that has been um given to us by the people there and spring any questions from the [Music] board I move approval second all in favor all right the next item on G is considered the high school naal of Honor Society Chicago trip I'm not going to do nearly as good as she um our national art Honor Society is our honors art kids who do a great job promoting art in the community and in our school and as a reward for them every year we go on a field trip uh this year um they proposed that we go to Chicago and we visit a museum there and then also uh Navy Pier and um at Navy Pier we're going to go on a lunch cre we light to go on a lunch GRS um and so we're seeking permission to be able to go on May 4th of this year questions from the board so you're going to which museum I assume the art museum well yeah it's an art museum it's uh the Contemporary Museum of Arts it's it's just um I think it's an 8 minute walk or so from the museum to the May here any other questions how many students will be attending uh about 40 and we we may go up to 50 where we can fit on the [Music] bus how is it funded all right good to good good that you asked um my students do fundraisers throughout the year and you know a lot of our fundraisers go to to our art initiatives um but they're going to be paying um about $55 and that would cover that would cover um part of the crews and that would cover their food and then National Art Honor Society would cover the best any other questions is there a motion to approve I move approval second all in favor I next I is to consider a change to the May at our last meeting we discussed this change um and we had discussed moving in I believe to noon on Tuesday the 7th however Nicholson is supposed to present that day so that and we already bumped them once um so I'm recommending if it will still work for the board if we could do that Tuesday May 7th at 5:30 yes yes Tuesday May 7th 5:30 at Nicholson Elementary School good everyone good so I recommend the change in date and time of the May board meeting be Tuesday May 7th at 5 motion to change move second all in favor I next item is to consider approval of the digital learning gram application yeah so that this is an ie uh Grant so the digital learning Grant uh supports up to $50,000 uh dollars and the funds can be used for either the purchase of Hardware or software professional learning cost to support technology implementation um of devices for a refresh um or a startup on a one to one initiative so we will be submitting for devices for um CHS and adaa Athens Virtual Academy with a concentration on supporting the launch and the startup of uh ABA so uh with each student in there receiving a a Chromebook so Doug Langer has done a great job putting the grant together having a timeline to heal with it and with that I would ask the board approve this grant to be submitted and the amount we're subm submitting for is just shy of the it's 49,000 all right any questions motion move approving the Grant application so second all in favor hi right consider principle of the afteron we've covered this in a previous one that I will be coming back to make this recommendation um making this recommendation um it's all contingent upon um that the do doe approves our application um they basically they have told us that we may move forward with advertising enrolling so I'm very confident that better not yes have that but this is contingent in case something does go wrong but as we had discussed in the previous meeting you know Mark Melton has been with us and he is ready for this opportunity to be a principal and to lead this and he's done an amazing job um in kind of this interim of being both the assistant principal of the high school and and things moving forward with the Athens Virtual Academy so I recommend our belon be the principal of a Virtual Academy ping approval of the doe any discussion motion I move approval second all in favor I yes all right next time Chris Sim I don't know if everyone's had the chance to meet Chris Sims Chris and his wife Jenny both work at Crawfordville High School um they came to us and at the start of the fall of 2022 um have you when you're at the basketball games you see them you see him in football games you see them and Jenny's running around with their camera all the time um they're engaged they got connected um Chris may I have our only viral Tik Tok video out of the school corporation um his vertical leap is a good 3 and a half cmet um so it's outstanding but you know he brings um enthusiasm excitement um you know he was in Wayne Township for about 20 years um one of the most uh professional curriculum minded uh PE teachers I've ever met um so I think he yeah again he immediately gained respect out of his peers um and Mr Strickland and his team would love for Chris Sims to be in the next ass principal of Crawfordville High School assuming the doe approves Athens Virtual Academy application um so I make that recommendation to the board all right any uh any discussion questions I entertain motion to approve I move to approve Mr SIM for principal second all in favor congratulations next I'm going to recommend talk to br as science teacher at Crawford's zille high school so she go ahead and stand up so yeah all right so talk she is a senior at w bash College um he came in he interviewed and talk to she had to interview against um very experienced candidates um but he did an excellent job of smiling showing his enthusiasm and as a young man to be able to talk about his eagerness to learn learn um from others was outstanding she's mother Walker Co teaches at Crawfordville high school he's accompanied by his father who's Dr Grinder who's the superintendent of West Lafia yeah so um yeah so it it you know talki comes from the family but he has the energy the excitement um W bash's program doesn't give a lot of classroom time um so he's coming in now on Mondays and Wednesdays and observing in the science department um and he's being kind of shared throughout the whole science department after Spring Break um they will work toward him starting to teach some units um so I think just an amazing opportunity for us and for Tashi so I recommend Tashi grinder as science teacher at Crawfordville high school and this replaces Mr went who had reti any discussion I a motion to approve so move second all in favor I congratulations thank you all right okay moving on to Personnel yeah that's why did I okay got with Chris and there you go good you got into new business instead of personnel all right Personnel retirements so um Ellen Rose I think yeah Ellen Rose has finished her 28th year Crawfordville Community Schools um she has been at Nicholson Elementary um has taught third and fifth grade so Ellen was known as the teacher that can hand all the boys so you always see her class overloaded with the boys like little Rex Wreckers um that have a lot of energy and potential um but just probably didn't always need that Mom figure so um and Ellen probably also served that when big Rex rker was the principal at Nicholson so she kind of would always come in in the morning let me know that she was praying for me let me know that she cared um um and she would do anything I asked unless it had to do with an Excel sheet um so I hate to see Ellen go but I'm glad that she's reached this phase where she is ready to retire so I do recommend the board approve the retirement of Ellen Rose yeah next would be Christy Reese 40 years prerenal schools and chrisy definitely play a huge role the modernization of our elementary PE program um she you know the hu track and field day so many things she's been involved with and you know I think Christie did not want to put her retirement in until the elementary basketball season was over she didn't want any distraction she wanted to get it in today so that we could post the position and she you know just showing that she cares about Hoover she cares about our elementary PE program um she cares about our schools so that retirement will come along Lisa Fairfield um has her 12th year at Nicholson 10 years of those teaching we all assumed this was coming when her sister retired um but she was kind of going back and forth and I think our financial advisers are very busy right now so um I've had a few conversations with teachers who are you know they're like well I got to meet with my financial person to make sure I can do this um and so that retirement also Connie Leo who has been an aid for a custodian um she's been in different roles if you when you drive up to Nicholson um she is greeting all the students she holds the door she makes sure the sidewalks are clean um she's the most engaged custodian in elementary lunch she does and she tell you um I just come here cuz I love the kids I'll clean if that's what it takes for me to be around the kids so she has been outstanding um and then Emily Murphy's been Hoover secretary she is going another one of our admin assistants is going to W bash College um so that's good and Andrea Grady who has been a substitute FL for us so I would recommend the board accept all resignations any discussion my only objection is Chrissy Reese and I graduated from high school together and I just suddenly felt all right is there a motion to approve I move approval second all in favor yes Andrew is not us to see no Andrew is at the io leadership Academy so it's um nice little program that he gets to attend and he is there today tonight and tomorrow um so he's hanging out with Dr bman and yeah so he's going through their Eagle Leadership Institute um I think you've already seen some of the benefits of that program for him so he apologizes he's not here and he does not have anything to report we are working on budget um so that we can line up Staffing any board member would like to come in and go through um our sheets that we're looking at and we have that interest we would be glad to host you um we actually Andrew and Scott bowling are going over some things to ask Scott to punch holes into all of our numbers that we've laid out and so they're actually going to work on that a little bit tonight make sure that we got things lined up and we're not missing anything so that's why Andrew's not here and no business report all right moving on to Dr po yeah so the school safety I'll start there um seems like it's been a busy year with uh school safety so um we had a behavior threat and um assessment Management training uh had administrators counselors sro's nurses um all attended this training at hhsp it was also in conjunction with um some nor mcgomery uh staff as well so it was a big prowd Dr Melissa Reeves led the training um she did a training a handful of years ago as well um so it was good to have her come back provide this beneficial training so basically just understanding um how to conduct ass and assess strategies of intervention through threat assessments so um we've got some good resources on how we can monitor and work through those best practices parents in the community so uh we actually had a another debrief meeting today um to just kind of dissect all that that information so um Dr Rees does a does an excellent job and and provides a a lot of lot of information to to it was really really good so um Monday March 18th uh Hoover will do a reunification so they will go from Uber to CHS all of our buildings the exception of CHS reunified to uh the high school the high school comes here so they will be completing that on um March 18th um I would add to that that Amber Reed recently attended a idoe training and one of the questions that they had asked what uh to the crowd those attending was who here conducts these and there was probably on one hand um a number of school districts that are doing that so um it was um just kind of a a good opportunity for um a a pad on on the back for profille schools in terms of how we continue to to work with our drills may be as safe as as possible so they're not easy to carry out uh when you're relocating an entire building so um I believe it'll be the first year that we get two in since we did CHS in the fall doing Uber on Monday so uh Middle School mental health Summit took place February 22nd that was also at uh the hhsb Success Center and we had 12 students this was countywide we had 12 had 12 students from CMS or from each grade that participated in this event um we're expecting a full report to be available late April early May um Amber did an excellent job facilitating this um as well being with our group um a lot of good discussions gives an opportunity for the county students to get together too um and so again that's that's been a a high school and a middle school as the high school was in the fall and then then this one just recently for the middle school so look forward to what that report will will bring and and how we can use that to um work with our students professional development uh so this last week we uh kicked off our program for new teachers with its first seminar uh help that on Tuesday it was a great day had a lot of good positive energy uh collaborative discussion um able to cover a lot of things with with this beginning in the middle of the year we hit him with the fire hose a little bit and um whereas normally we would would spread a little bit of that information out but um our principes uh Mr Strickland U Mrs Hall and U Mrs H who's here did a great job uh leading uh some some of the presentations and and some of the content and then our Mentor teachers Stacy G Rachel O'Neal Jenny Beach and Andrew slank all did an excellent job leading their their goboard as well so and Stacy and it's here and Rachel must have taken off with her kiddos but um so super excited with where that's going to go uh lots of good feedback and and I think that's exciting for our new teachers um there's been a couple comments in terms of just our veteran teachers and making the comments of if I had something like this when I came in as a new teacher the level of support would would be great so I'm super excited about what this going to go uh operation world uh we are in school testing season so sat testing recently took place at the high school with our Juniors uh completing that test um this past week so we do look for those scores uh to hit us in early April uh I read also both those windows are at the same time they both close tomorrow sat and I with our second third graders uh taking I um last week uh second graders just as a reminder there this is the second year that we've administered I to them they passed and then they are are in they do not take it as a third grader and then we do get some good information um in terms of where kids are either on track or or need some further support uh if that's shown in second grade Mr yes so I saw in the news that some of the SATs or at least place or two were being done all computerized it is so it is all digital now here as well yes yeah so the second year uh so we did uh digital last year uh first year so second year that we've done that so um and there's pros and cons to that um I will say one thing that uh the state has done a good job of um and and and that's that's beyond the state P satat too but um in terms of being able to get results uh faster you know that was always something that came along with you know your high set days and some of those things by the time the results come around uh you had more than well moved on uh to the to the next school year even I live alone and none of your kids so um when you think of them taking it last week and return turning around and getting scores at the beginning of April um the quick turnaround is is nice to be able to have that information to move forward so I I learn and and I regr the same so um that has been a good Improvement um from what we're we've been used to with State Testing um and then is is will be coming up late April overlapping late April and beginning of May so grades 3 through 8 will be gearing up to to Island and that is your assistant superintendent for Dr R good evening everyone um hopefully you've had a chance to look through the Oracle and we're getting to the book status here so we just have so many amazing things happening in and around our schools students and staff are they're rocking it more professional term to that um it's just outstanding um in the community World um Steve Brittney Brent and I have had various meetings with the Community Foundation Community Foundation is working for a lily gift 8 Grant um and so there's just been a lot of conversation and assessment um of you know the needs in our community a lot of those continue to be around Child Care um but then after Kelly Taylor Community Foundation kind of heard some of our migrant numbers and some of those things she really wanted to spend some time with us um just to get a greater understanding of our needs but Al more importantly the needs of our community members it's just outstanding to live in a community where of professionals come together to try to come up with answers um the League of Women Voters is holding a kind of wide can our kids read um panel so Brittney Cooper will be representing Crawford zille schools on April 16th at 6m at Crawfordville high school it's in the Commons again it's a League of Women Voters and there's panelists uh that'll be discussing the science of reading and how we support students in the effort for them to learn to read um representatives from North Montgomery and South and at the Community Foundation Early Learning Center will join her in this discussion um it kind of comes out of the Senate bill one which has kind of been identified as the retention bill um kind of brought back some of the language around the I 3 that for students if they don't pass they should be retained um but a lot of those you know but if you know if student has a good cause exemption there're still not necessarily don't need to be retained the one that's probably will be interesting for our community and it'll be interested to see how this developed is that you know basically if you've been in the country for two years um not necessarily that you get the good cause exemption anymore for being a English language learner or a multilingual student um so I'm assuming that is one that will probably be addressed um but we will we will see because I think the expectation to learn your second language in two years is pretty um it's a high goal but we will have students we we'll meet it um in the academic world the High School AP leadership team has met a couple times Dr Bart I've been working with that team and CHS Administration team uh to provide a sequence for our AP offerings that begins the freshman year so generally has been kind of your junior senior year for AP um course offerings and we have students as we've highlighted throughout the year that are just entirely loaded their Junior and Senior year so we're trying to find a way um to spread that out a little bit so next year we will actually offer AP World History um to freshman to begin that process and then it's also offered the sophomore year but then hopefully the year after that we can move some things around the College Board lays out a scoping sequence that goes down to the freshman year um and we just want to kind of see how this work works but we have parents who are asking for it and we have students and staff that can handle the rigor so we're eager to try it um also Madison Smith at the high school has found a way to address an issue so we for a long time have worked with W bash College to have students take calculus 2 at w bash College their senior year however that only works in general if basically when you come into six grade we've already placed you um in a path our so Madison found a way now that there's two actual paths now so kids who maybe didn't get put on that path but have shown the aptitude through middle school and jump into A New Path their freshman year to give them that opportunity so again great work by Madison um and the high school administration team for giving those opportunities yes so these are AP advanced placement classes that typically are college level classes or I would say it this is a kind of a mind set that shi and kind of we need to change in our community I think it is they're not College they yeah I would say it's more college preparatory but yes you can get a college credit for it um but the College Board does allow it to come down to this level um and they I could show you there are certain courses they would never recommend for freshman or sophomore year um there's some you know they're junior senior but the yes world history is there you can get a college credit and I do absolutely believe we have students that can handle this low so I think that um if you yeah we I'm confident that it will work so but if I'm wrong we'll fix the B yeah and I again few schools our size our community have this opportunity to provide these offerings celebrations um proud that we had three science teacher recognized with Awards um from the hoer association of science teachers Jenny Beach received the Clyde Ro award for outstaying high school science teacher Shannon Hudson received the Edward L Fraser sign service award um and also Jared Kaminsky received an academic All-Star certificate of Merit and nominated by senior Whit Horton I think this is Jay was trying to find the last time that we had a teacher nominated here so it's been a while um so that's an outstanding honor and basically because wh Horton is an academic also then he gets to make a recommendation then from the recommendations of the academic Allstar teacher is selected um and everybody keep your fingers crossed so tomorrow Jared's wife finds out where her residency placement through med school is at and we're hoping it is in the Indianapolis area so he continues to be a teacher and he's for some reason he is going to follow her if she is placed out of state so um yeah all the Good Vibes that you have works out the best of them but sure would love to keep them so uh boys and girls high school swim team won sectional titles uh this is fifth straight for our boys I saw that our Middle School girls swim team has won the county in the conference U what I'm probably most proud of in this month's Oracle is you know our motto is enter to learn go forth to serve um we have a few service projects that are highlighted I remind everyone that this year the goal is for every student um to participate in a service project and that could be kindergarteners making cards for the board kindergarten making cards for a nursing home all the way up to like the a the cmsa helped with a fundraiser for the Animal Welfare League during the kindness week at Nicholson El El the discovery club members shared crafts with the residents at the Lane house which is the nursing home next door and then the CHS National Honor Society supported Pam's Promise by doing an ice cream sale so our kids are learning Great Character and service um through being involved with crille Community Schools announcements on Friday May March 22nd we have a teacher candidate day um so we're bringing teachers in Poss possible teacher candidates in any board member would like to join us for lunch be 11:30 at the high school this comes from um some Outreach that we've had to some candidates and then from the teacher recruitment day um at Purdue so trying to get some people in let them see our schools and our community the administration building finally uh they're mobilizing at the end of this month and we will have our groundbreaking celebration and board photo opportun on Wednesday April 3rd at noon so appreciate that you guys will be able to make that for appreciation um our students and staff have all these opportunities because of your support and Leadership um today I was at the new superintendent seminar where we had a session on board relations and oh my am I a lucky man um I am so confident that I have most consistent stable sane kind wise board around um thank you thank you for your service and I'm re rker and I'm an Athenian honored to serve as your superintend thank you Dr for M Communications I just wanted to thank whoever organized the and of all the kids that wrote the notes that we received at last month's meeting that was um just out outstanding and and and really nice and some students with outstanding handwriting uh and and teachers but it was it was really really well done and much appreciated I that comment very much appreciated thank you Paton comments none I would entertain a motion to ad sove second all in favor okay

so if we're going to be changing our zoning we have to ask for more than 10% now I get that there's a requirement it's not economically feasible so one is Pawn Street and two I did read surveys now I know there are other communities but like Lexington was able to say you're good with 15 you might push it to 20 we're not Lexington but it doesn't cost as much to acquire land here the rents are very high we just read to report that they're higher than surrounding communities so I I hope that we have the very best data to help us um get to more than 10% well I'd be curious why are we different from Lexington um if if I could add one um just observation related to that so uh when you mentioned the maximum height requirement in the Pond Street District at five stories this is this is a challenge that we've had with eohc in the past they require that we test the maximum the the minimum threshold in which affordability is triggered in terms of number of units and then the maximum buildout specifications meaning like if you're building in Palm Street we have to test a five-story building the challenge there is that right now construction costs for Stick Over Podium which if if you're building over four stories then you need to have Podium construction to support going up past those four stories that type of construction becomes incredibly costly and that's starting to become an inhibitory factor is those construction costs when you build higher um in the case of Lexington I'm I'm not quite certain of the their height requirements off the top of my head but in other communities that we've worked if you have a set maximum height of four stories that's what we test and that's wood frame construction and then that would work that's why it works in your other two districts why we can't test a project less than that five story maximum because even though it's a Max story height Max height of five stories you you technically don't have to meet that Max but eoh requires us to test that uh we we've asked them why because we experienced this in in a couple of other communities and that's just sort of the response that we've been so we aren't allowed to make if you build it five stories sorry we can't ask for more than 10 but if it's four we could I mean is aren't we allowed to do that then I understand your data than presenting but can't can't we ask for a different percentage if someone builds it four stories then I think what's Eric saying is that's going against the state in their regulations so the state demanding the test at the five the I think but that I think Eric was going to answer the question yeah so so the way I say it the way I say it because because you have in your zoning a maximum height of five stories we we have to test that if you're going to submit an EA to increase the affordability that's that's basically um the long and the the short of it if you reduced it to four stories or if you add it in other language that's that's a different story all I can really speak to in terms of the EFA is we have to test whatever the maximum assumptions are so just to follow up so that what you're saying is then if we say we're going to put this potential zoning in but we're going to just make it a requirement a four Fe a four stories that would change the cost estimate and we could potentially go above the 10% you could then get 12 and a half in Palm Street as well yeah if we go higher no if we go lower if we change the zoning change the zoning on Pawn Street to four stories we we would have to change the Zoning for the whole pwn Street overlay District right would that be how it would h i mean because if we were we couldn't spot so currently in the pawn Street overlay District it is five stories and that goes back to when the pawn Street overlay District was adopted to the so I think in theory yes you would be changing it for the entire element and then obviously we're really just creating a a zone for 501 and 369 and that's going to be the MBTA overlay Pawn Street district and so what we we would have to do there is compress that down to four which would go from Podium construction down to just stick construction which would be a different what we're seeing on Chestnut Street stre correct how would that change our MBTA data though if let's say we reone all of Pawn Street to get to the 12.5% we bring it down to four stories does that change your analysis for I I think it just changes what we can ask for a affordability I think it's I think it's this I mean though the questions are good for our time tonight I'm not sure we want to go down this road because when we're looking at the property on Pawn Street um of of the area that we've allotted there which we will'll see one of them one part of the lot the space is already constructed and the other one is already uh approved at F for 501 Pawn Street at and it's approved at 25% affordable right okay so I'm not sure a deep discussion on this is is worth our time tonight right so that makes sense thank you thank you for that clarification but is there are there any other questions for Eric because I assume well I don't know I don't know what the Eric's time schedule is this evening and we'll be getting into the you know ELO's presentation as well any other happy to answer as many questions as you need questions for Eric I do have one one other little question so if when when you say that the Pond Street numbers failed you know for the affordability and would get rejected by um EO eoh EO eohc thank you thank you the acronym um so if if if we would write if if we would write a bylaw that we would submit to the state to um to comply with MBTA communities and it had that and we it didn't meet that criteria the state could reject the bylaw correct is that like grounds for a rejection yeah yes okay I just wanted to thank you okay if there's no other immediate questions for Eric I'll I think Alo are you uh are you on next yes I can I can start presenting um I'll probably turn it over to you to like go through like the last approach but so at least we'll have all the information in the big picture and we can discuss it all at one time thank you so much Eric thank you so this is the same power not the same power by a very similar version of the PowerPoint that uh we presented last time that we were meeting and also the one that we walked through the two public discussions um you know as a recap we're just kind of like mentioning that this owning District um has to at least be 50 acres and a minimum of those 50 acres has to be within the MBTA buffer um each individual district has to be at least five acres or greater um so no less than that can just be an EST Standalone District um based on the 3A requirements um the minimum density is 15 units per acre multif family we know each restriction Allowed by right um and the districts need to have to access to train station that basically all of the town of Ashland um has that because of the location of the train station um so basically what the approaches were or like what the information was that he was given to us is that we need to based on the 2020 census we have to allocate Sony for 1124 units 1,24 units um and you know like the kind of like as we mentioned from the start there will be two ways that we could do this we could go for a very low density approach where we were trying to maximiz area and land and we're trying to like minimiz density um and you can kind of like see the numbers there and then there's also different approach where you are trying to minimize the amount of land that gets sewn but then you are looking at the highest amount of density um which will be an average of 20 units per acre but of course into that is kind of like what Eric was mentioning you have to take into account all the zoning differentiations height um open land all of those kind of aspects so you need to like make sure that all of those numbers play around when you're looking at the total land because you might think that you have the 50 acres and that is working but then when you actually look at open land percentages of that can go away and you need to make sure that the density then plays along so it's it's kind of like a trickier game than just you know like putting colors in a map and then just deciding what areas will work and what numbers could run um the gis I think that you kind of like uh seen this before but just to like redirect it um from the state we get the samples of GIS data that they tell us how to at least like navigate the first part of this process uh one of them is giving us information about excluded landone areas that we definitely cannot um touch for these exercise and that's due to ownership so for instances areas that are owned by the town or the state or they had some sort of like use restrictions those are areas that they EST they pre-identify as they're not practical or possible for us to use so from the start we did not look at those Parcels um sensitive land is areas that we do can use um for the MBTA the only thing is that for these areas um they're going to be red flaged so it doesn't necessarily mean a negative thing it just means that when you're looking at those areas in a map you have to know that there might be an extra cost due to its location due to its geographical um features so most of it you can see that it's near like reer fronts or anything like that because of the float Zone and that's why it's kind of like shown a sensitive land um and then the density denominator these are I want to say a little similar in the sense that it could be due to geographical impacts or geographical features that it impacts it but the main thing is that for the exercise you cannot count these towards the total number of land so let's say if you pick any parcel here that has the light brown area you will have to decrease that from your total number of land but you can still counted for um and that will be deducted to the density so when you're doing your density exercise that that parcel is going to be impacted for how much of the brown space is basically taken so if you have a parcel of one acre and you have a brown space of 0.3 Acres you can only use 0.7 to actually like measure the density um yeah I mean I think I can turn around to Trisha so she can walk over the district itself yes so this goes back to just our um our kind of continuing um analysis about how we approach these sites first we had General discussions about all kinds of areas across Ashland um that included obviously the big chunks of the rail Transit District um but as well as other properties around Ashton some of which um have projects the planning board has recently approved on them such as um C is 100 Chestnut Street um D is um D is 501 Pond right and well and and its neighbor um but e is the uh kenwall lot uh we were considering obviously we're considering um area C which is um part of the area between um uh near near the train station and along Pleasant Street and uh and we're considering a couple other places that well that we kind of just ultimately decided we couldn't use because part of it was Town property or it was just way out of the zone or inappropriate use so um where we the second part of our um our thoughts and looking at this um actually entailed a couple things one is that as we've gotten feedback from members of our community that um hey Ashen has already done a lot as far as housing and the planning board knows this a lot right about permits you know projects that we've permitted as long as well as Cirrus that was has been a while now but you know we've already we've already as a town added a lot of housing you know to Ashland um over the past 10 years or so um so we were conscious of that and then we were also conscious that we have a um comprehensive plan process in the works right now um and so we wanted to be careful about making decisions for the town when the town meaning the residents and the public were in the process of making decisions for for ourselves for the for the larger group so we took both of those things into consideration and we really started to focus on um land that we have already built on that either it's already built like Cirrus or it is already approved to be built on um like the um uh 501 Pawn Street or um not gcg g ugc ugc the initials right or ugc which is the um uh over 55 community in in that District um so we were we were basically L landing on four pieces of property to make the numbers work and as Alo was going through all those different kinds of land exclusions and it has to do with the current zoning there's a lot of information to put in so that it's spits out yes it's approved or no it's not right and so um those ended up to be Cirrus um ugc um 100 Chestnut Street and 501 combined with the um 369 369 which is the memory care facility next door it's already built but those two properties together because we have to have a 5 acre minimum for any parcel to count and and 501 Pond was too small so we focused on those four properties which with minor tweaks in the zoning to get them to fulfill the requirements all of all of the units that we needed all of the acreage that we needed basically hit those properties or are fulfilled by those properties which with our feedback from our two forums which granted I mean maybe we had 20 people around on our each Forum granted isn't a mandate from the people or anything like that but the for the people seem to be appreciative that we were keeping it to things we've already done um at least at the present time so that was that is what we were we are now delivering to the Joint boards as uh as where we have landed after this however many month Endeavor okay thank you is that the um your presentation anyone else happy to answer questions that's the information that we have for you questions or comments from folks I have a question so um I know we've said this before but we didn't say this tonight that the um the 1100 change units that we 1124 units that were zoning to um to to have built it's a really just a zoning exercise we're not really building 1124 units um and MBTA communities is not saying we have to build these units it's really just saying we have to Zone to be able to build by right for these correct that's right that and that's to be something obviously it always came up at the forums and something we made clear that none of this mandates that a single unit is built it's just has you have to have the possibility that it can be built and you can also designate that land on property that is already built that that's that's okay too in fact I think many communities I think take that approach when they're in the situation we are so um so my other one other question that I had because we had some some feedback about Pleasant Street um which I think is not in but it's a different C right okay so if I saw that chart right it's it's like 6.09 Acres that parcel that you guys took a look at if and I'm saying if we were to include that in the zoning what would the density what how many units could that potentially add to Ashlin because I think we need to also understand if we do change any Zoning for what we approve for MBT ta communities from what you guys are recommending that there would be an impact because this would be by right and there would be an impact that we um you know to town services and potentially um you know development that we would not have a say in as far as the planning board it wouldn't come to the planning board um so I I I'm curious do we know what that I think by R still comes to us they still have to review the and approve comes through site review is through site plan approval process but it wouldn't but it wouldn't be anything negotiate as far as unit right unit size those types of things that right that we're talking about I think the um so if that is that that's area it's about six that area that we were considering yeah I think it was yeah so um at 6 Acres 15 units an acre which is a minimum that it's 90 units okay so that would be you know in that area that would be that's what we would have to BU right minimum for that area okay can I just kind of confirm on the reverse if we don't Zone that area by right a developer can still come in with a special permit to build density that's that's correct so um and I think that's an important point because we're not zoning to prevent development dense development can always be proposed anywhere in our community with a special permit project I just want to make sure that's clear to the public that that specific process is Far and Beyond the uh by right it takes a lot longer and it's a little bit more expensive to the to the individuals so uh that should be also added to that comment as well that's interesting I have yet to see the planning board deny a special permit project um I just had a couple comments here um you know so one I guess on some level I'm confused by what our goal is because on on one hand we're talking about uh let's increase the N number of affordable units we can build and then on the other hand we're saying well we're going to uh permit this but we're we might not never build right so you know and and I understand pros and cons and I'm not suggesting where I even come down on between those two things but they they seem uh like they're at odds with one another um I I think they I I think it's just exploring to me it's just exploring all avenues of the development as if there was nothing there and then 12.5% would be better than 0% affordable or better than 10% affordable but yeah I think right now I mean of the two and and granted anything can happen just because projects are approved that doesn't mean they're getting built right but the two approved projects that are currently still with an empty site are both at 25% affordable right so but but they're not there right so um yeah so it does seem a little bit at odds um it's just kind of the it's kind of the yeah the timeline that we're on I guess yeah and then I I think um you know to Anna's Point um you know when we talk about Pleasant Street and we talk about the property that that's adjacent to um the station you know it does make sense to to build housing there for right does seem like you can walk to it right um and and while I say okay well you know but maybe I mean that can happen anyways but it sometimes if we let stuff happen anyways when it comes before the planning board and you all can't come to an agreement with a developer we end up with a 40b project well 40b is is a leadership thing to set in place to try to meet 10% right that's not controlled by the planning board I mean we have it is if if you're negotiating right with a with a developer and the developer gets frustrated and walks away that's when they come back sometimes right with if we had 10% they wouldn't be able to do 40b right but right if we had 10% of housing of affordable right but we I think there's always I go back to respond to one of her your your comment about the zoning and building yeah the the idea here because I've I've I've also been conflicted about that it's like okay we have to create the zoning but we don't actually have to build it and I think what the state is trying to do with this zoning is have the ability that should someone want to come in and build it they have the right to do that and they're not telling us we have to build it but we have to have the ability for someone to commit yeah no I understand that but I'm thinking what do we want never mind I mean I understand what the state's kind of forcing but ultimately what is it that we want well and that's why Claud I think if I could go ahead I I think I think I know what you're saying I think um and the way I look at it is I feel like Ashland has already done what the state wants and I think because I think what you're identifying is attention hey we want more affordability than why are we just zoning where we already built so it feels like a disconnect but to me it feels like the same thing because essentially to me Ashlin has gone above and beyond if you drive around to other communities we have already done it so we're not the reason the MBT law exists I think for other communities that need to get there they should catch up to us right I agree and then but then in reality to to miss G's point in her email about um you know the fact for comparing to Southboro and what Southboro is responsible for doing well because they lower density you know the way they're automatically have have less responsibility it's you know again the state the way this is written it does it penalizes communities who have done some work not to say we're perfect but we've done some work right um so that that you know that's my editorial comment I suppose um right the more work you've done the more dense you've become the more punished you feel right which is why if we Zone to the areas where we've already developed we're less punished yeah yeah again but is it still enough at least that's one perception I'm not saying we're being POS some people believe we are and then my last question just and I'm not suggesting that that we do any go down this road really but I'm curious what do we know what um it would cost us if we were not to do what the state is telling us to do what what would be the actual grants that we would lose um you know I I know Milton is you know got all that publicity and I think theirs was $100,000 um in that particular so I can stop you right I'm going to I'm going to ask you this I'm going I'm going I'm going to read them right now right number one Mass Works number two housing Choice number three local Capital project funds furthermore planning Community planning grants from the eohc down Massachusetts downtown Innovation grants Urban agenda grants Rural and small town development grants please note Ashen does not qualify for either a rural I mean for a rural or small town development Grant we are greater than I believe the threshold is uh 7500 uh population a population size of 7500 so to follow up from claudo what you've just read right are the our potential grants our gr that we can no longer apply so which is an important point and correct but what do you have a ballpark numbers of what I I realize there might be a huge range there Mass works we have what almost we've almost had no almost 12 million right we had Mass works so it's a significant it's a huge punishment down I would say the mass works I would I would I would I agree with yoland can I put a number on it no however this town of Ashen has received in the range of 12 to5 million in massworks Grants I would say over the last few years okay so it's it's a huge number it's not $100,000 that we're at at risk correct I want make a note Michael does have his hand up Michael may have and Marcelo does does as well so um Peter I'll let you uh Michael uh well Marcel do you want to add to the conversation uh sure uh I just just just listening to the conversation it it's more and and again that's uh everybody that has worked deeply in in in this subject it's it's a lot better verse than than me but it the the conversation about those areas adjacent to the station uh just made me think and I think was Yolanda that that that mentioned um uh what what why is that not included and you know I I get all the the the control versus not control if it's a as of right however it it seems to me that it I have more like a philosophical kind of overview of this the the the overall objective of this effort by the state is to uh incentivize and to generate housing uh close to the train stations for obvious reasons that area on on on Pleasant Street I I I agree I don't know who said it but I I it seems to me that that that by by not including that for whatever reason we're almost just trying to comply with the Mandate just by by by by going around in circles and and and and you know uh matching checking the boxes which is fine it's one way to do it but if if I guess I would just question are we not really committed of developing density in downtown close to the station because it seems to me that that whole area on on Pleasant Street and adjacent to the station should be uh by default uh is is is a prime um uh candidate to to fulfill that uh if that's really what we feel um so I just wanted to make that com I mean I I'll tell you as somebody who takes that stop like I I park my car at the si side and I take that train ride back and forth right if I don't go to the West Nao stop but what I'll tell you is we have complied we do have dense housing right next to the train station on the si side and by not having on both sides we're not somehow escaping responsibility we have a lot of density on right next to the train station at cerus and there's there's a beauty to some control for us as to what happens on the other side because on the other side you're very close to downtown and nothing prevents a developer from coming in and proposing density on the other side but to do it by right means Marcelo that you would not be able to as a planning board member have some say in certain characteristics that might make it more consistent with your Downtown Vision that I know you have and so nothing prevents developers from trying to build dents on the other on the other side but it is much closer to downtown and we as a planning board should have some say through special permit we have a Marcel do you want to finish and then I'm gonna let Michael have a have a chance go ahead Marcelo sorry no no I was just going to say I I I I I I never said that we were trying to skirt responsibility yes so not say what I didn't say but I I'm just saying that that uh the downtown by default has a form code that allows people to build by right certain things that everybody has agreed is proper for for the downtown um why would that not be able to be to to take place there um I I think um those the down you would have to be I'm not sure about that if it's in the downtown zoning District um would they still have to would would new construction in that area as a as a by right have to follow downtown zoning District regulations I'm sorry would it have to follow form based code yes like it would so if we're coming in if we're going to make an amendment so this hasn't been done yet and just by the way because we didn't go down this road within obviously our working groups and in our public forums right we start to think about this but yeah you would any building Within in the add district is going to have to be fall under this under the add requirements yes so it would be by right but with the add zoning requirements correct okay however this is the thing right is that we would still we would have to change the a the the add the Ash and downtown zoning District to make sure it complies with all of all elements of the of the MTA communities the MBTA legislation so there's things that we may have to go back and start changing is section c that's showing on this map Downtown no oh no that's 100 no no on so on this map yes on the old one so the southern side of Pleasant Street southern side of Pleasant Street isda is overlay District so that's considered downtown yes yeah oh under in terms of the our zoning Zing ad ad the southern side of Pleasant Street running from the down running from Main Street all the way to the station ad daa is overlay district and it covers 10 to 60 Main Street there's some sections in the downtown and then it runs the entire Southern Southern side of Pleasant Street which is to to the train station the underlying zoning in that district is industrial right so an add was a adopted they created Adda as an overlay district add sections B and C are base zoning one would say okay I just want to excuse me I just want to make sure I understand because we're talked about that zone C being right by the the station and that's been subject to some discussion but you're saying that's controlled by add a d a all the way right all the way to downtown and they all have to have the same conditions so you can't you couldn't separate out Zone C and put it by itself well we could but we're saying what it is right now okay but anyway right before we go too far yeah here I want to go to Michael Herbert who's been waiting and that's just the zoning map so it's a little more clear the actual that's good so that's interesting good evening everyone good evening um so I just want to provide go back to Claudia's question and uh provide a little bit of context on the grants um so first of all the probably the biggest one is obviously the massw works Grant so we so far have secured um just slightly under $10 million in Mass Works grants to support uh infrastructure projects including downtown uh over the last uh 10 years um another one that we've received is the Commonwealth places Grant which uh helped support The Corner Spot uh which was about $50,000 and then I believe the last one you read off feet was the municipal vulnerability preparedness Grant if I I didn't I didn't get the I didn't finish all the grants I'm sorry so there a lot of Grants yeah so I believe that totals what we've been able to secure is $100,000 through um through that program and one thing I want to make clear is that some of these are planning grants and while the the numbers might be smaller like the MVP the municipal vulnerability preparedness grant program those might be smaller what they do is if you complete those and you complete the planning through those grants it makes you eligible for larger grants for construction and um I don't have exact figures for right in front of me but like with the housing Choice Grant which we would also be ineligible for that goes up to $250,000 um so you know know I I don't want to say it should be the only factor in consideration um when you're determining what you want to do here but there is some significant uh financial implications that are on the table all right thank you thank you Michael all right I went to uh give Amanda Amanda a chance to come on oh that would help too many uh situations hi guys can you hear me yes y hi um my name is Amanda Walsh um Pine Hill Road um I've been on a couple of these meetings and I'd first like to thank everyone thought it was okay hold on just a minute Amanda sorry yeah I was thinking it was the other Amanda my mistake but I was going to open it up to public comment when we get done with this so sorry Amanda you you can go ahead okay um I've been on a couple of these meetings and I first like to thank everyone involved I know you guys have worked really hard on this um and I really like this plan and I just wanted to you know say that from a residence perspective um I think that this plan has a great chance of passing at town meeting too um there have been quite a few people who have come out and said that you know they don't want more density in town and I think in order to get their support this approach is a great one um and has a good shot you know at potentially passing at town meeting um I strongly personally disag agree with including Pleasant Street um you know we have already developed other areas you know on this plan and we like to see the comprehensive plan be completed or further along before we include land that is not already developed um I'd also like to you know leave Pleasant Street open to give planning board feedback if somebody comes in and you know a developer wants to develop that land um you know lastly I think before this goes to town meeting residents need to be informed on you know this is a zoning change and I think that's a huge misconception I think a lot of people think like oh if you you know if this passes that town meeting that we're going to build all this housing and that's not the case and by you know keeping the plan with you know current housing that's already been developed and if we can get that message across I think that you know this would pass more easily so thank you guys thanks thanks Amanda and at this time I do want to take a few minutes to open it up for yeah public comments can I just um make a statement before to that thanks um so I did want to thank you folks on the subcommittee for all this hard work um and um I did um and I think it's a very good plan and in terms of um you know passing I think we understand that we can do this with relatively little impact but I do um I did want to point out that I think we're missing an opportunity here and I I understand an's point about being possibly able to have a developer come in and use the Zone C but if you know but and also the idea of waiting for a comprehensive plan to make that decision but I would remind everybody this is a public process this will go to town meeting this is elected officials talking about the plan so um I think procedurally if we feel that and I personally think that we're missing opportunity in zone C because it really is it's right by the train station it's already developed that whole area is already developed so we kind of missing an opportunity to build um you know to add to housing and one of the ways you get housing more affordable is to build more housing and build it in the proper place this is the proper place this is the rail Transit District this is why we have a Commuter Rail station that's why they passed this law so I think you uh suggested some very good things here I think we can live with this but I think we're missing this opportunity um and I think um it's across the street from Pleasant Street okay but it's not that's it's not in a neighborhood it's already developed uh so I think we should look closely at that and I think this committee ought to um consider taking a very close look at including that um I I doubt that a planning board in the future is going to feel uh who knows what they'll what they'll feel but the idea that they're going to allow housing to be built that's not already zoned and permitted I think is is really unlikely um and that's not the best process anyway the best process is this process where we're talking about it and we're going through a very public process so I would um again my thanks for all you you folks effort I would just um my personal position we got to look very closely at including Zone C uh to see if that's feasible um and fits with you know so thank you thank you okay so this time I will open it up to public comment we'll go with our usual um our usual specifications on that which are three three minutes person one time to the mic I'll let you manage Peter minutes three minutes Danny yeah my my wife Dan J from burnhams and ashin uh I run own burnhams it's been on our family for since 1938 the process of putting the MBTA station in back it started in 1992 it was never completed in 200000 till 2002 uh during that time the initiative of putting some dense housing in the area The Proposal most by Bob gaina mostly he wanted to put 750 units up on that Hill it ended up to a 398 I thought that was a pretty good compromise and I was pretty much instrumental my wife and myself because we thought that's a good idea to have people near the train station in Li of that instead of having 750 the negotiations ended up as you know at 398 but then at the top they made some uh concessions to have I believe it's age restricted and I believe that's under litigation right now I tell you if you change that Bob Gainer is not going to let that go he's going to go full-fledged to try and get as many units as he can up there that has been what he's tried to do over the years now Anna says that we've done our part I was part of that big part of it and I supported it we're looking for a little support on our two acres and all I hear is we can't do that there's no discussion as to the the logic of the law as as Rob just stated the law was there for a reason it's not as if this whole thing's going to come flying apart if Pleasant Street gets included in this way and some way shape or form Marcelo did the same thing this is the first night I've heard both Rob and Marcelo to step up to the plate and say what they think and I've watched every meeting on here I haven't been able to attend them because uh well I took a night off tonight and closed so I could come down because I think it's important uh as an example I was just doing my taxes my I was doing my uh mileage report I have a thing in my pocket for my uh cell phone mile IQ and it records all my trips my entire trip both business and personal for 2023 was 2,97 Miles the average in Massachusetts is 13,500 and that's what this is trying to prevent getting people off of the roads and there's no discussion about this there's no discussion about the pollution no discussion about Energy savings all of it's we're going to do everything we can to avoid and it's been publicly stated the board members have said this is a good job because we've avoided a net zero of any new apartments coming in or any new housing coming in I disagree with that if that's the road it goes down I am going to push it back against it as best I can you might win but but I suppose the district attorney will finally make that final decision as to whether the meeting was appropriate or not I don't I'm not a lawyer I don't know but in May uh 30th the town got a letter from the moratorium that was rejected and she stated right within that letter that uh this law is an important part of Massachusetts to provide housing and someone just pointed out the the answer to affordable housing is more units now it doesn't mean it has to be out of control but our two acres that's not going to change the world and I've never seen so much resistance on such a simple premise my wife probably has more to say than myself that's my three minutes thank you thank you thank you d do you want to jump to someone online or okay hi larange Jerry Burnham's restaurant I'd like to thank you rob for your comments it was so important to hear that um I'd like to say that you know pre prior to the previous um public zoning meeting we sent a letter to the planning board and we asked it to be shared with all the board members and we asked if someone could please read it during the public meeting because we would have to close our restaurant to attend unfortunately the letter was uh acknowledged but it was decided that it was just too long to read it would have taken about four minutes so in the meantime all the participants at the zoom meeting got to speak more than once with no time limits and ironically most of the conversation was specifically about us or the street we live on so they got to be heard um and there was Praise In Praise for all the new voices that participated in the process yet the one person who's lived here for 70 years didn't get to be hurt so I'm hoping tonight to read the letter it's changed a little bit be with me it should take a few minutes okay and and I'd like to bring up a different point that I don't he talked about which is traffic in Ashland a is at our business the most common complaint we hear about Ashlin is the traffic rail Transit zoning should alleviate traffic so how have recent developments in permitted projects address this problem a few examples Chestnut Street which you included in your option 29 units per acre in a residential neighborhood these occupants need to drive through downtown or along 135 to access the train Homer AV also 29 units per acre will we support the idea of a walkable community and hope this makes the downtown more vibrant we suspect most of these residents that would like to access the train will drive rather than walk a mile again through the downtown 13 or 135 traffic congestion and third Ashlin Woods which is next to TJ's this one is also in a residential area and appears to be 29 units per acre the website advertises a community amenity one mile from the commuted TR rain train station but to access the amenity requires adding to the traffic on 135 yet here we are at burnhams with a very similar size property to Ashlin woods but with the great amenity of stepping out your door and hopping on the train I can tell you that from living at burnhams when I also had a Boston walking tour business it was such a privilege to have a train at my doorstep but somehow the town boards refused to consider us as a potential for rail Transit use and unlike other projects in residential neighborhoods our property is surrounded by an MBTA parking lot with the closest Neighbors being a daycare center and serus apartments one more point about traffic we also provide commuter parking on our property before Co we had 100 WR 30 pckers it is much less now but have seen a 50% increase just this year especially recently I can tell you that currently 55% of from Ashlin will the other 45% travel to Ashland from other towns Hopkinton Southboro Milford Hopedale Holliston Hudson Malboro and Framingham Apartments here could dis displace some of that local traffic also the comparison to Milton's complaint that the MBTA is not providing the transportation the community needs so that people are driving into Boston is not relevant to our rear line with such an increase in Riders now I'd like to make one presentation new Option add the 12 acres on Pleasant Street that was removed from the original presentation observations from the last Forum board members do not think it will be right to include this area because it would negatively impact the residents on the north side of the street with one member referring to this is very dense yet the planning board presentations claim 15 units per acre is low density also Forum participants from outside the area are opposed but I'd like to know has anyone who actually lives on Pleasant Street responded okay here's a plan since area A and B are now 39.

uh marel or if somebody else is there to support us with um roll call please at this time today's a regular board meeting on March 14 2024 at 5:30 pm members of the board and attendance president Cora president vice president Andres Kinto thank you Clerk and Andrea Flores Shelton here member Linda Chavez here present me member m fam present members of administration superintendent Dr Bower present thank you Mar uh now I'm going to um go ahead and go into the Pledge of Allegiance if you can all join me at this time I PL aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all thank [Music] you all right um and I'll go ahead and uh read Our Land acknowledgement the Board of Trustees of the elmrock Union Elementary School District does hereby acknowledge that the district schools and Facilities sit on the traditional lands of the MMA alone people and the Board of Trustees further acknowledges with respect and reverence the MMA alone people tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area for their stewardship of these lands thank you uh now we'll move on to item 102 discussions and or modifications of the agenda um any of my colleagues want to move any agenda items around I have a couple but I'll wait to move those until uh trusty Flor Shelton um before okay yes we were on the right track so um before I'll just say after 3.0 okay yes and um with that if uh you are all okay with also moving up item 301 I know we have our special Jazz uh band members here so we can move that up item 301 uh right after uh let's see where are we at 102 let's um do it right after after 102 if you're okay with that I know our students have been here for a long time they were setting up and uh played wonderfully so I just want to make sure that we honor their time are you all okay with that and then we keep uh after 3.01 then just bring on that's what I was thinking of uh Flor Shelton are you okay with that if we move it up oh is that okay I think um you know I want to honor people's time and I know that we have several members of our community here for that item as well yeah and last time the kids were stay here very I want I know there's homework and um other items okay so we'll do um 301 after 102 and then 502 right after that any other items or modifications to our agenda did you have any youve it was those two oh okay yeah I moved 301 um okay if I don't see any others um yeah I would like to move uh after 5.02 I would like to move uh 5.06 5.06 okay so 301 502 and then 506 any others okay seeing none then um we'll go ahead and vote on this change all those in favor uh please raise your hand okay Andre um my guesses you are to okay I hadn't seen it all right so uh passes unanimously so we'll go ahead and move to item 301 Dr Bower I am going to um defer it to miss cble and she's GNA introduce the item and then um you can follow up perfect thank you good evening board president Lera era uh board members superintendent and Community it is my honor to be able to um share in this special opportunity to recognize the alumrock Jazz Band The Rock Jazz Band program was started in 1973 by music teachers with the help of then Principal Bob bird at Matson Community School director Ed viagran the musicians in the Jazz Band are fifth to eighth grade Alam Rock students who competitively audition each fall for the instrumental and vocal spots in this group the band performs a dozen times during the school year and its repertoire in includes big band jazz classic rock show tunes and popular songs as some of you might have heard the the tune from what was it pokon Pokemon yes I'm I'm so out of times the alen rock Jazz B uh Jazz Band program is a tribute to the education provided by alumrock District music program it continues to succeed due to the Alam Rock School District support exceptional student M musicians excellent teaching several generous Community sponsors as well as strong Partnerships with the San Jose Jazz five of our current music teachers were once students in the Alum Rock jazz band Angel Ortega quas came from Adelante Academy Lorena L loano came from painter Elementary an Shephard Benjamin Vega came from Joseph George and Renaissance Matson Mr Louie Flores came from Ryan adant to in Okala and C J Posner from an uh San Antonio Lucha and is the current Alam Rock jazz band director and in on top of that we have three other alumrock employees that were also members of the alumrock Jazz Band when they were growing up as students so we have a special recognition to honor the Alam Rock Jazz band's 50th Anniversary here in Alam Rock School District thank you um and with that I am honored to present that special um award I'm going to go ahead and uh read um this nice plaque the Alam Rock Union School District acknowledges the dedication and contribution of the alen rock jazz band for 50 years of service to our students and the community thank you for the music Here's to the next 50 so congratulations if everybody can join me and um I see that some if not all you have your instruments if you can um slowly carefully maybe join us in the front here um so we can hand this to you all and hopefully take a picture with you all so um as you all gather we'll head over there my peers you like em Emily [Music] yeah say go [Applause] [Laughter] Jazz all right [Applause] you guys thank you nice [Laughter] job thankk you congratulations anyone um have any comments uh or questions um on this item before we close up and move on to the next I will uh trusty fam you know I just want to take this opportunity as a we can stay quiet please um just want to take this opportunity and I see as the band is um moving on out there uh congratulate them on 50 years as a fan and as a supporter of all their Jazz fundraisers all these years uh you know uh my uh many of my friends were were members of the Jazz Band When I was a middle schooler at paa and uh you know it is really uh this District's most famous performing arts program so uh you know it uh it takes a lot to build something and it also takes a lot to to hold it through and in tough times and good times for 50 years so I congratulate the Jazz Band on its golden anniversary and may we have 50 more years thank you so much thank you trusty fam trusty um GTO yes I've had the uh when I first came on to the board U we were going through some very difficult times and there was talk about slashing music and all the unnecessary stuff because you know some during tough times people tend tend to take on some uh call for drastic measures and so it was a a it was a privilege to be able to be here and demand that we not um cut uh those things that make life worth living such as the Arts and so uh always been a preg to support uh the Jazz uh band when they have their events as well as through action here on the board and so yeah definitely looking for another 50 years that's going to happen then we need to go ahead and continue to support their efforts and give them the sometimes it just to matter of getting out of the way uh and allowing allowing them to do the work that they need to do to continue to thrive because they they've been able to continue to support the work that they do uh in other instances is giving them uh the just the right amount of support that they need so they can keep on going so looking forward to continuing to support an excellent organization amazing music every time I go to hear their uh to to their concerts it's a it's amazing and always uh always left astounded by the by the great work that our kids are doing thank thank you anybody else okay uh and I think the only thing I'll add is um think also in addition to what's been said Thank our sponsors for helping us keep the Jazz uh band including Mr fam and um all the others that contribute you know to ensure that we're able to um have these programs for our students uh and not to mention the teachers you know that sometimes volunteer hours to just make sure that our um students have the time uh to play and to connect with their instrument and to just play that medicine right that our ears gets to hear so I'm thankful for everyone who's you know allowed this jazz band to continue for 50 years I'm sure there's been lots of sacrifices along the way um but all worth it when we hear that beautiful music uh place so thank you again uh now we'll move on to item Madam president public comment oh yes thank you so much trusty fam you're on it um at this time I'm going to go ahead and open it up for public comment on this item okay see one welcome Miss ton good evening just want to say how um wonderful it is to hear music as I was driving up to the board meeting this evening and also to give honor to my colleagues in the vaa department and to Emily mcchristian who is our vapa coordinator it is music and our schools month and it is youth art month and I'm a proud performing arts teacher and proud to know that uh music is in the collective bargaining agreement in Alam Rock which is what drew me to this District so just want to give a shout out to all of the Performing Arts teachers and the Arts teachers this month thank you so much for featuring them today thank you thank [Applause] you okay seeing uh no other comments we'll go ahead and move on to item 502 at this time uh and item 502 um Dr Bower yes tonight um I bring before the board a recommendation that has been that was brought to the board in May of last year and um the board asked me to go back and to hold um meetings with the different stakeholders in aptitude and we have held some meetings with the stakeholders to redesign aptitude at gos to a traditional Elementary moving the grade levels six seven and8 to other middle schools in the district so I'm bringing that before you this has been a very difficult decision anytime we redesign or collapse or do something different um any kind of change um is never easy right but this is something that I bring before you because of we're trying to make sure that um in some way shape or form we can uh save the Elementary grades Decay through 5ifth for the near future and that will give if we move the six seven and eight out of aptitude it would allow us to reroute some students um back to to that area I know this is you know not again not a a an easy uh recommendation for me to bring um I don't know if you want me to do my presentation my formal presentation right now or um yeah I think that would help sure sure so no aptitude if you recall and I'm just while we put together the the slide presentation we had a demographic study right before the pandemic and right after the pandemic we um had a another demographic study because the pandemic affected our area in a very heavy way so because of that we saw a very sharp declining enrollment not only at the district level but at the school level and one of in three of the causes for this sharp declining enrollment had are as uh presented here families moving out of the area and that is not only happening in alumrock but that happen around the bay area in the state we have had a continue low birth rate and we also in alumrock um very unique in the Santa Clara County we have a very heavy impact of charter schools in our midst so because of that uh before you change let me let me just go back one more um we the recommendation is to move grade level six seven and 8 to other middle middle schools and in the hopes to free some classroom space to enroll more TK through first grade students at the site go ahead uh next slide please just to remind the board the an to run an elementary site uh we need about 500 students to sustain the site and in order to run a middle school or a tk8 site we need about 700 currently aptitude is seting at 410 students so this is the the first um Trend in the demo graphic study but you can see in the next couple of years we're going to be losing close to 700 students uh districtwide so there's some difficult decisions that are coming up um and this is the first step to reassign a school with the hopes that we can increase enrollment in the early grades next slide please this is the the school itself aptitude the red line is the aptitude enrollment and the blue line is the number of children that are available in the area of aptitude to attend aptitude so they are uh attracting some students from other areas and we're very grateful for that but because of next slide please but because of this trend in TK and on the the gray represents the current enrollment in aptitude because of these very low numbers in the early grades we're trying to see if there is any way we can reroute students to the site so that we can sustain at least the Elementary grades TK through five um this is a breakdown of the classrooms in aptitude um there was a question on Monday's meeting about Portables and um Portables are at the tune of about $500,000 per portable we just move one and it's sitting in the back going through the process of being DSA approved and that portable is going to be housing the SDC classes because there's no prop ER classroom for SDC as it's currently sitting the next slide shows the middle school so for Middle School grades it's not like one to one ratio where you have one classroom for a group of students you need at least two classrooms per the group of students taking uh six seven and eight graders about eight um six classrooms plus plus also the the um the additional ban uh area the SDC area and the RSP area so it is because of those reasons that I'm bringing to you this recommendation tonight thank you at this time U is it okay if I open it up for public comment before we go into the questions and comments from the board okay I'm going to go ahead and open it up at this time for comments um from our public on this item yeah if you can join us at the theard member yes and then um when when you're ready you can speak from the mic uh we can go ahead and start Cina yes president do you want to just hand me that and I can hand them so this way it doesn't take up your time I see that there's a lot of people that are standing up you guys want to move over here in the seats seats in the front if you like to join us in the front please okay uh go ahead okay thank you board member um I'm a parent of a seventh grader at aptitude and I just wanted to counteract your uh presentation um the one item you didn't Focus for my uh piece of document to you was as you can see aptitude has the most socially disadvantage in the county um but my sles um I don't think the superintendent has done enough research in presenting a uh closure of six seven and eth AD aptitude um I rather you delay the vote wait for another year hire an independent non-bias consultant come in and do analysis of each school and decide why should be closed as you could see yes there are declining enrollment but by um closing 678 you will create more difficulty for the family which will create you know less enrollment as you can see from that sheet from that sheet 90% of the family at abude are socially economically disadvantaged use the money on Section 509 and 510 that you guys going to look at later for approval for the superintendent to go to Spain that's $30,000 use that money to hire an independent Consulting to come in and do a deep analysis on the enrollment the effect it has with the families and the outcome you have to look through of all that and to make your correction the portable that been sitting at attitude been been sitting for a year it's not for SDC it's for the RP group so just to make your correction so I just you hear us out delay the vote for another year thank you thank [Applause] you hello my name [Music] is I'm a parent of where we are very we very displeased with the closing of sixth seventh and eth grade atude after analyzing our trustees profiles we feel very proud to say that each one of you has an enormous experience regarding what is our community in your profiles you describe that you feel connected to our community and you you um promote Equity you also promote the prevention of gangs and jobs for for [Music] you we want your experience serving the community be reflected here and now there's not tomorrow this is the moment to act because this is also your community the district only explains to us us that our children are just a number as parents we know that our children are not only numbers they're tomorrow the future we ask for your vote not to close our Middle [Applause] School one of the families being impacted for the second time because of this situation and experience as a parent I can express to you this is an enormous trauma for our children as I said earlier our children are wondering asking why are they closing our school why do I have to be moved to another school why do I have to start all over again why do I have to meet new teachers when our when my teachers are some of the best when our school there are no games there are no fights what you need in order to avoid the closure of the school thank you so much we hope to count on your vote [Applause] gracias [Music] yes I I just want to clarify she got the additional two minutes because of the translation um no problem just want to make sure in case anybody and I support my thank you so much dear board members I ask you to please postpone the moving of the Middle grades at aptitude Elementary School the mil the mil Goss Elementary School Community chose to start the aptitude Charter into to grow into a TK eth Grade School site our community and families are whom we serve and a resource for our continued existence as a district two meetings have been held to address our concerns and both have been held just days before these board meetings two meetings a year apart do not amount to a year of regular collaboration to build support understanding and confidence in a district and its decisions our district has closed too many schools over the last decade and more closures can be foreseen while only a mediocre effort has been made to promote and recruit families and students to stay our structure aptitude is a viable alternative that is meeting the needs of the families it serves taking away the structured aptitude from a TK 8th grade site and leaving it as an elementary site without a strong plan to recruit students is setting the stage for another school closure closing schools and not aggressively recruiting puts your positions my job and the future of our district at risk these families deserve to be included in regular discussions and seen as a great resource for our district their commitment to our district can make or break our future these Charter the charters use their appearance to promote and recruit how can we do this if our families are alienated by not being included in discussions around the long-term needs and struggles our district is facing please postpone your decision and make this community an important resource in the determination of this plan and build the unity this District so desperately [Applause] needs good evening board members my name is Wendy rols I'm a teacher at aptitude I am also a parent of a seventh grade student to attend aptitude I am currently in my 23rd year of teaching in the alumrock school district I relocated to aptitude last school year after teaching at Meer for 14 years I accessed myself from Meer to aptitude so that my son could attend sixth grade and continue attending the same school where I taught there was no way I was going to let him attend a traditional 6 to8 middle school after the excessive bullying we went through with my older son who's now a senior in high school and he attended a middle school in alamro 6 years ago it was my hope hope that my younger son could attend aptitude all the way to 8th grade before moving on to a high school however now we are worried about the stress of him having to attend a new school for just one year before moving on to another school to start his high school years many families at aptitude are feeling the same way just like me they like the TK through 8 model my son is safe his teachers care about him he is excelling in his academics he has friends and he is happy and that's what's most important it's a small school feeling of community and family that is contributing to the success of our students at aptitude please consider closing please reconsider closing aptitudes Middle School aptitude has already experienced a tumultuous year with the trauma that occurred this past fall we've been through enough we are all paying careful attention and entrusting you the board to provide proper oversight and make the right decision that would have the least amount of harm brought upon the students and their families thank you thank [Applause] you uh good evening board my name is uh Chris Scott I'm the C clar County director for Fresh Life LS for youth also known as fly um I've been touched by a lot of the words that a lot of the families and the teachers and uh a lot of the faculty have have demonstrated in these last few months as they gathered and rallied and came together to pretty much essentially save their school um I empathize with the board as also making very difficult decisions especially in a uh a down term um budget year where other school districts like San Francisco Unified Oakland Unified having to make very Sim similar unspeakable decisions but I do ask that the board does consider maybe some of the unintended consequences that might come with closing a uh a grade level or two where yes some of these young people can be displaced to other middle schools but there's unintended consequences that do come with going to a middle school that might not be as close to your home as well as um traveling there and even the engagement um with that said Middle School uh one of the things that really inspired me in being connected with aptitude as we are a service provider who provide services with aptitude currently right now um has been the level of Engagement that these students have shown especially during the pandemic they've shown the most engagement out of any of the schools that we worked with during um Co um as we all know that was a difficult time but these students in their classes they were the most engaged they had their actual cameras on which doesn't sound significant five years ago but as of right now everybody knows how important that is in terms of Engagement so I do as everybody else um want you to please reconsider at least bring other people to the table as I heard that there stakeholders in May who were brought to the table to have these conversations but as a stakeholder myself and as the Director um I was not at the table for any of those conversations who is affected by these things so I love for you all to at least delay um taking down the um the Middle School portion and bringing in more of the assistant Partners thank you thank [Applause] you hi my name is syvia I'm a parent at aptitude U my daughter came last school year after struggling with bullying at another Middle School aptitude school has CH has changed her life she is happy to come to school and feel safe I'm extremely disappointed in hearing about wanting to move 6 7 and 8way to other schools I wanted to look into why this is happening the teachers gave me a little background and told me to watch the board meeting from last year to try to have more understanding I was not able to make the meeting meeting on Monday but will'll be at the board meeting today I have several questions after watching the board meeting that took place in May 2023 number one I have never seen any kind of survey that went out to the parents last school year can you please provide the link that went sent out into regarding this number two one of the board members said that the school needs an infusion of support financially and with infra infrastructure to be honest honest with you I'm highly disappointed in what our school looks like after driving around and looking at other district schools we are on the only schools where our science is old and beat up Believe It or Not parents look at this kind of stuff I would like to know what money was put into our school and what kind of improvements were made to our building at the school number three why did the superintendent only come out 3 days before the boat is supposed to happen this should have been done a long time ago so parents could have tried to get more middle school students number four the board talked about how you were supposed to meet up again in four months and watched the meeting and check the agenda and did not see that happen can you please show me to the meeting where aptitude proog progress was discussed four months later I am very mad the proper protocol was not followed I would also be looking into the school council was supposed to be talking about this thank [Applause] you you can start I think it'll start when you start okay hi my name is Aiden uh I was a fellow student at God and I'm very sad to see that it's going to close down uh one thing that I really appreciated about the school was that the teachers were caring enough to look out for the children for those who struggled a lot I was one of those students that struggled a lot have faced multiple challenges during that time like struggling on my work or like maybe having a problem with the student they would always come me and with the right approach to like face it the good way instead of fixing the B and one of the things like I have a teacher that I really appreciate that he help me a lot cuz we had a miscommunication and he came to talk to me and that when he came to talk to me we cleared up things the good way and we had Goods after that we had a good connection the rest of the year and I would like to if he's here today Mr lens and Mr Brooks really helped me a lot thiss would always helped me after school with all my work that I struggled with because I was very kind and Mr Lov he would always have that time when I was very stressful class and I would get frustrated he would come and talk to me take me out a class and help me calm down and get a good idea what it's good or not and that's what I that's all I would like to say today that I appreciate all the good stuff that SCH has done for me thank you and that's it thank [Applause] you hello my name is Elo Rodriguez believe we already met thise anyway um I respect the decisions that you made but we want to how come we as parents you know we are set side instead of considering us about the decision that is going to make because it's going to be a great impact and the children and it's going to be a great impact to the parents especially when we live in close to the to the school and many parents they don't have a way to go to the to to to to the school or or driving or anything it's walking distance it's going to be hard for them as me as a single parent it's going to be hard for me too you know because um I have to start at 5:00 in the morning and then have to take my daughter to to the school to the to the nearest school over there to the um a babysitter so she has to go there what am I going to do many parents are the same way here and I feel you know that when you guys make a decision and here for you and you guys and leave us out like we don't really count when we think that we are important and our decisions as a community it is important also so you could can communicate with us to see how with you people making some decisions and that that's it you know just a very frustrated and the St situation the way set up and I don't want the Middle School stop I want to continue that thank you thank [Applause] you oh okay hi my name is Ruby Aras I'm a parent of two children in aptitude I'm here sing due to the proposed umaria B had for today closing down 6 to8 in aptitude I keep asking myself why we met with her once she couldn't give us an answer why then we were finally able to meet with her again this past Monday three days before the voting why three days before I don't know she brought out her graphics and she stated we're losing kids okay but why it's not the kids it's it's not the community's fault has she thought about that ever since she took over to be superintendent those numbers have dropped because the community why because the community is never heard we are promised so much and nothing is done people get tired of not seeing action and being harassed because if you know some of us if you're against her you're done you're red flag you're going to be targeted she blames she blames our suppos to have low enrollment for K to forth but why there's kids that have been turned back why we we don't know it's that we don't have enough students it's that they don't let us get no more the children are kids they're not numbers we're just here to ask for you guys to take in consideration your vote that there's things that could be done before thinking of closing down aptitude see we're here today thank [Applause] you Mar Lopez good afternoon my name is Martha Lopez um I'm here asking you please look at our children look at our children as people who want to get ahead in life don't look at it as a money sign with that closure I'm going to be impacted I have two children one will remain in that school my daughter will have to go on to Middle School my daughter has emotional problems please consider this she's not the only child that feels like this ever since the mentioning of closing the school there several children through who have been showing anxiety I please beg you to consider this take it into account please please take it into account graas thank [Applause] you all right so it's been a few months since Dr Dar walked into our staff meeting and told us that we were going to be shut down there was nothing we could do we just had to deal with it then she came and told us teachers that it was our job to go out and recruit students back to our school that that's what we needed to do she said to us that hey since I've been here I've lost 8,000 students to Charter Schools it's your guys' job to go get them back that's what she told us after she told us she was shutting our school so I want you guys to think for a minute if I was a CEO of a company and you guys were the board of directors I want you guys to think about this I walk into your office and I say hey guys guess what I've lost us half of our customer customers over the last 10 years which are our students I've lost over half of our Revenue because that's multiplicative over the years of students that don't come back not only that I've closed most of our plants and given our plants that work just fine to our biggest competitors which are the charter schools and then I you know what I've taken a couple people who were known to be sexual assault people and I've left them in our district move them to your school by the way thank you very much for that I've taken a $26 million Surplus that was there at the beginning and it disappeared and I have nothing to show for it I go ahead and I tell all of my Engineers hey you know what you guys are the ones responsible for go getting the customers back not me even though I lost them and then you want me to go out and tell these people hey come back to our district but what do I have to show them to come back to nothing has changed the reason they left is because the charter schools offer them something that we don't and we haven't changed to adjust to get those people back how am I supposed to go to a charter school say hey guys we really want you to come back to our school and our district but the management is exactly the same as it was when you left nothing has changed our schools are still in squalor we still look like garbage you guys are doing a great job building up your schools and doing nice things and we want you guys to come back for no other reason than just because we're great teachers which we are but our management is not going well and there needs to be a change and I think the change needs to start right here thank you hello good evening Daisy Sanchez my name is Daisy Sanchez I'm addressing the board to let you know my concern and how the closure of of our school would impact us as a family we are a family with a child who has special needs Who currently attends the Middle School aptitude he he arrived at that school with a lot of issues and they got worse with the support of the St at aptitude mainly in that time period when things got worse with the support of mrz and currently with the support of Mrs kimz the the school principal we're still working believe me our our children with special needs needs they don't like changes with the closure of the school honestly it would be very very bad for them counting on with the magnificent staff that they have it's a small school for that same reason our older children behave better in comparison to other schools and the reason is there is a kindergarten Elementary there's an elementary middle school there's a middle school there's more attention and more respect I say this because previously I had visited other schools in search of the most appropriate services for my child honestly aptitude was the best choice and it was the most recommendable school and it's the best way that one can find out about a school you can find out by asking doing your research from parent to parent sometimes parents are afraid or ashamed to talk about such topics in the district or with the principal in exchange hand sorry on the other hand taking the time individually as a person it's easier and it's more safer and beneficial personally number one it's an excellent school it's a small school of choice three it's a EXC exellent location four it's a it's performing academically well five excellent teachers six qualified staff she has one more s okay I they have a program with okay thank you that was the last sentence gracias thank [Applause] you welcome hello everybody I'm a Vietnam uh um I think the many person have the many news from you already so uh I want to uh ask my staff my family story because I come to uh us uh from the seven year ago and the my kid here when he start the attitude School the first grade he don't know the English he very shy and um we uh I'm very I'm very warmly because many picture very warmly him well very kindly him and until now he uh studying the Ser brace that he very L the attitude school and uh and this year when the my family hear about that the the middle will slow for the next year and uh um in in my my my son he he very upset about that because in my mind sorry my English not well in my mind uh at attitud SCH very very wonderful for the fature everything for the program uh I think the many thing that you hear that already and uh um some on more the Vietnam uh we want to sell the attitud Lee and the Lee here for the uh student for the thinking for the something yeah thank you thank you so much [Applause] hello um I'm Adrien vain um I am the area Middle School director and um I've been teaching middle school for 16 years and when I tell people I'm a middle school teacher they look at me like I'm crazy and I Som whatat think I am because I I think Middle School is wonderful there I love the ch challenge they give us I will say that this District in the 16 years that I've worked here doesn't seem to care about Middle School we always get the short end of the stick I've seen more middle schools close here than Elementary and it's a shame because it takes a lot of effort and a lot of oomph to teach and really care and love middle school so please please do not close another Middle School that this is a time when these students are developing emotions puberty they have no clue what's going on and to have a stable place where they they have they know what to expect that's the type of environment that middle schoolers thrive in and we don't want to take that away from them thank you thank you [Applause] we've been here since KGO we want to be here until we finish 8th grade we both have a lot of friends here and we might lose them if the middle school closes down plus the school is our home so please don't close the middle school down cuz we want to finish our Middle School years here thank [Applause] you hi I'm a mother of the beautiful student so we have a conversation um last Monday with Mrs Bower so I'm GNA say again what I'm say that day you failing our students if you are part of the community you know how important is for as a parent to have a good education for our kids right so what I'm saying that day if you is in my hands you will be fire because you fell to my daughter you fell the community and you fell our district so you done doing great job so now their option is to send my send our kids to a different mle school which one Okala we don't have Okala anymore we have a two charter school and a campus uh were supposed to be Okala was so which one uh we have it now fish sorry we have another Charter School inside the campus give me one so you don't give us a choice to have a good education for our kids charter school they're big because they have good good good system to to cut our students you losing a student is because you don't doing your job as a good as supposed to be have we losing the school is your respons ability to don't close any other school we're losing child you say we don't have enough students and I said that day your math and my math they match they match at this point you don't even say anything about why you're closing really really be honest because we don't have enough money really we in good gray area we're in Silicon Valley do you say to us we don't have enough money thank you thank you thank [Applause] you okay seeing no other uh comments at this time I'm going to go ahead and open it up to the board any questions and comments from the board it's okay m if there are any questions or comments otherwise I have questions go ahead trusty Flor Shelton I can't hear the mic but I could hear you okay use your loud [Laughter] voice thank you trusty Chavez um a couple questions to start out um or I'll just say um first thank you for the emails that I received I don't think I was able to respond to a lot of them but I read them all um so appreciate your Outreach um and couple questions so superintendent Bower I would like to know so I have three questions um what is this what would be um if the board took a took an action to support your recommendation what's the status of the wellness center um second what would be the actual budget reduction from this consolidation be um because to go through all of this and with our enrollment going down there would need there would need to be some sort of budget reduction or you know trying to understand what what the the purpose of it all is so the budget and then the third is um beyond what was presented here was there any other Equity analysis that you conducted using like Panorama data or anything else to help determine you know who burdens who benefits so there's a lot of questions there Dr Bower so the wellness center will stay okay and they're the only school as of today that have a Wellness Center um the budget redu will be 8.5 positions and that will be a savings to the general fund of $1,275 th000 in terms of equity and Panorama the this is the the the difficult part because the answer is um the recommendation is based on the enrollment numbers in the declining enrollment the school is is as you can have heard right they're doing really good but we also have other schools in the same boat right so right now they're the only ones that are being considered to reduce grade levels not the school as a whole right so trying to the the main decision had to do with those classrooms that we need to free to hopefully be able to attract more TK Kinder and first graders you had another question I'm done with my first round okay any other uh trusty fam you know um you know basing the demographic data you know now suppose you know so you know if we're going to do this Switcheroo here does the uh does the administration have uh you know a general idea of how to you know how to recruit for tkk uh you or you know if we're going to if the board is going to consider this you know in order to make room for certain you know what's the what's the general you know general idea you know in regards to reversing uh some of this uh demographic loss so we have been uh on an enrollment um marketing plan starting on January of this year which is follows some of the stuff that we have done in the past we have Community Leon visiting and canvasing the area that's we have staff actually going to Hom and recruiting students we have staff during events community events um in the past uh if you recall we have had a major marketing campaigns that include uh PSAs and they have been we have been with Billboards and around the BTA but those are very expensive uh things to purchase and because of our budget this particular um last two years we have not been able to afford the bus campaign you recall we had a number of years where we you know had alumrock en roll in alumrock using our VTA we had Billboards um but those are expensive items we have now um Dr almasan and working with the community Leon have a specific recruitment plan to be able to recruit students specifically in the early grades and specifically four year olds because we know that if we have them they will stay guess the the followup question uh you know but you know besides that uh any general ideas as to you know any curriculum changes that we ought you know that needs to be considered in in order to get students back into you know not just aptitude but you know our elementary schools right that's the uh was it the elementary schools are the key to our Middle School you know we we if we can't grow the enrollment in one area you know uh that's the primary feater so uh do we have a you know any any idea of what we can do to to uh you know make changes to our curriculum that will attract parents specifically in aptitude I mean not but in terms of Elementary right because you know what in in terms of uh you know recruitment you know uh I mean my sense from the the aptitude meeting what parent meeting was that uh you know we're we're we're starving for TKS and KS right that's the key we need to get the TKS and KS they enroll in grades one through five and then they feed into the middle school so it's s like uh any general ideas of curricular changes to you know bring Alam rockers to consider tkk TK and K in Alam Rock so we have had a number of those we had we added at theant to because we have a a lot of demand for ad Doan invention programs we have painter Elementary with Vietnamese an English dual immersion program that we have a long waiting list for those programs uh Russo ma the um the staff and the principal redesign their school into an En Environmental Education site and the Early Learning Cesar Chavez Center who are the first school in the state with that serves infants to 5y olds and we have a waiting list of 100 young students at that Center that we were considering trying to figure out also because the lack of space in the Early Learning Center to Route somewhere else thank you okay thank you thank you trusty thank you trusty FM um are you done with your questions for now yes okay thank you trusty uh Travis okay so this is what I'm hearing you're giving up students that are already here that are already guaranteed the money is following the students we're already getting income from them and you're giving them up for the possibility of maybe recruiting and getting the numbers I say why don't we try to recruit while they're still here give them a chance to survive give them a chance to up their numbers and they've been doing a good job uh in um academics why not give them a little bit more time and a chance to get their numbers up that's all thank you thank [Applause] you Madame President uh first of all I want to thank the public for being out here being part of the coming out and having their voices heard uh this is you know regardless of what side you're on it's an opportunity to engage the Democratic process come on to all of you that came out and spoke and so thank you sorry I couldn't finish the arest in the Vietnamese but I wish I could I took some Vietnamese classes before but I couldn't pick it up so my apologies um uh some of the I I appreciate the information and um we've been we've been addressing this issue or attention to address this issue of declining enrollment since I came out to this board before Dr B came here we were actually thinking of turning Matson into a k28 because we saw that that's where uh uh at the jump from fifth to sixth grade we lost we saw a lot of students jump to Middle School at that time we had a room just like this people coming yelling at us and screaming and saying no don't take away Matson and so the board at the time chose not to move in that direction and so you know I I respect the decision of the board I was on the side of moving to the k28 and I got a lot of heat for it so there's there's there's always differences of opinion and that's what we do here we have to deal with those things um I don't tend to base my decisions on how many more people are in the room and how loud the rumors is to look at the facts and what makes the most sense for for the for the district um and in this case I have concerns with regard to the Pres what has been presented because we're seeing that uh there's a Roman of 410 uh approximately 48 students less than hover um and so it's looking like it's very close if we were to we we were told that there's a savings of 1.2 million and so my concern is that is that savings taking into account the the the results of our actions here so for example let's say that there's 146 students right now in the K in the sixth gr grades so that half of them walk because of resentment because of whatever reason they just take off the ada8 follows them and they were out uh almost a 1.2 at about probably what like uh 900,000 that we would be losing if half of them leave that doesn't take into account the the TK through fif through fifth graders that would follow some of their siblings if they'd go to to a uh a middle school I was wondering if the administration had taken into account those figures and does a 1.2 take into account a certain number of students that has has have left because they've gone to Chargers or for whatever reason they're no longer in Alam Rock so we lost 85 students to rocket ship because we don't offer full day kindergarten and that's something that I Shar earlier on this year um we know that parents are that's what they have been asking for we don't have that um in terms of who's going to leave trusty kto and who's going to stay is a very difficult calculation because I know some people may leave but some people may choose to stay and so it's very difficult for me to present to you a number tonight and to say for sure this is what's going to happen because I really don't know we have uh asked during the first parent meeting um Mr Klein hands from Renaissance at fiser and Miss uh finnen from Renaissance at mson gave a very brief presentation about those are the closest sites where the students can walk to um and I know it's a it's a it's a burden um you know I my heart goes out because I know the community and I I live in the community and I know that it's difficult to take your children to to different schools I understand that completely but I also know that we have 22 sites and 7,500 students so whether the board takes action tonight or next year or 3 years from now there I I really don't know we have done many things to keep enrollment I think I know that people may not see it because not everybody is able to see other schools um and the changes and and the ability we we still have 11 Charters amongst us um and so the decisions that we're trying to make to you are as the least amount of hurt I guess that that that will cause in a community and it's still a change it's still a burden but but you know my job is to tell you this is this is where we last later on we're going to talk about the budget and um we are trying to you know there's there's a resolution we're not going to bring any new positions we're going to um try to do things to be able to retain our teachers especially those who have special credentials like bilingual credentials special AED so that we can continue um but at this point it's just basically having 22 sites that we have to take care of right and I I agree with the parents we have not been able to purchase a brand new sign for every single site uh for aptitude we did some work in terms of the black toop in terms of the playground and it's I know that is not enough but I have 21 sites that are in the same situation we all know that right so it's it's you know I'm bringing the recommendation that in my from my perspective was the least disruptive at this point for the district thank you any other questions otherwise I'll ask M just uh to finish up my comments and all stuff there um I I'm I get it I didn't expect to have a crystal ball to give us an idea as to what the numbers are but I'm given the long drawn out process that and then clearly the the resentment that's been built up I have serious concerns that the savings that we're looking at or being told aren't going to be realized because in fact we're going to wind up having an exodus of a good number of students that are not going to so at the end we're going to wind up losing part of the savings so on paper it'll look like all right positions are no longer going to be here so we'll save however the Ada is also not going to be there and so that's a concern for me um and so that that's something that's having to uh inform my my decision and yeah uh Madam president uh it's clear we're going to have to make some decisions this isn't going to be the first one and so for folks here as well as those who are maybe viewing us uh there's going to be tough decisions are going to come come down the pight and uh and so we're going to have a lot more people showing up to meetings and being upet and and so just be aware that this this is going to be the the the next few years unless we figure out how to continue to retain to retain and grow the students that we have so thank you um vice president kto I'm going to go ahead and ask mine and my comments and then we'll do another round um so first of all I'd like to thank the community uh especially the youth for speaking up the emails as uh trusty FL Shelton mentioned I did my best to respond to all of them you know I apologize if I didn't but um I really appreciate the time that each parent and uh Community member took to connect with us um uh we're here to serve you um gosh this is one of the you know there's a lot of fun things being a Schoolboard member and a lot of uh fun presentations we get to go to and pictures we get to take but this this is absolutely one of my least favorite parts of being a Schoolboard member uh but definitely something that I signed up for right when I um decided to be in the seat um or run for the seat and then you know being um elected by you all to be here um and I think for me it's important to understand the big picture kind of the wise and I think I heard over and over today why how are how did we get here what is the reason that even this consideration is on the board right why and so um Dr Bower or CA maybe can help um take the bigger picture because I think we heard that the savings you know would be 1, 275,000 uh board vice president GTO highlighted some important information uh but beyond that so beyond this one school because as board vice president mentioned we were we are going to have to make some tough decisions moving forward so what does that mean right I don't want you all to be surprised next month when we have something else on our agenda or in five months or in a year um so if one of you can let us know what our budget looks like and help us all understand this is 1, 275,000 of how much at the end of the day when we talk about you talked about enrollment total enrollment and you know if we decide to keep this you know we might decide I'm only one of five but what does it mean in the long run what kind of decisions are we going to have to make as Alam mock um what what is um how much do we need to cut I guess is what I'm what are we looking at what is the total amount and in how long CA maybe that's okay and did that make sense my question how much cuts are we going to have to make and how long to be at a point where our district can continue to function the way it's been I I think I understand your question thank you uh Madame board president um so later tonight we're going to be presenting our second interal report um which shows the current uh fiscal condition of the district and that report will reflect a $2.8 million uh deficit going into next year um all of this you know is is many reasons it's kind of a perfect storm um that that that is impacting districts um over the last few years with co uh we had infused um funds from the federal government from the state the economy was doing well um all that are coming to an end on top of that uh the state is also uh facing a budget challenge um you know just over the last 3 months or so um you know the state made a m uh reduced the cola which the cost of living adjustment um for next year is a little over 3% just that alone the impact itself it's about 7 half million um over the next two years so that exacerbated um first of all all the covid money the onetime money that we received um and with the state kind of a midyear cut on us it exacerbated our budget um you know consolidation of school should have happened a long time ago um Co in a sense kind of helped us push that um later because there was some additional funding that helped us and also you know it was a good decision to consolidate schools during the tough time because uh students were suffering they needed to learning loss to support um but all that is kind of coming to an end at this point with the loss of the co funding with the state bu budget Challenge and the continu declining enrollment the districts um you know continue to face this when I joined the district about in 2015 um we were at about 125 th 12,500 students as Dr B referred to earlier we're at 7,500 so um and we're still running the same amount of schools that we did back in 2016 uh 2015 2016 we did consolidate some schools but there were multiple schools at the same sit for example uh Matson and Renaissance and Matson were both on the same site uh Fisher and Renaissance and Fisher were both at the same site um we um converted uh arbuck which was arbo then to now to adante to which is thriving um you know their their attendance and enrollment is actually increasing um you know I think last year was the first year that they' heard had their first year of 8th grade corts um but in their lower enrollment those corts will be able to sustain that school moving forward into into the long run so in a short story I mean all this are like a perfect storm hitting us um that you know um this those difficult decisions would have to be made sooner than later um you know we have enough Reserve right now to last us for this year next year and the year coming up if nothing is done um you know starting next year we're going to be running our Reserve um which means that you know the district will be insolvent at that point um the county office will take over um take over the school districts in terms of the decision that we need to make in terms of the cuts that we we need to make in terms of schools consolidation um at that point they would take over and their recommendation would be the same thing that we'd be talking about right now so um again those are some difficult decisions that the boards can have to make but those are some of the information that I want to um you know share with you folks so that um we have an understanding ter what we're facing I think it's very helpful to understand I mean the presentation was great but I think you know the real I mean meat of this decision making right is there um I mean the school's doing great you know the students are doing amazing sounds like you know there's amazing programs amazing teachers um and we're not you know questioning anything that's happening there uh is these tough decisions and um you know also if we don't make these tough decisions we're not being responsible trustees right as Dr bar mentioned today next month or whenever we make them we're going to have to make them um in order to continue to have a district um in the future um and but I think the one of the the most important things that I heard today uh and I've been hearing and I've been reading in the emails and you know as a parent myself right the importance of community engagement parent engagement student engagement that's key to me so you know everyone in this room is a part of alen rock so everyone in this room heard the same information I heard right whatever the decision is today we're going to move forward and the I don't know what that leaves 18,7 whatever is left I'm sorry million million to still cut right to still bring our district to a place where we can continue to move forward and have a school alamro school district in 10 years in a 100 years in 200 years beyond the time that we're here so I want you all to be a part of those decision making right that decision making and so Dr Bower I know is a big task right and I know we've talked about this in our one-on-one for me it's important to engage the community um yes you know we presented this maybe a year ago um but to go back soon right not 3 days before not a month before because then unfortunately we get sick we have emergencies that come up and it doesn't allow for us to have the community feel like they were engaged so um as staff you know I am going to ask for more Community engagement so that our parents and stakeholders as we heard today and are willing to be a part of those decision-making um you know Community meetings however we decide to do it task force and you know those conversations can come next that we engage folks because again today's is just one of many decisions we get to make and I want to hear our community students parents stakeholders that want to be a part of this um um there's no way out of making these Cuts we're going to make them and I mean for us as trustees we're five here so it'll be much more easier if we make them together for us otherwise we still get to make them um so those are my comments for now and I see trusty FL shon's hand UPS thank you um thank you presidenta um when when this was brought to us a while back um I did ask for this to be deferred and we did do um to do more Community engagement and it's it is disappointing that there wasn't more information brought back that really gathered you know was there a parent survey done did why didn't we ask like what is the transportation burden you know will you go elsewhere like those are the types of conversation that is the point of community engagement right to understand the the burden understand the potential benefit or to hear you know Alternatives along the way because I think we all have ideas right to to save our schools to to be creative and this board has been very very creative in this 10 years of the charter impacts the declining birth rates the um housing affordability crisis pushing our families out to the valley and elsewhere I mean there's so many factors that contribute to this enrollment that are um but one that I think is something that is dear to me is when we attempted to create full day Kinder 10 years ago and that was stopped by the teachers union who I love dearly right but we tried to stem and stop the bleeding at Kinder 10 10 years ago and we didn't we didn't come to an agreement agent on that and 10 years later we still don't have full day Kinder so as a working mom when I sent my kindergartener to Chavez and I had to drop him off at 11: and pick him up at 1:30 that's like impossible right that's impossible for working fam so I was so convinced like that if Alan Rock could do that we could change these numbers around and here we are in 2024 without full day Kinder so I'm saying as we go to the bargaining table if we don't have that we will be doing this again and again and again so I'm I'm just very passionate about that because we knew we could have helped not fixed maybe but helped this um number um so with that being said I I do think though that from what I'm hearing this feels peac meal this feels really peace meal and I'm and I get that we have to make hard decisions and we will be making hard decisions but I guess I'm at a at this um what did you say the perfect storm right it feels like we don't have a way to determine um because I'll say when we first started this I heard middle schoolers need better assets the the aptitude campus doesn't have what middle schooler should have right a a gym or a or a track or like I heard that was an argument that we wanted our middle schoolers to have better amenities and assets okay that made a lot of sense right but if it it's the criteria for what may happen at the next school and the next school I feel like we need to have a better why you said it we heard it from other people like why why this place now I think there's some compelling arguments definitely the budget but it doesn't feel like we have the the full analysis to say and I've I've seen and we've all seen it on TV other school districts where it's just like bedum right because but what I think is fair is that you put this you mentioned hubard right you put you put a bunch of schools and you say these are the pros and cons right and unfortunately to your point of like doing less harm you know we're we're only creating chaos at one school instead of chaos at five schools thinking they're you know their Futures at at risk so I get that but on balance it feels like it's peace meal and maybe again I'm not seeing the the bigger picture but I like I said I think there's compelling reasons unfortunately because of budget because of all these terrible factors that are coming into play now but I also feel like a oneoff doesn't doesn't serve us well right now uh trusty fam okay well I guess I will you know after hearing everything I will say my peace uh oh good evening and I do see my fellow Vietnamese in the audience I will say and uh was it buus noes toos last familias right good in in whatever Spanish I've picked up now you know uh you know the gravity of the situation is you know we've got declining enrollment uh you know it's impacting our budget you know and you know here we are now on you know on the other hand I think you know H you know having been at a parent meeting and also you know to see all of you here um though I see the merits of the uh recommendation of the administration uh you know I think that there you know may be some areas that threat the needle uh I will say one of which is on another uh you know one of one of the steps I've offer I am offering will appear later on this agenda uh but I think that there are some efficiencies we can do and I think that uh my colleague Bo board vice president Quintero has you know has a lot of miror in what he says you know there the issue of uh one in the bird and two in the bush right the burden the hand right now is better than two in the bush so I I as someone who went to started aptitude at Goss and I saw some gos Gators in you know the gos Gator appeared uh in this meeting you know my my instinct is to you know uh you know we if we're going to go for it I'm I'm in you know going to be in favor of uh seeing that uh aptitude plays uh you know one more football game all four quarters of it you know but at the same time I'm going to you know put out a bit of a you know a bit of a challenge now as anyone area knows that you know I've been a friend of the teacher you know Alam Rock teachers and so is CSA uh you know so our job you know in order you know let's let's take aptitude as our our our test experiment right we got to sit down and think you know maybe in some ways in in you know in in formal conversation between you know for a lack of better term the stakeholders you know uh where we start thinking what you know where where it is where we can stretch while honoring the commitments we've already made you know to to get you know to find some way to to boost enrollment I don't know how that is you know that's a conversation you know I invite and I say that as you know uh the trustee who's visited every school you know every year more than once uh here that you know uh as many district events as physically possible and then some and as I've said I've never you know my job is to face the residents I want to hear from the residents I also want to hear from our teachers and our classified staff and our Administration and you know this is you know this is the challenge I'm you know I'm going to support you in playing one more game of football here all four quarters of it but this is going you know but you know these decisions are coming and so I think that this is an opportunity you know let's take this opportunity to see you know where you know where we can stretch ourselves a bit and you know see if we can't think of a way to use this as a model template to save our schools and you know with that said you know I'll just announce that I think you know I'm all always going to be open to ideas feel free to write to me if you have some ideas and also uh I will say that I'll uh join uh join the small schools and Innovations committee uh chaired by my uh my good friend uh board vice president Quintero and let's see what we can't what we can put together and you know see if we can threat the needle but again as I said that you know we're going you know this you know these are difficult times and uh you know let's you know I think that there are some things we can find in this District but also I think that it behooves us to think start really thinking of ways together uh you know to to see what we can what we can improve to you know bring Alam rockers back to Alam rock thank you so much thank you trusty uh Travis when I attended the the meeting on Monday I was talking about that there is a lot of solutions one of the main solutions would be if the parents could make the teachers union understand and the teachers um to extend the Kindred that way we can get the students from the get-go and not be struggling year after year with the Ada the Ada means average daily attendance which is the Money Follows the student so as long as we can have the student in the seats we can keep doors open more so parents need to understand your decisions make a big difference whether you stay and whether you fight for the school as well as all the other schools but one has to really talk to the teachers and have them understand that their job is also on the line if the numbers keep dwindling and I say numbers because it's numbers that count um the students are people the parents are people the teachers are people and we love them all but everybody has to understand that everybody has to do their part and give and take a little bit so I'm asking you guys because all of the sh please I didn't interrupt you if we can have respect both ways please um I'm just asking you to really ask the teachers for this allowance because obviously the district hasn't been able to have them offer Kinder and once we get them in Kinder and and TK then that'll change things immensely and that will most likely change the future of all of alam Rock and I thank you all for being here and I thank you all for speaking up and I thank you all for bringing your children that's all thanks thank you trusty Chavez anyone else yeah just my final vice president GTO um I as I mentioned before there's going to be tough decisions that need to be made and not afraid of making those decisions um we've made them in the past where we got a lot of heat for the libraries one want we start going down the list I'm not going to re uh get pts here uh for the public to have to hear all the stuff that happened those were tough decisions they were based on on on the budget on the need to take action in order to realize savings however um as has been mentioned um this plan uh this strategy needed to have been done we need have get we need have gotten that data uh those those surveys that would have told us if people had the intention of taking all the children out to our competitors at that point in time we would have been able to pencil in pencil out exactly what the the savings would have been at this point given the fact that I don't have a clear understanding as to what the savings would be because we don't have that data I'm uh I'm I'm concerned as I as I've expressed before that that we won't realize what we're projecting um I think that the the refan that my colleague mentioned here is very apt in this moment and so we have the students I would rather see that ADA stay here so for that reason I wouldn't be able to support uh uh the recommendation uh this evening um however I in this in these comments I would advise the administration to bring us back a very serious plan that uh that that brings that that addresses that that that deficit uh I yeah it's true we needed to have dealt with it a long time ago we didn't on the hopes that we could do our best and just out of sheer grit and work figure out how we can turn this around how stop the bleeding we did a lot of stuff uh such as a Chavez Early Learning Center to attempt to keep our kids from our early age on up obviously it hasn't yield did the numbers that we need every day there's 5,000 kids in our community that go to our Charter Schools if we didn't have that we'd be back at the 12,500 we wouldn't have we wouldn't be having these conversations today so I'd ask each and every one of you to continue to support us continue to encourage your friends and family to come to our schools we have really qualified teachers that are fully credentialed uh that's a big difference from some of our competitors that are not at the level that we at and it's important to let people know so help us uh and be in the best position to keep our schools open so we don't have to make these decisions I'm pleading with you directly as you're here and um I won't bring up the other stuff because I don't believe in negotiating in public um but we do need every asset every tool that we can to keep our schools open to keep our kids here and so that'll be dealt with in a different time and a different place thank you vice president GTO um and I think the only thing allow is that it's clear one that app is amazing the teachers the students the families the community um and two as we've heard today you know it won't be staying that way if we decide to keep it open right let's just say we decide to keep it open the numbers you know we can't continue to fund a school with how it is right now and what we're listening to that was that's going to change if aptitude stays open I don't know um but what is for sure is that we're calling everybody right um you know from as trustees you know our superintendent our parents our community our stakeholders to come together and uh make decisions together it's tough we you know have the hardest you know job at the end to vote um but when those decisions are made together again it just becomes a little easier right we've all had our voice heard um and had a say even though sometimes it might not be what I wanted right but at least I had my my piece um said and I was listened to so um you know based on what I'm hearing today uh Dr Brower it sounds like there's um a direction that we're going to make and I mean just as one of the five trustees here as a board president you know I'm wondering if we're going to have to you know pull that Band-Aid right at some point 20 plus million dollar and so maybe that time is now Co and Dr Bower that we just I mean go for it because you know doing it little by little school by school decision by decision it might as much as we wanted to right little by little so it's not that hard of a hit I think we're going to have to make it you know all together is my thought and I I mean I heard C you say that by next here we have to make some tough decisions we can continue in 2425 with how we are right now um and I'm not saying aptitude right I'm not even using that word I'm talking about as Alam rock as we currently are and so those decisions are going to have to be made and maybe we make them together as a district and phase phase one phase two phase three but again encourage um our community members right and make our meetings and our opportunities at different times in different ways by you know surveys for parents who maybe work two or three jobs and cannot go to meetings meetings in the morning meetings in the evening uh virtual meetings where our community has an opportunity to have a say in how we're going to do that um and and we do it together uh that's that's the direction I'm hearing the board right now you know and that we're not ready to make this decision here today um and and you know maybe in the future we direct you know staff to come back in the future uh and I don't know if we want to set a time with an update or um you know Dr Bower do you have so I want to be very clear what the board wants right I don't do anything without your support um it's very clear that we're going to have to close at least five schools so that's that's what we're facing today right I have no problem bringing a comprehensive plan we can survey the community we have to figure out which ones are going to be the ones and that's that's the that's that's what I'm understanding right now we can start surveying as early as may I had to craft the surveys so that I can send it across the district so that everybody gets a chance to your point I think that's an amazing idea of having virtual Town Halls not a problem we held them during the pandemic I will be happy to hold them again right so I want the timeline from the board so that I can be very clear because obviously I have not been clear and so I need your support also to tell me this is what we want and this is how we want it deliver and I'm all ears and I think along with that you know I also believe in not negotiating in public um but it allows also our partners to have some tough conversations and decision- making as well and conversations right um and that might impact the direction of our district so um I mean I look forward and coming up with Solutions together hopefully uh but you know reality is reality so with what we have we're going to have to move forward um and you know I I'm I'm definitely you can count on me as a trustee and a leader that you know will have a backbone to make tough decisions and you might not like it in the future right today though I see an opportunity to come together and make those decisions together um I just want the timeline so that I can prepare with the stuff when do you want this you have some personally I I I feel like you all it's like working backwards either from the budget you know scenarios or I don't think we make the time I would think you make the timeline but that's just it just that I I just want to be clear right that I am given the direction because I thought you know I thought that I was doing it correctly but obviously I have not and so I just want to in public ask everybody when do you want the plan so that I can start working backwards and I'll get to you real quick but I think um what trusty FL Shelton said is very clear and maybe CLA you can give us that um I heard in your presentation in regards to the total amount I heard you say that by 2025 we have to make an x amount so in your you know what you just stated I think it's important to see what is that number and then working our way back um to then allow us to see do we have one month or do we have you know four or five months trust each other 60 days but in that time we're giving the parents uh time to respond and also uh to meet with them again uh to listen to the responses and why they responded that way I I I don't just need I think I would like to see um not just a response and that's it I would like to have a community meeting and the reasons why they gave those um responses and thank you just go ahead I was just say I think 60 days is too long but different things yeah I think um back and forth is what I'm saying I think CA yeah I think it's too long but I think key is when do we need to make those cuts by in order to keep our district out of the County Board the County Office of Education um you know radar so um as I mentioned earlier um tonight will be the presentation for the second inim the next key timeline is the adoption of next year's budget um that needs to happen before July 1st so with that timeline we can do a backwards map in terms of um what it needs to take for us to bring a recommendation to the board um in conjunction with the budget adoption with next year's budget adoptions report so um I think we have a timeline in terms of how we work or you know where we the target timeline and how we need to work backward to achieve those goals okay that's helpful I have vice president I'm sorry trusty Flor Shelton vice president GTO and then back to Linda okay vice president there's a mixup here in terms of what we're looking for you're talking about what happened here regard to the parents at one School uh I think the conversation has shifted over to the overall budget uh issues that we have and so I think we got that what I'm I I don't expect us to come up with the list within 60 days of everything that's going to get shut down that would be too aggressive um and it doesn't take into account that we do have reserves that we're able to uh wait this out for not wait it out for a year but take action collectively in good transparent with the community and then uh do it in a thoughtful way that takes into account the perspectives of the community at the end of the day somebody's not going to be happy um there's going to be upset people who are closest to the schools but the decisions have to be made um and i' I would rather do them soon but not within a 60-day period I think that would be irresponsible um and we' out people and we would not do something that was thorough thoughtful so uh I do I I I I think CA got it though that's the important part where he's going to come back with the road map that allows us to begin a a process so am I correct or was I compl I I I'm in agreement with that c is that what you understood and uh superintendent well you know I I want to be very clear I think it has been helpful that you have not only the backwards mathia which is very important I think we got that very clear but I also think that the whole thing about being comprehensive and thoughtful is a little subjective for me because when I come and I say this is what I did or this was not enough so being very direct and telling me I I heard surveys I heard uh uh virtual town halls and when we're talking about multiple sub sit a community meeting in different quadrants where that's going to be affected that's what I'm thinking so to trusty Kino's point you know this is going to be engaging the community and it's going to create a number of people that are going to be anxious about their school so I want us to all be ready for that because this is not an easy conversation right and so peace meal didn't work I hear cloud and clear so it's going to be comprehensive plan right we're going to backwards map it in terms of timeline you already know that we have to bring to you during the budget adoption process a very clear this is the plan of how many schools need to go and so that's June right middle June middle June so that's the timeline and then once that happens we have to go out and let the people know because between now and June to go and tell the entire District that this is going to happen is going to be very difficult and unfair right so uh one second so I it's pretty clear I heard today five schools so we don't have to wait till June correct to figure out that it's I don't know maybe four to six right um so that's clear so we don't have to wait till June so we already know that some schools might have to be cut now as administrators right I trust and I know that you're all intelligent enough because you've provided us information that we've needed to identify such as today schools that would make sense for whatever reasons right or wrong right but you're going to identify certain schools maybe I don't know this is just a thought right um but I think it's important to you know identify as we talked about how parents would be affected um you know the input from those schools there's some schools that will not be touched for obvious reasons and I think that were said today we have waiting lists obviously we probably will not touch those schools this is my guess but that's you know just one of many so I think um between now and June we already know some things that are for sure we know an amount we know how many schools um and between now and then you know if we work from there backwards uh July to now you know there again maybe there's a phase where we identify schools I don't know maybe that's done in 60 days and then you know we have a virtual meeting in each qu quadrant I'm just guessing of how we're going to reach out because it's important for me to understand how the reaching out is happening when the surveys are going to go out um you know making sure that it's transparent because at the end of the day there's a lot of people that will not be happy and there will be some that are um but that you know we're a part of this process trusty Flor Shelton so in the spirit of clarity um I am I was not under the impression or and so maybe the qu we're not deciding the five schools in this budget cycle no maybe it's a phase of Ming maybe so I think what I'm I guess what I'm so I just want to be clear I thought we were telling you to come back with a like a community engagement plan Clarity on what the equity analysis would look like so that it would help us then go okay when we come to the why these five schools and not these five schools there's some clarity on the why and then you and then you kick so this is why I I'm I'm totally caught off guard because we have one school in front of us I have was not under the impression we would need to do potentially four more by June so I I don't know if we're accelerating it I thought we were asking for a plan so you could come back with here's the community engagement strategy here's the analysis and here's the T like then we would roll this out over the course of next year right if we have to make some Cuts right this June and it's 1.8 there is a bunch I'm sure we're going to get a new budget that's going to have other decisions if it was five schools this June by this June is I guess that's my question that's this this June's budget action potentially so we don't have to get to identify the school um we can provide you with the cost in terms of how much and then we could roll out next year correct thank and just I'm sorry um and just for clarification you know that five is very conservative um I just want to throw it out there um with the number of students that we're serving um you know realistically we should be about almost half the schools that we're operating right now so so I believe Community engagement is a very deliberative it it it's sure it's Town Halls those are like what we do but thinking about what we're asking and doing the analysis it's really it's really important and I don't see that being done so quickly so I thought we were asking for when can a plan come back that then gets rolled out so that's if I misunderstood I'm sorry and if it's faster that's what I want I mean I think I want to know what I think we you know uh based on that right where he just said about 10 schools that's a reality right the more we wait it'll be more for sure but I mean I'm okay if at the end of the day if we want to wait you know another year or two or whatever it is and we go for the for the four I don't know maybe it's I I think it's the reality of um and I I have all the respect for superintendent because I think you've had a lot of balls in the air that you're juggling but this was challenging to do for the one school this community engagement right it's it's it's hard work right to do it like with that quality and intention with all the things going on so I just want us to be realistic too about the the quality of Engagement the quality of information we're getting back the and and again sort of that this accelerated plan should all be lined up with when we have to make decisions so pres I may I understand um your point trusty Flores Shelton but there is a sense of urgency like ca talked about um we tried to do it one way and I'm I'm going to shift gears in terms so including some of the recommendations that the board has given me but at the end of the day right whether I work you know nonstop for the next 60 days you know 40 I mean four months at the end of the day it's going to be closing schools sure right and so seeking out you know my mind is already designing a a a survey that is going to go districtwide to start asking parents what is the criteria that we I need to come back to the board and share of how we're going to have less schools that's going to be a hard thing for parents to answer right it's hard right but I will do it I will definitely do it right uh the considerations that we need to take right in terms of transportation and all of that we have 22 different sites with 22 different kinds of needs so in order to collect the analytics for that right and so I'm just I'm trying to be realistic we have to present a budget that has specific actions by the board because at the end of the day we have the County Office of it that is going to be asking do you really mean it right we have been kicking the can they're going to ask that question we are going in order to better the sites right because we want to better the S side we have to sell bonds right whether or not our budget is qualified or negative or positive that's going to impact the sell of bonds I you know I all of those things are I know are complex but that is the reality that we live in order to be able to fix the roofs in half of the schools the plumbing in half of the schools right so that is that is why this conversation is never Pleasant it's like us at home when we run out of money right and our kids come and say I want those tenis shoes and you say I can't and that's the same thing right now we love our children and we want to give them the best right but sometimes that we're not going to feel the love because of these very difficult situations and the budget needs to come to you we have to have a plan by June yeah so it's not going to be spelled out about which schools but it's going to include more or less the number yeah I think that we're in agreement okay so the reason I said the 60 days is because isn't that when we do the May revision Dr I excuse me Mr CA so we would get a better picture of that then well the May revision is when the state provides an update in terms of Statewide um fiscal condition and how that trickles down to um the local level which is school districts um so we'll get more information um but given the trend that is going right now um not sure what information is going to be coming out by then um so but we won't we have a more accurate picture of the money that actually is going to come yeah it's it's it's more solidified by then thank you that's why I said 60 days because of the May revisions thank you so I think sounds like we're in agreement in 60 days you'll come back with a plan a plan and then I mean because sounds like we need to adopt the final by our June meeting right to submit in July yes so we'll have um a public hearing um early in June and then we'll have a followup board meeting in the middle or towards the end of June for the board to um adopt the budget okay trusty FL can I make a motion okay I'd like to move that we deny resolution number 42-23 uh d24 and not remove grade six seven and eight from aptitude Community Academy at gos second and direct the administration to come back with the plan in 60 days a plan for what just to the the comprehensive plan to make our budget a plan with Community engagement analysis and the identification of the criteria for uh the schools that we will eventually need to consolidate or close thank you so a motion by trusty FL Shelton and second by truste uh Chavez okay all those in favor raise your hand all right motion passes unanimously thank you you so [Applause] much all right moving thank you again for uh coming moving and we can uh exit quietly uh for those are leaving thank you for coming uh but if you can please exit quietly thank you okay moving on to item 103 welcome an explanation to audience any person may address the board on any item on the meeting agenda persons to wish to speak on an item on the agenda will have an opportunity to do so when that agenda item is introduced and presented during this meeting there is a limit of two minutes two minutes for each speaker the board has a right to limit total public comment on any agenda item to no more than 20 minutes persons who wish to speak to the board about any matter within the jurisdiction of the district but not on this agenda we'll have an opportunity to speak during item 2011 on this agenda as stated below item two public members who wish to address the board on any matters not not on the agenda uh opening up now for public uh members wishing to address the board at this time welcome hey didn't we have 5.06 after 5.

roll call I presid Melinda saski Charlene Diaz here Fred rushon here ziki here Sheila Barnett here would you please stand ups say the Pledge with me conratulations to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all citizens here present um I'm hoping that you guys all printed your names on the on the paper in the back of the room it's nice to know who's been here and who hasn't okay okay donations oh sorry excuse me ignore ignore you no I don't ever ignore you that's not uh item 2.5 call to the public uh go for it this is the time that the public may speak to the governing board regarding issues within the jurisdiction of the governing board and subject to reasonable time space and manner restrictions as the governing board May establish see policy B DH comments will be limited to 3 minutes per individual unless specifically waved by the governing board at the conclusion of the call to the public individual members of the governing board May respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the board may ask staff to review a matter or may ask that a matter be placed on a future agenda however the governing board cannot take action on matters that have not been noticed in advance as part of the agenda um I have one Shea do I need to go down there yes okay Dr Sheila Barnett is going to talk to us my name is Sheila Bernett I am here representing the Ladies Auxiliary from uh AmVet post 19 in Fort Mojave and basically we just would like to announce a contest that we are going to be doing um for the students uh it is the national americanism contest and um there will be cash prizes for the students uh there's three categories uh the first category is for kindergarten and first grade it's actually coloring a flag and then having to answer some questions about the flag uh that will be each category will have first second and third uh Place winners um so we will go from 15 for first place or or third place 30 and then 50 for first the second is a contest for um a poster and the theme for the poster is why is it important to vote and that is going to be 2 through 5ifth grade and again 1530 and 50 for the prizes but my favorite one personally um is the essay contest and that is going to be 6th 7th and eighth grade and again it's going to be why is it important to vote and this one we're going to do 30 50 and $100 so we will be passing out um to the younger kids to the art teachers to the older kids um I believe the students themselves and we're going to try to get them in the next couple of days after uh School comes back in and then uh announce them I believe May 9th at the board meeting possibly if we can get the kids here to hand them so um it's a cool project I'm the secretary so it's kind of been a really neat project for me because I'm a baby vet from my dad so um it's just kind of cool thank you m thanks are there any other um people in the public that would like to speak with it speak to us okay I'm going to close um call to the public and go on to 2.6 donations um early on when you when we took the carpeting out and all that kind of stuff I was in a classroom at the very beginning of school and somebody suggested putting tennis balls on chair bottoms and then just recently I was in a classroom and they had the tennis balls on the chairs and there was so much difference so I'm wondering if maybe we should look into getting tennis balls for whatever class wants a tennis ball on their chairs because there was a big difference and I One um it was a kindergarten class and there's always scraping and stuff going on in um I'm I really appreciate the United States tennis Association giv us 200 balls but I think that we need about 200 more of those or maybe 2,000 more of those since there's four chip four legs on the chair and I think that it would be a really sweet thing to do thank you very much um to the Ed Brandt whoever Ed Brandt is I wish he was here to say something to him husband because it does work it does work um I have a question on on donations I've been reading on our Facebook page and in the newspaper and everybody who's been reading to our kids M that's donated time it is I'm thinking that we should include something like that on this page that would be good for next month we could certainly get from all the sites who they had to read and I think that is donated time because it is donation it's a donation of time it is and um it's not there's not it's not monetary especially for some of us who are are retired no but time is money but it's it is so I would I would I'd kind of like to see that I think it's a good idea because we know we had lots of people reading at our sites lots of people and not everybody got recognized so this would might be it would be a good place to do it okay thank you um adoption of agenda 2.7 adoption of the agenda I need a a motion to adopt the agenda as presented I'll make a motion to adopt the adopt the agenda as presented I second it all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I Barb ziki I Sheila Bernett Dr Stewart 2.6 2.8 excuse me 2.8 I would point out to you that this time I made sure that I had both uh this year's and last year's cumulative reports for uh discipline uh and uh and I actually sat at my desk and did uh um did the pluses and minuses uh we were doing we were doing great up until winter break and uh anywh and then we had uh we had a little hiccup uh in uh because we were we were down 20% for first semester from last year yeah we did really well we did really well um and um I I know that the principles have told me that kids kind of came back from winter break a little wound and it shows in this in the discipline report so January uh January was up some and uh February was up quite a bit um so we'll we'll watch what happens next in terms of uh we're still we're still at total lower than we were a year ago total is low the total is still lower it's not it's not 20% anymore but uh but it's um uh it's still better than better than a year ago so um so you guys are on top of the uh Trend yes very much so um so I wanted to note that for you um uh you have the financial reports and uh if you have any questions about any of those i' I'd be happy to address them um um would it be possible oh okay Financial reports um I have down here the daily the 100th day that's on here isn't it yes it is right there it is yeah yeah and uh interestingly enough we were back up a little bit that was very nice we were is there a chance on this kind of thing to do it by month you get it each month oh no you don't no no you don't would it be or by qu or to show to show the changes so that maybe we can figure out if there's a trend that we're having more people come in or more out at this time and maybe try and figure out why that's happening so to show so like the First first day which was happened to be the end of the last day of July but um so show a so then show August September octob we can do that a simple bar graph just a simple bar graph we can certainly do that because I know that there was a diff you know there was some ups and downs in in there it would be really kind of interesting to figure out where the influx really came from came at at what position and especially if we use this as a base year but actually I think probably Jenny Becker could go back and do last year and we could I'll ask her if she could do last year I'm not I won't swear to it but I think she could go back and do last year and then we could compare M uh to see if there are any Trends otherwise this becomes kind of a base year for us to figure out what's going on and and that's a good idea that's fine Bas years are good yeah it is got to start somewhere yeah got to start somewhere um otherwise did you have other questions yeah okay on the food food food service I'm trying to find it here I know I had it I I copied it off um are all the kids eating still yeah we're still C which is everybody's free and we continue to we uh we we apply for that on fivey year in fiveyear uh rounds and I think we're in year two of your of the fiveyear round okay so the kids when they're eating how much of it gets thrown away do we have any idea I don't have any idea some things get put on the no thank you table oh okay there is a no there's a way to rec anything that's package or uh or like milk none of those things could be you know I used to think I used to think years ago gosh if kids aren't drinking the milk why is it going in the trash you know could it not be used but once it's sold it can't be it can't be resold so we started the No thank you table and uh at each of our sites so if they're packaged things so the milk cartons if they've not been opened um brownies or whatever granola bars um uh can go on uh the no thank you table and then uh kids who bring their lunch because there are still a few kids who bring their lunch or other kids who want a second milk uh or you know or a second whatever that's been packaged can go can go do that uh you know get more food um and then I will uh remind you also that the snacks we have at the end of the day in the after school program uh are also part of this program so uh you know that's a that's a free thing for our kids who stay for after school programs MH and that's all part of the Food Service okay I was just thinking that for giving giving food food away or giving not giving it away that's that's a bad way to say it I'm sorry um if we're providing food for free that we have some way of of keeping things from going into the trash that perhaps can be reused and guess I guess you've already solve that problem and then as a footnote to that uh if you recall last year um occasionally the Chartwells did uh test foods with kids and they've done that this year uh particularly up at Fox Creek and um uh have added a couple of items to their menu rotation um be based on the feedback from the students because they were things that uh had not been on the menu before and so they you know they they test drove it test drove those items with the kids and uh and the kids oh that's that's pretty good so they put it on the on the menu and and what that does is it it does increase student participation especially at the junior high level because they tend to be the ones who don't eat yeah or don't eat as much and so you know if you can figure out ways to get things on the menu that they like they're much more likely to eat and I remember on during the workshop you know the gra where the the food was down um so we have no idea why I have no idea why yeah I have no idea why I'll have to investigate that and find out why our costs are higher um I don't know if it's because of you know we we contracted out um I don't know we'll we'll find out and yet we've had uh we have started using some of the uh uh for some things that we need to either repair or replace in our kitchens and our cafeterias but particularly in our kitchens um uh We've now started charging that off to this account as opposed to M so our our wonderful facilities people who've been out fixing things and you know fixing electrical outlets and you know all kinds of things in our kitchens repairing uh uh the motors in the freezers all kinds of things um that we've been charging those expenses not the salaries but the expenses for the items against this account as opposed to M um because we've you know the accountant has said you you guys need to spend more of that money and um so we are so um you know we learn all the time how how to better use our budgets okay um the the actual M budget can you pull that one out where is EI on this uh it isn't on here okay you mean I.E I excuse me no it isn't on here because 100% of it for this current year was paid with grants perfect 100% that's what I that's what I wanted to know okay thank you not on here at all thank you thank you that solve that problem okay it has actually if you recall I gave you three of the 48 budgets in in the financial report so uh you know if I if I brought you the all of them or brought you in in that case Sr two Sr three and s two and the governor's Grant one and title two and title one but if we we saw the grant one we would have to pay Jennifer more right okay so we don't want to see it okay uh the only updates I have for you because I've been very busy the last three weeks working on salary schedules and uh uh calendars the Cal the actual work calendars because we want to get contracts and uh work agreements out and I have to determine start dates and end dates for those uh for their for work agreements and contracts um and uh and working really hard to get uh those salary increases and make sure that we uh could cover them um uh even though our enrollment is down and so our you know our funding for next year the base funding is going to be probably a bit lower or break even if they give us an increase because of course the legislature has not decided on that so anyway I've been busy with that so I don't have a whole lot of updates but I will tell you uh that uh when we sent the resolution uh out to the education committees for the legisl lure and to the governor's office uh the only response we got was from the governor's office and uh they thanked us for that information and um uh would certainly work it into their uh their work process uh and then I also learned uh today that uh topac uh governing board adopted um essentially the same resolution at their last meeting um to support U those things that you all had said so um okay that's nice of them it is nice yeah do you did anybody else have any questions on any superintendent report no okay um board member updates anything new um I just went and read at the middle school and uh besides reading I went and I observed a couple math classes while I was there and stuff and um I was very impressed by one of the Math teachers that I observed uh it was a sixth grade math class and he was extraordinary and he did a a very very very good job and had fantastic classroom control it was interesting I I went to a Kindergarten class and one of the kindergarteners was actually reading at a third grade level so we did Dr S as a play I took uh we were doing cat and hat so I took um the narrator the kid took the the fish you know the fish that says no no no Mom's going to get upset yeah and um she she did an excellent job we had more fun in that class that was really kind of neat to yeah neat to do there were several classes though that I mean Mo or desert desert valy had me so booked that I have to go back there on Monday to finish because we took took too long to read the book but anyway and you were there you went in I was at Diamondback they had me do all of second and all of third there you go and then I went to the middle school yeah but I think we were all at the middle school some I mean they they wanted us badly Fred where did you go I went to uh PR School Miss Alvarez's preschool and uh got to read to three little classrooms there and I'm telling you those kids are just just so much fun and amazing um and then I also went to middle school as well so I was very I was very impressed with uh uh Middle School I read the the lady that was helping me selected suggested a Dr Seuss book for them and lo and behold as it turned out it was very interesting book one I'd never heard of before or read before but it had very a very U appropriate message for the kids but I was I was really so impressed with their behavior and their attentiveness to to listen to this old guy read this boring book and uh but it was it was really uh very enjoyable I'm glad I went yeah at the middle school I actually just passed the book around I started it and then they started getting restless so I said and then they started started uh reading and it was you know I think that's why it took us so much longer because passing the book anyway Dr Bernett did you get a chance no I plan on going Wednesday morning to probably diamond back way cool all right I forgot how hard Dr Sue's books are to read and upside down reading them upside down and you know with my dyslexia and it's like whoa read Dr Seuss in my class I learned the true story of The Three Little Pigs from the wolf side that's kind of cool it was anyway it was a good time I had a good time and so that the public doesn't think you all were ignoring the junior high junior high students went to read at Diamond I was going to say so they they they flipped the rle so they were involved as well yeah had they called and said would you please come up and read to us I probably would have said are you kidding you guys read better than I do um but I would have been there yes yeah of course I would any other updates okay so we can all honestly say we are going to be or have been in the classroom during March Yes Yes we finally got something accomplished 100% 100% 100% okay uh consent agenda um we've already talked about 3.3 I was going to ask that that be pulled but we've already discussed that we discussed that in uh in our Workshop probably 3.6 as opposed to 36 3.6 okay um um could I ask that 3.5 be pulled okay and can we move that to an executive session no no we can just pull it okay let's I'd like 3.5 to be pulled okay anybody else okay I would like to talk about 13 13 yeah 13 Madam president could I ask a question please yes um uh 3.5 is in information only it's not an action item okay is there oh I just I don't know if maybe should p i I'm just wondering um why this one was even brought to us it has to be by law I have to notify you that I have that I have issued those notifications so anytime we have an underperforming teacher the school board is notified of it ified yes that I have sent the letter I have actually presented the letter because I do it in person okay okay and in that case let's not pull it let's go ahead and leave it there okay so we're not going to pull that one and it and by the way it I mean it's you know I could inform you in some of my informal email updates that I send to all of you but those are informal and and and it has to be documented that I have that I have shared that information with you okay then I withdraw my request to pull that one that was new information thank you yeah yeah um I still want to pull one 3.13 okay okay okay pull that okay um you need a motion we need a motion to accept the consent agenda with the with exception of 3.13 I'll make a motion to um approve the consent agenda except for 3.13 we're pulling that that one point of order point of clarification was not 3.6 asked to be pulled as well 3.6 I thought we decided I I was going to pull that one yeah we already talked about that during Workshop did you want to talk to it again no I missed that part it was 3.6 right no three okay we already had the a presentation on that not a very happy presentation but presentation no no no 3.6 certified employees I think you were talking about it's all employees 3.6 is the one that asks you to authorize us to offer contracts and work agreements to all current employees who are listed there uh and that the salaries there are the current salaries not the salaries that would be offered to them for next year okay yeah and that some of the those salaries are inaccurate because uh as annual salaries because people came late okay so their annual salary for some of those folks M besides the one that was just 19,000 for a teacher um uh some of those salaries are going to be short what we would pay somebody for a full year because they came late and didn't start uh you know in July understand okay okay did you want to pull it Fred no because we can discuss it even more nope that's good I'm good thank you did you get a second yes get a second yet and then I asked when we were doing the uh approvals uh I what is it I'm supposed to say you're second no you were seconding I thought we did the roll call yeah yeah we have we haven't done that yet okay all right sorry would you like to start the roll call sure okay do it all right I Fred Rush do hi barbar Zaki I Sheila Barnett hi Charlene Diaz hi Melinda saski see all right equivalency okay um or equality equality is not equivalency yeah 1.3 No three I'm so sorry I woke up left-handed today and that is always a bad thing because that means that I start reversing things so please forgive me I I apologize and that's why I said play it play it there's no way I can read it um I was just really curious on this one can can you show us this and Madam president could we have uh Mrs lot come and respond to any questions or comments that you all have glad for there's a there's a a chart or something a graph isn't it with this Cassie is there a graph with this or a chart a table oh that was in your board report that's okay can she can get it oh there it is scorecard report I'm but it's basically the same thing isn't it it just breaks down oh you can I guess I just never have seen this before so this is a school like a school health index and by policy we are required to go through this every so many years we hadn't been through it for a while we used to do it with the high school when darene Brown was the high school so all throughout the year our committee has gone through each module they've taken the module back to um a committee at their own school and they've rated each of the indicators under each module to see where our strengths and our needs are as far as health and wellness in our district and so in some cases like if it's PE teach like like related more to PE teaching and health and fitness that kind of thing our PE teachers would fill it out um the health attendants filled out the Fe on the health attendant Fe and then chart will didn't fill up the nutrition pce for us are we moving to pull some of the things in the red over to Green yes okay yes all right now go to her chart thank you I'm I thought they were both in the same place uh have you guys seen this stuff before this is interesting isn't it mhm I think we did it more formally this year than what's been done in the past okay yeah because it hasn't been done for a while so they decided Well my question obviously was on the the table that just saw um and and this is in policy okay the wellness is you know there is a wellness policy and uh and truthfully the this process is supposed to happen annually and so um they've done it more informally the last four years and I think Jen intended this year to make it much more formal okay I just have never seen it I'm Jennifer I really don't I had a question on the the red green and and then that stuff but I didn't have I really don't have a question on this but thank you thank you anybody else have questions though before I before she goes and sits down and no like you said was something i' never seen before yeah thank you thank you thank you now do we have to we have to vote on this one right um I need a motion to accept item 3.13 Wellness Plan please I make a motion we accept item 3.13 Fisco year 25 Wellness Plan I I second that motion is does somebody want to start the roll call Sheila hi Sheila Bernett hi Barb ziki hi Fred rushon hi Charlene Diaz hi Melinda saski going to confuse everybody see everything backwards tonight it's it's like um Charlene says change is hard yes it is would you would you put that calendar up please thank you at this time we were we are going to convene to Executive session we' got the did I forget bus old business I got new business up here Cassie yeah no I'm just kidding um we have a k in front of us Madam president and board members you did approve a calendar for next year month or so to a couple of months ago uh but one of the things that we have recognized uh as uh as I've kind of indicated to you in the workshop is that we really need to address the standards for science and social studies and uh and we got a late start on that excuse me addressing standards for ELA and math this year um and so um two things have happened one is that um uh our leadership team and all of the sites have um uh talked about what we're doing on professional development days which were already on the calendar uh and devoting three hours of each of those days next year specifically to uh pulling the the teams together particularly from our three elementary schools uh to to work on standards and but to work on planning and so that we can have some consistency across the district we do have kids that move regularly back and forth between among our elementary schools particularly and uh so there's real value in having those complete teams work together which they can't do during the week so that was already in place but we recognized that that was probably not going to be enough time uh for that kind of planning uh for science and social studies uh to take place so uh I'm proposing to you that we add um four quarterly half days uh for that kind of planning and there would not be other professional development there would not be other things going on there would be additional planning days uh for all of our teachers so you can see those dates uh in the columns on the left and the right they're in red uh so there would be a day in August uh they would essentially deal with first quarter a day in October to deal with second quarter a day in Jan January to deal with third quarter and a day in March to deal with and and they're half days they're 4H hour days uh and this would uh this would fall into the 1488 uh contract hours uh that our teachers have um uh so and be very targeted for um for planning so I'm asking approval to add those four half days to the calendar it doesn't change anything relative to students or what parents need to to do but uh it does it is part of the formal calendar do I have a motion to accept the calendar as revised Madam president I would like to move that we accept the calendar that is presented to us this evening I'll second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon i b Zar ziki I Sheil pernet now we're going to ex we the go okay we're go we're going to convene to Executive session pursuant to AR ARS 38 43103 A2 it's a discussion or consideration of Records exempt from by law from public inspection including the receipt or and discussion of information or testimony that is is specifically required to be maintained by law by state or federal law um I need a motion to convene to Executive station executive session I make a motion we convene to Executive session I second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I Barb zeri I Sheila Burnet okay we're now in executive session [Music] for [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] l [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] n [Music] oh [Music] a [Applause] [Music] yeah [Music] oh [Music] a motion to reconvene or to come back to regular session please I make a motion reconvene to regular session I second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I barbariki a Sheila Bernett um 7.2 do we have a sorry yeah do we have a motion we just did I make a motion that um the parent request for early start of the kindergarten student is denied I'll second that motion okay all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene dasas I Fred rushon I Barb Zari I Sheila Bernett thank you item 8.