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unless a different time and or place is designated by the Bo and I have a motion to approve I move for approval second move in second all those in favor say I i i i motion to approve the designations authorizations and assignments of 2025 wait a minute I cannot do that anymore I'm not pres that's for you where were we now we are in number two oh item number two approve the designation authorization assignments for 2025 to approve it has it has been moved and seconded all in favor say I I I motion is passed I gu it's me now huh yes I keep forgetting that good Lu thanks thank you transas item number seven public comments on consent calendar agenda items do we have any public comments from the um calendar there's if none in that case may I have a motion please for approval of the consent calendar appr to approve second it's been removed and seconded the consent calendar is adopted pleas continue please oh you need to you have a motion in a hear from everyone I didn't even sorry you had a motion in a second and now everyone yeah removed and seconded so all in favor say I hi hi oppose motion is passed all right comments from the public on non agenda items nothing at this time none okay superintendent report item number 10 uh Dr fenes please thank you this time I just would like to remind the board that our district offices and schools will uh be out this Friday for the holiday break district office will resume um its hours on January 2nd and the students will resume the following Monday thank you thank you superintendent item number 11 comments announcement from the board do we have any from the board at this time if none we will continue item number 13 review an action uh superintendent please at this time it is recommended the board select a board member to vote in the 2025 election for members of the Santa clar County committee on School District organization so every uh school district is required to select one board member that will represent each of you in voting on the members who will be um seated for the county school district reorganization committee last year that trustee was uh trustey human is for our district do we have a volunteer from the board I'd like to do it right for trusty Hog's name for the nomination so trusty hog you will be the board member to vote in the 2025 election for members of the Santa Clara County committee on school District organization do we need to approve this one as well all could I have a motion please move to approve second it's been moved and seconded all those in favor all in favor say I I I motion is carried all right item n Item B which is the business services resolution 24-9 declaring property as exempt Surplus land superintendent please it is recommended the board adopt resolution 2409 declaring property as exempt Surplus land this is referencing our property of our former district office on pedmont Road thank you any any discussions from the board in that case may I have a motion please move to approve second it's been mov and seconded to adopt resolution 2409 all in favor say I oh I'm sorry this is a resolution um Miss Gomez please roll call Vote Yes trusty shasan hi trusty Bo I trusty humz hi trusty H hi trusty hi thank you all five trustees voted it is adopted um item number B2 2024 d225 first interim report and presentation superintendent please it is recommended that the board approve the 20242 first interim report and the district's positive certification for fiscal solvency uh prior to that we do have a presentation and I introduce you to assistant superintendent Kevin Franklin all right good evening so I'm here to present our essentially the first budget update um of the year so remember we have um a number of different um time frames with budget approval and uh required updates so in July that's when we have our adopted budget nilc cap and then in September we uh closed out the prior fiscal year with our unaudited actuals that was what everybody heard back in September and here we are December at the first interim this is the first uh update since budget adoption regarding our um uh our budget for this year and how we're tracking so far so all of this data is data through October 31st uh of this year so we're in December so you just have to remember that this is already a month and a half old data um that is used to compile these projections at this time so um right now this is our current enrollment how our enrollment is tracking and um how we're projecting our enrollment based on the enrollment figures that we had coming into this year so we've adjusted this from the budget time frame um we have of course analyzed our enrollment and Ada based on uh the number of students that did actually show up starting at the beginning of the school year and so we're actually about 60 to 70 students below projection for this year and so one thing I want to point out though with this particular slide and um you know kind of the the recent history so you see a slight growth of um you know about 80 students or so between the 2022 23 school year and 23 24 school year um while it does look like the district did experience growth what that actually was due to was the expansion of transition itional kindergarten eligibility and so we had uh almost double the amount of transitional kindergarten students uh in the 23 24 year than we did previously because uh the governor expanded the eligibility rules in the Ed code and so transitional kindergarten was then um Extended from birth dates between September 2nd and December 2nd and it was extended all the way out until I believe it was March or April of that year so you have almost double the amount of students eligible and then it's further been extended into June and next year it will go all the way from September to September so um essentially there's a broader um amount of students eligible for that so um within the traditional uh TK definition we did not experience growth within the school district we still experiened the decline and we're still continuing to experience that decline um and then the updated projection also take into account um our demographers presentation that you all heard a couple of uh about a month ago um all of those have been uh included in this update so this is the budget assumptions that we're using currently so we've updated the enrollment and the Ada that we're using so right now our Ada is tracking at um around 95% or so so we're up slightly we're up about a half a percent from from where we were last year which is which is positive so our our attendance efforts have been working however I want to remind everybody that prior to the pandemic we're around 97% attendance rate and attendance is what um uh generates all of our dollars so it's not our enrollment it's our actual attendance and the students that are showing up so we've adjusted our projected Ada and revenues accordingly based on our revised enrollment numbers the other rates that you see on this list are our stir and purs employer contribution rates for our um employees retirement plans those are in statute and required for us to pay on their behalf so we don't have any flexibility with those numbers then we have the cost of living adjustment so 1.07 is the cola for 2425 Cola for 2526 has been adjusted it's been adjusted down by about a half a percent that's based on how um everything is tracking at the state level um with the calculation of the um statutory cost of living so we've used the legislative analyst office um figure of 2.46% and adjusted our revenues accordingly uh as well as uh in 2026 27 that has gone down uh slightly as well so we've adjusted those projected revenues for those two [Music] years so these are what our general fund revenues look like currently for first interim we're projecting a total of about 95.3698 there's some adjustments in revenues based on on that decrease in percentage um all of the other adjustments are are minimal um and then the increase that you see in local revenues are mainly due to donations um which we recognize as they come in so we don't project the amount of donations that we're going to receive we we um we record them as they come [Music] in so this is a breakdown of our general fund Revenue uh so it so this is a a breakdown of our general fund Revenue our revenues in total 73% of them come from the um the lcff um which is our state generated funds 12% come from other state revenues which are a lot of our one-time dollars outside of lcff any state um special ed revenues things of that nature um other local Revenue are donations and then you can see our federal revenues title one uh any federal special ed dollars are about 3% so the bulk of our dollars come from our Ada and the state so any any slight variation in that impact to the cola it impacts us considerably because most of our dollars are generated based off of those [Music] numbers these are the associated expenditures at the first interim so we have a total budget of $11.4 million so as you can see that's significantly more than the amount of revenues that we're bringing in for this year so you know basically we have we're tracking pretty much close to what we had projected at budget um there's been some slight increases and decreases within salary and benefits uh based on a variety of things vacancies and and things of that nature um we have an increase in site donation that I mentioned on the revenue side so you have a a corresponding increase in those expenditures so as sites receive those donations they're also spending those donation dollars so that's reflected in some of those books and supplies and services and other operating expense um [Music] categories so this is a breakdown of our general fund expenses so you can see that most of our expenses are made up of salaries and benefits so most of that pie almost 90% of the pie is salaries and expenses um whether it's certificated salaries which are teachers classified salaries which are all of our support staff and then you can see that orange piece is all of the employee benefits that's Health and Welfare that's retirement everything related to uh employee benefits that we pay out and then that yellow piece is our services and other operating expenses and then the other slight light blue is books and supplies so 15% is contracted services or other operating expenses and books and supplies and I have that breakdown next So within that um actually that's after this slide So within our salaries and benefits this is the breakdown um between the types of staff that uh comprise that that group so certificated non-management which is all of our teaching staff psychologists counselors social workers all certificated teaching staff makes up 70% of our salaries and benefits all of our classified support staff their salaries and benefits make up another 24% of our salaries and benefits so combined between our teachers in our school site support staff and district office classified support staff that comprises of 94% of our salaries and benefits 6% of the remaining salaries and benefits are for management salaries both classified and certificated so our principls um and other classified management staff maintenance things of that nature technology um comprise that other 6% [Music] okay so within our services and operating expenses that I showed before that was about 133% of the budget this is how that breaks down so what I want to emphasize here is that almost 80% of this chart are for Serv is that we do not have control over how we can really spend those dollars so with our after school program money we're required to provide that service with those dollars to our students who are um generating the unduplicated pupil count um dollars so that 19% of contracts that you see for after school programs were required to spend those dollars to provide after school services for those kids that next category of utilities those those are all the utility costs for all of our school sites that comprises that next [Music] 18% the next 14% is contracts for special education services that are either provided in the classroom or in support of students through par Educators things like that that we don't have staff to provide that service for or for services that they're may be receiving in addition to regular classroom um uh expenditures so those are all contracts that are within a student's IEP that we're obligated to provide um the next category is Insurance that's our liability insurance um any other types of insurance that we're obligated to provide that makes up that yellow um that yellow wedge right there that's 11% software is mainly softwares that we're utilizing um whether it's our financial system or software uh programs within the classroom okay and then I think the other ones to point out our retirement incentive that we gave a couple of years ago that's 4% of those expenditures as well we have that obligation this is the last year that we have that obligation um to make that last payment and then you'll see that that expenditure go away however that's something that we're obligated to spend that we cannot adjust the next piece there is for substitutes so that's for all substitutes that we're not providing with our own Subs so right now we have a limited amount of substitute teachers substitute par Educators and so what we've had to do is we've had to use outside contracted service to provide substitute services to provide coverage for our students in their classrooms so that's again another expenditure that we're not able to control so I just want to point all of that out to show that when you take a look at our contracted services and where can we make reductions there's a very minimal piece of that contracted Services expenditures where we have the ability to take a look at those items to make budget reductions to help with this $6 million uh budget deficit that we're trying to address so within that this is our multi-year projection which is the current year and the upcoming two years so you can see our total revenues based on our declining enrollment in Ada our revenues are going down those are adjusted with those cost of living adjustment figures that I mentioned earlier for those two out years um the corresponding uh total expenditures which we are including uh the expenditure reductions that we've been discussing and that and that we've been talking about as far as school consolidation that we're going to be speaking about next and then you can see the deficit spending for each of those three years and this is both on the unrestricted side and restricted side so we're still spending down a lot of our restricted dollars which is why you see a higher almost $6 million um deficit uh spending for this current year a lot of that is spending down the last of our one time dollars that we have from covid and carryover dollars for our uh expanded learning programs you can then see the corresponding adjustments to the beginning balance of our general fund and how that um deficit spending impacts the general fund and to be able to maintain our 3% required Reserve in all three years we're having to utilize the Special Reserve fund balance in fund 17 to meet that obligation in all three years so this is the multi-year projection on the unrestricted side which is the side that matters the most when talking about fiscal solvency and our Reserve calculation so you can see the impact to the beginning balance where deficit spinning in the current year we're deficit spinning um in the upcoming year um slightly and then we're finally balancing our budget and having an increase to the unrestricted side uh by 2026 2027 so what does that mean that means we will have a positive certification and we will meet our obligations as long as we implement the reductions that we've committed to uh within the budget so next and there is a typo on that it is um we're awaiting the governor's 2025 2026 budget proposal in January hopefully there's some better news in there with additional Revenue at the state level um I'm not super optimistic that that will uh be the case but we'll see what he has to say in about a month any [Music] questions any questions from the board regarding the presentation of Mr Franklin none thank you Mr Franklin for your presentation what is it what is it we going move the unit yeah I can hear that yeah yeah you [Music] are you're done done yeah thank you thank you for the presentation any questions from the board if none could I have a motion please for approval move to approve second it's been moved and seconded to approve the 2024 2025 first interim report and the district's positive certification of fiscal solvency all in favor say I I I I oppos None in that case the um motion is carried item B3 resolution 24-8 approving School consolidation uh superintendent [Music] please thank you at this time you will reconvene your discussion on school consolidation options we do have a present another presentation for the board based on the recommended feedback you requested during last week's second study session uh prior to going into into that and you will need a a motion in a second for your continued discussion on this item and potential action on a recommended proposal uh but you also at this time have the opportunity to take public comment from our community that are here this evening shall we have the the approval the motion first or none Mr Freeman board president would like board president would like to inquire if they need a motion to begin public comment or can they begin public comment uh and then move to the motion for continued discussion public comment will go first all right thank you thank you very much we actually have how is 86 86 members of the board we have 86 people who would like to speak regarding this issue how many minutes shall we give each one for their speech two minutes a piece 1 minute and a half what is the uh my suggestion would be to give two minutes I think some of some of the members of the community have not had a chance to speak at our prior meeting so uh we'll give them the two minutes that the other communities uh got two minutes I'd just like to um say something I agree two minutes to be fair everybody else has gotten two minutes I would just you know 86 comments is a lot of people so times two minutes each if everybody takes a full two minutes uh if you guys can keep it briefer than that that would be greatly appreciated I think by everybody in the room especially the students who have to go to bed soon thank you this is quite a bit but we will welcome the comments coming from from the public now it will be two minutes two minutes is up I am going to call five people at a time line up please so you can get ready the first one in line of course is um excuse me if I'm not pronouncing the names correctly I believe this is Guang Mei did lined up please um ma'am and then the next one will be Brooke is it Brooke Shiri please Lin up if you don't mind the next yeah all right the next one will yeah the next one will be Tina Quinto all right I think we don't have the space so we'll go three at a time so please uh ma'am Guang if I pronounce that excuse my pronunciation you may begin your speech but before you do that I would like to um read something before everyone speaks I want to begin by acknowledging the challenges involved in the process of consolidating schools it's an emotional journey and can be difficult to fully grasp this effort began in 2022 with the establishment of our budget stabilization committee reflecting our commitment to addressing the district's Financial realities thoughtfully with a desire to preserve services and support to our students as we continue to review the critical information and discuss the challenge of school consolidation tonight I ask everyone to remember our shared purpose to ensure that all current and future students in the beresa community receive a quality education let's keep this meeting respectful constructive and focused on the facts there IA has a strong reputation for maintaining decorum for being thoughtful and respectful and for setting a positive example of our children who are watching us before um I call on maam Guang this is the speaker conduct for everyone to follow for all who wish to address the board during public comment periods speakers are requested to state your name and affiliation for the record each speaker will be given two minutes to address the board three minutes per five minutes per organization five I'm sorry oh okay and five minutes is for employee organization I'm sorry and a maximum of 20 minutes per topic however in exceptional circumstances when necessary to ensure full opportunity for public input the board president May with board consent adjust the amount of time allowed for public input and or the time allotted for each speaker which is really two minutes any such adjustment shall be done equitably so as to allow diversity of viewpoints the president may also ask members of the public with the same Viewpoint to select a few individuals to address the board on behalf of that Viewpoint speakers are reminded to communicate with respect fairness and courteousness to each other and to all present we ask that you not use the name of any District employee in your comments the board welcomes orderly communication from the public thank you very much Madame kuang you may start you have two minutes thank [Music] you good evening members of the board thank you for the opportunity to address you today my name is gu he and I'm a parent of majesty Way elementary school I want to express my deep concern regarding the potential closure of majest way Elementary school and the resoning of School boundary as following the committee agreed the Majesty book tree Lobo L and VCH Park should be eliminated from the consideration for closure lack of transparence the decision making process surrounding the closure res only appear nontransparent reing concern about the motivations behind it and the potential for the unintended the consequences in sufficient notice the abated Time free for the closure anouncement had meaningful Community engagement and P clude also examination of the decisions reasons and the potential consequences care for the community the school also enrolled 20 23% economically disadvantaged children impact on poverty values School closure and a resoning School boundary can negatively affect property value in the surrounding area causing financial hardship for owner high high enrollment rate the school's minority student enrollment is 96% which is the highest enrollment compared to the rest of elementary school I strongly urge you to reconsider this decision thank you thank you so much thank you for your [Applause] coming thank you next is Brook my name is minut ready my name is Brook jrey I'm a parent of two children in Majestic Way um I will try to keep it quick um one thing that I want to say and I don't have a lot of notes I'm trying to speak from the heart um Majestic Way feels very kind of Blindsided um we haven't shown up and made a big presence because we didn't consider ourselves up for closure I feel like we've had less than two weeks to make our case here tonight um and we've made an amazing showing and I I appreciate my school for that um but you know if you look at the metrics that you guys picked I don't think that our school is a good option for closing you know personally um if we are going to redistrict and go to other schools uh it is we have a mile long stretch of road without a crosswalk that that our children are going to have to cross it's it's not safe I don't think there is another school [Music] um that that has the accessibility there's a lot of high density housing near our school and a lot of safety you know most kids can get there by walking most kids don't have to drive there's not a lot of traffic I'd like you to consider that and that's it thank you thank you thank you br Tina Tina you're you're next Tina you have two minutes all right um thank you for the opportunity to speak today um my name is Tina Kinto and I'm a mom of two boys in the district I have a boy in sixth grade at carmont and a young son who just started in kindergarten at Noble and he's in the parent participation program and I wanted to speak here today because Noble was not one of the original schools that was recommended based on the criteria that we put out a long time ago so it feels um you know it feels like it's not you know we put out that criteria and said this is how we're going to make our decision and then all of a sudden at the last minute schools show up that you know based on that criteria shouldn't be up forclosure um in addition I also want to highlight that at Noble Elementary School the parent participation program is it's the LA it used to have three locations Noble's the last location it's a very important program and you I don't believe that looking at some of the projections it would be successful at a k through eight School of you know of pedmont you know at that magnitude I think we're going to lose that community and that parent participation um in addition to that I feel a little blindsided of like if my son does need to go to a a k through eight school I I don't feel like I have a choice about it and I've lost that option of having a traditional Elementary school um because he needs a smaller environment so I I also notice scenario two left 74 kids you also have to find a new school for there are other scenarios above it that will give you both the savings and you won't have to find a place for it um so again I don't I want to urge you not to um not to move close Noble um and if you do indeed continue on with that I really urge you to think for the parent participation program an appropriate facility that would nurture the same environment it has at Noble thank you thank you very much thank you for your comment next in line the next please let's maintain some calmness um next three people the first one is Sana tayal your just lined up please the next one is ralin FL flaris or flaris oi and the next one is Arina Atri or Atri please lined up and you are the first one s you have two minutes good evening members of the School District board consolidation committee teachers parents and neighbors my name is saal and I'm honored to serve as the president of the student council at Majestic Way tonight I'm not just speaking as a student leader I'm speaking on behalf of all the students at Majestic Way who love and cherish our school for us Majestic Way isn't just where we go to school it's where we've learned what it means to be part of community Majestic Way is more than a school it's a place where students teachers and families come together to make a difference this year our student council election was attended by many board members why because Majestic way goes above and beyond not just for our students but for our entire Community every year we hold a food drive for the Second Harvest Food Bank and collect over 100 toys for families in need these events show how much we care about others and teach us the importance of giving back Majestic Way is also a place where diversity is celebrated our Multicultural event brings together food performances and people from all backgrounds if another school would to merge with ours I know all students and staff would feel welcomed academically Majestic white students work hard to succeed on greatschools.org our test scores are tied with Northwood Elementary the highest in our district these scores reflect our dedication to learning and help make our community more desirable Majestic Way is more than just a building it's a place where students like me and all my classmates feel safe supported and inspired to make a difference I hope you'll consider what makes our school so special and allow us to continue being a home for students families and our community thank you for listening and for caring about our future thank you thank you okay thank you very much I know you're all excited when when students speak but please let's keep it a little bit quiet okay so we can continue There are 86 of you so we need to give them chance the next one is ralin go ahead ralin you have two minutes there oh it's mine sorry hello um good evening my name is Rainin flares and I'm a proud parent of two Majestic Way monarchs I grew up in this diverse and resilient barasa community and I care deeply about its future it's that our voices as parents are heard and that the elected officials entrusted with leading this community uphold ethical standards and fairness in their decisions the best way to ensure Equity transparency and impartiality is by basing decisions on clear objective criteria removing em motion from the process and focusing on data ensures every school is evaluated fairly the school consolidation advisor committee provided 20 weighted criteria to guide this process yet the late inclusion of Majestic Way as an option disregards these criteria entirely without any rationale as assistant superintendent Kevin Franklin noted during the last study session Majestic Way was not discussed much because it was not really in the top of any criterio when um during the compilation and scoring Majestic Way actually consistently ranked lower in the scoring often number four number five sometimes even number eight um in fact the suggested scen of the suggested scenarios tonight the closure of Majestic Way yields the lowest amount of projected fiscal savings for the district um we invested significant resources in consulting services from school Services of California Inc to provide data analysis for this process uh ignoring this work not only undermines the methodology but also risks eroding public trust in the board's integrity and ability to make partial decisions thank you for your [Applause] comments next next to speak is our minina armina you have two minutes dear hello my name is armina and I honored to be here today as a proud third grade student at Majestic white school and an Artis in the student council thank you for giving me this chance to speak about why our school should stay open I've been a student at Majestic Way since I was in kindergarten and this school has been like a second home to me I've made so many friends here and my teachers have taught me more than just math and reading they've helped me grow into the person I am today I'm really sad to hear that such an important school which has been a part of our community for nearly 50 years is being considered forclosure in such short notice we haven't had enough time or opportunities to share about our our thoughts about this and it feels unfair to all of us who care so much about our school Majestic Way is one of the best schools in San Jose and closing it would hurt not only the students and staff but also our neighborhood an abandoned School building could bring Crime to our safe and friendly community and moving our students to other schools will disrupt our education and separate us from our friends and teachers it could even make families leave this area which could hurt our community even more Majestic Way is not just Day School it is a special place where we learn grow and feel safe please think about how important it is to all of us I hope you will make the right choice and help us keep Majestic wi open thank you for your time and thank you for listening thank you Arina thank you okay the next three the next three to speak are Jessica Rodriguez please come up and lined up if you're ready the next one would be Angela h it has no last name but just be standing in line and the next one is Ryan so we have Jessica Angela Ryan um Jessica you have two minutes good evening baresa community and School Board I'm speaking here today as an immigrant who Moved five times between the ages of 4 and 18 including three School moves a mother of a second grader and future kindergarten at Majestic wave a mother of children who have moved homes four times in eight years including a daycare School move each time and as a Sunday school helper who knows and loves kids across our district my heart goes out to all the families and communities under consideration for closure not just Majestic Way also Noble also ruscin so I would like to advocate for a decision prioritizing everyone's physical and mental health firstly please consider the walkability and bikability of school assignments rather than a closer school on Google Maps which may involve crossing a road where cars drive up to 45 mil hour in a city where most people have no option but to drive most places a walk or bike to school is the last remaining healthy commute not just for children but entire families secondly please consider the impact of school reassignment on introverted children which make up 25 to 50% of every school and do not show up on statistics my daughter moved a Majestic Way in the middle of the kindergarten year I remember her tears being in a class line where everyone knew each other but not her her recent fall conference report for second grade was the first time I heard that she is volunteering to answer questions and where I wasn't asked if she was a quiet child at home and um this is something she only does it Majestic Way um we also started attending a new Sunday school about a year after we moved here and she does not um still speak up at Sunday school um so my pleas is to while consolidating schools please do not break up the supporting network of friends that children form over their years together because this makes a huge difference to their performance and lastly please consider maximizing current and financial current and future Financial Savings in this consolidation to avoid repeating this heartache thank you thank you Jessica next next we have Angela hi I'm Angela I'm a Majestic Way parent I was disappointed to hear trustees bringing up schools not on the list recommended by the consolidation committee this committee made up of community and staff members representing all schools began meeting in April over nine meetings members went over enrollment data financials facilities and other agreed upon selection criteria at the end of this process the committee was split into groups upon which there was consensus on which schools to close despite the concerns of fellow parents who are unhappy that their home school is being targeted I'd like to remind everyone here that their was consensus on which schools to put up for closure at the October 3rd meeting four out of four groups selected Cherrywood for closure three out of four groups each selected Summerdale Toyon and rusin for closure and two groups selected Lane view these schools were then affirmed at the October 17th meeting to now in the last five minutes of the second to last meeting introduce schools from off of this recommended list dishonors that process and disregards the significant time and efforts that the consolidation committee spent on this very serious task parents from Majestic Way and Noble who trusted this process and gave community members who were on the list the space to advocate for their schools now do not have the same opportunity in this 11th hour discussion I implore you to take a deep breath trust your consolidation committee and stick to cons committee consolidations forclosure by doing this you reassure the community that process matters that the vote of a committee made up of parents teachers staff directly impacted by this decision matters and dispel any concerns that the last eight months were inconsequential that their voice wasn't heard and that trustees do whatever they want in the end thank you thank you very much next to speak is Ryan yeah I'll be I'll be quick my wife is much more eloquent than I I wasn't sure how many Majestic Way parents were and faculty and staff were going to show up today you could see that we have a very good showing I think most of us are probably very disappointed in what my wife said in the the lack of transparency in the process and that Majestic Way is being brought back up I think at this stage in the game we should be limiting our options getting to a a more Resolute uh number of options and you seem to be opening that back up so what I would implore the the the board to look at today is what did the community say what did we want to do in the uh the advisory committee and if you're not going to choose a school within that list tell the community why and then in the end whoever the schools are that are impacted registration starts I believe in January and this is going to impact families in the fall so having a plan of impacted families and what they can do in the fall in January is going to be extremely important and I implore you to and consider that in your decision and your thought process as well thank you thank you very much Ryan thank you thank you next speakers the next three speakers are Alfred a please come up and get ready uh Shri Hari Shashi are you here how do you say that yeah are you here and the next one is I think it's t her mic is not your mic's not on oh I'm sorry it's blinking why is it blinking I think stopped not working yeah mine is I think the only one is Mr Shas okay I'm sorry it just didn't all right so I have Alfred a and the next one is um Shri Hari is that you young man no you are then am my T okay so sh hary is not here I'll just put that in all right um Mr Alfred Al please speak you have two minutes sir something is not [Music] right no problem we will make sure that he gets two minutes so no problem at all yes we are all flashing green right now except for Mr shinas what they're blocked they're blocked this one is okay yeah that one is not working my my mine is not working because it's it's it's set to exclusive somebody somebody said that she hit the button only she could talk it cut everybody s press the button yeah hello oh okay hi okay so you have two minutes okay okay uh dear board members uh hi good evening so my name is Alfred I'm a a father of two daughters in Majestic Way um the very reason why I'm here is that uh with this controversial issue going on I want to say that just closing the Majestic Way and distributing our students across to other schools will not help the help help will not help by even drive even more students away um so ever since last year I've tried to persuade my wife to move out of California because inflation and so forth um but it wasn't but we continue to stay here because that their friends are here and they want to be together in this school and so um so and so by closing magistic way you would just accelerate this process of us trying to move out of uh this District or even California So eventually you will not achieve what you want to do and secondly um I know those of you here uh don't have the right to decide how our property tax is distributed so I would like to address this to our governor is that now you have used a fabricated proposition to take our hard earned tax tax money away for your own self interest to fund the homeless services and that is not right you have to listen to this to the people who actually I supported you from before until now and so please listen to us but not just find your own self-interest thank you thank you very much thank you Shri Hari hi Shri Hara decided to give me her spot okay yeah so uh I'm a little closer state your name please sure um my name is Priyanka and I am a mom of a um sixth grader at seront Middle School um this is my second time speaking here um and I think um I just want to support all of the parents that are here today this is has been very hard on all of us so just want to acknowledge that and um for all of you here who are making these important decisions uh a few things that I want to call out as important reminders um to consider as you make these decisions the first one is academic scores that has been something that uh I haven't se seen as part of the committee criteria since the beginning is how important it should be a friend's son who lives in Indianapolis just got into Harvard and he didn't it didn't happen just like that right there were steps from his elementary middle and high school that ultimately LED this little immigrant kid from a little town with middle class parents to get into Harvard and we want all our kids to have that opportunity um so I think the for Sion I specifically want to call out that all of the teachers are highly highly tenured there many of them are close to retirement they are excellent I have personally talked to each and every one of them my son loves all of them and uh has a fantastic experience there sieron also has amazing Afterschool programs uh and that is a really important reason to keep children engaged especially for us working parents who can't always pick up at 2:30 and don't make enough money to hire other people to pick up our kids so that is an important consideration for any school closures do they have after school programs where kids can have enrichment and also for parents to be able to have a later pickup and have a a really normal day um and the last one I would say is um science lab um is something that Ruskin has that I know other schools don't have um I have seen the progress with the sunny School District where my son was before Elementary as well with the science lab so those are the special things that um please please do consider them uh tenure of teachers academic scores science labs and after school programs as well as thank you for your comments the next one is amay aay aay thank you go ahead aay you have two minutes good evening members of the district boards ter teachers parents and fellow students I'm a mar T and I'm the fifth grade photographer in the Majestic Way student council I stand before you today as a proud student of Majestic Way and I ask for your attention and consideration as we discuss the proposed closure of our school there are many reasons why this decision would hurt our community and I believe it is important to share with you not just the facts but the heart of what Mak what makes Majestic Way truly special first I want to acknowledge that the decision to close our school comes with little to little to no time to prepare our school Community was given minimal notice to truly understand the full scope of the change with such a significant issue affecting so many lives it's simply not enough time to make an informed decision this lack of preparation does a disadvantage to the students teachers and families who invested who have invested so much into the school and it is something that we feel that we should be given more time to consider Majestic Way is not just another school it is one of the best academic schools in the district our test scores are nearly par with Northwood the highest rated School in our area which speaks to the dedication of our teachers and the hard work of our students if you close Majestic Way you're not only taking away with taking away a school with proven success but you're also disrupting the future of so many students who deserve the same opportunities we've had F the more consideration the financial impact on our community the value of our property is linked to the strength of our local schools Majestic ways Clos the property values in this area would INE inevitably decline on the other hand if you focus on closing underperforming or underutilize schools there's a good chance property values in the surrounding neighborhoods will actually increase families will be eager to move to move areas to to where schools are strong like Majestic Way which means you can collect more property taxes to help with the budget cuts due to thank you very [Applause] much next three speakers please get ready the first one to speak is I believe is v j sh suam the next one is shin K and the next one is nin Kang are you all here please line up so you can begin so let's begin with v sh hello so dear board members parents and kids I'm Vijay Shri I'm representing Majestic Way you just heard my son speak in favor of Majestic Way so on December 9th Majestic Way was put on the list of consider for closure as pointed out by many parents over here it was at the end of a l it was at the end of a four plus hour recorded meeting and this is rather shocking and unfair when Majestic was never on the original list forclosure we parents in the community we have voted in you the board members in good faith that you will do the best for the students in our school and have their education well-being and best interest at heart while I do not envy you the difficult undertaking of school consolidation and budget determination we were hardly given any time to come together ourselves and present you with facts and evidence on why Majestic Way should not be considered forclosure Majestic with students they have High attendance rates they have competitive academic performance and a demographically diverse population with the third highest Hispanic and Latino population in the entire District it is a heaven for underresourced unhoused students contending with unstable living environments for them to learn critical skills to thrive and succeed schools like these prepare our young students for higher education keep them motivated and attract home buyers to boost our community economy these consolidation and rebordering changes they cause a lot of stress anxiety and insecurity among the community in your recently published today's meeting agenda it's very clear that closing Majestic Way makes the least Financial sense if at all it comes down to num schem despite the emotional toll it takes it takes on us you okay thank you thank you very much Mr she K you have two minutes sir good evening all members my name is Jan a maest father I have two kids today I'm here to speak against the closure of majest way first I would appreciate your continuous effort for the maintenance and the development of basa School Union with the challenging fiscal sereny regarding today's topic I feel it is an unfair treatment to majest way by pulling it out to close just in your last minutes I would urge you to make a decision based of data here is what I learned from Machester way one 2.4 million total historical investment in facilities which is the first ranking of low investment high performance school this is a win win to the ulum and the community two $1.6 million completion of recent projects second ranking of Hardware upgrades three cost per students as know as 575 third ranking of low cost four top three of standard exceeded performance in ela mass and the suspension rate second we are concerning the long-term impact of coing Machester way most likely it will release a pessimistic signal to Market this will damage our community value and therefore speeding up the decline of enrollment in the following years last but not least it is my honor to work with the community to support our school Union we are active in brainstorming for example considering the leverage effect actual investment on maest way by creating new programs will add more value on the existing winwin situation this will gradually Drive the increase of enrollment as well as the community value I believe there will be more valuable ideas if our community is involved more and the more thank you very much for your comments sir thank you very much n you're next dear hello School Board I naine King and I am a student of majestic with elementary school today I am here to protest I do not want my wonderful School Majestic way to close many of my friends go there too my younger brother also goes there I have been a Majestic Way since kindergarten I'm now in fourth grade Majestic Way is filled with good memories of many things Majestic Way has taught me a lot of important lessons for example Majestic Way has taught me to be respectful responsible and safe I also learned the Pledge of Allegiance there they also teach students PE math Ela and many more I want people in the future to come to Majestic way to learn to if Majestic Way closes people in the future cannot come and learn in our wonderful School Majestic Way my friends and I have been talking about Majestic Way's closure they said they don't want Majestic Way to clothe I think my teachers don't want Majestic Way to close either I do not want Majestic Way to close I really hope you all do not close Majestic Way thank you thank you dear thank you the next we have the next three speakers they are Teresa Kelo will you please get ready and Bobby Evans is next and then and then Brandon nen please come up quickly so you can speak so we have Teresa kilo Bobby Evans and Brandon just so you know the live streaming there's no sound thank you thank you what did she say oh um she just text me it's back on okay [Music] okay you're good now oh okay go ahead please ma'am hello my name is Teresa Creo I am a mother of a ruscin student first I would like to thank the board members that took time out of their busy lives to meet with parents and community members about the concerns and our opinions over these past couple months it has been a very long process for us all um I hope you make the decision that best suits our district and come up with ideas to promote and grow the district and not adopt a short-term solution ution and depend on enrollment declines I also ask that you support families and um find a way to help them with their mental health during these changes because also it being so close to the holidays it will affect a lot of families um I also would like to address the community no matter the outcome this is an opportunity for us all to teach our children about respect integrity and compassion schools are supposed to be a safe place for all students no family or Community should be verbally attacked for the for coming from different backgrounds in this world we live in there is already too much hate and we should not be contributing to it this is a time for the whole District to support each other thank you thank you for that comment next in line please okay let's refrain from screaming we would appreciate that very much Bobby Evans hi uh my name is Bobby Evans I'm with the rusin and siert Community I just want to thank the board for all your time I've been coming to every meeting since October 4th it's been a long process but even though it feels like it's a long process I still don't feel like it has been enough time for the board to make an educated decision but if you have to do what you have to do we understand um I just want to say that at rusin we have a science lab and the whole District can benefit from that science lab my My Hope Is that no school has to close because it's going to be really sad for all the students involved um so I would just really like the board to really take their time making that decision and thinking about all the students and also um the community involved and like Teresa said this is going to be a challenge for a lot of people and I hope um the mental awareness and health will be provided to them thank you so much I appreciate it thank you for your comments the next one is Brandon but hold on Brandon the next three that will be speaking please get ready they are um doc Dr if it CH changai I think you missed one Brandon this one is Brandon the next one and the next one will be himman himman salev and Erin Garvey for the next three so go ahead Brandon please speak two minutes H press the Buton press the button if you have it there one on the right uh hi my name is Brandon uh I'm from rusin these are all my classmates and uh today I'm going to share what I did at science lab so at science lab we go once a week on Friday at Friday we do different experiments like um for example this year last time we did a model of erosion erosion is when rocks and wind and rocks break break down I mean wind and water break down rocks so then we made a model by putting some sand and clay in a container and shaping it into a rectangle shape and pouring water on it and overall in the end the water and the sand the water in the in the sand and clay from our model mixed together we did experiments similar to this like friction learning about learning about bugs like meal worms and we also did a brine shrimp experiment so overall I really like the science lab at Ruskin thank you for your comments there thank you so [Applause] much the next the next one please get ready Dr I Jang Jon is the next one we have himani s s De and Ain Garvey you have two minutes sir hello good evening uh thank you for the opportunity to address you uh my name is Dron I'm a parent at the mestic way um yeah so so far I heard a lot of good points for my fellow parents and I really hope you can consider that my point is really is kind of repetitive but you know if it repetitive that mean many people think the same right so for six months we have been like all family staff and the community members participated in the discussion about this initially identifies potential closure right and then investing time and effort in good faith we believe this is transparent this is true right adding mtic way so late in the process is feel Rush unfair and detrimental to our ability to respond effectively you know we deserve the meaningful engagement for this right no parents teachers or student should have the face the sudden possibility in that school being close with just one week to react right so maybe maybe one way is that I respectfully request that the B can postpone the decision you know this will allow the meaningful engagement um and a proper assessment you know but okay I think that's the only part thank you thank you for your comments next one the next one is uh himan yes go ahead himman you have two minutes dear hello fellow board members teachers parents and fellow students my name is humani such and I'm a former student of Majestic Way currently at P Hills High school today I'm not speaking as a student but as a concerned Community member for rby school hearing about this sudden closure in my opinion is not fair as other schools were given about 6 to n months to prepare while us we only had a week it's not fair we have a really high grading system our scores are tied with Northwood Elementary the highest in the district many students are able to walk to school safely including myself when I was younger students can have bike routes and adapt many healthy habits not only adding physical activity to their life but also um incre it it creates amazing environmental it helps the environment also extending to the whole Community I would also like to talk about how amazing magistic way is as a school we have dedicated and passionate students a competitive academic performance and de demographically diverse population with the third highest Hispanic and Latino population in the entire District it is the Haven for under restored unhoused students contending with unstable living environments for them to learn critical skills to thrive succeed like this and prepare for their lives ahead as we boost our communities you may say well if we close it teachers can find new homes in the district well they have given their life and remain loyal to this pillar that they chosen to stay at this school thank you for giving me your time and I hope this impacts your decision but if you do choose to gr School your impact will lead on to Generations thank you thank you thank you for the [Applause] comments the next one is Marie then [Applause] Bernice then Selena please let's get up and um line up get ready to speak for your two minutes so it's Marie Bernice and [Applause] Selena you have two minutes there hi I want to thank all the board members again for reading uh my email and as much as you guys know I want to save Summerdale I just wanted to talk about something else I wanted to kind of bring up the teachers because every single parent every single student that stands before you screams at how amazing their school is and that's because the teachers are so amazing the staff everywhere AC crossby aresta are so amazing and that is why we are all fighting for our schools and I just I my heart goes out to the teachers who don't know after tonight if they're going to have a job next school year and they're going into Christmas and I can't imagine what that mental health status is for them and I just want to ask the board to keep that in the Forefront of of your mind is to please please think about these teachers I know at Summerdale we have such amazing staff from Miss G from Mr Keri from Mrs Tran Mrs Kane Mrs Lou Mr Cabrero I can go all day Miss Janet in the office and they are what make up every single school every single school has a my favorite employee which is Miss Janet a Dr Rainer every single school has staff and teachers what make up these schools so so great and as you hear the speeches of these kids kids it's a testament to the education that these teachers at beresa are providing so please think of our our teachers as you guys go through this process um I also want to mention that at the first board member meeting for consolidation of the schools Miss G sang the Summerdale song and I emailed her earlier this week and I asked her if she was going to be here and unfortunately her heart is too heavy to be here but I think that Miss G deserves to have that song sung because every single meeting from April to just the past Monday she was here representing Summerdale because she is the heart of what Summerdale is so we're just going to sing that song for you and Miss G if you're watching I really hope you hear how you've impacted every single life at Summerdale so it goes Su m m e r d a l e superstar with my brain and my heart I will go very far I'm a Summerdale Superstar thank you thank you for your comment thank you next next is um Bernice go ahead Bernice two minutes good evening everyone um thank you for giving me time to speak I'm a power parents of uh uh two kids one is a second grade in maesa way one is in transitional karten in maesa way um well my fellow parents in Majestic Way already stay a lot of PS and I already I want to remind you the board member that the committee recommended five school to be closed and Majestic Way never ever on the top of the list or never on the top five of the school that is going to be picked giving one week for our Majestic Way par to prepare is not fair to us and you from the last group section you also mention I believe is Mr Calvin Franklin mentioned that closing Majestic Way is not the best option for us to say to save the money for the district I hope you remember that this you spent F you sp spent a lot of time since April to conduct the service and I'll conduct this study and Majestic weight was never ever on the top five list and why PL why some school has already been on the road to pick and but you and now all the um someone I find it really sarcastic decision is being like Ma way and Noble school was being put on the list for the last five minutes on last study group section and this is not fair to both Noel parents and also Majestic Way parent on the TW last 2 25 second I hope you look at all my Majestic Way student in here this is our bright future and also our parents and supporting the Majestic will not be inclosed I hope you to rec con not closing Majestic Way and never ever put Majestic Way Back on the list thank you thank you for your comments Selena you have two minutes dear go ahead hi I'm Selena a third grader at Majestic Way I'm here to refuse the closing of my school Majestic Way I've been a student here since kindergarten this school has been the growth place of many generations and closing it would break many people's hearts think about the fifth graders who are graduating next year they won't have a place to look back at and visit their past would be demolished also Majestic white is a top school in the district the kids here have serious thoughts about education because of this Majestic white has built a reputation in the district which causes many parents to want to enroll their children in the school why close a school with such a good reputation and representation of our district wouldn't that lower the district's reputation as a whole last year the location the location of Majestic Way Majestic Way is located in very peaceful neighborhood me and a lot of my friends and neighbors walk to school every day is part of our routine our walking rout is also very safe as is far from busy roads closing the school would add a risk to our lives as we we would have to cross busy roads it also means more carbon emissions for the planet since many people would may switch to driving in set I'm sure everyone has heard of walk walk and roll their goal is to increase the amount of students walking or biking to school well the plan will not succeed if Majestic Way closes more people would switch to driving because of safety concerns and the distance of the new school in conclusion Majestic Way should not close it has been the home of many students and generations is Bill a reputation like no other in fact this school currently has the highest registration rate is currently fully enrolled are you guys planning to close Majestic Way just because it's in the middle of other schools and thouts reputation for the whole District down the drain that that would lead to less popularity for this District thank you for your comment Malu Malu Jose Sosa and and um Angela Sosa please get get in line and ready to speak for your two minutes thank you very much and after them hold on sweetie um after them will be Angie Castro uh grai or graa Moses and PR pra chrishan go ahead Molly um hi hi my name is B Lou and I am a third grader in Majestic Way so something I wanted to say is that I do not want my school to close my parents say that I will not be living here in this community if the school closes I will really miss my friends I I'm not those kind of kids where they make friends easily there is nothing wrong with this school so please do not close it I also live really close to the school so it's been really easy to walk to the school without any troubles in the morning also I've been to Majestic wave for about 4 years I've also never been laid to school during during my whole four years can you please make the school not close I really like my school so I will be really sad of leave leaving it I also really like my teacher and my school principal most important please don't make our school closed because our be really sad about it thank you thank you for your comments next to speak is Mr Jose so Sosa two minutes sir hello Bud trustees I'm a proud parent of four Majestic W students and alumni I'm here to represent the underrepresented Latino and low income Majestic Way community we have heard from various groups highlighting their educational successes special locations and special interest programs however we have yet to hear about the achievement achievements of majestic ways lowincome and Latino students in your haste to consider Majestic Way you have overlooked these marginalized groups in both low-income and Latino categories Majestic Way outperforms their school their schools by Two Three or even four times that goes every school in our district additionally both groups have perform our uh every other school and matching the performance levels of more affluent students in our district some schools have touted their science labs related success I'm here to inform you that Majestic ways low-income students perform in science at 71% level equal to Dedicated science lab or tit um sorry equal to more affluent student populations without a dedicated science lab or Title One funding while low-income students of those same schools scored a meager 7% this is just one example Majestic Way and its Community are achieving something extraordinary for these groups this cannot be ignored or understated moving these students to Ruskin or Lan view would cast them into the shadows of lower achievement it seems to me that other schools should replicate what we are doing to elevate these groups disbanding The Majestic Way has accomplished for sorry disbanding what Majestic Way has accomplished for these groups would put a stain on B USD as it would destroy and shin example of how to elevate these groups thank you very much Angela you're next Angela good evening my name is Angela Sosa and I'm a proud and I'm proud to be a second generation varasa student my children represent the third generation of our family to attend various schools I am here tonight as a parent and advocate for Majestic Way elementary over the past months like many others in this community I have closely followed the school consolidation process last Monday after nearly five hours of discussion I was shocked and deeply heartened to learn that Majestic Way is being considered forclosure I have watched this very School Board Champion the academic success of Hispanic and Latino students in interviews on Specialized panels and through initiatives like Equity walks staff training and parent engagement programs these efforts highlight the district's stated commitment to uh equity and academic Excellence for all students however I must question how this commitment aligns with the decision to Target Majestic Way forclosure a school with the highest academic proficiency among Latino students in our district Majestic Way is home to one of the largest Latino student populations significally significantly more than Cherrywood or Ruskin these students consistently outperform their peers exceeding State averages in math science and English in many cases Majestic ways Latino students achieve results that are double triple or even quadruple those of their counterparts at other schools closing Majestic Way and transferring these students to schools like Lan View and Ruskin where Latino students significantly underperformed by comparison would jeopardize their hardened success it would disrupt their sense of community hinder their academic progress and ultimately penalize the very students this board claims to support I urge you to stand by your commitment to equity and Excellence recognize and celebrate the achievements of Majestic Way students do not allow their progress to be undermined by a decision that disregards the unique strength of this school and its Community thank you for your comments thank you state your name please uh my name is Angie Angie yes Angie you're next two minutes sweetie hello my name is Angie I'm the Majestic Way vice president I want you to know how powerful our community is I'm one of many Hispanic students at a school filled with leaders like myself we are all different but our connection is strong I'm Majestic Way no one is left out I help students work together and make a change I do this by going to PTA meetings helping helping younger kids Play Safe And speaking up for what is right the teachers in Staff Care they show up every day for our Majestic Way families my voice matters at Majestic Way Majestic Way is like a second home to me I hope to graduate next year from Majestic Way just like my mom and my older brothers did thank you for your time thank you for your comment thank you the next one to speak is I think is graa Moses and I would like to add Jessica Middleton I think you're in this group if you are here go ahead GR good evening my name is Gracia Moses and I am a teacher a majestic way I am here today to speak on behalf of the Majestic Way staff students their families and our community I've served on bjack for several years and I have heard Kevin's reports on our budget crisis we all understand that schools have to close my own son attends sieran and this was one of the schools mentioned early on it was full transparency that the school might close and we accepted this that our son might be transferred to another school now at last week's meeting Majestic Way was unfairly dropped as a possible school closing we find the timing unacceptable as a community and we were not properly informed that this would be a possibility we would have been here fighting for a school just like we are today and just like other schools have for the past nine months no one wants their school to shut down we can all give our stories why our schools should stay open however we're not here to talk about our feelings if feelings were a criteria for staying open we would all stay open instead the district agreed to a process to assemble a consolidation meeting and to talk about fiscal business how are we going to save money so I'm going to briefly go over some of the criteria I know my parents at my school and other colleagues will go over this as well our facilities are in good condition we are one of the lowest cost for repairs modernization and construction projects that have been mentioned isn't the whole point of this to save money this in addition this goes into our need for modernization and school reconfiguration Majestic Way would cost us little money thank you for your comments thank you for your time so much thank [Applause] you pra yes you have two minutes thank you hi my name is pra I want to start by thanking the entire board for what you do I am not new to this meetings and I have been very oal in my earlier meetings uh I have talked about how the process was rushed the data was me and the whole decision uh making process felt half aard and not transparent at all but today I want to acknowledge that you have listened I'm glad that you have made consented effort by adding more study sessions and giving parents more time to adjust to the reality that we are going to make some tough decisions as parents we fought to ensure that all schools in our district were assisted fairly I am glad that there are so many parents here that care about our schools school closures are hard for all parents we feel the pain I want to acknowledge the St strong parent community that fought for our kids teachers and the community all our students have all our schools have something to offer to the kids and it's heartbreaking to see that we are debating on which school to close or consolidate this is something for us as parents and the board to keep a watch on for the future the enrollments are projected to decline further unless we do something now we are going to be here again in a few years let's stay United make an effort to bring more students into our schools so that we can avoid this kind of a situation or heart week in the future thank you thank you for your comment thank you Jessica before you start I would like to call on the following uh Sumer Salon V rajish Ashley nebiker Tara balaoro Jang sang know if you can get ready to speak for the next one go ahead please Jessica my name is Jessica Middleton I'm a teacher at Majestic Way I've been following the school consolidation process since meetings began last school year I've not spoken before now due to Majestic Way never being mentioned once during this whole process as a series Contender for being closed until the last three minutes of the last study session I question the logic of having a committee work for months on a list of recommendations for closure only to add Majestic Way to the list of schools being considered and what can only be described as a random whim the committee rated the schools based on 20 criteria in Majestic Way was only on the list for lack of a special program all other criteria had multiple schools that were rated worse The Majestic Way in regards to test scores in school account accountability dashboard Majestic Way Out performs on chronic absenteeism suspension rates e progress El and mass scores we outperform all other schools except rkin where we are tied in esac math and uh math and Ela we outperform Albert Ruskin and exceeding standards and outperform Albert Rin in Northwood in exceeding in meeting standards the district would benefit from net Savings of closed Vincy Park rkin Lan viw Northwood Cherrywood and Brook Tre Park all worst than Majestic Way Majestic Way has the third highest Hispanic population behind toy and way and they are considered one of our most vulnerable populations finally can be agreed Majestic Way Brook Noble Northwood Vincy should be eliminated from consideration for closure if after listening to all this evidence on why our school should not be closed you decide to close it anyway you will prove to everyone in this community that you have no integrity and no respect for the process that the consolidation committee went through over the past several months it'll be obvious you care only for the schools that you've been pressured to show preference for or that you are already biased toward saving I hope you will prove me wrong and make your decision based on facts thank you thank you very [Applause] much suon V your next two minutes there hello my name is simuni and I'm a rusin fifth grader I'm here to share my reasons to support Ruskin and camont firstly I want to mention that I moved here from copertino and I never felt like like a new kid here everyone was welcoming and I immediately made friends the teachers are friendly and always help me when I was having trouble uh obviously the playground is one of the best parts in our school it was remodeled earlier this year and it now it's vibrant and colorful just like the school itself rkin has a wonderful science lab and I made um this sun dial there and I have been saving it from my dogs at home to show it to you the the sun dial taught us how to figure out there was one time when uh when we dissected a squid in science lab and used ink to write our name poor squid but I had fun and that was not the only time when we did an experiment every week we have a Hands-On learning activity that helps everyone understand science better I remember when my sister was a camont student and whenever I walked with my father to pick her up I always met some of my sister's teachers the teachers were out in the front talking to all the students it was really fun to meet them knowing that I they might be one of my future's teachers the teachers were friendly and kind to me and this is definitely an environment I want to go to I'm four years younger than my sister and whenever I met her friends or any student in s they were always very friendly to me I love these schools thank you for listening and please don't close resin and camont thank you for your accomplish Ashley you have two minutes thank you good evening my name is Ashley Neer and I'm a parent of a third grader at Noble Elementary I want to keep this very simple at the beginning of this entire process it was stated that District must capture $2.5 million savings from this process looking at the math in the final four scenarios none of them with a noble consolidation would allow the district to achieve this $2.5 million savings the math just is not there with the noble consolidation the noble consolidation should have been thrown out as soon as it was realized that the savings is not there unless there were Al ulterior motives that not being communicated to the public other than financial Noble has never been on the advisory committee's lists as recommendations because when you look at the data it shows that Noble provides the lowest cost savings and this is about cost you don't choose the lowest cost savings school to close when you're in a budget deficit especially when the district has the opportunity to capture the $2.5 million cost savings looking at the other scenarios there are ways to capture the savings that is needed just without Noble there's no reason to move the goalpost in the last hour it's in the district's best interest to capture the maximum savings with this process so we're not here again next year having the same conversation it's not fair to our students to continually go through this year after year because the board did not select the highest cost savings when they had the opportunity to do so I urge the board to recognize that if you decide to consolidate Noble you are one lowering your cost-saving requirement unnecessarily two dishonoring The Advisory committee's recommendations and all the hard work they put forward and three disrespecting the community of both Noble and a Majestic Way by allowing us only one week to come forward instead of the nine months that everyone else thank you thank you let's please let let us control ourselves for for this evening please um next one is Tara good evening board Board of Trustees I'm Tara balaoro I'll be highlighting the strengths in support of keeping Noble open first Noble operates on the second smallest budget in the district and does not require a lot of repairs and maintenance if closed it will yield the least savings second Noble should be kept open because it's Unique location next to the beresa branch library Noble students are able to walk safely to the library without having to cross a street this offers students easier and frequent access to the library even walking field trips being next to the library offers a safe place and additional resources for our students and of course Noble has PPP which set the tone for my involvement with my children's education and planted the seeds of for having a growth mindset toward enrichment possibil ities I took office as president of PPP the same year a current superintendent took on her role and the year prior my eldest was in Kinder and I was at the district office speaking to save PPP and here I am my youngest is in Kinder and I'm speaking to save Noble PPP at Noble has been around for at least 25 years and is the last of three participation parent participation programs in the district's history the collaborative culture of PPP families working together with the teacher and giving their time and talents for the enrichment of the kids made a profound impact of my family of five I we highly recommend PPP at Noble to our neighbors and others and the families that have gone on to the program have been pleased with our recommendation as they have found like-minded families taking on leadership roles within the organization and had a breakthrough or significant growth with their student and PPP shares enrichment opportunities schoolwide through assemblies my favorite is when the San Francisco Opera comes and performs with the students we have joint field trips we host pumpkin day for all Kinders volunteer hours other educational assets and PPP gifted the second water bottle refill machine on campus as well we move to Bera very much thank [Applause] you next one is Jang J Jang Jang yes go ahead sir two minutes hi my name is z and I'm from Ruskin uh I believe you all know my wife Kim uh over there I'm here with my cor not because she told me to I'll J inside uh I was on the consolidation committee and spent month months looking at the data of the school along with other school representative uh I'm a father of three a school volunteer and have served on the PTA board for the past two years uh trust me when I say I'm deeply involved and invested throughout this whole entire process uh I want to Echo other when ask the board to try and keep all the students together when making their decision tonight as to minimize the disruption of the student as much as possible I would like to suggest giving parents choices of where their kids go to school if they're uh oh where their kids go if their school is selected uh after the final decision has been made I would like to also ask the board and the district to find ways to bring the beresta community uh back together it's been a difficult and distracting topic for kids teacher staff and community members throughout the throughout this process and we need your help facilitating these line of communication to Foster connection for the future together um I know motion are high tonight but at at the end of the day I believe that we all uh want the best for our children thank you thank you for your cment [Applause] edlo um I rockish the next one is Tina DEA and Erin Garvey if you are here you may begin Mr LW please two minutes thank you hi I'm Ed uh my son is in uh third grade in sadale uh I first I want to acknowledge the board is facing a very difficult decision uh no matter what you do a lot of people are going to be very upset I understand that I also recognize all the parents from uh and the families from all the schools are very concerned about the impact of what's Happening Here uh that's why a lot of people are here uh that said I I do want to share a couple thoughts so one is that the proposal to combine three schools uh just on this part of the district in this location is not Equitable it disproportionately affect the families here mainly location wise so that mostly the the schools in the rest of the district can remain uh unaffected uh objectively I think it's more fair for more of us to share the burden across the district so we can all contribute to helped address the crisis uh and regarding the TK to8 school I it seemed like a more recent development I think a lot more information and Analysis detail and time need to be provided to families so we understand how actually it will work what kind of issues will happen how we mitigate them Beyond just like a schematic or you know like a you know basic things and it's also important to consider providing options to families to attend other schools in the district if they do not desire to enroll in the TK and option um thank you for listening thank you for your comments H hi hi you have two minutes okay thank you good evening my name is cayen I'm a rasing mom um so we all love our home schools and we all love our teachers unfortunately we have come to this situation where we have to close some schools uh I just strongly urge the board members to take the facility condition into consideration when making this difficult decision uh ring uh has the most permanent classrooms and also the only science lab many people have already uh mentioned science lab cannot be overemphasized uh science lab is also my uh my daughter's favorite subject I just want to share uh some science work she brought home recently okay a face print a face print she's very excited about it and some people also mentioned they just uh dissected a our palette recently okay so um and right now she told me she wants to be a zoologist uh when she grow up so this hands on an engaging experiment really Inspire children give them memories that can last a lifetime I think years from now she probably couldn't remember her principal's name but she won't forget the fascinating experiment that she conducted in the science lab so please don't take the science lab away from our kids and instead make rasing a welcome school and let more kids benefit from this science lab and next year some kids may have to attend a new school so imagine if they come home and tell their parents they love their new school okay that's a relief for everybody here okay thank you thank you so much rakish are you here rakish all right Tina DEA my son will go first okay hi my name is Jared de and I'm a fourth grader at Ruskin Elementary School over the years I've been taught by the best teachers some have been with rusin over 30 to 40 years I me 30 to 40 years like Mr Lee and my third grade teacher Miss Burns they love teaching at Ruskin and want to stay until they retire please do not displace our staff teachers students and parents at Ruskin we love our school thank you thank you for your comments hi my name is Tina DEA and I'm a proud parent of Ruskin and seront two of my kids currently attend Ruskin and one has graduated from Ruskin and seront it's now looking into colleges but today board and superintendants I stand before you not not to just advocate for Ruskin or another I advocate for all the schools and all of our students we as the community of barasa need to do better I want to ask the board and the superintendents to do better to Pro to promote our district look around us look at all these parents around us look at our community we can be one unit in order to retain our students we need to better advocate for all of our elementary schools and our three middle schools this should not happen nor should repeat again in history we have incoming and upcoming young ones coming into our district we have strong parent voices active community members look around us look at us this is very we need to stand and fight for our district there are 11002 school districts in California we need to stand out and we can do it count on us Bo and superintendent thank you thank you for your [Applause] comments Christina Christina Wong Amy Albert Lionel please come up to the podium line up so you can you can have your two minutes Christina hello hello border Trust Jes my name is Christina Wong I'm a proud mother of a smart funny and curious 9-year-old in Miss Klein's fourth grade class and a spunky adventurous determin six-year-old in Miss World Banks kindergarten class both at Noble Elementary my daughter is also a beneficiary of the great staff at the IEP I'm here today to urge you to vote against the closure of noble Elementary School a decision I believe would not that would hurt not only the bar as a community but the future of our district I've been a part of this community since the early '90s and I chose to raise my family here because of the reputation Noble Elementary The Pride the Excellence associated with the school drew me back after my own time away at for University and grad school even through the challenges of Co I saw firsthand the dedication of our teachers staff and strong C of community at Noble I understand the district is facing budget difficulties but I ask why would we close a school that drives enrollment as a realtor I can tell you that the proximity to Noble Elementary is a big selling point for families looking to buy and rent in this area since 2018 193 listings in our areas have highlighted the I've highlighted Noble Elementary School proximity as the key selling feature if I were listing a home in this District before mentioning the three bedrooms to bass or updated kitchen I too would lead with walking distance to Noble Elementary because I know it will attract families Noble Elementary is a major reason why people want to live in berasa closing it will only drive families away and make our enrollment problem worse not better families will seek other options whether that means private schools charter schools are moving our out of the district entirely families who have otherwise chosen to live here Will to move elsewhere we can't afford to lose the very thing that draws people to our community now I'm not naive to think that keeping Noble open will solve all of our rment issues I know there's work to do with our city leaders our district Representatives our mayor you the Board of Trustees and our community the closing Noble will only exacerbate our enrollment problems I urge you to consider the long-term impact of this decision closing Noble is not a solution it will only create more problems down the line and we don't want to be here again after a short couple of years talking about more school closures I thank you for your time and your dedication thank you thank you for your Amy you have two minutes Amy okay hello my name is Amy uran pinan I'm speaking as a mother of three children two who attend Noble and one who attends pedmont middle I know that this is an impossible decision to make each individual here including the board members has their own personal bias that is why an independent Committee of people who represent the community of parents business owners and Community stakehold holders was formed to evaluate V evaluate various criteria criteria and objectively come up with a list of recommended schools for consolidation it is not right to include Noble which was not on the committee's list of schools recommended for closure to be now in consideration for consolidation we must honor the committee's hard work and trust their careful and mindful consideration of the given criteria per the board's most recent meeting it appears that my community is already going to lose a school it seems doubly unfair to close both local elementary schools east of peont Road thank you thank you for your comments next one is Albert Albert vron oh they can speak for you go ahead oh go ahead go ahead sorry hello my name is Lionel and I'm a fifth grade student at Cherrywood I'm here today because we do not want our school to be closed I absolutely love my school our Mandarin and English teachers are amazing and our principal is incredibly dedicated passionate and hardworking without her our manderin immersion program could be at risk how can you reassure parents and students that a new principal will bring the same level of dedication and avoid unnecessary trial and error periods strong leadership and execution are critical to maintaining or rebuilding a program like ours without that certainty the entire program could be at risk on top of that we have incredible parent volunteers who introduce us to cultures from around the world they organize family events that celebrate diversity and are shared Heritage even though I am about to graduate I hope my younger brother can enjoy the same learning environment that I did I am so proud to be part of Cherrywood all of this is possible because of the hard work and dedication of our teachers principles principal parents and Community we're so grateful for everything they do and we're asking you please please please do not close our Beloved School thank you thank you for your comment thank close our [Applause] school um next one is Albert before you speak Albert let me call on Johnny y Stephen Chang Jessica buas and Katherine Walter bck for the next round of speakers please go ahead go ahead Mr beltron two minutes thank you uh again my name is Albert Beltran Jr uh my affiliation for the record is uh my son went to Ruskin who's now seront hold on Mr Bel let's let's be quiet please someone is speaking thank you go ahead somebody someone's that Ruskin he's now at camont my daughter started TK at Toyon she's now at Ruskin will likely go to camont my myself my older sister went to Ruskin my older sister went to ca anise went to Majestic Way cousins went to Cherrywood um so my affiliation is you know throughout this District um so again knowing that a lot of families were going to be upset a lot of families are going to have to change the way they live every single day to go to different schools and and the way that'll affect them affiliation I'm also was part of the district advisory committee was part of Rus School site Council part of Rin PTA so I know and have seen some of the decisions and the information coming from our district our district leaders and so um I understand the hard choices that you guys have to make as well I was also part worked for a school district as an internal auditor I spent time on a bond committee for Morgan Hill Unified School District um also served for two years on the school the county committee for school district organization so having to hear community members Advocate um I understand that process and the tough choices that you have to make but that service also leads me to sort of promote the idea that I agree with everybody here that we as a community need to trust the process that that has been laid out that has been written down um and so I haven't been a part of every I haven't followed the the consolidation committee um but I can say that as somebody who writes policy for the county I know that process the criteria here um has to be followed in order for this community to have the trust in our leaders thank you so much for your [Applause] comments next one is um for two minutes is Johnny ye I'm Johnny ye from Noble thank you so much for listening today to us today my message for us is simple please don't break up the programs in our district that are working second please do take this opportunity to help communities that need revitalization the matter immersion program is a popular program it's booming it's pulling kids into the district and it works because the students and teachers work together not just the M immersion students and teachers but the whole school in just the same way the parent participation program has been thriving in Noble since 1998 many community members Noble teachers and their own children have gone through this program the combination of parent volunteers and donations from the families builds into a close strong Community which works regardless of whether families are in PPP or not Noble is one school not two separate tracks doing their own thing not the halves and the not halves which was mistakenly suggested at the last board study session Noble works with the contribution of longstanding teachers as well as excellent administrators PPP contributes to field trips speakers and upgrades for the whole school which is one reason why Noble's operating cost is one of the lowest in the district our numbers were down for a while during Co but that is because you can't have parents in the classroom when no one can be on campus since the end of Co the numbers have risen steadily and they are weightless to most of our classes this year with all this being said this is not the time to take a part Noble keep the momentum it's really hard to build a successful program and keep it working smoothly with administrators teachers without these administrators teachers and families on board I disagree that you can just move a program and reduce it to a number of classrooms needed that will not work from Noble and PPP our teachers and administrators and our excellent principal are not easily replaceable or interchangeable they understand how the specialized program can work in the school and be a drawn benefit for the whole school once you kill something that is working it's very difficult to put it back together if that happens even more families will take away their kids into private schools to get back what was lost secondly please take this opportunity to build something new and better if TK to8 is the plan let it be a grand plan not a fallback Resort forcing people to get to go wherever their zone for Let It Be a choice pull together representatives from all the schools together to make this commity project thank you so much so [Applause] much Stephen you have two minutes M Mr Chang hi good evening uh board trustees my name is Stephen Chang and I'm the proud parent of two children at Cherrywood I completely understand that we're fa facing a very difficult situation I get it and I stand by our entire Community I don't want any school to close but let's just stick to the facts right Cherrywood was a struggling Title One school and over the years work together with participation from the community of teachers principles and now we're excelling right we're a success story we bring a lot of people together from all walks of life Cherrywood is a value Adder look at the data look at the facts it's the only School in the school district there increasing enrollment rates right increasing enrollment me means dollars it's bringing income it is the Golden Goose thirdly this is the data presented last week right Cher has 75% utilization rate one of the highest utilization rates in the school district and going forward 2025 2026 we still have high utilization rates addition to that we have room to grow we have room to grow our school and also welcome additional students the population chairwood is over 530 students how are we going to break up 530 students The Proposal listed here separates Cherrywood into four categories Mi the English only into two separate schools and then the fourth SDC are you telling us we're going to cut off our right arm left arm right leg left leg does that really work if we look at the data it's all about the money right the money from the general fund we short this is not really School site it's really FTE full-time employees classified certified so what you're really saying or asking is to reduce headcount well head count happens everywhere including the executives we have four superintendent for your comments thank you so much thank you I just wanted thank you for your time let you know that it doesn't make sense to close very well thank you thank you next to speak is Jessica Jessica BOS good evening District board it is with great PL pride and sense of responsibility that I stand before you today as I reflect on the vital role rusin and sierant have played in our community for so many years the schools have been more than just places of learning they are the heart of our neighborhood where generations of students have grown thrived and built lasting memories our schools are deeply rooted in a tradition of excellence and inclusivity over the years Ruskin and sermont have worked tirelessly to provide an environment where students feel safe valued and empowered to succeed from our dedicated staff our active parent and community volunteers we have always strived to create a warm and welcoming space for All Families as the district navigates the CH the changes brought by consolidation we want to extend an open and heartfelt welcome to any school and its students impacted by this transition to the new students and families joining us please know that you are not just stepping into a school you are becoming part of a strong and compassionate community that is eager to support you in every step of the way at hi my name is Rainbird at Rin and Sia we are ready to provide every student with opportunities to flourish it is through our longstanding science lab and a wide range of activities or the inclusive culture that defines us your children will find a place here where they can learn grow and discover their potential thank you thank you we are confident that together as a United Community we can create a bright future for all of our students thank you so much for your comments Katherine Walter Katherine before you speak I would like to call on Susan Lee um Karen Lou Melanie Melanie and Roseline please get ready to speak after Katherine Walter Katherine you have two minutes good evening my name is Katherine Walter I'm a math and language arts and social studies teacher at pedmont this year and I have been teaching in the district almost three decades and change is definitely in inevitable um but it's not about the change it's how the change is taking place it seems that our consolidation committee submitted recommendations but very few if none have been considered I had already submitted my concerns to the board a few days ago one thing that bothers me is a projected numbers for pedmont as we it seems like we will be welcoming um kindergarten through fifth grade in some form or another your projection is 416 middle schoolers however next year we already have 400 sth and eighth graders and does that mean we're you're only projecting 16 sixth graders to attend pedmont it doesn't make sense in the report it says that pedmont is expected to have 611 students if you bring Toyon and Noble or another school over we're going to have over 1,200 students this campus can't handle it it's not that we don't welcome the K8 the K5 students but we're also concerned about our our students how 20 of our teachers will be displaced put to the back of the school and only have access to one-third of our campus we also don't see any plans for class size to make sure the class sizes are Equitable and safe especially in the portable classrooms where middle schoolers we can't fit 35 students in a middle in a portable there's no plan to which teachers would be teaching what subjects no plan for a special education program no plan for our wellness program no plan for the after school rock PL program and there's no plan to support emotionally and socially our teachers and our students I do believe you should reconvene in January to make a better decision than you for your comments Catherine thank you suan Lee you have two minutes I'm sorry sorry hi my name is Susan Lee thank you board save the big things that are keeping families in this District that's camont Ruskin Mi and the PPP program Ruskin science lab is a basis of a traditional academic stem program that competes with private schools like straford it doesn't make sense to close Ruskin down when you're trying to open a brand new steam Academy at a new K through 8 school allow all the students in the district the opportunity to join Ruskin to benefit from a wellestablished balanced and highly desirable traditional stem program Rin and seront families donate the most money for PTA and also for the music program and by the most bef raffle tickets the entire District benefits from these donations from muskin and camont families camont facilities are not suitable for a k through eight program the outdated layout of classrooms have walls that are open so you can hear kids from other classrooms students aren't allowed to go through the buildings to get to their next class so they run and um around the perimeter of the school to get to their next class my sixth grade child said he has been jostled and sandwiched between multiple students all rushing to their next class that is not safe for elementary schools um students traffic is also significantly more dangerous at camont for both drivers and pedestrians because there are no traffic lights and crossing guards at the main crosswalks in front of the school to control traffic please focus on a long-term solution not short-term even if that makes um that means making the more difficult decisions now if you close a school but realize later that it was a mistake you can't open it again if you pick the wrong schools now more schools will likely have to be closed um soon let's prevent more school closures in the future thank you thank you for your comments next to speak is Karen oh Melanie Melanie toach okay go ahead Melanie two minutes okay great good evening everyone uh my name is Melanie and I'm the proud parent of a noble Knight first grader I'm here speaking on her behalf and her name is Isabelle she's seven years old prior to attending Noble Isabelle um went to six different private schools uh preschools and a TK throughout the Bay Area so we moved around a lot um when you ask Isabelle what our favorite school is she will enthusiastically say Noble of course Noble is also my favorite school of those she attended because of the close-nit community of parents students Educators staff members we have an incredible we have incredible veteran teachers who work and live in the neighborhood um I I'm not in the PPP program my daughter's not in the PPP program but it's incredible we were on the wait list and we're still on the wait list but um you know the kids in that program are so enthusiastic they're excited it's it's incredible so I just wanted to mention that um we're still waiting to be a part of that I'm here to ask you to please reconsider closing our school or at the very least allow more time for discussion with our community Noble being on the list of potential schools to close is pretty new news to me this presentation right here doesn't list it as one of the school's considered forclosure so when I heard it might be Consolidated I thought that Toyon was going to be coming to our campus or at least that was one of the options so it's not really clear to me how the decisions are being made and how much school performance is being weighted at the very least I'd love more time for the committee to discuss with the community we have a lot of noble families here and we would like you to keep our school open and I think closing schools will continue to deter families from moving to the area and exacerbating the problem of declining enrollment thank you thank you for your comments um Karen Lou Ken Lou Rosal rosalin W yes good evening trustees my name is rosn Wong I am honored to serve as the PTSA president here at pedmont middle school as a parent and also I'm a parent at Vincy Park thank you for your thoughtful consideration and this process School consolidation and closure is a big decision that impacts the students teachers and families thank you also to the committee members for all their work in this process pedmont wasn't at the top of this list um for discussion until the last meeting I speak in support of keeping the current 6 to8 model at pedmont rather than forming a TK to8 two of my children have attended pedmont one graduated one still attending I have spoken very highly of P pm to other parents there are so many great programs teachers and staff here pedmont is the only B USD School this year having an eighth grade Washington DC trip as Sierra mons was cancelled and Morel does not offer that program we have an awardwinning music program for our band Orchestra and choir that travel and compete annually there are many student clubs for our student interest my child has come out of his shell and engaged in these our Sports programs are doing great like the girls wrestling um in the competitions these programs may not have the same success in the future if the school changes the model I am in favor of the Middle School model staying the way it is with them going across campus from class to class as it helps them transition for high school when it's a much larger campus traffic is a concern here as it's already bad with many middle schoolers who walk um but with younger kids they'll most likely have to be driven by parents and rather than drop and go I hope my youngest child and other future students will experience the programs and Community the school has formed thank you so much for your time and consideration thank you for your comments Roseline Wong all right uh four more Yumi Andre uh Sheldon and Nei Newen please come up quickly and um you have your two minutes which one are you so I think and she not I'm [Applause] sorry I can't read but what is the name again what is your name my name is D Krish but I want to trade places with having you go ahead you can go ahead and speak right now okay you have two minutes sure dear board members my name is Divia Krishnan a parent to two kids in cherrywoods mandin immersion program the past week for me has been very difficult as I saw my mother suffer excruciating pain in the hospital attending the previous meeting from the ER I couldn't help but think about not just my future but also that of my Cherrywood family we are one big happy well functioning coop operative family and by viewing our manin immersion and English only programs as those that can be easily separated and situated elsewhere it's sending a message that a happy family can be easily broken and sent their separate ways to different foster homes hoping that they'll find their bearings and continue to thrive and produce excellent results I let my other Cherrywood family members present more data in case you are not still convinced but Mi and EO are one big interdependent family please do not separate us do not punish us for doing well please do not close Cherrywood thank you for the opportunity thank you thank you for your comment um Yumi yeah yes Yumi you have two minutes good evening I'm Yumi hunt a parents of pimont middle school students who graduated from novel all the schools are special and we all don't want to close any of them that's why the process is very important and it has to be fair and transparent and we have watched closely what the committee discussed in the last eight months Noel was never in the recommendation of the committee because it's one of the cheapest goool to operate remember we are closing school to save money however in the last meeting trusties pushed Noble into schools to consider for closure closing Noble save $176,000 less a year less thousand year than some of them it doesn't make sense Mr Himes are you trying to close Noel because your kids go to some model I hope not all of us from Noel and also um the other school no um demand both members to make the process Fair without personal interest and follow the committee's recommendation thank you thank you for your comment and two and you have two minutes oh we'll be sharing this um as a parent a part of the community at Cherrywood um since 2018 I have seen the inner workings of how the teachers partner up and work together and I tell you training alone is not what makes it work speaking of training the cost of that is more money that we're claiming we don't have so to train 10 new teaches could be equally costy is this deducted by the in the potential Savings of closing Cherrywood can we afford this truly you cannot train the Synergy that exists this program has made history being the first and still the only one in San Jose so preserve it and continue to invest in it and bring further recognition to our District's reputation as a parent um I agree with a lot of the points that parents have made that what I'm seeing being on the consolidation committee um I have seen data but at the same time I don't feel that the data was really shown properly or that we were shown all of the data um we weren't given choice in putting weight in the criteria um we were many parents who are new to the process did not have lengthy discussions as we as the board would have and many of the choices were made were made based on the fact that these were just recommendations and that the board can still make changes and that's what I'm hearing to say is that looking at the slides from today's presentation in the interim report I'm seeing that the it's really about cutting teachers and salaries because cutting 19 teachers will save close to $2 million is not the goal of what we want so why are we pitching School against school why are we pitching parents after when one school against parents of another school thank you for your comments thank you thank you thank you next one is um new mu you have two minutes oh new hold on a minute I need to call on Asia for the next lineup I believe the pronunciation is wnis Tang the next one is Jeff and the next one is Raj B please lined up and get ready go ahead please good evening trustees my name is newie and a proud former parent of Cherrywood Elementary School with students at camont based on school consolidation survey with 946 parent responses the top three priorities for families in choosing a school where location and distance safety and quality of Education these priorities shared at the September 5th meeting reflect what truly matters to our community Cherrywood is uniquely positioned to meet these priorities offering a central location safe and easy access and high quality program that is starting to show positive enrollment Trends your goal in this process is to minimize Community impact and maximize savings closing Cherrywood would disrupt a large thriving school go against the your priorities the priorities of parents and our families that have expressed and not and not even for maximum savings we've heard the suggestion of moving the program to a bigger and better campus to allow room for growth sounds great in SC but not executable because Cherrywood is already at the best possible school for this program and keeping it open is essential to its success one reason for not moving Cherrywood is the capacity we have over 530 students Cherrywood is a second largest total classroom capacity in the district based on the school capacity calculation slide from the last study session this hard fact shows that moving the program to another school would actually reduce its ability to grow if you are committed to the program and series about the future of growth Cherrywood is a clear choice and must stay open thank you for your time thank you for your comments next one is Asia Asia oh Sheldon how come I don't have from the previous Sheldon come here Sheldon go ahead you have two minutes sorry thank you well uh you know first off I certainly wouldn't want to be on that side of the table let me just say that um so so let let me let me say a few things you know one no process is perfect okay but the consolidation committee scoring system had critical errors members and parents brought this up before the waiting system was not a waiting system at all you know they switched the process Midway which led to different rankings and and a lot of people didn't even know about things like the manor and ersion program and Cherry with the autism program at Lane View and the lab I Rusk it so I mean why were you why was the committee even considering those things makes no sense mistakes multiplied by mistakes will not give you the right answer and like even if there were no errors with the process itself it doesn't make sense to make decisions on the whole by only looking at peace Parts all scenarios must be considered and I actually support the board's decision in considering every scenario looking at the district as a whole so when you look at the scenarios remember you're elected to serve the constituent constituents the board so the scenario closing Cherrywood would result in disruption to the most students from what we have sent the board and you can look at the numbers yourself it also put the only growth program at risk with no risk mitigation plan Cherrywood has the room for growth and it's located conveniently in the district for both drivers as well as commuters with a light rail station just a block away we have over 200 parents who have signed a letter telling you specifically that they do not support Cherrywood closing and do not support the mender em emergent program moving so I'll just end by saying this don't disrupt the most number of students don't risk the only growth program in the district don't act against the will of the more than 200 constituent families that you elected to serve don't close Cherrywood thank you thank you for your comments Asia um hello my name is Karen Le I think I missed the announcement I'm sorry I think you just called my name but I missed wi miss Karen Le oh yes you just missed it go ahead Karen yeah you have two minutes thank you good morning uh good evening everyone hi I am a mom of two girls in Majestic Way and I have another younger girl who will attend Majestic Way next year I was so shocked to hear the news about the school closure a Dem a democratic country shouldn't make a decision to close school without public consensus such action only happens under dictatorship like tonight's meeting I wasn't informed until the last second so let me ask you a question if we all the parents and families didn't show up tonight you would just close you you would just make decision on your own to close all of our school is that right please all of you sitting here you are the role model of our next next generation if you make decision in this way without asking Consulting considering communicating how can our kids learn from you sitting here how can they learn about the democracy and freedom from you you are the people we trust but through the decision you make you become the group of people who cannot be trusted I highly recommend you as a leader of basa District please re reconsider your decision thank you very much thank you thank you for your [Applause] comment Asia next one is Asia I cannot hear and it's very difficult to converse with the speakers please please calm yourselves okay thank you Asia is that you go ahead D hi my name is Asia and I have a second grader at Cherrywood the location of the Mandarin emersion program is a top priority according to the survey Cherrywood central location offers equal access for families throughout the district this was a consideration when Cherrywood was chosen for the Mandarin immersion program also adding to its unique Advantage is it direct straight access along Sierra and capital no dead ends or navigating side streets Capital also also provides immediate freeway access making it highly convenient for families coming from outside the district like my own which commutes from mopus for those without cars a major VTA transit station is within walking distance there's a new affordable housing project proposal also within walking distance Cherrywood is uniquely positioned to meet this demand no other C campus allows this level of accessibility and convenience do not overestimate the willingness of all the Mandarin emergent students to commute farther to schools to other schools even if this is not their resident school to begin with we're committed to if we're committed to the future success of the Mandarin emersion program Cherry mood must stay open thank you thank you for your comments next one is wnis Tang you have two minutes hi everyone good evening trustees my name is wnis um after seven years of hard work I want to highlight that year after year Cherrywood has seen positive enrollments and this is the first year we've gained recognition as host school for the national Chinese language conference to assume that we are able to replicate it success and momentum by splitting up the school and relocating the Mi program is a bit naive Cherrywood is not an overnight success it has taken years of training partnership and Trust amongst the English and Mandarin teachers to develop a program that we see today and even then it it's still being refined closing Charwood now would disrupt this momentum and would introduce a new set of challenges that the teachers and communities will have to work out again the district and board are not going to be the ones involved in the day-to-day challenges the burden is going to fall on the staff which in turn would negatively impact our children's education and my program and may cause enrollment to decline the teachers and parent parents who have persevered through these challenges for years have spoken please for the benefit of our children families and communities keep Cherrywood open and thriving with the Mi and EO program as one thank you thank you for your comment uh Jeff Chow you have two minutes [Music] I am Jeff Chow parent of two Cherrywood kids and we Face a Monumental decision as one community and we look to you to make the hard decision so God speed and God bless parents value location distance safety quality of Education you guys value minimizing Community impact and maximizing savings with these parameters in mind before you are 21 viable scenarios four of which which are highlighted that show the least amount of impact to students and saving the most amount of money please review these and consider them before making your final decision Cherrywood is located in one of the best sites it's 2.2 miles or less from all the other school sites and as well po to provide equal access to all and in terms of real estate think location location location Cherrywood has also the largest potential capacity for students able to serve up to 790 students only second to Vincy Park its facilities may be dated but please recognize that it is one of the last in line to get updated from the from the funds already approved that are separate from the general fund once updated Cherrywood will be beautiful and modernized and be a gem for the for the district please also know that in its current state it's one of the most it has one of the most lowest per student operating costs which means it has been operating effectively and efficiently this is the kind of school that is an asset to the district I've observed the board's tendency to view Cherrywood under the lens of separate student bodies such as EO Mi resident non-resident intr We Are One Community comprised of more than 500 students we rely on one parent volunteer group and one teaching staff to provide high quality education thank you for your comments thank you very much uh rajb before you speak Raj B I would like to call on the next speakers and they are I believe it's Divia Krishnan Christian I think she speak all right and then Ela Wilson then Yung Tron then Lionel hang didn't you just speak yeah okay go ahead please you have two minutes good evening everyone I mean good night kind of but thank you for uh letting me speak here my name is Raji I have two kids going in Cherrywood for uh first grade and the fourth grade and I am also elected HSC president this year for the school so I've been here to talk about a little bit about Mi program that teacher has been talking to me about that I would really consider board member to go talk to the teachers who has actually worked really hard to implement this Mi program there are four teachers who actually started this program worked really hard and now they're devastated to know that it might be closed down or moved to some other school the other Cherrywood has is we have the biggest community of parents who are willing to volunteer out of their busy busy schedule every day for the sake of helping teachers students just EXC uh just Excel together as a community so it would be very disappointing to also see you to break up this community that has been created by HSC board prior to me I know how much they have worked hard to bring us all together last but not least I understand that you have to close the campuses but my biggest question and I'm sure some of the parents would agree that what are your plans after you close the campuses what are you going to do lease it out sell it if you're going to do that what are the chances of that property is going to be leased out or S sold out because as we know the old district office as it is we district is having hard time losing it selling it are we going to run into the same problem with the school property which are which are huge campuses thank you so much thank you for your comments El Ela the next the next speaker is Elba Wilson is there an Elba Wilson yes El [Music] [Applause] Ela good evening my name is Elva Wilson I'm here to support keeping Noble open I'm a 35 year resident of this community my two adult children attended schools here I was past president of the school site Council for both Noble and pedmont schools I was past president of the districtwide English Learners advisory committee I want to express my disappointment that at the 11th Hour this board is now completely throwing out the 8mon work and outcomes of the advisory committee's findings in one Fell Swoop you're giving Noble parents less than two weeks to respond you've given other schools six months the work of the advisory committee was a fair objective beded process following best practices for school closures set forth by the California Department of Education as you know closing Noble gives the district the lowest potential cost Savings of all 10 elementary schools Noble is the second to the lowest of 10 schools in operating costs per students Noble is projected to have to not have a significant enrollment declines in the next three years the consultant which you are paying over $70,000 of my tax kept reminding you of this at the December 9th meeting your December 18th School consolidation presentation for closure lists criteria but it's really meaningless because there's no analysis for how the board is targeting uh or saving uh saving schools forclosure or targeting if you're not conducting a thorough evaluation as was as was done by the advisory committee you're leaving us in the dark with no other choice but to assume that your reasons are personal or subjective you're giving us nothing to substantiate your com sections for closure thank you thank you for your comment do the right thing do the right thing say no thank you thank you um the next one is yron hi I'm Ain you called me earlier and I wasn't here what is your name Ain g go ahead a hi sorry let me get my ke down here okay so first of all I apologize for my tardiness and I just want to reiterate to each of you what I have spoken to you about what I have written to you about and that is ensuring educational Equity the fact that four of the schools that have been shortlisted for closure are Title One schools namely Lan view Summerdale where I work as a cace reading tutor uh toon as well as here at pedmont is extremely problematic as public school Educators in this system our job is to ensure Equity how can you be ensuring Equity when you're going to when you're possibly considering consolidating the four schools that serve the most number of needy students in this community how can you do that how can we say that we are ensuring Equity when we are basically targeting the poorest students it's impossible it's impossible and as you all know those four schools have been Title One school since at least 2017 so just to reiterate again what I have written to you about and what I have spoken to you all about please whatever your decision is do so focusing on educational Equity because those are the students who are going to be most impacted by the time everything is said and done thank you thank you y Yung Tran before you before you speak Yung Tran um let me call on this four other people please get ready to speak after uh the lady speaks her name is for Miranda Kim this uh Deborah Anderson and Raja Bala go ahead please two minutes hello um thanks for the time here and you know I've heard this is my first time at this meeting and it's my first time really hearing about the school closures and the consolidation so I'm late to the game but you've all heard tonight what it means for every single parent here every single school it's more than just a building or books it's definitely a community and I'm no different I'm a proud uh Noble night Mom and I've had three kids go through the school system a fifth grader still there and we've enjoyed the benefits of having this amazing local school and it's a shame that Future Families may not be able to experience it so it's no surprise that when you bring it up emotions do arise and it is something that is is very close to everybody's heart here for every single School so for the sake of time I really want to talk about what the consolidation means and ask about you know what it means for us from a budget standpoint you know consolidation is it overstated the costs with mer emerging schools such as building Renovations increased Transportation administrative changes have you considered those costs have you really um taken into account the long-term impact on student outcomes and Community Vitality those are hidden costs that you haven't shared with us in full transp parency education is necessary to develop strong and stable citizens who will contribute to society and I recently read um in some publishings where it talks about the investment of students and what it means for our future and it was a really interesting statistic so I'll say it fast it basically says that when we take into an account for school grads there's a return of a145 to every three to $355 for every dollar of investment on education so at the end of the day it'll end up in resulting in trillions of taxpayer dollars coming back to us if we have stable citizens how are we able to help our kids become contributors in society when we're creating environments that make education difficult thank you for your comments go ahead go ahead two minutes hello my name is Fong Yan I'm a parent of two children at Cherrywood Elementary School I just want you to look around the room and see the damage that's already been done by just the discussion of consolidation right you're putting students staff parents families through so much stress dur especially during the holidays and you know you're pitting us against each other we're all trying to fend for ourselves and we should be United as a community you're also trying to divide a wedge between chood Community you're saying oh English only versus Mandarin resident versus non-resident so there's a lot of damage already being done now imagine what's going to happen when you start closing these schools okay with over $95 million in Revenue I'm sure you can find money to save at least at least one school if not more okay you can look at cutting unnecessary expenses and focusing on generating Revenue what are unnecessary expenses let me tell you $84,000 on voer the pr firm for baresa that does nothing for our students okay $77,000 for security guard for a new building that we did not need $25,000 for mindfulness leadership training okay that's almost $400,000 right there that I could save for you and we can also look at cutting assistant superintendent positions that's over $100,000 right there come on come on half a million dollar right one the school closure let's say cherwood it will save you $844,000 I just saved you $600,000 you can save cherwood you can save many schools if you look at the financial budget more clearly push back on the board and say no we're not voting on consolidate or close we want you to do better thank you [Applause] Miranda all right come on let's go audience please cooperate I know it's getting late and there are kids here so please let's cooperate all right uh Miranda go ahead Miranda two minutes my name is Miranda Kim I have two students in the Cherrywood Mi program and I'm also a Cherrywood allum myself I live in the town homes adjacent to the school and walk as do nine other students on our street there are many young families in our neighborhood potential Cherrywood families it's a shame to see our school on the closure list when we have high enrollment a prime location for commuters and a success successful immersion program our Mi team includes our principal our Mandarin speaking librarian Mandarin teachers and their partnered English teachers this is our complete Mi program I cannot stress this enough how frustrating that throughout the consolidation process the board and consolidation committee Define the Mi program as only Mi enrolled students with their Mandarin teachers this is a false definition this false definition led to a false assumption that our program is easily portable if you decide to divide our school based on these assumptions you leave our Mi program in shambles the district will have even more work work to repair and piece it back together who will be the new principal which teachers will take over English learning will host School teachers even want to partner and train in Seal how long will it take to build up these Partnerships of one to one switch again will the dual immersion switch model change will the board work to preserve the quality and integrity of our program your answers to these questions directly affect enrollment to this program next year it is a waste of time and re resources to move then attempt to stitch this program back together we can continue to thrive and grow in our current location thank you thank you for your comment next speaker is Deborah you have two minutes Deborah thank you my name is Deborah Anderson and I've had four children in this district for 14 years I've been here for a while we've been at Noble for 14 years and we've been at Sierra M for six I'm here to advocate for keeping both of those open but to start I want to tell you how grateful I am for the work that you do for our students and the work in the district office I'm genuinely happy with the education that my children have received I have a student in college and he is at a tough school and he's doing very well and I know that that's because part of his education was here so thank you my comments are to hope that we can continue to have this great program for other students and I really do have nothing but praise for you and what you do I see it in my kids and I thank you um I taught in the Los Salto school district for five years before I took some time off to have my kids and when I was there it was about 20 years ago in the low CTO School District was facing very similar circumstances uh homes had hit about $2 million and people were leaving and they were up against the option and they needed to close the school too they closed Bullis Elementary which was in the Lo elos Hills you can look this all up um the community was against it the community didn't want this to happen and what happened eventually after a lot of legal fees and everything else his parents actually started a charter school right within the boundaries of the lto school district this cost a lot of money and a lot of time and now there are two schools with the bullish starter School an elementary school and a junior high school right within the boundaries of Lo elos which drains resources that could have been there I am here to advocate for you that you will partner with parents so that you can avoid this mistake the Lo elos is having a tough time those elos will always have an easy time but but they would have been better had they found a way to partner with their parents so that's what I'm advocating for thank you thank you for your com R before you hold on before you speak um I would like to call on Pete Wang um Warren Sue Shana Brewer Lisa sorum and Elisa Sano or Eliza Sano please get ready go ahead please Raja oh my God I'm here um okay so uh I waited two hours and my brain just died right now I'm not really here to talk about what schools you should or should not close and why you shouldn't do it and all that stuff I am here however my name is Rada Bala preschool special teacher at toy on Elementary I here to implore and really I guess bring to the Forefront the needs of our preschool and prek special ed students they they're not the same as TK they don't have any Ada Advan um attendance daily oh my gosh I'm so tired daily attendance you don't get money out of the preschool students whether they show up or not however they are vital to this district and they should be treated as respectfully as any other student um my main concern is there's never been anything said about when you close what school you close and what you're going to do with our preschool students and the teachers and where are we going to go and if we go somewhere we need to make sure we have safe environment like the bathrooms and everything and I'm so exhausted I can't even say anything else so good night everybody but please please do think of our preschool three to four year old children thank you for your comments next speaker is Pete Wang to minut Pete good even good evening everyone thank for having me my name is Pete W I'm the father of two kids both going to Noble Elementary School they have been in PPP program for years um when my wife and I first found out that my son got accepted by PPP in 2020 was so happy we felt our world is bright and beautiful and that you all know three months later Co happened we all feel our world humble humbling our future is in puzzle however because all the parents and all the teacher and all staff member from PPP program we we pull everyone together we p through all the all the kids learn how to support each other all the parent learn they can help their kids to over to encounter all the challenge and that's what PPP taught our kids and that's how no we learn from Noble as well because without the support and dedication from the noble staff member now of this could be have been possible um last year actually this year Noble uh all the kid many kids joined the science science Olympia they are from PPP program as well Noble won the top ranking in the contest and why because all the kids they voluntary for a study group they all support each other they all find resource to to do well and I think that's the most important part about PPP is to teach kids hey they can support each other they got all the support from their parents from their their school from their teacher they can support each other they can be anything even like the co a toughest enemy we hav't seen they can they can overcome the challenge because of pppp and because of noble thanks for opportunity having me uh I urge you to reconsider the possibility of closing down Noble uh because that'll be a big loss to our community also to our the quality of educations thank you thank you for your comments waren SU I have Warren no okay how about Shana Brewer good evening I'm shaa Brewer I'm a Committee Member and I'm a parent of a noble fifth grader and peont middle eighth grader um the committee did a good job assessing the schools based on the data available to us but here's the reality closing these buildings are actually not where we're getting our cost savings tonight Mr Franklin presented the interim report to you but if you actually look at the report on page six you'll see that you are laying off 42 FTE 90 19 and a half of those are teachers or certificated non-management roles and four more are the following year you're getting your 6 million in savings and five million of that is in people I don't think that's really about a school s it it's people we said we were going to do better and improve the educational experience but these Cuts don't signal that to parents that that's your goal if we must close schools let's stop comparing facilities and instead focus on where we need to merge and adjust boundaries the recent demographers report tells you exactly where to focus we can see where the decline is going to be in three years our committee did not have those numbers those came out December 5th but the list we provided is not that far off specialized programs are attracting students to Cherrywood and Noble in and out of our district follow the demographers recent report and make sustainable changes that align with where our enrollment is decreasing I want to make one last point you can make it a lot easier on our impacted families if you take the extra step to give them a choice between the TK to8 model and a nearby School TK to8 is amazing opportunity but it's not for everyone and the steam program will take time to get off the ground by doing that you achieve you give families a sense of control you create more capacity so you're not displacing the rising seventh and eighth graders at Pont middle and you have increased likelihood of the success of the new program thank you thank you thank you for your comment Lisa Lisa s go ahead Lisa two minutes good evening tonight I address you as a concerned Community member of over 33 years not as an employee of one of the schools on the list recommended for closure or consolidation I would like to begin by thanking all of the committee members that dedicated months of their time and energy to the process of selecting the schools to be presented to you on that list unfortunately their time seems to have been a complete waste if the board of directors cares about this community and respects its highly intelligent administrators staff and community members who dedicated all of that time and energy to this process then the board will stick to the recommended list not 11th Hour additions or changes this district has moved its SDC programs around over the years students and teachers adjust we all adjust We Roll With the Flow that's what we do in the SDC program no school should be excluded from that list simply because it has an SDC program no school should be excluded from the list simply because of somebody's emotional ties to it stick to the list thank you thank you your comment I believe it's Elisa before you speak hold on Elisa the next group of speakers Fen um Karen kasima um Su changlu chin Min d d okay and Diana Lynn you are the next speaker please get ready thank you very much go ahead please Elisa hi my name is Elisa Serrano I'm a parent of H samale pedmont and have been Toyon as well um first of all I want to thank all the parents the PTA School site councils volunteers um the students especially the staff or the communities they have built that this has been very challenging because every single school has a community where children's education has been a priority this shouldn't even be um a thing where schools have to close because of money or funding realistically children are our future and we have to keep that always in mind so if there's a way that the board can consider less uh impact on these schools closing heartbreak break of people that have to leave is inevitable as as it shows um you know but I just hope that they see how to do a better trade-off for these schools how to not close the programs you know the emerging programs the after school programs our staff how can we you know maybe consolidate the middle schools with better TR uh elementary schools with more trade offer you know having all you know keeping our staff keeping as much as we can but what we going to do with those buildings and as far as for pedmont all the middle schools should be left as are as it's a really tough time for the middle schools we have unhoused students bullying part you know uh depression suicides at our highest and for middle school students it's where it's most challenging and the scariest time of their life we've all been there before and so if the middle schools in all our district should be left as is hi I'm Justin Casas I go to school here at pedmont and I have just one thing to say you guys aren't really thinking about the middle schoolers you're just really thinking about the the the K the TK to fifth grade students thank you thank you for your comments thank you next speaker is I'm sorry what is your name my name is Mark Comfort I think I think I heard my name called or someone told me they thought my name was called Mark my name is Mark yeah Comfort Comfort go ahead please two minutes thank you uh I'm Mark Comfort I'm here to advocate for Noble school and uh unlike some of the uh schools that are here we don't have any professionally printed signs or screen t-shirts that's because we were thrown a hot potato in our laps booby trapped with two minutes to Two Minutes to Midnight which seems a bit unlawful but that aside I I wish to call attention of the board to a consideration which I think it's overlooked I haven't heard anyone else mention and that's the Aesthetics of the campuses in question uh Noble Elementary School is the showpiece campus of the baresa Unified School District it's the one any parent would choose object objectively if touring all the campuses the elementary school campuses it's uh it's got a wide expansive layout and it's uh lots of green Open Spaces other schools by comparison are appalling windowless generic cramped clustered concrete eyes swords they really are a few of the campuses one that's very close to here it looks like a correctional facility and uh that's an important consideration we we shouldn't close our Jewel uh uh showpiece Elementary School campus and uh that's about my time so I'll leave it with that thank you very much thank you for your comments uh PA I'm sorry Paul tutle what Paul tutle I thought I heard my name call I'm sorry what is your name Paul Tuttle I don't have you on the list sir did you fill out one of these yeah can I just squeeze in a minute real quick go ahead go ahead thank you my friends to none of us did it make sense that they want to close our school none of the financials make any sense it makes no sense why they're doing it sir especially since they're Ming their own headquarters at cost of $10 million to address the board while their old on empty sir you need to address the board please meanwhile um many of you were here a couple years ago when we fought them they were okay with the city council setting up the homeless tiny homes over there by the perk what people are with homeless across the street from their school while our kids are walking school with all these people R bikes running track what kind of people are in charge of your children at school it's just crazy I know I can sir you need to address the board we've been trained to think that while we the board please these people will take great care of us they'll do everything to take care of us and make sure our children are well taken care of and this is what we get and so um I would like to urge all of you to replace them to run in their place replace your neighborhood committee vcac they're in it together city council is with them that's not right your children raise them to replace them it it's not your school versus my school we are all in this together my kids don't even go to school all right let's let's continue let's move on please um for no what is your name sir I'm CH I'm sorry my name is CH La Chen Min La all right okay here it is okay go ahead please two minutes sir okay so first first thank you for the opportunity to speak my name is cha I'm a parent of two children who attend Noel an engineering director in the sap 100 company an ex president of the engineering organization with 4,000 members a researcher uh with PhD I come to this with my personal and professional perspective in this matter please keep Noble and Elementary as is here's my reason as you already know we do walk through this exercise because of the uh financial burden closing uh Noble Elementary doesn't give you any Financial uh benefit or Freedom second of that Noble is a high performance School in terms of the academic in terms of the way they can handle special programs SDC PP uh PPP parent participation program which is a unique program not only in Academia as well as unified the community and education school and teachers that's how the chemistry it is like a third one is that like the Majestic Way placing Noble into consideration for culture without being part of the original recommendation which you spend 70,000 and 9 months to form is undermind the Integrity of the process as a leader of the organization in this school district I urge you to strongly consider keep Noble Elementary as is thank you thank you um is there a pH how about Karen kasima uh Karen sorry I'm not uh I I was using the slot for sh CH she has some family urgency so I will speak I'll give you minutes yes yes yes because we are both parents of students yeah so my name is gu and chairwood parent as well um I'm here to express my support for uh cherwood Elementary School which has a very successful um man immersion program and uh without much words to say that it has very high utilization very high reputation already among the community one thing uh actually also amazed me is that uh my son actually gets exposure to all different cultures not just the Chinese and he is actually making friends with all kinds of people not just the Chinese I mean Mand imersion is not just the Chinese so relocating the on my program would affect the foundation of his teaching model uh potential leading to a decl enrollment it takes so many years we actually could build this program from scratch and honestly it also took so many years that it can gain reputation remember this was when it was a new program not so many people would want to join it or they would have some ads but reuting cost time people money or emotion reputation all those kind of stuff are not already reflected in the reports first of all moving so many students together with the equipments and the materials would be very highly complex and disruptive and very time consuming so it takes a great efforts and a lot of dedication from so have been so many people from for so many years so it we could just make this one just into this current status which is very successful but however everybody knows that it took a lot of effort to build something successful but however it can be very easy to break it so I would urge the board now to break something that is already working and instead try to re change the boundaries bring more students into childhood although it has very high utilization rate you can still bring more students to it and make it more culture inclusive thank you for your comment and be successful with everybody thank you K Karen is Karen here go ahead Karen two minutes thank you for the opportunity to speak my name is Karen hska and I'm from Cherrywood and I appreciate your time just late in the evening um and I know you've heard from me before uh one of the values that I frequently heard last week was minimizing the disruption to communities and yet I also hear comments that cherry wood would be closed because we are easily split into two or in some cases Bes slides four um the problem with this line of thinking is it disregards scale no matter how many splits you make a school with over 500 students is a larger Community than a school with 300 closing a larger campus is more disruptive and Cherrywood is one of the largest student bodies in the district now I've heard the counter argument the 500 includes overflow or it's not their resident School whatever label you use to segregate us we're still one Community our children our volunteers and our programming are a reflection of all of us and we are a powerful team Cherrywood now has the most volunteers of any District school we bring in the most money we have the most events and community activities we win State national and international Awards we do that together if you truly want to minimize disruption you will not prioritize the moving of 500 children over the moving of 300 for essentially the same savings this is a hard decision yes but it needs to be the correct decision or we will be back here again in short time make a decision based on data and sound analysis not the limited and gapped criteria that handicap the committee that failed to understand or discuss our District's strongest program your data is correct and I am confident that you understand the Mandarin immersion program you know that it relies on Mandarin and English communities for the paired sealed model to work you know that we are not easily interchangeable or replac and I'm sure you know that over a third of the families in the current program are planning not to continue if it leaves I challenge you to show us what minimizing disruption means and commitment to community and programming looks like for barrya thank you again for your time this evening thank you for your comment is is um Diana Lyn Diana Lynn yes okay she had to leave early and she asked if I would speak in her place is that okay my name's Kevin Gordon ahead okay minutes yes thank you first of all thank you for all the effort and time you put into this I know it's been a difficult process and we know you've put many long hours into so thank you as a parent of three Cherrywood children uh I want to speak on behalf of keeping Cherrywood open I have two Cherrywood uh children in the Chinese immersion program uh one in the fourth grade and one in seront who just graduated from Cherrywood the program has been excellent for them learning uh the mandrian Chinese my wife is at the Chinese her whole family speaks Chinese for over a million people in San Jose to the rest of my knowledge chairwood is the only mandarine immersion program over 30% of the people in San Jose are Asian most of those being Chinese without the CH the Mand immersion program they have nowhere else to go my wife and I and our family were born again Christians we were going to send them to a private Christian school but when we found out about the manual imersion program we took all three children interdistrict transfer that raised your census by three children to come into this program it's been an incredible program but it took seven years to build the cohesiveness that we have at that school I fear that moving it somewhere else would risk breaking up that cohesiveness and that delicate balance we found and possibly damaging Beyond repair what is the only option uh that people have in the public school from the Chinese community uh my children have become fluent my daughter has won multiple awards first place in Regional competitions it's been an incredible experience I've personally talked with parents who have moved and bought homes in The beresa District in order for their children to come here and as I said it's the only one for over a million people in San Jose there are lots of other language programs but not for mandrian Chinese in San Jose so I'm asking you to take that into consideration also the location as we've heard and the census we already have there in the room to grow please keep Cherrywood open thank you so much for your time and I want to wish everyone no matter what you decide a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year thank you God bless um is there a Diana Lynn he spoken uh Joe hi is it Joe butcher no it's not my name is Dan Wu I submit the com very early never got call I'm sorry what is your Dan W it's not here Dan is in Daniel Daniel W I don't have it I know it's not there go ahead speak please two minutes hello my name is Dan I'm a parent of two student in the manine emersion program at Cherrywood Elementary by now I hope the board has heard about and is fully aware of why the mar iners program is an integral part of the Cherrywood Community we Cherry progress in the Mi program our top here academic performance and the top attending rate among all the school here the better yes are school boards are consider Charwood a key asset in The District in your decision for the school consolidation any company or organization that is worth anything would keep all the key employee and key access close to their chest so that the organization would come out better in the future after the hot time I urge the board to seriously consider keeping Cherrywood open closing Cherrywood would be a dis great diservice to our trust the trust that we place in you when we elect you to lead the district good leadership is not just being fair but prudent and divesting key Assets in hot time just for the sake of fairness is neither fair or smart for the future of the district and its resident thank you thank you for your comments we have here Cindy Chang Joe butcher Jimmy and um link linkai zo what is your name ma'am uh my name is Sarah I have submitted my uh card a long time ago but uh I haven't heard my name yet what is your name full name saru Hsu oh it's right here you're in the next group but okay I'll go ahead then Cindy Chang just hold on Sarah Joe bucker okay good go ahead Sarah okay good evening board members I don't know each one of you uh but um to those of you who really care care about this community love this community good evening to those of you who attempt to push your own agenda and add our Noble school to the list within two weeks are you ready for the consequences first consequence you would face is the legal action we're going to take before coming to this meeting today I talked to my attorney friend and he told me that if you uh basa Union School District will close our school within such such a short notice then legal action against either the board or individual board member who make this act decision MO will be not only wearable but also winable yeah we're going to th you if that will happen in short notice this is America this is democratic country it's not as you said one person two person the person the people who cannot trust cannot make a decision for us Sarah yeah yeah please be quiet no comments from the audience please suddenly or I will have you remove you are board member you should be educated but I don't seem this doesn't seem true because you spend so much money eight months doing investigation evaluation and you get a list of schools but within two weeks you just decide another two school at the bottom of the list will be chosen you don't give good reasons where is they from it's very suspicious there might be something under the table ongoing right now we should ask for investigation investigation from the city investigation from the state investigation from the country everybody should investigate what's going on thank you thank you for your comment please leave the podium stop deting us we are together can you have them remove those people over there please they are not behaving maturely they're behaving like children we've got children here please show show your demeanor and respect to our kids go ahead please thank you good evening members of the board my name is Joe Bush and I'm a noble KN parent tonight I approach you with both humility and empathy I hold a degree in child development and a master's in counseling I spent four years working in elementary education and the last 20 as a college counselor this this experience has shown me firsthand how a strong Elementary education profoundly impacts students success in higher education this is why programs like the parent participation program are so vital the program creates a welcoming environment strengthening academics for all students not just those in the program for example field trips are funded organized and staffed by the PPP parents but they benefit and are open to the entire student body they provide valuable experiences like getting to learn and and experience uh steam moreover parent contrib contributions of money and more importantly time further support Noble strong academic standards and test scores closing Noble would dismantle this program and its positive Community impact until recently Noble was excluded from the original closure list because his closure offers the least Financial benefit to the district of the schools considered this reflects Noble's immense valuable value to the community and the committee's commitment to Equitable data driven decisions Noble's more than just a school as my 7-year-old daughter Penny put it it's our home it's also a model of how collaboration between parents and schools Foster success for all students I urge you to keep Noble open thank you thank you for your comments is there a Cindy go ahead Cindy come you're Cindy Chang right yes please you have two minutes Cindy sorry Hi my name is Cindy and I'm a parent of a first grader in the Cherrywood Mi program in two more years hopefully my son will also join the program I'm here to tell you that the Mandarin immersion program works my daughter is a non-native speaker and she is flourishing the Mi program works because of the hard work and dedication of the Cherrywood community and staff together they have built this program from the ground up in the last seven years countless staff parents students and volunteers have nurtured this program to become what it is today a thriving successful part of the community this program in school has continually shown increased enrollment but moving this program means risking that momentum are you willing to risk our upward Trend in enrollment moving the program means we lose a lot of the backbone we have now that Mak it so solid the program will need to be rebuilt the instability will discourage enrollment and in the long run will likely cause more of a budget deficit closing Cherrywood should not be an option thank you thank you for your comments um linkai yes you have two minutes thank you okay good evening everyone it's good to see you again my name is link Kai and I'm from cheru I'm also served as the president of myac man emerging parent advisory committee and couple minutes ago I just hand over this 200 signature M shelter mentioned those are parents from Mi program they are opposing closing this program or they are going to remove their children out of this district is a huge loss to this committee I believe and I want to emphasize reemphasize all those points parents have mentioned first of all you should remove the cost facility cost as a closing criteria because that money is from maor U Bond instead of general fund so those money are already allocated and I'm asking you to clarify with Miss Kevin he should have a better answer of that the next thing is like U the way you are choosing close travel is send a contradiction message to this community because at one hand you try to bring up a new program here in pan Middle School to attract more student on the other hand you are Co chair which is a very successful program the next thing is that you need to consider capacity cheru has already have a student body of 560 students are you going to move a big student body or a small student body like 300 student in other school district which one is a easy task the next thing you need to consider is like if you move TR to the other school you need to have a full buying of that school because how many teacher are willing to go through this s training and how many teachers are willing to redesign the curriculum with the Mi uh teachers you are going to restart this program from ground zero one more time again I urge you to keep CH running as is thank you thank you for your comments hang Buu is there a hang Buu hang bu oh that's him I think knows not how about I have here a Jimmy you're hang okay go ahead two minutes Wang okay good evening everyone my name is hanu and I'm a proud parents of a first grader and a future kindergartens at Cherrywood Elementary School my family moved to basa District specifically for the Mandarin immersions program at Cherrywood right now the potential closure of Cherrywood is a major concern Among Us parents we are deeply worried about how this will affect our community and our children the issues of low enrollment has led to this consolidation plan but closing Cherrywood splitting the programs that mean breaking apart a community that has grown together support each other this solution doesn't seem right our test score in math English science and mentoring are excellent ranking n out of 10 and placing Us in the 86% high in California these achievements are due to dedications of the parents teacher and student at Cherrywood without Cherrywood barasa l a key attractions for family so why eliminate the school that draw into enrollment many of us move here specifically for this programs a Cherrywood closes student will not return to their home school but will leave the beresta district allog together moving to private school like straford or other District like Robert Randle and mil ptis who recently adapted mentoring immersions our school in Los alos offer competitive programs we're closing Cherrywood and divided Mandarin immersion program solve the enrollment issues or will it drive more families away it takes times and money and emotion for transfer so why don't we start advertising for our district and for our unique programs that we offer here at Bara School District the solution should be bringing more student in not to cancel the schools thank you for your attention and considerations thank you for your comments do we have Chen Chu tang shenu tang I think [Music] um are you Shen CH good yes you have two minutes thank you you good evening everyone thank you for letting me speak out here I'm the parent of a second grader today I'm representing Cherrywood family it's one of the coldest nights of of this winter however I feel warm inside out because I saw lots of parents from Cherrywood here to support our mandering immersion program and the Cherrywood right there let me briefly address the following reasons that we should not close Cherrywood Elementary School yes closing Cherrywood may solve may solve District to monetary issue temporarily however its vision is really shortsighted closing Cherrywood would cause much more money to rebuild it's not a wise decision in the long run as we all know the best way out is to well keep our star program the mandering motion program in cherwood in order to attract more students to INR barisa School District in the future according to the recent survey moving Mi program out of the center area of the school district to any other place is going to lose about onethird of students due to longer commutes with congested and unsafe drop offs and K and pickups and the lack of confidence about the program educational quality in the coming years when Mi program is dismantled this would potentially lead to its complete failure and rendering years of dedicated efforts [Music] fut thus we lose more future enrollments and funding for the school district CH would not only attract students in the district but also as well as those from elsewhere thank thank you for your comments thank you let's fight for the grow for CH thank you thank you yes I put my name in every meeting and I don't see my name called what is your name my name is Eric Cora and I've been to several of the meetings here go ahead okay the focus of the meeting has always been around closing schools because the data says your room will drop but the consultant does not account for an increased number of students enrolling in TK classes if bar if barasa adds three classes it will generate enough Revenue to offset the cost of closing one school as as your midyear financials reported indicated in 2025 100% of foury olds will be eligible to attend TK last year only 29k students were enrolled and 527 were enrolled next year 1,000 students who are born in 2009 are eligible for TK if you enroll 700 students um they will help you last year Cherrywood Lan Lan View and Noble did not have a TK Cherry Cherrywood um has 93 K Kinders three classes but no TKS and can accept new TKS viny Park and Northwood each has three kindergarten classes and only has one if not two TKS it bear as it grows TK enrollment by 100 students you'll get 1.5 million if you enroll increase it by 200 you get 3 million you have the space Cherrywood is the only school that can grow by 250 students adding a cohort over five years you will have an additional 130 students 1.9 million this school is the only school that can grow and it can attract parents from outside the district please think and act growth change challenge your parents to recruit new parents the problem with the the Consultants analysis it looked backwards and it and by looking backwards it did not see the growth the chairwood can provide and help your schools thank you very much think growth thank you thank you for your comments sir this concludes this concludes the speakers from the from the audience um superintendent is there a presentation I thank you for all your comments and um superintendent is there a presentation after this yes we do have a presentation for the board um based on your request from the last study session would you like to make a motion and a second to open up discussion along with the presentation I move to have more discussion second that it's been moov and seconded all in favor say I I I the motion passes well you're open for discussion open and the action will follow uh before we do all that I would like to address the my fellow board members if I may please [Music] um first let me start by thanking each of you for your D diligence and care as we work together on the Monumental decision before us I know this has weighed heavily on everyone and that as trustees you have been incredibly thoughtful thinking of our current and future barriers as students and what will be best in the long run for our entire Community this has not been easy for anyone in our community and we are deeply appreciative of the input and engagement from our various app parent staff administrators and community members so in that Spirit of appreciation and respect for the valuable time and effort invested by our school consolidation advisory committee members consisting of representatives from all of our school sites and key Partners I would like to urge this board to take in the full weight of their recommendations their process was thorough and representative it was the process that we as a board deter determin would best for our community it was our decision to create a committee and Empower these parents staff and administrators to share their perspectives upon careful study and consideration of all the facts through a process of many months while I have understood the need to explore and exhaust other possibilities it is my opinion that these last ditch efforts run contrary to our PR process a process that we deliberated on and agreed upon as a board a process that places enormous value on community input in [Applause] closing let me reiterate my appreciation to all of you my colleagues my fellow board members for your professionalism and dedication to our community I have tremendous faith in our varasa community and that whatever the outcome this evening this berasa Union School District Community will continue to shine and build on its tremendous strengths our outstanding programs and school communities will continue on and will thrive in new and reimagined sites as our students and staff will continue to do amazing things in this new chapter this as I begin to Pride tonight as your board president these are my few minutes to share some of my thoughts with you and I thank you let's proceed we will begin now the discussion that's the next step superintendent go ahead oh yeah the presentation thank you go ahead uh Mr Franklin please thank you all right good evening again so I'm just going to go over um a little bit of uh a reminder of how we got to this point at of where we're at and so um you know I kind of spoke to this a little bit during the interim but you know I spoke to our declining enrollment as our declining enrollment decreases and our Revenue decreases we still have the same operational cost for operating 13 School sites so over the last number of years we've declined 2,000 students um since 20134 and we still have the same number of sites so 2,000 students is over $2 million or um over well over um $20 million in Revenue so in that case you know we have to look at you know where are we going to um try to find some of those cost savings given the same fixed operational costs of running those uh School sites so um you can see revenues have decreased sorry I have one question sure sorry I interrup your presentation but so the costs aren't only staff costs right because we can't reduce the number of teachers because you know our teachers go with the students so there are other costs related to operating a School site that aren't related to say certificated staff yeah so Al you know with school sites there's not only our teachers there's support staff there's um the certificated management staff there's other staff associated with those School sites um you know we spread our resources thin when you have smaller School sites so you have combination classes so you know when you have a larger School site you can eliminate some of those uh small class sizes because you don't have enough for uh two classes even per grade level so typically yes the teachers do follow those students but there are other uh operational costs associated with those School sites and with running those uh sites so as the second bullet says you know we decreased from 103.7 million down to 88.7 million um that numberers changed a little bit in the interim with some of the the additional revenues from donations and whatnot that I mentioned um so that is a little bit of a change this is um data that has been presented since the beginning of this process um but I just mentioned the combination classes and then with the middle schools we also have a you know with smaller uh School sites and Middle School sites we have um less teachers we have less opportunity to provide um robust electives we have very few electives based on our staffing that we can provide to our students so it's how can we um best utilize our funds um you know with this declining enrollment environment that we're in so we've been addressing these challenges for a number of years the um you know the declining enrollment the deficit spending that's you know been an ongoing concern that the County Office of Education has had uh with the district the County Office of Education has been reminding us of that issue and the fact that the the budget needed to be balanced for a number of years which led to the board adopting the resolution committing to $6 million in budget reductions back in June of 2021 so so at that time though we had an influx of uh covid relief dollars there were a number of iterations of those dollars that came in as one-time funds to keep programs afloat um the directive from the state at that time was to maintain Staffing to the extent possible utilizing one-time funds which is not typically advised um you know when you have one-time dollars when you have onetime dollars they should be spent on one-time expenditures however direction from the state with covid relief was to try to maintain Staffing and programs which is what the district did at that time however we knew that this time would come where we would run out of those one-time dollars so we did form a budget stabilization committee um the committee then um reviewed all of the financials for about a six or seven month period and then uh presented recommendations of how to make budget reductions to address the $6 million deficit uh to the board back in uh December of 2023 that's then when the board then decided to form the school cons consolidation committee and uh that was done in April of 2017 or April 17th of 2024 we formed the school consolidation visory committee and that's when the school consolidation process started and has gone through October which is then when the committee uh finalized their report uh to make their final recommendations to the board okay so again the budget stabilization committee the recommendations that the committee came up with were're to rent or lease our empty sites or classrooms that's an ongoing process uh we're in the middle of that we do lease some of our uh vacant classrooms uh to different organizations um we are also in the process of leasing out the uh district office on pedmont road so that's ongoing at the moment uh there was the recommendation to sell District property there was the option to consolidate or merge schools which is in progress and there is a a typo on the actual presentation here the printout shows 1 2 3 4 five those all show one but those are in the rank order um of the committee that I'm just noticing um so consolidator merge schools was the third item um that the stabilization committee recommended the fourth was Staffing reductions so Staffing reductions began last year and that is an ongoing process and then there was also the recommendation of doing a supplemental early retirement incentive which the district did back in 2019 so I mentioned that we were still paying the previous one off we've looked into that that's not something that's a viable option at this time but it's something that we will uh keep examining every year as a cost savings uh measure so the budget reductions that are currently in the budget um this was mentioned by one of the um people uh that made public comment uh Staffing reductions from school consolidation uh and reduced utility costs you can see those on those first two lines and then additional Staffing reductions those are additional Staffing reductions based on declining enrollment so those are a combination of the two uh School consolidation declining enrollment to reach that um $6 million total reduction over these next two years and then we also have a change in our medical benefit provider our staff can attest to the fact that we are making that change it is a cost savings me measure our staff won't see really any change to the benefits that they're receiving uh from our Healthcare Providers but it is um an opportunity that we are taking advantage of to realize some cost savings so the school consolidation advisory committee was comprised of parents from all School sites community members Union representatives and District staff uh we started out with uh 2425 in total um there ended up being a couple of members that um needed to resign for different reasons and I believe we ended up having 23 members um in total the committee met for a total of nine meetings to do their analysis of the different criteria and the committee made their recommendations um not solely based on the criteria but um also different metrics and also their own opinions um and other things that they brought to the table from their experiences so it wasn't all based on that there was robust discussion at all of the meetings about all of the criteria and about the school sites so the the different criteria that the committee went over there's a number of them on these two slides there's 20 in total um these are based on uh best practices from the state of California specifically the California Department of Education and so what you see here highlighted in blue are the narrowed criteria that the committee used when making their recommendation the reason why they narrowed down the criteria was because uh the other criteria all of the schools essentially um were the same and so those items were removed to focus on the ones where there were actual differences between the school sites the committee recommendations that um they eventually uh came to a conclusion with were um closing the following schools in uh rank order uh elementary schools were Cherrywood Toyon Lan view Summerdale and rusin and then with the middle schools in order being sierant pedmont and Marill the committee also discussed the option of creating a TK through 8 school and they did uh include that in their recommendation to the board so the three options that the board has been considering um over the past number of meetings uh to achieve the $2.5 million in savings that we did state that were included in the budget uh for uh in uh tied to school consolidation were the options a b and c that you see on this particular slide focusing specifically on option b after the last study session where we are looking at closing one Elementary School while merging two elementary schools with the Middle School to create a tk8 school um and pretty much the discussion for that was here at patmont middle school so the savings range there that you see of the 2 and5 million to 2.8 million was an approximation based on all the different configurations that could have happened based on all of the schools that were uh mentioned in the committee's recommendation not necessarily that were just spoken about at the last uh study session so just to clarify that this is the TK through 8 um schematic for the tk8 school here at peont middle school this is option C with the cost of 2.4 million uh estimate for for reconfiguration now this is just a draft of the schematic and so this you know we we'll still be working on how this layout um actually is with the school principal with the ed services team so you know this is not a final version of what um the school layout and the site plan will be this is just a you know draft rendering um that we will be utilizing to to look at moving forward with if this is the option chosen so um what we have is we have configuration by grade span so different capacities by grade span uh based on a specific number of classrooms uh for each grade level so we have capacity of 528 students within the TK through five grade span and 412 in the 6 through eight for a total of 940 if you maximize uh every single seat in every single classroom I have a question um about slide so the approximate cost 2.4 million uh you know costs change they go up they go down so if it was to be significantly more than that would we have the funds to uh make those improvements yes so we to to to do these upgrades um to this site and to any other site that's impacted by school consolidation we have bond funds and we have developer fees that we can utilize to do these upgrades so um if there are and if there there is an increase to this estimated cost um we would have to reallocate bond dollars however this is a pretty conservative estimate um it most likely will not cost the $2.4 million but uh we wanted to make sure that we are conservative in the number that we presented to the board so that's basically over what you think it would it would be but in case it was to be 3 million say we would have the ability to then but we'd have to probably pull bond funds from somewhere else or correct correct however we will also have savings within the bond program because we are looking at the closure and consolidation of three schools so there will be Bond project savings out of those School sites that we will uh we will have that can can go towards paying for these these upgrades here at the middle school so I may be getting ahead of myself a little bit here but say we go with you know this option so you know we were just in the library it's a very small libr Library uh so say you know you combine Summerdale and Toyon here Summerdale library is bigger than the one here do we have space for something like that here they also have a Wellness Center here would there still be space for something like that yeah and that's something that we'd work on with the principal so there right now there's also another room located um or it's connected to the library um that's a potential space that could be utilized there's also I believe a room that's used for leadership currently that we don't have counted as part of the configuration a um that space can also be utilized to expand um we could also look into creating another space Elsewhere on the on the campus so there's you know there's a number of options um attached to the mini gym there's also another space there um that's utilized I think there's ping pong in there currently but those are all additional spaces on the property just thinking off the top of my head that could be uh reconfigured if needed additional question Mr Franklin here so I think uh we had a speaker that uh eluded this uh there is a special class uh at P are we looking at relocating that class or um am I not seeing it on the schematic here right so yeah so so when we look when we look at the the first scenario of uh consolidating uh Summerdale and Toyon uh into pedmont Middle School um you know what the impact would be is pretty much shown on the left hand side there um that's the amount of students that would be part of the Middle School the number of students that would be part of the TK through five portion of the school um the pedmont um the current um RSP SDC classes um could potentially stay here um those are all things that we had we'd have to assess um we just didn't notate the current classrooms on on the on the schematic those are all all subject to to change locations um but it it is included within that you can see that within both capacities there is still room for additional students and there are still um additional spaces uh that we can utilize so that would not necessarily be relocating that um but however there are the SDC classrooms at Toyon that would need to be relocated to other school sites what's pedmont enrollment right now now PM's enrollment right now is approximately 600 low 600s so that's it's about half of that for if we combine the schools so while the elementary schools wouldn't get affected Pont would be the norment of students would be almost cut in half right so what would happen is that because you're consolidating two elementary schools into the tk8 it would be Toyon and Summerdale resident students that would attend the tk8 through TK through 8th grade so then Vincy Park students and Noble students that currently attend pedmont or that would be attending pedmont um in the future would then be redirected to uh carmont middle school and Morel middle school so Noble would go to sier Middle School Vincy Park would go to um morill so that's about 159 um that are currently in sixth and seventh grade and then you would have the incoming fifth graders uh from those two School sites that would then go to those two respective middle schools so would that limit the options that middle school students have here in terms of you know classes and electives or whatnot no that the the options would be um you know worked on with the the School site principal and with the ed services team and then again having more students at both of the other middle schools would also then increase offerings that we could provide at those schools okay I mean cuz our problem we're trying to solve here is low enrollment right so we'll increase the elementary enrollment but decrease the Middle School enrollment correct to me it's just kind of taking the problem from the elementary school now changing it over to the middle school here where now you have a lower enrollment of middle school students so logically to me it would seem like there would be fewer options for classes for the students yeah so again with the tk8 there's not a way to to have 800 middle school kids on a campus but I think that with the amount of teachers and having um a lower amount within that capacity would be able to we'd be able to offer some of those steam programs that that we've talked about when talking about what does this school look like and we would develop those and then at the other two middle schools they'd be at around 800 850 students which is about the Middle School average um within California and so we would be able to have more offerings there and Dr mccu could probably chime in on what type of um you know program we could offer with the TQ I mean I see that it's concerning especially for like Performing Arts choir's pretty big here uh bands you know it's it's pretty big so losing you can replace you know eighth grade students seventh grade students sixth grade students even with you know third graders second graders inquire and band so I see that that's kind of a potential issue yeah and I think Dr mccu has some ideas with with the Arts right so a couple of things uh as far as the music programs go so if you have less students than the Middle School the opportunity for the music teachers to teach some of the fourth and fifth grade students and the second and third grade students that's our new um way that we're dealing with our uh music programs now so the actualization of um potentially the choir teacher to teach a second or third grade class and get them ready and excited about music could really be a great add-on to the school in addition the music teachers at the middle school could also go down and start teaching the fourth and fifth grade they could potentially have students for you know up to uh five school years and the same with our art program we just have a new art teacher here as well and then that art teacher could also help support the Kinder in first grade art classes in addition to the middle school art teacher right we still have the the Arts and Music dollars that were passed with prop 20 8 those would still be allocated um and the dollars from Toyon Summerdale and some of uh pedmont would would all be combined here at the school so there would be um additional funding for the Arts and Music so again I I'll ask the same question it looks like from from the way um this would be structured the the current incoming sixth graders expected from the Fe Elementary will feed elementaries will be redirected to uh the other Middle School at seventh graders uh that are here that they'll be here they'll be graduating from sixth to 7eventh grade in the next school year will not continue at Pon they will need to go uh to to the other elementary schools depending on their um attendance area correct is is accurate and that's that's how you're getting that number uh down so i i i u i have that concern about definitely have that concern about Performing Arts I do appreciate the fact that you know uh the younger kids will get that opportunity but um I'm worried that it'll be at the cost of um affecting of affecting our current band and uh band Orchestra and choir um I mean I'm not a music expert but I I imagine there are set places where students perform and from what I what I understand there are uh three different levels of uh each Cadet um intermediate and and advanced I think they called they had a specific name concert choir concert concert so with the reduction of number of students and and these students come from sth and e8th grade uh sixth seventh and eighth grade sometimes um so with a reduction of number of students those positions there's nobody to play those positions uh that would be detrimental to the music program correct that that would cause a cause a negative effect to the music program because we don't have those six and S teams anymore correct I'm I need some more Direction I I I'm not understanding your question they're moving some of students out um from 7 grade mhm that that are currently in sixth grade are be going into seventh grade out to the other school so would that be uh few number of students that being able to uh participate in the in the music band Orchestra choir programs over here well they would with that will that be will that reduce the number of positions that uh the band Orchestra so we're not we haven't crunched all those numbers but like I was saying I think we could still maintain our current music teachers here and they would have a couple of open periods to help support some of the prary grades um specifically like I said the second and third grade in the fourth and fifth grade I I appreciate that but but the specific to uh the you know concert and the uh and the concert choir and the intermediate choir and the band on Orchestra will we will we lose students uh will there be fewer number of students being able to participate because I mean so not all students uh have interest in those music so so if you're removing some of those students out right there will be more than likely there will be a few students that that'll be removed from the music program over here so they'll they'll lose I don't know uh I don't know how to explain it I'm it seems that you may be asking simply the size of what that program would be per grade level or through their ability level because that's how they're placed that's how they're placed because there are students from seventh and eighth grade that play together uh depending on their ability so now if you're removing one set of students so that'll be detrimental to the uh to the Quality so to speak uh of the the and because of the band and Orchestra because they'll be losing those playing positions uh for for those uh for those things so I I think those are uh logistical issues I think we need to think a little bit more little harder on that um I wish our Music Teacher was here to give us some some additional input but yeah uh yeah I think there would still be sections of of each of those types of of Music there would just be less sections that's currently there might be because of the size there might be two for each right you know there might be two choir there might be two right you know but might one you're right it might work those but we don't want it to be detrimental to the program itself which is what I'm I'm not I don't get get you know I'm not I don't uh I do have confidence in our students ability as well as our teachers ability but the fact that uh the program has been running the way it has been running with um uh first violin and second second violin and so on those positions if you lose lose more of those positions and not and the newer students are not that interested in uh music they'll have fewer number of students uh attending uh the band and Orchestra and then the choir programs that's it's a logistical concern I know I know I'm being very uh vague at a very high level but uh those are very something to be very mindful of because we don't want to lose the quality of those programs also yeah I get that and then but we'll also have to remember too that as um all of the schools change and if they do get bigger then even the other schools that do offer so many number of of Art and music classes because we'll be able to offer more electives that would shift um the number of students in those classes because they may choose to take some of the other elective offerings that we're now able to provide because we have more staff yeah it'll be beneficial for the uh for the uh you know other middle schools where these students might move but it might end up being detrimental I'm not saying it will it might end up being detrimental to the to the uh to the program here which is a concern which is something to keep in mind some yeah so any other questions about this first scenario so the facility Master Plan cost savings um in the bottom right hand corner is the combination of um the cost savings for um the projected cost savings for the next 10 years of both Summerdale and Toyon because of the closure so in our facilities master plan we have um we have a set um plan for each school and how much cost and how much facilities upgrades will be needed over the next 10 years that's what that savings is in the bottom right hand corner so scenario two that uh the board had inquired about was a noble and toon consolidation into a tk8 here at pedmont middle school this is how those numbers uh would come out if we combine those and utilize those two School sites um in the same type of situation where you have uh all of the resident students of noble and Toyon including the students that are in the PPP program uh located here at pedmont and a tk8 so you can see there are less uh middle school students 296 and then you can see then the TK through 5 numbers for both Noble and Toyon and what that total enrollment is now one thing that I do want to point out is that even though the total enrollment may be under what is listed as the total capacity for the School site we have to remember that the capacity is broken up into the two gr spans TK through five and 6 through eight so when you do this scenario the TK through 5 Ex exceeds the capacity uh by 70 four students so TK through five I believe had uh see had a total capacity of 528 seats and when you look you would be over by 74 when you look at the noble and Toyon TK through 5 numbers combined here at this particular School site so where you have that excess capacity is in the upper grades but you wouldn't have it in the lower grades so in this case that scenario would not would not be a viable scenario the savings is also considerably smaller and one thing that I did want to point out with the savings here um on this particular scenario going back to scenario one the reason why this scenario of sumdo and Toyon doesn't quite add up to the same figure that I had presented before of what the savings would be between the two School sites is because when I know the exact um School sites that are going to be combining together what we can do then is take a look at what the projected enrollment would be and what that projected Staffing would be so utilizing that configuration I'm able to can recalculate the savings which is why that number is slightly higher than uh would have been presented before okay so again doing the same thing here the Staffing does not change when you when you combine that so that 1.5 million um should be pretty close to what was uh estimated previously and then again um relocating toy on DC classes that are currently located at that school site Noble also has two SDC classes that would need to be relocated um but the parent participation program as I mentioned would be here at pedmont Middle School any questions about this particular scenario okay so moving on from the middle yes just to clarify so with the last with this iteration we not only exceeded capacity but we also impact more pedmont middle school students with the scenario correct there's a just a larger number of students um in in those resident areas so the way that this configuration could work is not only doing this but doing a boundary change reduce the number of elementary students the reason why we asked for this scenario was because then we could move the entire Mandarin immersion to Summerdale which is the Clos a school right corre just to clarify why we have this one yes so moving on these next two scenarios then are moving on from the from the uh TK through eight option and then looking at what that third school would be so the options that the board had requested were then a Cherrywood closure and how would that look like if we try to make the least amount of impact to those families as possible to have those students go between two School sites versus uh multiple uh beyond that so the number of Mandarin immersion students in the program is 277 non- manderin immersion resident students at Cherrywood is 204 for a total of 481 now that does not include the Overflow students and some of those other students that are at that school site not in that resident area that's why that does not in um equate out to their current enrollment of around 525 students um so those overflow students would return to their homes resident School sites in this instance the Mandarin immersion program which is 12 classrooms and again we talk about the mandering emerging program in classrooms versus capacity because they have a specific number of um uh students in each class once they get into the upper grades there are not additional students that then come into those classes like you would typically have in your fourth and fifth grade General Leed classes uh or English only classes so um it would be 12 of classrooms mov from Cherrywood to rusin in this case uh non- Mander and immersion resident students would be relocated to brooktree and just one of the iterations that uh we went through that made sense based on some of the um housing locations would relocate 70 students to brooktree and then 96 students to rusin and then the Cherrywood SDC class would need to be relocated to a different School site um if we did this particular um configuration uh it would utilize every classroom at rusin and we would probably look at adding a couple of Portables just to give some extra space to have additional uh space uh you know for music or art so that then it's not impacting um some of the other classrooms by utilizing their multi-purpose room or fist space that could um impact their uh their classes so adding an additional three Portables at rusin it's possible to do um that would be a cost of about 500 ,000 and that's utilizing existing Portables within the school district and not purchasing new Portables if we want to purchase new Portables there that would be an addition to that particular cost then again from the closure of Cherrywood the 10year savings on the facility would be uh just under $19 million can you further clarify the $500,000 in the source of funds so the $500,000 um that's an estimate based on all of the site work that would need to be done to be able to add those Portables potentially uh restroom facilities um and then the source of the funds would be uh Bond program or developer fees and also to clarify too um brck Tree Elementary is one of the closer schools to Cherrywood as well right correct so brck tree um Vincy Park and Majestic Way are all um similar distance brck Tre is a little bit closer than Majestic and viny Park but I believe Vincy Park and Majestic are both under um both under 2 miles away believe they're 1.9 miles so Cherrywood uh yeah Brook tree is 1.8 miles um ruskin's actually 1.9 miles away oh actually sorry that's wrong column um Majestic 1.9 miles Vincy Park's 1.9 miles and brooker's 1.3 I also um wanted to ask too this would mean that Cherrywood if it were to close we would only be looking at two schools where um Cher with students would go either rusin or Brook tree only those two schools correct in this scenario so as I said um rusin would end up being um pretty much full to their their capacity it would be um just under 800 students it'd be a very large Elementary School compared to other elementary schools and so you know if we wanted if if that was concerning um then we could look at you know different configuration if if needed per tree though you know adding an additional um 70 or 80 students there that's an impact where they're um around 430 450 students can can the um looking at that now the one is DC class that's only one section correct can that be absorbed either at Brook tree or Ruskin it if we added if we added uh classrooms to Ruskin it could go there but again you're you're already kind of at the max and so you'd be adding an additional 10 students or so um there is space at BRK tree there's also plenty of space at other school sites Lane view Majestic Way Noble they all have capacity but Brook tree is the nearest school to Cherrywood correct but the students in that SDC class are not necessarily Cherrywood resident students that's right that's true too okay yes so did I hear you say in this in this configuration rosin will have how many students total 8 800 it'd be it'd be a little under 800 students I think it was around 700 yeah around 770 students so that's pretty much the size of our Middle School right I mean yes so I mean have you seen the traffic I'm sure you've seen traffic uh in that area because of the uh the elementary middle and high right all in that same area now we have 800 students converging to that um Place uh especially some of the M emersion students they don't not have a choice they'll have to they'll have to drive from wherever they are because there are very few uh rasing students so um is that is that a concern I'm sure I mean it's definitely a concern for me uh is that is that a concern and what what do we uh how do we address that because it's bigger than it'll be bigger than even SAR SAR is just about the same size and the traffic is a nightmare there this this configuration was brought to the board based on your request to minimize um disruption of students going to more than one or or two uh different Elementary locations to bring those numbers down um you would need to uh do an additional boundary change uh for the families yeah for instance there could be you know the Mander Emer students going to Ruskin and then you could split the resident students the 204 resident students between um brck tree and Vincy park for instance right so I mean the see the enormity of the situation is kind of setting in I mean especially with the uh my concern is we hardly get any support honestly we hardly get any support from uh from the city Traffic Engineers or the or the traffic enforcement units or the parking compliance people uh to regulate some of these uh traffic challenges that we have that we currently have with the with this campuses spread out um uh wide throughout the district now we're bringing multiple campuses together I mean I'm just trying to trying to visualize what what pick up and drop off so just like what's been suggested even for for this location as a tk8 you could have a staggered start time view currently has a staggered start time right now um so it's not that we don't have that scenario currently within our school sites so that's something that could be considered to alleviate traffic um I would say that a school side of 700 is is large but it's not um unusual right so it's 700 Ruskin and then still about 700 it's serum on if we leave s s alone and correct and that's about 1500 1500 kids at uh pedmont Hills High I'm just bringing that in because they're not part of our district but I'm bringing it in because they're in the same neighborhood right with traffic crisscrossing uh I just trying to trying to visualize what it would look like I know that this is a scenario that we we ready to talk about um but yeah I'm just trying to visualize how that yeah and one thing to remember too back in 2019 CU I took a look at these figures before the meeting today back in 2019 siert had a a school population of just under a thousand and rusin was around 560 or 570 students so about the same number of students that you're talking about between the two School sites approximately I would like to say that um many of the students at Ruskin who goes to Ruskin they walk it is such a residential area it is a neighborhood truly a neighborhood School the same thing with sierant um now with the of course I'm concerned with the traffic but not really because many of the students at Ruskin are they walk the the parents walk them or they walk because it's so close to their homes but the other part to that is that if you uh um if you relocate these students coming from Cherrywood they won't be walking they'll be riding and so um they would be the ones that would be coming into R in and in cars or whatever so I think that would not be so terrible um because right now from what I can see many of them are they walk to school so the data that we had uh that was presented to the advisory committee did show that Ruskin was one of the higher walking schools so in the from the data it shows about approximately 130 students walk to Ruskin um Majestic has a slightly higher number we very comparable um getting in is not a problem so I I used to manage traffic at camon so I know this firsthand which is why I'm sharing with with everybody getting into rusin is not a problem getting out is a big problem because uh Queens Crossing and is a nightmare in the morning and that that's what brings me that brings me back to the uh challenge working with with the city I've been trying to work with the city to to install a traffic light over there and they refuse so we cannot even get a crosswalk there and like I said getting into that area is not a problem my concern is to is how they going to get out of the get out of that area um so I mean yeah I mean this is definitely a scenario that that I was I wanted I wanted it to work and I hear you that you know we did have my when my daughter was was at seront we had about you know close to 11 1100 students there and there were there was quite a few um uh cars coming and going uh but so I'm just trying to trying to understand uh you know what the impact would be uh for for for not not just for the schools but also for the neighborhoods um with the traffic trying to get out of that uh get out of that place after dropping off right and these are I mean like I said we have about 277 277 total mandat Merion students and they're not all all living in this area they know that and said they all don't know the um the Dynamics of the traffic how it works on this side of town they used to that side of town so you know it might confuse so uh just thinking out loud something to definitely keep in mind engage our uh partners of the city to try to uh mitigate those traffic concerns yeah and currently um rusin does a really good job of directing the traffic um in front of the school through the drop off through the loop they have cones blocked off so that um traffic can only flow One Direction so you go and you drop off and you can only continue going out towards um towards Sierra or whatever street that is over there I can't remember the name of the cross street but go in that direction Direction um you know so they already do a good job of of controlling the flow of traffic and then others will walk and park so just another consideration but I mean so the enrollment at here Mon's lower than it was both of our schools combined right so even if there are more students at Ruskin it's not going to be like it was as bad traffic although if we add the students now from this school to CR mod those are also students that are driving so that would that might aggravate the traffic problem CU these definitely aren't students that can probably walk to seront so that combined with the Ruskin students might provide uh you know might cause it you know it's more traffic issues is there a way for the city if we can expedite something to to make it safer a crosswalk or something because I know that um I've been to sieron hundreds of times because my grandchildren go there but um so I've taken them I've experiened their traffic and yes it is is it is rather kind of scary but um if we can maybe perhaps inform the city to do something about a crosswalk because many of these cars are coming from from hustad they go around and they go really fast and so um maybe that is something that we can request from the city because it is school safety the the city is aware of this conversation that we're having and upcoming changes for next year so once we have a a decision we can work with the city and let them know where our concern points are city um has been uh a partner with us over the years conducting audits at different intervals where we've expressed concern in the past and so of course the increased number of students that' be information that we'd provide to them as they not only look at um any additional you know infrastructure that may need to be developed but also our crossing crossing guard support so I mean my feeling is that you know traffic regardless of what schools we choose to consolidate is going to be a problem right here we make it a tk8 school traffic is going to be an issue this is a major road pedmont high school has you know the same uh times as this school when letting out I don't even come like I said I don't even come down pedmont wrote to pick up my kid um so regardless right you know more more students at one side is going to mean more traffic so I think that's one issue that maybe you know we're going to have to either learn to deal with or to live with or work with a city to address any additional questions about the Cherrywood scenario okay moving on to the last one that um the board had requested which was Majestic Way and what would that look like um so if Majestic Way was um chosen to be closed um as the third school um what that would look like is there would be 381 students currently attending Majestic Way that would then be redirected to both Ruskin and Lan view uh we'd have to do a study about you know where that particular split would be so um you know I don't quite have the numbers of um where the you know what that split would be and where those students would go um that would need there would be a need to relocate uh two SDC classes that are currently at Majestic and then we would also need to consider a Middle School boundary change because you'd be splitting um students to two different elementary schools that are within two different Middle School boundaries so depending on that impact and what how that impacted those middle schools we we would probably have to do a Middle School boundary change as well so for Majestic I just just had a quick uh uh you know logistical question the so there are if I look at the boundary maps for Majestic uh there are those high density some of some high density housing along Copley if I'm not mistaken and and the on the other side of pedmont uh close to Isadora street so those are are those high density are they considered high density yeah I think you're referring to on this particular slide there's a a darker pinkish reddish area yeah that's where you're referencing right right so I I was surprised when I saw the uh enrollment enrollment projections uh it shows a reduction drastic reduction for for Majestic Way regardless of that um those high density houses uh why is that I mean what what's going on there my my estimate and we would have we could confirm with our demographer but my estimate is just that the the rest of the area is aging that's an area where maybe it's a little bit more affordable for families and so you see a lot of families uh living in that area um but I think some of the other parts of that neighborhood surrounding Majestic Way have have gotten older and kids have uh moved on and and it's just an aging uh part of the the community but I mean from like a from a five or 10 year point of view the chances of uh us having more families there you know in high density housing might be higher than uh you know our demography report shows that that Majestic Way is going to experience a significant decline over the next 5 years um in students and then um you know was brought up also that Birchwood was closed 40 plus years ago within that same neighborhood and there has not been a need to re you know look at reopening that particular campus so um I'd say it's doubtful that there would be a a large increase unless there was additional housing built nearby right and remember that even um Tom Williams our demographer has shared in his report when he um considers and includes any even new developments that are in our area because we do have some he estimates one student per 20 units built those are in the new developments I understand um yeah it's um it's an aging area it's an aging Community basa let's face it the entire Bara it's been here and um many of the people I've lived here for almost 50 years so I know that I know the um the population here and many of my friends who lived all over the place in varasa all their children can't afford to live in the area so they move out so there goes our children it goes with them uh and yes I agree that it is um the grandparents and parents are living here the children are out somewhere else in the valley out in the different states or wherever that's that's the situation we're facing here in varasa plus it's very expensive to live here right so again with the with the Majestic bistic Lane View Lane view configuration um again we we come up with the traffic issue and it works the other way too I mean if we uh for some reason pick L you and get them to some of those students to come to to Majestic uh we have the same issue because we have cop in the middle without any crosswalks or stop lights so yeah when you that's not an ideal scenario right lane used boundary Encompass is a a much larger area as well that's true so um yeah so that's not a very ideal scenario and um and I wanted to share my experience with the with the with the city trying to get a get trying to get a crosswalk put in uh on Hos near um the turn off for uh camont uh there was an there was a request put in for a lighted crosswalk with a strob lights uh this was when council member Canen Chu was our representative and it it just got done like maybe three four years ago or something like that uh when when I was uh I was there maybe five years ago it takes a very very long time uh to to get that process going and I mean um I know we we have a lot of residents a large city practically it's not uh there's a lot going on uh but from my perspective traffic is doesn't seem to be uh high in the priority for the for the city as such regardless of what how we how we configure um I'm sure they'll be supportive and empathetic to our our traffic challenges but I I doubt that they will have the wherewith to U Implement any uh changes quickly to help mitigate some of these uh challenges yeah it's too bad that safety children and safety are not in the priority it should be and I think one reminder too based on the demographers report to remember that all of No Matter What scenario is chosen that the district is still projected to decline by almost a thousand students over the next five years you know leading to lessening of some of that traffic that we're talking about um because there will be less students uh amongst all of the school sites moving forward as well because we're still going to be continuing to decline in enrollment even with that I mean I would I would place my bet I mean I'm I'm an optimistic guys I place my bet on high density housing areas like like the ones I pointed out at near Majestic uh with those Town Homes along Copley and uh on the on the east side of um Pont U so if there is any any growth any any influx of s FS of population uh those are the places where where uh where we could see an increase and maybe we don't want to distur that uh that area too much is is is what I was getting at and remember there's still capacity at at those School sites on that side of town so even even where we used to have um even Northwood where we we had um had to do the boundary change just because of um what's happened with covid and the the Dynamics of work from home and and just you know a significant decline in students um even Northwood has capacity where we we thought we weren't going to have that capacity based on um all of the pre-co data that we [Music] had any other questions that was pretty much all that I had as far as the scenarios that the board had request to be brought back back so thank you Mr Franklin I don't think we have any more questions coming from the board I would like to take um a five minute break is that enough oh only five enough five five five is enough thank you for just for a break e e e thank you we will the Board of Trustees will now reconvene after a very short break let's continue with our discussion superintendent right now we are in the board is discussing this whole situation all right let's continue with our discussion any ideas uh from the board I just want to say a couple like opening comments before we start discussion I just I just first want to say thank you to the administration our parents all the various staff who took part in this process and all the baras and families for being out here and advocating for your community and making your voice heard you know as a former student and I'm a lifelong resident of Bara this entire process has been really emotional for me it's been really difficult and no one wants to be up here making the decisions that we're making tonight but with the difficult budget situation that we're in we're forced to make these decisions but I just really wanted to express my gratitude for you know the parents and the families the teachers who met with me at my office hours or emailed me their thoughts and opinions and you know that has really centered my viewpoint for being on the board and um my priority on the school board from the entire beginning of this process was to ensure transparency for this process make sure that our most vulnerable students are considered in this process and you know in the beginning I was advocating for town halls making sure that the committee process was public and open and it was and so with how our district is configured right now we're not doing the best for our students we can do more and these school consolidations will enable us to do that we have to share our social workers and school psychologists with their time being split between two to three different schools and I also just want to voice that this process has taken us years and dozens of voices were integrated into this process and I really just want to take a moment to say really thank you to our school consolidation committee members who took a deep dive into the information that was presented to them and we entrusted them with this with this recommendation and they made the best recommendation that they could with the information that was provided to them and so you know after reading all of the emails and meeting with parents and teachers you know I really as we start this process and you know we looked at the data for other schools that were not on the original list and we can clearly see that these are not the right options and that was for a reason the original School consolidation committee didn't have those schools on there for a reason and so I want to encourage my fellow board members to stick to the five that were recommended to us like I don't think that we should touch the other [Laughter] schools but I also want to say this you know as various uh families parents staff and students we also have to have a good amount of respect for one another and there were a lot of comments that were made that were not respectful towards our fellow schools our school board members and I want to continue that respect throughout this process I want us to be inclusive as possible with the schools accepting new students I want you to be welcoming to those students this is at the end of the day for our students and students is what is driving us to make these decisions because we can offer them more with the decisions that we're making tonight and so please continue to be respectful continue to be mindful um we are barasa and you know this process is going to be really hard for our students number one and so you know with this I really want to make sure that we do not cut from our students classrooms and we take a look at things outside of that and we are looking at options as we saw tonight full Revenue that discussion is ongoing and so this is not an isolated incident like we are doing a lot of things in our school district to ensure that we have fiscal solvency and we are not the only School District going through this process Alam Rock Evergreen has gone through this process Franklin McKinley is right behind us so it's not unique to Vara and so with that I that's my first remarks for that so I would encourage us to just look at the scenarios that don't include the schools that weren't on the original side or the original list any more comments from the board so to me it's important to look at every single option uh yes we got the committee's recommendations there were schools uh you know uh on on lists um but they also ranked them so I mean if we want to go strictly by the communi committee's recommendation we can just go one two three and then you know that would actually be literally be following the committee's recommendation if we're not going to do that then we have to consider as you know everything uh basically everything's game um and I would not feel satisfied not being thorough not exploring every possible option every possible outcome and there are things we have to consider as a board that aren't that you know maybe the committee didn't consider such as you know traffic such as special programs uh that you know that to us have importance that have weight uh you know also community input right we've heard a lot from the community uh how much did the committee consider that I don't know I mean but ultimately it's our decision you know you you elected us to represent you uh giving us the trust that we will make the right choice and I want to be sure that we make the right choice by being very thorough um and that includes you know exploring every single option any other comment ments from the board opinions comments no I'll say something if you you looking at me so I'll provide my input as well so I I I think I started the last um meeting by saying that I based on my rudimentary analysis of whatever uh all the hard work that went uh into forming this uh the this list of schools I was comfortable with where the committee landed um based on my own uh you know analysis and and the presentation of the data and the numbers and everything it made sense uh what where I might differ I mean I would say differ is U I would see see the five schools presented to as as five schools presented to us maybe not in the exact ranking order that uh we we may uh that that we may like or we may choose but those are those are the right schools uh according to me that that uh that they landed on specific things like programming and things like that we can uh always talk about uh more and how to how to accommodate those or how to um uh keep those in the in the current uh uh School sites and things like that but uh and I I agree I don't think we should deviate from what's there I do appreciate trusty menz's uh point that we should uh you know do our our our own due diligence to make sure that we are uh exhausting all possible options um but at the same time we uh tasked the um consolidation committee to come up with uh the best recommendation and and uh we all know that they face immense challenges immense pressure from um the the community uh had to endure insults uh threats I don't know uh but uh in spite of all that they came up with an objective uh list uh that you know that makes most sense uh from a economic point of view uh for us at the end of the day we're trying to achieve uh fiscal solvency so uh we don't end up um you know in a position where the state has to come and take over our budget and the state when the state comes uh after us they're ruthless they don't care about anything they just start cutting so it's best we keep control of uh of what the outcome is and then go based on what the U what our committee that we appointed uh recommended to us so I like where they landed so so I appreciate their all their hard work superintendent um before I before I will ask you this let me ask the board are we in a position now then to make a choice yes I'll go ahead and I'll invite our legal counsil Harold Freeman to the podium he's been uh supporting us throughout this process since the commencement of our uh uh school um consolidation advisory committee uh there are um since the board was still in discussion this evening there does need to be uh a motion and a second for consensus around scenarios that you if you feel you've reached that place but I also um have asked you know Mr Freeman to share with you that process as well as to go into detail the resolution that's attached to this item so the board has understanding of all of the legal requirements that are included in this resolution yeah thank you and I'm happy to review the resolution um what would happen tonight is that the board would entertain a motion the motion would be to approve the resolution but as the superintendent alluded to there's some blanks in the resolution for the board to still fill in um structurally what the resolution does is it lays out the history of how we got here uh in the whereas Clauses but most importantly in the therefore Clauses um the way that this is set up which we really took from what we heard from the board previously is that um and actually if we can scroll down to that next page uh keep going there we go you'll see some blanks there the way that we set this up is with a presumption that there would be an elementary school to be closed with the board to name that school there would be a um TK 8 school middle school converted to a tk8 school and then you'll see that last blanks to be filled in two elementary schools to be Consolidated into that tk8 school um that we really took from what we heard from the board's prior meetings so when the motion and the time comes for the motion to be made it would be to made to pass the motion or pass the resolution uh and then an indication of how those blanks would be filled in which Elementary School would be filled in on that first line which middle school would be filled in in the second line and which two elementary schools at the bottom would be filled in to consolidate with that Middle School um and then if we can go to the next page um what we've also included here are some next steps that would be required U so obviously there's a potential of having to revisit attendance boundaries once you have consolidations or closures so what this part of the resolution States is that um the board's approval is really going to be conditioned on the completing of these next three steps one of them is that review of the attendance boundaries which would come back to the board uh one of them is to have a transition plan that outlines really the plans for community outreach for um how the transition is going to be handled that again would come back and be presented to the board uh and then the last one is just a technical issue under the California Environmental Quality Act or squa school closures are exempt from squa consideration unless they have other physical impacts that have to be assessed that are not otherwise exempt under squa um we can't really do the squa considerations before you make the closure because we need the board's Direction on which schools to then be able to go back and look at things like traffic um and do some further analysis on that and that squa analysis could be that your determination that you are indeed exempt under squa or it could be a determination that there has to be some degree of SQL review that again would come back before the board so what the resolution would accomplish is the decision on those consolidations on closures and then the commitment to bring these three particular items back to the board for further consideration so then we will need to name the schools that will be that we decided on correct I see so uh one of questions is the I know we did we had an extensive discussion about um tk8 and it looked like almost we had a uh consensus on tk8 but what if tonight we uh we go in a different direction what happens to the uh resolution do we then edit the resolution modify it what is it so my my recommendation would be that you would make the motion to approve the resolution with the addition of and then indicate which schools would be filled into which of those blanks and then the resolution would be updated um after that board decision to reflect that so um hopefully nothing else in the resolution needs to change other than filling in those blanks okay any more any comments from the board any questions for so so as as far as the TK through eight um scenario one I do have a concern uh so I I brought this up during the last meeting on the boundary changes to peont um potentially that what would that look like and uh I alluded to that because one of my concerns was that if Pont Middle's boundaries were to shrink so much I think that that would actually be detrimental to the middle school students um I think it would be beneficial to the elementary school students that uh attend Pont middle because they they're giv programs and support services in terms of U the middle school students uh if the enrollment drops so much I think that's actually um a disservice to them uh so what I would actually like to propose is uh perhaps um having all the Toyon students going to pedmont maybe split up Pont or I'm sorry the Toon's boundaries so the students living west of White Road uh essentially will fall to the summer family and goes to Pont if Pont were to become a TK through 8 and the students living east of White Road goes to Noble um and that's also because Noble is also projected to have one of the lowest enrollments in the next few years as well is that a motion to no that that's just I'm just opening that up for discussion no wait go ahead if you have any I also have a question I mean one of the uh parts of the res ution says that we'd eventually have to shift all the district boundaries so just because students currently go to you know Noble they go to Majestic Way doesn't mean that even if we preserve those schools that they will remain at those schools so I just you know I just want to make sure that you know the community is aware of that so because the boundaries have to change right because some schools regardless of what schools we close some will still have less than ideal enrollment numbers so those boundaries will have to shift to give them a little bit you know to make all the schools somewhat equal uh they'll still be a little bit low right and our enrollment still decreasing so there'll still be less fewer students than than we'd like in our district U but we don't want them to be so unequal where some are you know at 500 students or 600 students and some are you know 300 half uh so just you know everybody be aware that boundaries are going to have to change so I mean however that figures into the equation it's just something to keep in mind my understanding then is that um once we have the resolution all approved that these situations traffic and whatever else that will come back to us the board to make some changes correct and so for example on the boundary adjustments that will have to be looked at at by the board one of the challenges with school consolidation and it's been mentioned tonight there's a lot of school districts going through this and we work with a lot of those school districts it's the Catch 22 that would be great to get that all worked out in advance but you can't do it until you know which schools are actually the decision is made around right or you literally would have to do it for every possible combination so once we mention the schools that will be closed or reconfigured with pidmont middle um all the situations all the challenges traffic and all will come back to us later on that that is after we've made the resolution or approve the resolution am I right correct and so that's why we really listed those three are the main things that come back thinking about the boundary adjustment thinking about what the transition plan is going to be and how it's going to be communicated and then that squip piece which is really where the traffic gets considered that will come later on then all this will come later on after all of this is done by the C correct okay all right board what are you thinking now well I think that um trusty W's idea of having some students go to toon students go to Noble and then some go to pedmont can mitigate the effect of our seventh and eighth grade students at Pont Middle School being displaced so I think that could be a good compromise because I didn't realize prior to this evening that our seventh and eth grade students would be pushed out of peont middle school so I I would be open to that I think that that that would be a good solution if Noble has the space of course would it be possible to see to see the different options that uh we were reconsidering could we have that up on the board I mean up there you know the option one option two option three I just want to add on to that too um in scenario one it was uh proposed that noble families would then go to other or Morel I would like to propose that they continue going to Pont middle because they're right across the street from it and the reason why I'm saying is that I'm trying to prevent Pont Middle's Middle School enrollment from dipping too low because I think once Middle School's enrollment goes too low becomes detrimental to the to the students going there um so that's what I'm trying to address so but in essence it would be the same thing because then you'd have Toyon students going to Noble and they would just come here because now they're Noble students so in essence it'd be about the same number correct but in the scenario one that was uh proposed Noble family or seventh and eighth grade Noble students wouldn't come to pedmont because there would be too many uh student enrollment already at pedmont so if we do what I was proposing um having toy on students go to Noble and Noble 7th 6th sth and eighth graders come to pedmont you will keep Pont Middle School's uh middle school students enrollment uh significantly higher than what was proposed at 331 middle school students so I have a question for for staff it's uh so with with fewer students from from twn so I know that Summerdale has basically one of every grade level Toyon has one of every grade level so that would mean then that how would that work if we split up Toyon students right so we'd have to look at exactly how that split is and where those students live to then come up with that scenario so um you know yeah that's something that that could be considered um but if if we're not going to move all of the entire schools um and combine them then we'd have to go through different iterations with our demographer of you know so one of Trustin wi's um you know ideas was toy on West of white so what does that look like you know and and where do those students land and and how does that configuration come out um from the look of the density map it looks like a lot of the students live on the east side of of um White Road um that attend Toyon so it could be that uh a majority of students end up going to Noble in that situation so we'd have to really look at what those configurations are to get that balance Summerdale then could come up here the entire school could come up here yes but but um toon now we are thinking of perhaps splitting those kids that are closer to Noble am I right that's correct based on what was just suggested this scenario that was presented this evening was based on last study session and the board's interest in keeping our communities as whole as possible so my concern is is uh Pont Middle School is right now is is hovering around 600 students correct this scenario effectively cuts the Middle School population in half that's what I'm trying to prevent so I'm trying to add the noble families and having them remain continuing to come to Pont middle so that way we didn't we wouldn't have to drop down to students so that's what my scenario would hopefully address because in this scenario the noble families are being moved to uh either what Sian or M or [Music] Morel yes that's correct currently the students um that attend Noble they half of the students approximately attend pedmont the other half go over to sierant similar with Vincy Park currently uh portion of the students attend pedmont a portion go to maril um because of the the total enrollment with the new configuration there wasn't space to be able to grandfather those students in under this scenario um and that's why it pres it's presented the way that it is maybe maybe instead of the solution that you're proposing for the explicit boundary change we could direct staff to say like we want to try and maintain Pont M Pont Middle School student population and we direct them to take a look at Toyon and how they can reconfigure it maybe because I I agree with the concern about splitting up pedmont middle school as it currently is and I mentioned seventh and eighth grade being impacted I meant to say sixth and seventh um just as correction for myself but yeah that that's what I'm also thinking about so one thing in this particular scenario is that when you look at how the six seventh and eth grade um lay out with the amount of students they're all pretty even it's between 110 and 120 in each grade level in this particular configuration so it's pretty even throughout so it keeps consistency um the way that this is currently configured that that that wasn't by by design that was just the way that um it it plays out um and then just a reminder that the capacity on the 6 through eight side is 412 so that's that's 90 students only and that's maxing out the capacity um for that grade span so just that reminder of you know there's not a a lot of wiggle room in how many additional six to eight students um that could attend the TK through 8 so to add add one more complexity in this if you if uh we go with the you know follow trusting Newan suggestion to split 20 remember the ton is a title one Elementary School uh depending on where how the student and please correct me if I'm wrong on this depending on how the student density is uh uh is spread out the students that might go to to Noble uh may not be eligible for for those uh additional targeted dollars uh the student that come to pedmont might be because pedmont 2 is a title one School uh is there a possibility that we might lose some of the ti one funding for those targeted students that's correct it just depend it would depend on how many students end up going over to Noble does that turn you know turn them to a title one school um don't we'd have we'd have to see um and then how does that impact the title $1 dollars then um at the tk8 yeah so my concern then is this the um the students that will be that will be going to um Noble now I was concerned with the title one funding as well do we have any figures as to will will Noble be able to reach the 40% for title one or less than that that they will need a waiver we'd have to relook at the numbers depending on how um the student populations are to determine whether they would even be eligible for a waiver um but they would most more than likely not come close to the 40% they won't come close to 40% I would think so just based on you know the amount of students that would be moving over there so these students that will be going over there then has a good chance of not being not benefiting the title One funds if they were to be transferred over there correct correct so my my solution to that just going back to last uh board meeting was uh we need to consider um another look at Noble's boundaries um if you recall some of the students living close to Lan view closer to Lane view than noble probably should be going to Lane view some of students living closer to Majestic Way probably should be going to Majestic Way instead of noble and some of the students living closer to Ruskin probably needs to go to Ruskin instead of Noble and we realign the boundaries like that we may still be able to retain Title One or Noble might might potentially become a title one school with the incoming Toyon students that's not part of I mean uh the boundary changes would be the result of the consolidation right but it's not part of the consolidation process correct can that be built into the consolidation process to redo the B well your decision on on the school sites impacts the boundary changes that will occur in the next phase as Mr Freeman explained I understand that but but changing changing the boundary at this time the boundaries for uh attendance for one school at this time is not part of the scope of the consolidation uh credit the what I'm trying to say is the changes in the boundary designations will happen as a result of the consolidation but it's not part of the consolidation process it has not been at this point so so I am understanding then from um the comments regarding Noble that Noble should be left alone as is I'm just suggesting uh that we probably should discuss uh a change to Noble's boundaries if Toyon students were to get uh moved into Toon's uh into Toyon I'm sorry if no Toyon students would get moved Noble site Noble's boundaries should be looked at for possible changes right can you repeat that tran please if toon students were to be moved to Noble's site Noble's boundaries should probably looked at to get changed to retain the Title One funding for the Toyon students that will be moving to Noble so why not I mean yeah uh logistically it might be challenging but uh have we look at have we looked at um uh consolidating toon with suale I know that uh the distance uh might be a challenge for some of the families there um is that is that something that uh we want to consider keep suale um intact and move to on there uh and drop the tk8 idea I as much as I like having it we still have two other schools to consolidate at that point so we'd have Cherrywood and then we need one more so one one thing one step at a time so I'm try trying well we've been having a hard time doing that so looks like we have to I'm thinking we have to think of it as a you know as a whole unit to make to make it make sense because we thought about this idea and then we came up with the problem of cherrywoods Mandarin immersion where they going to go and now this is another issue right as ped months lower enrollments I mean you know one suggestion like I said earlier hey you know we just go down the list one two three or one two in elementary schools and then three for the middle school if we don't want to do the the combination and why are middle schools more sacred than our elementary schools you know so if we're going to go with the recommendations let's go one two three or one two and one you know one for the middle scho great so it's Toyon it's what Cherrywood can can we see the list of the schools yeah if we are going with the one two three as you mentioned trust trusty himis that would be which schools are we talking about yeah toon so trusty him you're cons you're you're recommending pulling a middle school back into consideration for closure like I said nothing's off the table I'm just saying you know if if we're going to stick to the list then that's the easiest thing to do right I'm not saying it's the correct thing or the best thing it's you know go one two three or one two and then three or you know one two and then one so we're talking about Cherrywood Toyon and Summerdale am I right Cherrywood Toyon and Lane view is one two three and then or Sierra mod Cherrywood Toyon and sierant if we're going to go strictly by the list if we're not going to consider every option you know I'm not saying you know let's let's look at you know Noble forclosure or let's look at Majestic Way I'm just saying you know we consider everything and then we figure it out as a unit yeah I mean from the numers just eliminate let me make a motion to consolidate or Clos Cherrywood Toyon and Lane view that's my motion your motion is Cherrywood Toyon and Lane [Music] view uh get a second of that can I just kind of get an understanding on how the families will get impacted so let's say uh there's a second and trusty am menz's motion uh where would the families from Cherrywood where would the families in toon where would the families in L you be going to so you know and again I'm not I'm just playing the devil's advocate here I'm not advocating for you know obviously why I did make the Motions I guess I will advocate for that so this is uh it represents a good spread in the district right so we're affecting both ends of the district and in the middle of District so to me that's geog geographically Fair uh Cherrywood Toyon and Lan view for me personally I for me cherry would toon and Summerdale so my objection to that is you're affecting both schools that are to the south of the district so it's not geographically uh it's not geographically Fair When you mention not geographically because the fact that chairwood and Summerdale are in the same area are you is that actually three of them actually say yeah Toyon and summer close proximity and then cherwood they're all very close proximity to one another yeah they're too close I'm sorry trusty I didn't mean to push you to uh come to a conclusion I was just trying trying trying to figure out where where you're at at that particular Point whether we wanted to consider because you spoke about uh middle schools being sacred I mean I'm just I was trying to see where you're coming from from from my perspective like like what I mentioned at and uh and what Trustin Newan alluded to is the uh is the reduction in strength of uh of the of the Middle School population itself uh that might and that might again it's speculation might end up affecting some of our electives uh for for the for the specifically for the middle school students um it's that that's where I was coming at um District staff if we were to close lane view where are the can you please repeat where these students are to be transferred to if Lane view is chosen it would uh be between most likely uh Majestic Way and and um Northwood um let's see so just looking at the map the closest schools to Lane view are Majestic and Northwood so would we be able to accommodate that because we recently had um boundary changes for Northwood where those families were mooved to Lane View and Brook that's correct so would Northwood be able to accommodate students that were just moved from Northwood just because everything changed with um the pandemic and Northwood then has started to have a decline where Northwood was a growing area we've been experienced a decline in Northwoods attendance or in their enrollment so Northwood currently has um see I have Northwood currently has um six vacant classrooms plus I believe they would be projected to go down by another so there would be seven vacant classrooms um potentially next year um and then Majestic also has a number of uh empty classrooms as well uh my question then is the autistic the artistic program that we have at Lan view can they all be moved to another school and which which one would that be would it be um North Northwood Education Services we'll need to evaluate all the available sites yeah again it goes back to knowing which sites are going to be impacted so we can evaluate where our programs will go but we do have space in other locations but again with our specific programs we do our best to try to keep them together and find a location where that could be maintained that's right yes there is no easy answer to this in that scenario also splitting Lane view between Majestic Way and Northwood you'd be splitting a title one school to two non-title one schools just to keep that in So currently title Lane view is a title one school Majestic Way and Northwood are not Title One schools currently so You' be splitting a title one school to two different non-title one schools ma Majestic is not a title one school no if we were to put students there from Lan view would that make would they be able to have a waiver to have the um Title One funding po EV um you know it it all depends on the demographics of the students that end up going to that attending that attend that school how much uh would we lose in title $1 uh because from you know I from what I remember from my ear earlier slide closing those three schools would also provide the greatest savings is that correct closing those three schools would save just over $2.5 million so even if if we lost title $ dollars it might even out or be fairly close you'd be losing the title one services that come with those dollars and the services that are provided to those students so Lane view currently receives 61,000 um Title 1 they actually receive the highest amount of Title One the second highest amount of uh Title One funding for our elementary schools next to Vincy park that's something we could fill with our general fund dollars then because we'd have a greater savings we would have general fund savings but those dollars would not be allocated towards providing those same Title One Services isn't that to our discretion right but we're deficit spending and so you have to remember too we're still deficit spending in this scenario okay so it's $60,000 but our general fund savings would be greater greatest in this scenario it would be roughly the same as the other scenarios you're considering they all save about $2.5 million which school has the receives the largest amount of title one is it toon Vincy Park receives the most at $71,000 Vincy Park par yes and again that's because it's one of our larger schools right keep that in mind understood Toyon receives the least amount of Title One funding at 43,000 how much again is Vincy Park 71 to and Vincy Park is twice the size of Toyon so let me pull that motion so I don't have a second can I do that so what would happen though you know we Clos three elementary schools what happens we still have a problem at the middle school level right so you still have then smaller middle schools where were not able to offer those additional electives and provide some of those additional um classes that uh we'd like to provide to our students that they currently have to take right now at zero period so in effect the best option is one two and then one Middle School one two and one Middle School configuration so board what are you thinking now are we going to completely drop the TK to8 idea we don't want to do that anymore I'm sorry I can't you're going to have to repeat that I didn't understand that part I I'm really supportive of a TK through 8 idea I think that you know that could be some or or at least like a steam programming or something additive to this process is I think that's something additive to this process like a steam school could still be beneficial and so I'm just curious our board members not wanting to do the TK to8 steam Academy anymore well U staff can you know maybe uh clarify but I believe that we could still do a steam campus right either a middle school or elementary school or middle school and an elementary school yeah you could choose to do whatever configuration you like I I will say that there are successful TK through 8 uh campuses with the uh projected amount of students that that were projecting for uh pedmont with the current scenario being presented as I mentioned before the uh TK configuration here at pedmont would be I mean we we can do Miracles we can do a lot and create so many opportunities for our kids we can make it really creative Innovative um to have that TK configuration here at pedmont what are we losing in that process is my concern you know like I like I mentioned you know with fewer fewer Middle School grade students there are fewer students in some of the electives um that are that are there and and we run the risk of uh affecting the quality of those uh those electives if I can add just a little Clarity around a tk8 instructional model it is different than having a traditional middle school so what I'm hearing from the board is mixed interest of trying something new with a tk8 and trying to Main maintain a full traditional Middle School experience so tk8 still have elective opportunities that our traditional middle schools have but it's specialized right it's a specialized Focus whether it's steam whether it's vapa whether it's dual immersion that is where um those elective experiences are built around and so you know it really depends on what the board's interest is in providing different educational options for our students it it is a it is a choice it is a a different model um they typically a K8 program does not typically have the same high number of middle school students that a traditional Middle School would have it's it's a smaller uh size of students because it's a targeted specialized program for them yeah I know I spoke at length uh with with the T the tk8 model uh especially considering that we we are we were looking at three Title One schools and you know having the having the added Revenue um of that but I'm not starting to rethink that rethink my own uh my own logic you know uh traffic mitigation yes definitely it's a concern maybe it could be alleviated but uh I am definitely concerned about some of the programs that are that are targeted especially like uh band Orchestra and choir that are that have those additional number of students Middle School level students with combined classes uh in those specific programs I don't know Avid whether Avid has a similar setup whether it's Avid is only for sixth graders Avid goes from elementary middle through high school so when for pmon specifically do we have it is for U all all grp correct yeah six seventh and eth six seventh and E so so we have few number of uh students for that also so uh what I'm concerned about about is you know as much as I like the idea of having a tk8 um steam focused or dual emotion focused or whatever that uh Focus Target focuses for as we will be losing that um that many Middle School level students to participate in those uh specific uh activities or electives or whatever you want to call it and end of the day we we don't want to want it we don't want to be in a position where that those programs suffer with the quality of the programs uh you know suffer because of um those reduced number of student populations that makes sense so does anyone have an alternative to either one two three or one two and one which is actually a better option because you know we do one two three for middle schools or elementary schools we still have to deal with a middle school problem one two uh in terms of elementary schools at a middle school and again you know and the board showed you know board members showed interest in sticking with the committee's recommendations I say well then let's take the committee's recommendation one two and three or one two and one when you say one two and one that would mean Closing one Middle School am I right yeah so either the three elementary schools which then leaves us problem of a l enrollment Middle School level or two the the two elementary schools and a middle school I am truly not in agreement Closing one of our middle schools we only have three but we have 10 [Music] schools I like this question but I mean we don't have the enrollment for three uh middle schools as the problem obviously we have you know it's 30% actually a little bit less than 30% of our total number of schools but the problem is we don't have the enrollment and why is a middle school more sacred more important than Elementary School I I don't understand that it's not it's not so much to have being a sacred school but I think we can do I think the district can do a lot of things creatively by having a tk8 I went to a tk8 when I was in elementary school yeah I have to agree with um what trusty boak is saying because closing a middle school you know we we talked about this like a couple of study sessions ago and we all agreed that closing a middle school would impact so many students and we're touching so many more communities now with with cutting a middle school I I really don't think that's a good idea just because we really should be adding like I I really would love to see a TKA option because that transforms the Middle School it it gives back and like I don't think that you know just straight up closing schools and not doing anything in addition to that is such a disservice to what we could potentially do with the district well I mean the services the reduction of sites uh and the increase service at each School but I mean if we maintain all three schools one of them if we do a TK to eight is going to have its enrollment cut in half so in terms of affecting number of students and yeah I was excited by the idea but you know I didn't really think it out through carefully where it's like okay well yes you know we can incorporate these two schools bring them to the middle school but now you're displacing 300 middle school students anyway right so that's half of the student population so you know you're so you're displacing three Elementary School families and then basically the entire Middle School is now disrupted because you're taking away half the students half the staff and you know here they're very proud and they have great Performing Arts programs uh you know choir and uh the band and those would be just decimated by these you know obviously yes new opportunities but if you get these new opportunities there's something you have to give right so it's it's up to us to decide what are we willing to give I don't know if if to me that exchange you know of something that's tried true proven for something that know might potentially work an experiments I'm not I'm not sure whatever happened to um when we were discussing having toon come here all of them and Summerdale coming here all of them was that more was it because there are more students and it and pedmont cannot accommodate all of them I don't understand um is is it because there's no more room for the two schools to be incorporated here is that true I mean is that it for the tk8 and to maintain all of the students that are here at pedmont is that the question oh yeah my question then is if we were to have toy on all of them come here sum are there all of them come here right can we do it can this school accommodate that with from what you've already um created so so so you're talking about scenario one right but are you then saying that I don't I don't understand what the difference is between that and what is presented on scenario one so we cannot keep keep all peton students and all suale and we can't keep all three of them in here that could midle some of the pedon students will have to go have to move yeah you would have a a school of of over 1100 students between TK through 8 so in this model because it wouldn't just end here we'd have to close another school we'd be affecting four schools as opposed to three so that's just something to keep in mind four different campuses I see in there the capacity is 940 students that's the the 940 students capacity that's here so the capacity as a TK through 8 is 940 split as shown here with 528 for TK through 5 and 412 and 6 through eight this school as a um as a 6 through eight middle school has a capacity of a little over a thousand a little over a thousand that would include the the enrollment here at pidmont middle along with Summerdale and no that's middle school students only there's different space requirements because of their class size ratios right so middle schools can have we Middle School uh capacity calculation is based off of um either a 30 or 32 students per classroom calculation and the elementaries are different based on grade level all right board members let's let's think what can we do so I I still support the TK 38 model but only under the condition that we need to be able to make it work enrollment wise at the middle school level and I hear what Dr Francis is saying but I still think a 50% cut in the student role populations is too much um so going back to my earlier suggestion is I still think that in order to make the TK through eight model work here at Pont perhaps we should consider uh having the Toyon families go to Noble the noble 6th seventh eighth grade families go to pedmont middle so that way we keep the Middle School enrollment up um trus say that again please I propose that the Toyon families go to Noble and the Noble Middle School families go to Pont middle so all of mobble goes to pmon instead of splitting between s and pitmon is that is that a suggestion trusty yes so uh what about the low enrollment at the other middle schools so if we keep the enrollment here stay that doesn't help us resolve the problem of low enrollment at the other two middle schools from what I heard in that scenario the Vincy Park students would still end up moving over to one of the other middle schools and we would have to check the capacity of what that would look like um and whether or not that configuration would fit in this uh tky through 8 [Music] no one situation I mean one 2 three is looking like a better option each time the more we discuss it didn't look like a great option now of course closing any school is not a good option but you know I think we've re reviewed pretty much every scenario that's possible uh board seems to want to preserve middle school so maybe you know and you want to go by the recommendations of the committee so I think maybe one two three might be the way to go I am beginning to uh to agree with the one two three elementary schools so I move to consolidate can can we have the list please which one Cherrywood Toyon and Lane view so what are the what are the logistics I mean where are you how are we uh where are we consolidating consolidating them too where is the what's the target well I think and staff can clarify but I think that has yet to be determined right because everybody in is going to have their boundaries adjusted anyway so but I think that in terms of affecting students this is the way to do uh you know the least uh you know changes to to where students go I mean obviously those three schools but there's got to be there has to be three schools that are going to you know obviously be Consolidated anyway uh and the boundaries will be changed so I don't know if if there's an answer to that I mean Steph can you know correct me if I'm wrong well we would have to hear what you know we still have the mandering imersion program at Cherrywood so where would where would that land because then that determines where question right yeah r r right but you have the you you have the scenario now where then Summerdale is remaining open Summerdale has one of the lowest enrollments so now now now this Cherrywood scenario right would not be allocating the remaining students between Ruskin and brck tree because you would have um you have other options sommerdale is very close to um Cherrywood as well I mean or so there's more options right so Toyon could then go to Noble split between Noble and Summerdale Cherrywood some could go to uh Summerdale some could go I mean it depends I'd rather not divide them among three campuses uh but they could go what are the closest schools so you got Brook tree and some would already go to brck tree under the I mean we already discussed Cherrywood uh and the Mandarin would go to rkin and someone go to Cherrywood and the rest would go was it to Majestic or where was that so looking at scenario looking at scenario 3 this is the most recent discussion that the board had regarding Cherrywood the presented split between the students was the Mandarin program would go to rusin and because the last conversation the board had was to try to minimize the amount of schools that the Cherrywood students would go to we pushed everyone we could into Ruskin so Mandarin plus an additional almost 100 students and then 70 students going to Brook tree and that was based on Capital being being a a main signifier for a boundary change for those families and looking at which site was truly closest to um the neighborhood residence which School site was the closest one thing to note I mean I'm looking at the map uh on my tablet here one thing to notice uh uh so this side of capital uh if you're sending them to Brooky Brook is the the opposite way uh so to speak because light Trail runs in between so some of those communities uh when they come out of their Community they have light Trail in between there's no there's no way for them to uh cut across and make a left they have to go down olone or basa and make a U-turn and go back to to Brook tree uh or go on barrias take take the freeway and then get to Brook tree that way um would would Vincy Park be a better option for them Vincy Park is also an option the reason uh we went to brooktree was because of balancing School sites Vincy Park is one of our largest right so Summerdale will remain as is it will not close in your in your suggestion trust trusty him menz well according to the committee they ranked one two three they ranked Toyon they ranked Lane View and Cherrywood so so why why not uh I mean okay I think I answer my question I was thinking consolidating toon with summer I think it's a little too far for them to travel based on the boundary Maps they could they could you know consolidate into Sumer I don't know not well let me see they could go to uh might be a little Noble's bound actually they need reamping anyway because all the way North yeah Noble is closer Noble so Toyon students could go to Noble and if Noble needs to lose enrollment we can uh you know redraw the boundaries to take away some of those far north students that don't even make sense I mean I don't know where the line would be drawn like Sierra logically right geographically would make sense but I'm not sure so with ch with the Cherrywood Mand immersion program uh so so uh so you sp you spoke about now having more number of students uh being able to go to rusin uh correct so so that that gives them um I mean sorry so we have let's say we move the manding version program as it is at Raskin and we are we capturing more English only students that also go to Raskin yes so the chances of them uh I know there's no guarantee with the the chances of them having that uh one-on-one switch that they currently have uh which is critical for them uh continuing I know there's no guarantee yeah that always depends on the number configurations no matter what the school location but with the with the increased number of students uh English only students is there a better chance that they could continue that model potentially yeah I mean even even without moving any of the English only res Cherrywood students to rusin Ruskin already has more classes currently at their school than um than Cherrywood because again if you if you move like Dr F has mentioned uh almost 100 um Cherrywood resident students to Ruskin you're creating then a almost 800 student approximately student um school could some of them go to um Brook tree or Majestic Way well some of them would go to Brook tree based on that that you know just when when talking about this particular scenario without creating the tk8 um there is room sumale Summerdale is is is 1.4 miles from Cherrywood so it's it's you know it's the closest school to Cherrywood besides um Brook tree so it's actually closer than rusin it's closer than so Ruskin is 1.5 miles from Cherrywood Brook tree is 1.3 miles from Cherrywood and su's 1.4 miles from Cherrywood so it would make sense that some of those students that were close to Summerdale would then go to that school rather than creating a large school it it all depends too on on how you redraw the the Toyon boundaries um most of the most of the Toyon resident students live um around Toyon and not on the other side of white or pedmont Road um around Summerdale when you look at the density map um a lot of the Summerdale resident students do not live right around the campus they live closer to Vincy Park uh um versus living closer to Toyon so um you know we really have to look at what those numbers are but you know if you're looking at redrawing the boundaries and using White Road there as the delineator um Summerdale would still remain very small taking a look at then how many of those Toyon students would come over it's it's very few um according to the density map so then you would be capturing more students by having some of those Cherrywood students um go over to Summerdale so one thing is um you know with whatever we decide tonight we we are moving students from one school the together in the um in the new school year are they consolidating for let's say uh toy on on the side and I'm I'm really sympathetic to the community because they never get got a chance to come up here and say there please um uh you know we haven't had that much engage engagement maybe due to language barriers or whatever that case may be it seems like uh right right right from the from the start there on the shopping block for for everything but I guess uh they have been facing declining enrollment but I'm very sympathetic to that to the community uh I know there there are there are a lot of students with challenges over there um but excuse me so if if we for the next school year consolidate toon for example with Noble right Toyon goes into Noble and all those students say okay now Noble is my home then the year after we come back and say okay now we're going to redraw the boundaries to achieve parody again some of those students go be uh drawn out of that Noble boundary now they have to potentially go to a different school like suale that you mentioned so you know is there any way to avoid just moving kids all the time from one one place to the other um how do we how do we avoid doing that because I mean practically I mean you can pick any school you can pick Cherrywood you can pick lenu and Toyon if we move them to one uh campus next year and then say okay we we are redrawing the entire District boundary to achieve parity to make sure that the middle schools are all uh evenly evenly populated now then they have a new attendance school for the foll year uh which which seems a little unfair to me we we wouldn't recommend doing that right we no never well no not never it depends right but you wouldn't we wouldn't recommend doing a year to backto back making significant changes like that for our families you want to go one phase at a time and see where that lands because we saw our demographers projections and they continue to adjust I know there's there's been a lot of conversation about what to do with the middle schools the middle schools um a few years ago we that's where we were seeing our significant decline you know initially that has leveled out they're small but they've leveled out and the projections that were shared with us last month in November or just uh this month December um showed they're they're going to be somewhat stable at their current um level over the next 3 to five years where we're continuing to see more of a steep decline is in our elementary setting now U because of the we're being impacted by the low birth rate significantly in addition to you know the the variable of declining enrollment so so those are the things we need to kind of keep in mind that will impact you know um the capacity at our sites and to what extent additional boundary changes would be needed thank you uh trusty himis name the three schools again that you were thinking so it's to chch Cherrywood and Lane view okay and Lan well I actually want to voice my opposition to that because Lane view is on the same side of the district where we Clos Birchwood and so if we close lane view Majestic Way is going to be the only School in that side of town the North on Northeast side of town and closing Lane View and pushing them into Northwood they would have to walk from like going over coply like going over the overpass to 680 so I'm very concerned about that and the reason why the land or the boundaries are for land view they are the way they are is because we closed the school in that area already in like way before our time and so that's why I don't I don't feel fully convinced you know like closing this school in particular is the answer as well and like we didn't see any L VI participation here because you know we had made it clear in the last board meeting we weren't looking at that site because of the autism program that they have and because of Birchwood being there already and having that School site already be closed and us trying to lease it out now and so that's why I'm not fully convinced on it I and just closing School straight out without even looking at something that we could add to our district I think is something that a Miss opportunity and I think that we would benefit from having that TK througha even though we're going to impact some students too but I I do hear your concerns but that's why I'm like you know when I was looking at Lane View and I was looking at all the data like you know I'm just not convinced so um trusty hog you are not in favor of including Lan view with Toon and Cherrywood to replace Lan view what is your opinion I would like to go with um scenario one with scenario three that's putting Summerdale and toon into peont middle making the TK to8 option and then closing Cherrywood as well just because I really would advocate for that added benefit like if we're I really don't want to just close school straight up and not provide an opportunity that we could have for our district so um sorry TR as you pressed yeah so I mean birchford campus closed what almost 40 years ago 35 years ago uh in the like 1990 I mean by that by the same token you we we closed the beresta school here on this side of town um you know and it's now Starbucks so I mean you know SCH schools have closed it's been some time uh this is shared pain I mean it's you know suffer we suffer on the south side we suffer on the North side somewhere in the middle uh and to me that's the first way to go um you know affecting families of course but affecting the least number of families three campuses as opposed to four which is what would happen and the opportunity for students that would come from this is we would have more money so each school would have more money each Elementary School would have more students and each school would have more money we'd have more uh funds to do more things at all of our schools not just one and not try and experiment but you know now we have money to do the things that we do well and bar us as as a good school district and the remaining schools would then have those funds to do the things that we know that we can do well uh without displacing you know the staff and uh I mean if we want to preserve the middle schools let's preserve the middle schools you know why do we have to harm this one uh so we're going to hurt two schools on this side of town and the and the middle school on this side of town to me that doesn't seem fair so if we're going to preserve the middle schools let's preserve the middle schools let's um you know cut our losses with three elementary schools so if you look at the uh walk map I mean not walkability the current number of students that walk um to schools if you if you pull up that chart uh in your binders uh for Lan view there's approximately about 20 students that walk to school every day everybody else gets uh dropped off correct me if I'm if I'm wrong um and yes I mean four years ago uh the uh noble people that uh occupied uh this position uh made made those stuff choices um to uh to close that campus on Birchwood um and and who knows what challenges they faced at that time you don't know who knows what uh what were the conversations at that time uh what was the conversations from basa school closed uh we Face a similar challenge now so uh uh we had to put our best foot forward I know it's it's not easy there's not one site um or location that is uh you know preferred or another um I know a lot of the families are passionate about their campuses um the board and the cabinet uh we are passionate about all 13 campuses so we are we are um passionate about all schools way and you know this is probably the worst thing that uh we can undertake um so yeah I mean we need to be practical at the end of the day and then uh put our best foot forward yeah I agree that we represent the entire district and I I hear that but you know the other concern that I had too is the title one funding tied to Lan view the uncertainty of whether or not these students will continue to receive that funding for them specifically is really concerning to me and so that that's why I it's in my mind it it really is taking away from from Lane view like if they're not able to have that title one funding going into two elementary schools that are not designated as such you know and not having the assurance that you know we could get a waiver and get those additional resources for them like you know so that's why I'm concerned yeah I understand that that could happen to toan as well I mean if there are not enough number of students uh consolidating uh I mean after consolidating to Noble If the ratio is not there then possibly they will they might lose the funding too um so so there has to be a trade-off at some point so are we in favor then of closing three Elementary Schools board members say what you need to say are you in favor of closing the three three elementary schools I made the motion you made that motion and everyone else you have any discussion regarding and and I believe the three middle schools that that were mentioned is toan chairwood and Lan view am I correct trusty jenez yes so are we five board members in favor of closing three elementary schools yes or no well really only three of us have to be in favor of it huh only three of us have to be in favor of it I mean you need to you need to we need to show we need to show of unity we all need to be on the same page we all need be on the same page people that's a another question are we saving enough Mr Franklin if we were to close three of these so this scenario actually is is the biggest savings the biggest savings this this particular one or well that's a different closing the three Elementary SCH El School toon chairwood and Lan view yeah this provides uh just over two and5 million 2 and5 million any more comments regarding the three toon Cherrywood Lane view saving $25 million oh boor oh here it is one but yeah we don't want to touch the middle school no uh that that would be optionc to close three elementary schools with an approximately two 2.4 million to 2.5 plus savings yeah so my fellow board configuration saves 2.5 million I'm I'm sorry go ahead Mr Franklin this particular configuration Cherrywood toy on Lane view saves 2.5 million 2,506 914 so it's 2.5 million right is set for these three toon chairwood and Lane view my fellow board members what are you thinking I believe there was a motion on this one uh we have not yet received a second motion I think we are still thinking about the three because the mo the second of motion has not been received you get a second and you know it doesn't approve anything we get a second it doesn't approve it it just means we can vote on it when we're ready yeah so whether yes or no question though so realistically um for for the I think you I think Mr Franklin did allude to this for the uh if we if we were to split the lane View uh and question so all of l view cannot fit into Majestic correct there's not enough room is that correct yeah there's not enough room to so so if we do split Lan VI and we do lose the title one funding um and did I hear you say that we we cannot self fund those programs the targeted programs because we are deficit spending uh right I mean there's a there's a chance that vestic could be bumped up into Title One status um but again we haven't that hasn't been a scenario that's been put forth so um and without knowing how we're going to redraw those bounderies exactly I can't project what that information is but you know typically if you if you lose those dollars and we're deficit spending then we're we'd have to find other ways to to replace those dollars so I was going to ask you so is there is there I mean doesn't the grand SCH the grand scheme of things 61,000 yes was the number doesn't seem like a lot and we are dealing with a$1 101 million budget so 61 million doesn't seem to me a lot I'm sure there's something you know we give up a copier or something like that lease on a copier or something that could that could fill that bucket um so so so if you remember that chart that I showed there's very few things outside of right but it's exp um students at Lan view if we were to choose Lane view students at Lane view would be going to would be attending a majestic way and [Music] Northwood am I right on that one I'm just trying to imagine because I know where they're located uh so students of Lane view would be attending um yeah Majestic Way and Northwood am I right yes I mean depending on how we want to redraw the boundaries there you know the proximity is close to Brook tree Majestic Way Northwood because you can see that um you know it's in l-shape uh for uh Lane View's boundary the is a title one school correct correct so the distance between Lane View and northw is it comparable with uh uh with Lane view I are those two distances comparable northw and Brook Tre not necessarily from the actual School site but you can see where the boundaries are that um there are a number of students where Brook tree is closer to their residents than so we are going to split along uh along moral uh Avenue for example right um so this side of of moral is it closer to Brook tree then potentially they they merge with the tile one school the other side um probably slightly higher population of students go to Majestic maybe bumping up their numbers to uh capture those title $ dolls is that a possibility potentially depending on where the those students that meet those requirements live [Music] okay um now okay so if we were to make a decision on this one regarding toon Cherrywood and Lane view all the challenges that come with it can be brought back to us um can be brought back to us and see what we can do with a with everything else including traffic including boundaries am I right on that [Music] one yes so um again we need to know what the schools are being selected are so that that deeper drill can be done if you will um and the boundaries can be looked at um so right I'm sorry so right now when we talk about boundaries boundaries that's really kind of premature because we don't we don't really know plus that has to be studied anyway so so is our main goal then to select the three schools and let that decision come later that's correct so that that would be it's both the decision and it's the direction to staff as to what they will have to study to bring back to you that would be the direction of the board to the district office as to how they are going to resolve all of the boundaries and that would and then that would re that would be returned to us as member of members of the board correct there is now my fellow board trustees there is a motion regarding toon Cherrywood and Lan view I have a question oh go ahead U me oh who is it that's me oh I thought TR I was trusting sorry so with the with the Lan view um autism class SDC classes um will those students benefit from I mean I'd like to keep them as a as a unit to to pull the resources which is great uh but if if we um assign you know students to different schools will it benefit them from uh from you know gaining that mainstreaming experience would that be uh beneficial for them uh or would it would you prefer to keep them as a single unit and move it move them together I would definitely recommend keeping them as a single unit all three classrooms being moved to potentially Northwood or even Summerdale that's an option keeping them together and for them for for the for our um uh for our special needs students uh commute is not an issue because we do provide uh bus services correct right [Music] mm fellow board members are you in favor of toon Cherrywood Lan view as the three schools that will be closed with a savings of 2.5 million and the challenges and all of the um solutions that need to be done that will come later that would be for the district to all we're doing right now is to give the district which schools we are thinking of closing and they can do the rest and we'll get back to us later on once they have it in other word the plans that they have how are you feeling there is no right answer to this we we are we are affecting I mean toon is pro probably in the grand scheme of things toan is probably the least affected because they get absorbed with Noble we splitting uh two School communities we are um splitting apart l view as well as Cherrywood um in I I know it's tough decision but you know U it's not the easiest thing to do um but I don't see any any any other option uh out there that would um that would make most uh logistical as well as uh physical sense so with a heavy heart I will um I will be the the one to second that uh motion are you second are you going to Second the the motion then trust okay your motion still still on the table correct it's still on the table and now you are going to second that motion with a very heavy heart yes with a heavy heart it's been moved so um um yeah I think I'm a little bit reluctant too because I understand that there was a campus Birchwood that was closed in that neighborhood years ago and it would leave a a significant void of elementary schools in the northern part of our district east of the freeway and also because of the stdc program that is at Lane view but I also understand to trusty henz point where we don't want to put the entire or the majority of the burdet on the south side of the the district with both Summerdale and toy on clothing so I recognize that yeah at this point in the conversation and based on all the information El presented I I don't know how we could really improve pedmont without taking away too much from it and I still support TK through 8 but I don't know we're really realistically we could do that with the number of students um and based on the motion that was presented by uh trusty menz it does seem like it is the most Equitable in that one Elementary School is proposed to be closing each Middle School family um I mean this is probably the best of all the bad that we're proposed with um so I'm agreeance with truste shason that reluctantly I I probably think that this is probably the best scenario as well thank you trusting wi um I am still in favor of the K through a but um again uh it's been moved in seconded and I'm I am beginning to um to agree with this closing three elementary schools and it's been moved and seconded this is a resolution um I'm sorry trusty how are you with us or do you have any other plans you know the only you know we're talking about Equity here and this is equal this is this is equal taking away one from each district and not giving back to these Title One schools but you know I understand the concerns that you all have and pursuing the k38 model does impact our pedmont middle school students but I just I cannot vote in favor of something when I know that l view is going to be or mestic way is going to be the only School in our Northeast Corridor and we're not gonna continue on the Journey of adding something new to our district I really think it's a lost opportunity but I I can see and I can understand where you all are standing and I I apologize I can't come up with something brilliant right now to try and make the kite model successful but you know I I can't in good and full conscious vote with all of you knowing this like I always keep in mind equity and Equity is acknowledging the fact that there are some students there are some families who are already set back and we're not giving more to them we should just go with the vote so are you where do you see the inequities trustey hug uh where do you see specific to Lane view do you see the the loss potential loss of the trial one funding or really concerned about that title one funding and yeah so the like like I mentioned just a little while ago so you could look at potentially uh you know um merging some of those students with I mean sending those some of those students to Brooky uh which is which is the title one School uh and I mean it's not not really in the in the vicin but neither is in northward the same similar kind of a setup there so we could potentially look into that if if uh that makes sense but we can only do that once once we uh come to a conclusion as to uh what we're doing but I think the logist of um how we structure that how we how we make sure uh we provide those Services uh can be worked through and again I say like I said in the grand scheme of things the the amount that we we we are talking is very minimal and I don't think I I firmly believe that you know we will be a we should be able to find it somewhere or the other it's not it's not um it's it's not it's not a you know uh it's not millions of dollars just a few thousand and I'm pretty sure I can find savings somewhere um I'm confident about it that we can we can do that even if uh even if we lose that uh uh funding um does that kind of give you hope and let me say this with Trump in the white house starting January McMahon in charge of the Department of Education we might lose all title one every school in the country might lose Title One funding so to me true you know I'm being pessimistic but that's just you know that's the direction the the country's headed I'm sorry but I'm also thinking of the same thing even though I I do want the title one funding to continue especially at Lan view but if we're going to close lane View and they're going to a difference the students are going to be in different schools we hope that the title one that they already have over there with not title one but students who qualify for Title One Plus students from Lan view I hope that there is enough there to have some kind of a a waiver I hope that will be the case um but it seems to be for me that I will go ahead with this one and and agree with it so is is everybody there already or what what's vote let's vote it's the fact that it's been moved and seconded this is a resolution it's a roll call vote um Miss Gomez can you please um have your roll call for voting yes president boa I truste Shon May our future Generations be kind of kind on our souls I trusty Humanes hi trusty how no Trustin I'm sorry what was the vote for trusty hog was it no all right so it is four yes four eyes and one no it is so the motion is passed for 4 to one yes so District this is these are the three schools toon Cherrywood and Lane view um we shall continue the item number 14 is can we have it we are not yet done please uh let's let's be calm and and quiet down a little bit so we can hear each other here thank you very much uh we're going for uh item number 14 for staff followup is there any staff followup my fellow board members I mean obviously everything related to this right so the boundaries uh if we have to adjust uh School boundaries for the other schools the remaining schools also uh possibly looking at um allowing uh the schools or the families and affect in the affected schools um you know allowing them the option to to select a campus uh that's going to be you know a campus besides the one they're going to be assigned to um and then also to uh to make this transition for the families and for the staff as easy as possible so whatever we can do to uh to uh you know to to begin transitioning them uh would be great so just to give you some initial feedback on that uh as um Mr Freeman shared in the resolution there's builtin for the next required steps there's three items in there which include looking at the boundary realignments which trusty hman has mentioned it includes uh looking at the traffic study information and it also includes uh engagement for uh beginning to work through transition plans for our impacted communities one thing to keep in mind uh even though we still have to revisit the boundaries know that we will have sites um based on the board's decision that are significantly impacted and there will will not be necessarily space so we'll have to review that but just so that our community does know we do have an open enrollment policy that is open to all of our families which we certainly can PRI prioritize review of those requests of any of our impacted families at the sites that were mentioned this evening thank you for that Dr Fuentes um we will go ahead and continue please item number 15 is items for future agendas any suggestions for future agendas my fellow board members none in that case item 16 is now a it is I don't where's the clock here 1:30 a.m.

to 2:30 p.m. in the laay gym with assistant I think they just want another one ass with assistance from other organizations such as the day byday foundation and the rvcc program there will be stations for little kids donations and food donations being given away in spirit of Christmas and more B High School is set to host two pep rallies for the underclassman and upper classman respectively which will take place across Friday in the gymnasium as college applications are set to be due coming new year bber high school has hosted several information sessions for parents and students Alik uh helping with the application process filling out the fast FL war with help from our guidance Department as well as other staff num from the high school um in other news uh I don't know if you guys the sirens last week but Sant visited the streets of town with kids and like I said a ton of sirens and Christmas tree lighting on mry was done on November 27th and lastly the uh the new student representative will be here come the January board meeting on January 8th with the V with the school I being sent out next week at ear we got yes thank you for the th report and as we're talking about transition just I want to acknowledge the fantastic job that you've done being our first student board member um I think it was a new position new experience for all of us and we couldn't have dreamed of a better representative for the first time so just want to make [Applause] we are up to our committee reports first education Mr do for well we've got a lot of content to SC over for the education committee there's an assessment for students who are multi we reviewed this he and Mr Smith's presentation about the alternate assessments for the multil kids uh the gring practices and going into that dat so I don't want to R the committee was very excited about their progress that's thank you Mr Dawson uh next report is governance Mr okay we do have a few things from governance this month first Mr Ross came and gave us a nice presentation about the implementation of the rotating job schedule at the high school we are hoping to vote on that as a board by February is the the hope just to give you the really brief highlights we would have the opportunity to go from 6,700 minutes in a year per class to 8,100 minutes per class giving teachers 1,400 extra minutes with their students uh the average um I think in the state is 7,800 minutes per class so we actually go from well below the average to above average per class student course load therefore would go from eight to seven classes as you can imagine we talked quite a bit about the rigor of having eight courses of the high school student especially with population of so many other things going on in their lives to give them seven courses as opposed to eight and and not to say that students can't take me if they want to but they would have the option now which could really help a lot of um obviously some things have to still take place it's not locked in at this moment but we hope that it will be very soon uh so Mr Ross has generously agreed to give us what He described as a 10 slide presentation to the board he used the number 10 so we will look for 10 or less slides it will not be 30 as as usual presentations are we were ass short um also we briefly discussed the committee that will be meeting with south bound Rook at the time of our committee we did not have an official date in time but as of this week we do it looks like we will be meeting January 16th at 5:30 p.m.

where move to journ move to a Jour it's been moved and seconded um all in favor say I I thank you adjournment is at uh 130 130 I have 137 what is there 132 adjourn at 1:32 thank you and good evening I um Mary Merry Christmas to all happy holidays [Music]

over in southbound next uh we are looking at other options to replace Class Dojo at this time there are some more modern things out there Nick has taken a look at a few of them he uh Laura bishop and Nick both uh think that we should probably go something called parents Square there are a lot of advantages over what we have now now there are some others that they want to look at one called AP as well but parents where just as a as a couple of things that we can do uh parents who don't download the app which can be a problem can opt to get everything sent to them via text or email it also translates into over a 100 languages uh so any language that parent speaks they will be able to receive the information as well you can this one's a was a big favorite of Miss musim down there if you have students in multiple schools you can set it up so that there's something called daily D where you get all the information at the end of the day from all the schools in one message instead of receiving 300 messages throughout your day I have students at multiple schools too so ironically mine are in the same school they are but I remember you enjoyed it there and we would like to have that decided we have a little bit more time decided and hopefully start the migration process by July 1st so Nick I think will be kind of making a recommendation after he looks at a few more and and we'll be deciding on that pretty soon next we talked for really over the course of two months about online comments at board meetings and I'm sure you guys have noticed we haven't had any in months months and months and months and most districts in the state have actually abandoned the process altogether they're no longer even accepting online comments so we feel as a committee we are recommending that we do the same and foro that process from here on out uh obviously people uh the public is still welcome to come in person and give comments but we would no longer be accepting online comments at this time so that was our recommendation there and lastly this was not discussed the governance but I do want to throw this out there uh training with Patty Reese it was supposed to be tonight when I contacted her she said she was no longer available I asked her about January she told me that she is not available any nights in January at all and then just as we were sitting here about a half hour ago she emailed me back and gave me a list of dates where she is available in February unfortunately none of them are our board meeting night I think you have to write all this down now I can need all all out but she is available February 3rd 4th 5th 6th 13th 24th and 26th those are our choices so if we want to do it in February that I will send all that out we'll try to get a date that works obviously we're going to have to come in for a separate meeting to do that but we know our trainings are about an hour so it won't be overly cumbersome but as a more as a broader point though it seems like she's a lot busier than when was and and it's going to be harder to get her in District so if we are looking for more trainings I think we're going to have to plan them further out we're going to have to know what we want and we're going to have to plan them probably two or three months in advance from from now on so I just wanted to put that out there she guys we're not going to get you know we need a training this month what can you do when she shows up at our board meeting I just don't think that's practical so that's what I have it's a it's a little bit of everything from governance so if you have questions please I will thank you Mr B um just one comment that I would add with regard to uh the board meetings I think what we discussed was retaining the broadcasting part of it yes so that it was still accessible for people to consume if they couldn't come to an attend the meeting um and then we were only talking about eliminating the questions that could come from the public online as that part of the format and we would continue to make available the contact board form which is available on the district's website and anyone is available to use at any given point in time for course to reach the board so given that those things were out there we really weren't getting a lot of activity on the Live question side of the administrative effort associated with it that's really where the recommendations coming from uh with that comment I'll open the floor to [Music] questions for the training we would have a that would have to be advertised as a meeting yeah yeah we'd have to go through the we'd have to the public meeting St in and yeah would be like a regular meeting I doubt that public would show up if they are welcome to show up to watch us be train if they would like is would Zoom be an option I don't know question would Zoom be an option I can ask I don't know I don't know that we've done training over Zoom I can remember we can find out right it might be EAS she can project her screens right slides right all right thank you for the report Mr B um since miss high is not with us tonight I will just do a brief recap on the human resources meeting um as always we started with a review of the open positions and where the status was in terms of recruiting uh for people to join us um we went through two new position positions that were being proposed one had to do with the secretary for the athletic department the other the strength and conditioning coach uh position we' been discussing for a bit now um and progress on both of those uh has been made and we're looking forward to um seeing those progress early year next year um we had a an update on the exit surveys so as a reminder there is a survey process for any uh District employee that is leaving this was in addition to any oneon-one meeting dialogue that Dr Freeman may have with them and we were really pleasantly surprised with the uh progress and the comparative uh from this exit survey compared to uh the one last year so um significant progress being made there in terms of both retention and then the reasons why people um you'll see on the agenda tonight there is a resolution involved excits for the maintenance department this is uh specifically for certifications that would allow them to perform services that you would otherwise need to um subcontract to licensed providers so while it may be additional compensation that we're providing to District employees overall it has the potential to save the district significant amounts of money um and we actually have an employee who already has saved us uh am of money long than would otherwise be on the line for the it so again something the operations Comm is we discussing the school I'm sorry HR go uh school safety position um has been something that has been discussed uh it's a position that has evolved over time since it was originally uh created um so the H department is looking at comparable job descriptions in and around surrounding area to make sure that what we're asking for and what we are um fulfilling in that position is uh well documented and align with what we need as a district and I believe that is it any questions on human resources all right heing on we are operations Mr bless you thank you so operations um was a great meeting couple things talk about the situation lafette the basement Mr present the committee an email from an architect Paul where he I'm quoting now much has changed since my updated report was issued participation indidual meeting water test masary wall indicates the water is bypassing the metal flashing result is watertion basement I still feel brick shelf is not flash realiz verify the absence of flashing is disruptive and UL which can be explored is to cover the wall with a reinforced polye and leave in place this would permit several rain events to occur and test the um Mr G you want to add any comments on that thank you Mr Z the only thing I could add to that is so to the committee's request I have requested a proposal from mrto the basement specialist and I have not received it yet but he's going to give us a proposal and that will be for that sheeting put on the inside of [Music] worldis possible thank you so much we also talk about budget uh the committee is pres Mr G he informed the committee that he sent a letter to all district and stakeholders budget preparation sub administrators have been asked to present their department or School budgets to Griffin first [Music] for uh December 10th is the submission to M Griffin and December 16th is the date for final submission to Mr hor Dr Freeman addition Mr explain the process of budget office on December talk about the lont school preschool expansion update um moving ahead expansion with the modular addition planed for the 2526 budget that will be prioritized as a lease purchase financing of the unit which will be charged to the grant if approved the district will need to have two title searches perform confir property and um again Mr gy any little TI in on that um just to reiterate the board's determination to put an addition on lont MX which was proposed be a modular School addition of four or five classrooms to be determined and we're beginning that process Now by doing a survey of of the property to find out where exactly our our orders are and we'll be back to the committee shortly thank you sir finally weed IRS L pay taxes do as taach Mr gy informed the committee that the IRS levied our electronic payment Board of Ed from the provider the notice indicated that the IRS has the right to Levy funds and payments taxpayers to satisfy anying C debt the payment was $2,952 and it was redirected to state of New Jersey Mr Mor and staff leader contacted the state to determine that there was no indebtedness but in fact the jur withholding payments were honestly applied to the wrong periods upon payment they were able to resolve the matter quickly state will now issue a refund to the district for the levy Mr G has strug pay R staff to carefully make sure that the payments that they are periodically making must be applied to the correct period in the future possibly possible disciplinary measures be taken by the superintendent and do have any anything on that or we the only thing I have to add is that this was a very aggressive tactic by the IRS to Levy and Le on our ER transfer of funds back to the district which is our application to get a piece of reimbursement from federal um taxes on communication products and they they took the payment for about $23,000 they sent it to the state of New Jersey who was claiming that had eded this to them for the same amount for New Jersey withholding taxes upon putting a lot of time into this my staff determin that there were some payments applied to the wrong periods which have been straightened out and that the full $23,000 that was L will be returned to the district without the thank you Mr for for that addition uh Mr President I have no more notes for ises thank you Mr Z any questions or comments for [Applause] operation all right uh there are no reports for the Somerset County Educational Services Commission or sou for this meeting so that brings us to the end of the committee report any final comments or questions before we move on all right we are now open to the public for agenda items only so in accordance with District policy 0167 public participation board meetings members of the public are required to sign in in either the podium or offline provide their name address group affiliation compliable please state your name and address and limit comments to agenda I use only directly to the presiding officer each participant is allowed 3 to five minutes to speak and no individual May address the same time more than once until other wish speak had the opportunity to do so are there any questions or comments from the I see none how about online zero zero online continuing the TR that brings us to item number 6.1 be resolve in the bo education on recommendation of the superintendent approves the minutes of the following meeting regular and executive session meeting minutes from November 20th 2024 I have a motion motion thank you Mr Dawson a second thank you miss any discussion hearing n Mr dorsy can we do a roll call please certainly Mr B abstaining Mr Dawson yes M Caso yes Mr Z yes yes Mr bmer yes Mr janzi and can we just recognize Mr Minas as well B pardon Mr Minas yes motion thank you we are up to item 7.1 the superintendent recommends for approval the resolutions as outlining District Personnel resolutions these are items 7.2 7.3 I have a motion motion thank you Mr B second second thank you Mr Z any discussion heing none can we have Mr B yes Mr Dawson yes M Gazo yes Mr zco yes m m yes Mr Min yes Mr bmer yes J yes motion passes thank you we are up to it 8.1 we have resolved that the B Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlined in District education resolutions this is 8.2 through 8.13 I have a motion motion thank you Mr B second second thank you Mr Joon any discussion pleas Mr yes mrw yes yes Mr M yes Mr minus yes Mr hmer yes and Mr Jan yes thank you it 9.1 have resolv that the B board education approves resolutions as outlined in board action resolutions this is 9.2 through 9.38 I have a motion motion thank you Mr B second second thank you Mr any discussion hear can have call Mr yes Mr yes M yes Mr Z yes M yes Mr minus yes Mr bmer yes Mr jzi yes Mo passes thank you we are up to other MERS to come for the board new business are there any topics that the board members would like to raise that are not on the agenda this evening all right we up to item number 12.1 open to the public for discussion uh I will forego reading the provision again I'll save your use for that but just Notting that this is uh open for both agenda and non-agenda items very good we are 13 resol the board education andent executive session is allow by njsa for the purposes noted in item one seven and eight have a motion motion thank you Mr second thank you m m all in favor all right [Music] currently e e e oh it's definitely darker here all right everybody we are back up to it resolution this is item 142 motion motion thank you Mr B second second thank you Mr Mr B yes Mr dawon yes M Cino yes Mr zco yes Mr M yes Mr Minas yes R yes Mr J yes thank you it 15.1 be resolve B of Education approves the resolutions as outed approval of HIV cases under middle and elementary scho this is it tion yes motion any of have a motion and I say motion thank you Mr second thank you Mr daon uh Mr Mr B yes Mr Dawson yes M Gazo yes Mr zco yes m m yes Mr Man yes Mr yes Mr thank you1 motion motion thank you second thank you Mr everybody

e e e it's a great way to end the end the year um so I'll go ahead and call the meeting to order welcome to to the December 19th meeting of the anabor renters commission the purpose of the renters commission is to advise the city council and the city administrator in matters affecting renters in the city the an arbor renters commission is made up of voting members who are appointed by the mayor and approved by city council two non-voting city council Liaisons two non-voting members representing different landlord perspectives and the non-voting representative to the University of Michigan Student Legal Services to speak during any of the public comment opportunities you'll be able to speak through the webinar link or by phone depending on your method of access to this meeting for phone access please call 877 5247 or 888 78899 and enter meeting ID 935 941 to be called upon to speak callers must press star n if listening by phone or use the raised hand feature if viewing through the web link a2gov.org rter commmission meeting you'll then be called upon by City staff one by one to use the last three digits of your phone number or by username if available from those for those accessing through the web link you'll hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak please please state your name at the beginning of your comments City staff will indicate when callers have 30 seconds left or their three minute comment period oh sorry left of their three minute com three minute comment period after three minutes they'll be placed on mute so that we can proceed to the next speaker we're moving on to roll call committ um commissioner Low's is not here uh commissioner El here thank you commissioner dran here in an arbor thank you commissioner Ratcliffe I'm here in an arbor commissioner Chan I me for L Florida thank you oh warmth uh council member Rina um is not here tonight he did send an email though with the council update for later and council member Harrison um has also indicated previously that she wouldn't be here for tonight um council member sorry commissioner good here in an arbor welcome commissioner pittz is sick tonight unfortunately commissioner Lea here in Albi in Michigan oh it's winter vacation right it is still cold unfortunately not Florida well congrat congratulations on the making it to the end of the semester commissioner wood here and an arbor great and commissioner Laris here in an arbor welcome and now we'll move on to the approval oh sorry uh faith I don't know your last name but Comm that's okay it's uh red wine ooto okay and you're you're here tonight yes Ann Arbor and um I don't know if you guys remember but she's here from a the seat that's filled with an hhb member um so we'll move on to approval of the the agenda is I'm here too by the way oh my gosh it's okay so sorry G that's okay I feeling left out at all I'm so sorry and I'm here also in an aror no place for um is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented I will promotion motion thank you Commission Chen is there a second I second thank you commissioner Laren the agenda is now open to be approved as presented um is oops all those in favor please unmute and say I I all those opposed say nay all right great the agenda is um approved as amended I mean sorry just approved and now we'll move on to the approval of the minutes from November of 2021 I know that they were added a little bit late but I hope that everyone had a chance to um to read them is there a motion to approve the minutes from November so moved second thank you um so we'll move on to approving the amendment all those in favor please say I unmute and say I I all those opposed please unmute and say May okay great then we will um the minutes were approved and we'll move on to the first uh general public comment question to address the renters commission about any topic for up to three minutes you can um make your public comment by phone by calling 87 5247 or 888 78899 and entering meeting ID 935 941 can also join the meeting using the zoom link and that is a2gov.org renters commission meeting and if you'd like to be called on to speak you can press star n if calling in you can can use the raised hand feature if you are joining with the web link there are no attendees now but we'll give it just a second there are no callers okay so then we'll go ahead and move on to unfinished business which is item 6A the annual approval of the winter commission bylaws um kisten can you pull those up onto the screen please the dra if you recall we had dis it had been discussed in the tenant education committee meeting um and there were were drafted changes made to the bylaws and then um they were attached to the agenda for people to go over um is it at the first change Kristen yes okay so the what I'll do is I'll read the changes and see if there's any discussion after each change um the first one is Article 4 in membership it's under 4.1a um and that one is changing it's so that well A and B it's removing the attorney seat itself as a separate seat and absorbing that into one of the regular voting seats um and it would be just saying that we along with someone who is um a student or youth or lowincome lgbtq an immigrant person with criminal records Etc as well or somebody who is an attorney with experience representing renters or advocates for renters interests um so that's the change it's also one that if Chang if it is changed it has to be changed at the council level um because within the with the resolution or the ordinance that created the renters commission it's um there is a separate voting seed um see he yes um I guess my only question is because there are people with manufactured homes who are renting land are they considered renters as well and and if so how can they be incorporated in this you know letting them know that they too can say something if the rent in their land what their their lot rent is going up that's what my question is trying to be inclusive um let's see attorney Riser unfortunately isn't here tonight um the who he's the City attorney Kristen do you know is the question um in addition to renters broadly to identify renters in a manufactured home Community as part of the like the perspectives that you're looking for um yes because they too are renting it's just that they're doing lot rent and they have been from my I've been hearing around that they too are complaining that their LP rent is going up and they're trying to I'm sorry go ahead if you wanted to um if the group wanted to specifically include um renters in manufactured home communities I don't think that would be an issue as part of this 4.1a um yeah I think if if you guys wanted to move to add that as your as one of the amendments to your bylaws that would be fine um separately it's also something we could call out on the website if the group is interested in doing that also it's less formal than the bylaws but it is something that might help somebody know that this is group they can talk to okay thank you I'll I'll mention that to them thank you I have a question yes standon yes so here is the uh new change attorney was experience representing renters or advocating for renters interest after this is that a period or a what is the things I'm not sure I cannot see it clearly if it is a period then there's something wrong with the grammatic pattern so is it possible just to put the attorney with experience representing renters after and and groups persons who have experienced homeless or historically under represented groups and attorney with experience representing renters and or advocating for renters interest like this because if it's a period it's something wrong with the whole sentence I see what you're saying I think that's a comma Kristen after interest on the red is that a period or a comma I believe it is a comma and it's um because it's underlined I think that is why it is uh difficult oh oh that that's fine that's fine I'm just a curious thank you okay um so then are we adding in um mobile home renters or is that the correct name for it um I believe we should because there are some who are actually renting mobile homes and there's some that have their own homes on lot in lot and they're experiencing rent increase um Julia um I'd rather we didn't add it there aren't a lot of mobile homes in um the city proper and I don't think we can list every single group of people who are covered by the law every type of renters like Cooperative co- housing mobile home it falls because it falls under categories like that right there's all kinds of people not listed and and I don't think it it it gets a little cumbersome to try to list every single kind of tenant there is um Barb sorry um I didn't hear everything that was just said because I was trying to open up uh the actual uh document on my on my computer and blow it up so I could read it so um I just want to add if it hasn't already been added that because we're getting rid of B we have to get rid of the and from a that procees it and put up period at the end of groups oh thank you sure I didn't notice that um say I would just say worded as man ured homes like Cooperative or group housing manufactured homes and then like tenant advocacy groups because I mean reading this paper is difficult to really I mean sometimes you read and you wonder okay so is this group inclusive so just by mentioning the group then they know that it's inclusive well does it need to be mentioned within the bylaws or just on the website because it's be it's being representative various renters perspectives in the cities and then what's listed is just such as so it's kind of like you know including but not limited to okay I'm looking well it says voting membership of the commission should be representative of various renter perspectives in the city such as students youth lowincome lgbtq it's just a a l a it's not an exhaustive list of every type of renter there is or person who we would like to join the renters commission it's a list of um some different attributes but on the website you know we have more room to add whomever but it doesn't necessarily have to be in the bylaws because it's not an exhaustive list on the bylaws it's just examples okay gotcha um Julia and then Barb um I I if it sounded like Faith isn't going to keep pushing this um because I if it doesn't seem includ of the way it is then I would say take out all the listing I mean it's a little weird to have Cooperative group housing in here when they aren't covered by most of Ann Arbor's tenant law um it falls into a different category um but you know so maybe take all of them out and just say to have a commission that reflects the diversity of the city or something um but I I I wouldn't want to add more I personally I'm good with it the way it is and then adding more on the website if need be um but I think Barb was your hand up sorry I forgot to take my hand down okay yeah I just I was going to say what you just said I think let's just leave it I mean I think goal in writing this the first time around was like to cover the the personal characteristics that make people more at risk um and so when I look at it that way like adding more context on the website seems pertinent because I do I do think we do want to come off as inclusive and people who live in mobile home parks are actually a pretty vulnerable group a lot of the time and so I think that there is value in that but I think spelling that out on the website and saying hey we welcome you to this work and we welcome uh we welcome hearing from you on the website is helpful thank you um okay so then moving forward to the next one um Kristen oh okay this 4.8 and it a with the change it says consistent with city code was it 1 171 when one or more city council members are appointed as members of or Liaisons to a border commission the Border commission shall designate a group consisting of at least one city council member and one or more voting members of the board or commission to review applications for membership on the board or commission this group May submit recommendations for appointments to the mayor or to the city council for appointments made by city council from among the applications reviewed the change listed um is to at least one instead of saying having both City Council Members is there any discussion on this one okay moving forward Kristen okay and then 7.5 public notice of all meetings shall be posted at City Hall or at any location designated by the city administrator or city council and on the city's website um and the addition is on the city's website is there any are there any questions or comments about this the 7.5 all right for 7.8 it's talking about the Quorum and so the changes the the presence of half of the commission voting members plus one shall constitute a quorum um before it was six voting members but that's hard when uh the membership numers fluctuate um are there any questions or comments about this one all right moving forward that's that's it okay is there a motion if are there any other changes that people want to make or does someone want to make a motion to approve the amended bylaws I'll make a motion to approve thank you and second to Second it I'll second thank you all those in favor please unmute and say I I I all those opposed please unmute and say nay right the motion is approved and the bylaws are approved um and we'll go to the city the city staff and the City attorney to make sure everything's legal all right uh moving on to new business it is for the first one is 7A approval of the renters commission uh 2025 work plan uh Kristen can you bring the draft up please okay in um The Last Tenant education committee meeting L by Hannah thank you Hannah um we discussed some of the um things that we'd like to do for 2025 um and so we would like to keep the uh this is for discussion um from the previous 2024 plan we couldn't quite remember if we had completed this one which was the audit of chapter 105 um and the existing enforc process for efficacy and proposing amendments if necessary uh as long as supporting enforcement process changes if necessary I vaguely remembered it from meetings before and I remember Julia had um gone through it Julia do you remember if that was completed no this is the I forget what the numbers are this is the um right to renew in the early leasing okay should we keep this or should it be taken off the the 2025 work plan or should it be a lower priority are there any suggestions I I would say it's still a high priority we're still hearing complaints about it it's not clear how much action is being taken okay thank you Julia um the second uh was keeping what is it it was proposed the ordinance ordinance Amendment language to require owner occupied rentals to obtain a certificate of compliance and to inform current and prospective tenants of open code violations establishing Support Enforcement process should that stay I think I think that was something that I added at some point because I see um I I guess I don't understand why owner occupied units where their renting to tenants aren't covered by the aren't required to have a certificate of compliance whether that's high priority or not I don't know but it still continues to be an issue at least for some of my clients thank you Gale Jordan yeah I agree with Gail I think the big the question is like what is the scope right like how do we have a handle on how many of these there are is there a way to get that information from rental housing like where it sounds like almost nothing is tracked from my understanding so maybe some clarity on on how big of a problem we think this is would help guide our kind of priority and scope of it but I'm not sure how I'm not sure how to calculate how much of a problem this is because they the city wouldn't know necessarily that I don't think the city would know necessarily that you know someone is renting out to one or two people and its owner occupied unless that tenant reaches out so I'm not sure how how they could track that but so then should we go ahead and keep it as high so it's something to tackle for the new year I would for sure keep it would be my recommendation I I don't know that it's a high priority maybe you know maybe if there's a way to figure out how much this impacts other uh tenants that would change its priority level I I just don't know how to do that I agree we should keep it see I think if I definitely think we should keep it I don't think it should be a low priority um to me it's either medium or high I don't have strong feelings on that to be honest I mean I think we can put it to medium and if I can try to I talk to someone at the city to see if we can get some understanding of how many people this impacts I can I can see if that's possible and then maybe we move it to high back to high but for now all right uh Kristen can you change that to medium please and then for High um we had advocating for Staffing for enforcement um and in within 2025 actually sending a resolution to council about that probably around the budget season time because that's when um they typically make those decisions does anyone have any comments or concerns about that one okay the next one is um by the end of 2025 having some type of legislation from city council about exploring a landlord tenant edsman um and we had that as a high priority I know that there's been talks about um like the right to counsel and that's been at the state level but as like was it a pre preventative step so that it doesn't get to court and something doesn't get onto someone's records and that we know a lot of times landlords they just want their rent or tenants just want issues resolved that it may be a viable solution depending on cost and all of that that's why it says exploring um does anyone have any comments or concerns about oh Barb oh you're on mute all right I'm sorry um I think it's a great idea uh and I I just want to make a general comment because I I'll be honest with you I didn't I was like on overload when I looked at this today I was like I'll deal with it later so this is all new to me and a lot of it is has to do with issues that you've been dealing with you know over the past year and they're kind of new to me but my one comment would be yes I think an two comments I think an OM Ombudsman and keeping this as a high priority is a good idea but I also would like to comment that we don't want to keep we don't want to put too much in the high so that we're not getting to everything that's so the well the um like the last issue that we dealt with I'm glad you put it down to medium because it to me it's just not a high high priority and you know we've already I mean I've only been at several meetings now but it just seems like we've got so much that we're supposed to be doing that I think it's important not to put too many things give too many things high priority or we'll never get to them so do you think medium or low Uh Oh you mean for the the utsman yeah um I would say this probably I would put it in the medium category personally Kristen can you change this one too it was something that I had brought up so priorities and all of that that's yeah um let's see so if that's changed to medium and then the next one I think what I did was just uh I think I just what is it erased what was in there that we had already completed and just stuck it in as opposed to actually going through the priorities um level the next one is the tenant opportunity opportunity to purchase and write a first refusal um which is something that we don't have here it was something that was at the state level um um from talking with staff and the council members previously it was like they weren't sure about the legality of it but one thing that the commission there are people who are tenants who want to purchase and one thing that the commission can do is urge the city and the council um about prioritizing education for renters and how to get to a point where they can potentially buy um the county has a free program U ofm has the real estate certificate program there's other resources that I think that could go on the city website or renters commission website or something to be able to help the people within the city who want to to learn how to buy to be able to um it doesn't have to be high priority but I do think it's something that we should talk to the council about um are there any questions concerns a no Barb I don't really understand what any of that is well turn like was it people use like is it the right of first refusal I guess is the sling term and the more official term is tenant opportunity to purchase in the normal sense it's like if where your renting is getting sold then it would be that whoever is renting there would have the first opportunity to to buy it if they could right um but when we were going over the comprehensive plan um and I was in one of the group work groups for that on the city staff side they weren't sure about the legality of it and what that would mean for the city um as well as how much it would cost the city to actually do the the right of first refusal but they were interested and intrigued by the idea of providing where people could go for more information to get themselves ready to purchase something right so the city won't be like necessarily say landlord or homeowner you have to ask your tenants first but the city can post the resources somewhere about how a tenant can get their credit together and see what kind of mortgage they can get and all of that information and there are free resources and potential Partnerships within the area that they could do for that part at least thank you that sounds good okay thank you and I just wasn't sure about the priority level of of that that because I know you said we have a lot to do and I just left it as high because that's what was there before but um I think it's kind of a well again I'd put that as medium okay can you change that please Kristen thank you um we kept the update to rights and responsib rights and duties of tenants booklet and kept that as medium um because that's in 2025 we're going to have the pre-tenancy um in the junk fees ordinances uh most likely pass and so that's going to have to go into the rights and respon rights and duties of tenant booklet um and then also we kept addressing the junk fee problem because and that's not passing until 2025 so and we'll have to keep track somehow of how that's um working out B um I was just curious do you have anything on here about um repairs and I'm asking because U when I was a part of the McKinley um a renters um organization so to speak um there were issues with repairs and plus I used to stay at a condo and there was issues with repairs as well and I think that's something that's really important for tenants who are trying have who are living somewhere and there're just some things that are not you know repaired properly well I think to me that falls under like the landlord tenant edsman if it reaches that point as well as us advocating for more Staffing for enforcement um because right now rental Inspection Services has a very high case load and they need I think they said at least two new staff members um and that also falls under under that is well um if you have repairs that need to be done and it's not getting done um within a timely manner or it's not getting done well then that's something that that office handles the complaints Hannah I just stakeholder education portion of the work plan uh should we remove it either from this section and leave it in the stakeholder education section um I would say leave it in the stakeholder and move it from this one does that sound right yeah I like that okay thank you Kristen um Faith did that answer your question um it did but at the same time I guess I'm looking at it as you know these landlords you want to rent your home out or your apartment building or whatever you should be held to some accountability and making sure the home is completely safe for movings and I guess I'm looking as in terms of a social worker because I am a social worker working with all these know tenants and clients who are having issues with an apartment complex or a home just something that these landlords can be held accountable to make sure their home is livable before they written it out I guess that's what I'm looking at right and that's that's what falls under um enforcement and also would fall under the umman program if if there something that we can get them to but and it's also it falls under that and I think it also falls under state older education because they need to know where like tenants need to know that they can um make those complaints and how to make the complaint to the city and right here the section that we're in now is are like for resol is more for legislative stuff so like res so resolutions to city council or resolutions and ordinances from City Council that we'd like for them to explore okay so I think I'm saying hold on to that for stakeholder education um then the next portion is the commissioner education and the first one um was as a medium which is in commissioner education is actually educating us as commissioners um and the first one as a medium is tenant Union organizing um and learning more about what's going on with that and the um what renters are facing because as we know they're four tenant Union organizing you may not know uh renters who are joining the tenant unions or trying to are trying to create one at their complex some of them are facing threats of eviction and um so learning more about tenant organizing rights there was a bill at the state level um about that but it's the lame duck session and so we still don't know if that's going to pass unfortunately but I think it's something that we should learn about as Commissioners especially since we have the aatu now the NR Tenants Union the next one I had we had as um a low priority was learning more about green rental housing or the enforcement of the green rental housing ordinance because it's low because ordinance hasn't passed yet and when we had um the representatives from in Inspection Services there was what we were told by um OSI was that rental Inspection Services was going to do enforcement and then rental Inspection Services said we're not doing enforcement OSI is doing enforcement um but we have to wait for it to pass to know what we can do to to make sure it's getting enforced well um that's why it's a low priority under commission or education uh next I put as a high priority is I put um learning more about senior housing um we know that there I don't know if we all know but at the at the election time in November the for Washton County there was um a senior millage that passed and um what I would like to see and talking with some seniors what they'd like to see are more options for the seniors who are renting here within the city because there aren't a lot of really there's already a low number number of um housing unit rental units available for anyone who has a type of disability but then also being a senior is also pretty specific and there aren't quite there are very few options for that and so seeing as Commissioners what can be done because they are a portion of our renters in the city um and finding out what resources there are um and if any of that um could be any of the millage funds could be used or will be used for rental assistance or accessibility um I don't know necessarily know if it's a high priority or not because it just passed and I know that it'll take a while to get everything in place at that level but I'd like to learn more about it and like us to learn more about it are there any comments or concerns or um input Barb think you're muted again I'm sorry as a senior um yeah I can tell you that that's definitely my high priority and um it's a priority and like a you know an anxiety issue for like literally all my friends so um yeah it's an issue and as we get as all of these articles talk about what a wonderful place an arbor is to retire to we're just going to get a lot more seniors coming to an arbor so it's it's going to be a rising population to deal with that's my comment thank you Anna yeah I agree that it should be high priority um especially with all the regular complaints we get about Courthouse Square like clearly L people are having problems then we have the new millage so I think it makes sense to at least focus on I don't know exploring what options are even in the space of how we could help people okay thank you so we'll keep that there the next one um was medium and it was a medium one from 2024 as well which is the implementation of affordable housing within the city of an arbor um and I like keeping it because I think that as we continue to get more affordable housing units um built by the city and with the city in partnership with organizations and business and private developers that we should get um more annual at least annual updates on what's going on and how people can apply by and when people can when those um lists open are there any comments concerns um anything with this one okay then the next one um it was a I put as a high priority which was information sharing between um fair housing in I can never remember is it the fair housing is it Southeast Michigan yeah has thank you and the Human Rights Commission um I think we had Pam Kish from the fair housing center spoke to us before I can't remember how long ago that was though it was about a year ago okay um so that's why you're having it from getting doing for us the in getting the information because I think it should just be something that's on here every year anyway okay um that way we know the complaints we know the procedures as commissioner as we get new Commissioners they'll also get updated um and the Human Rights Commission does get complaints from renters um here within the city and so I think it's a good idea to formalize having a relationship with them and um also the next one is H I also had as a high priority which is having more transparency um I didn't quite know how to word it my hope is that after this Kristen and Steph can uh work their magic with the terminology but having more transparency for um what the the role of the county and what it does for like enforcement and regulations for rental housing versus what the city does um we had mold as an example um for that because it's a it's actually something from what is it the health department is is where it goes and we talked a little bit about that when in um Inspection Services came and I I really think like as Commissioners we should get more education on that as well especially if we're talking with people and we're going to be out there doing stakeholder education we'll know where to to put to um refer people um next was medium and just keeping it from last year which is ordinances aimed at slowing gentrification and displacement um it says in other communities like what other commun it means what other communities are doing to slow down G gentrification and displacement of renters um and learning about that which is having you know speakers come in from elsewhere and letting us know what they're doing to see if it's something that could work here in an arbor or be possibly work here in an arbor and then also keeping as a medium um because we're starting to get new projects getting built that will probably be some might be finished towards the end of 2025 um but learning more about what's getting built um and having presentations to the renters Commission um about the new planning and of of the tc1 zones and what that means for renters and um also what new complexes that are coming because they they go to the Planning Commission to talk about the the complexes they want to build but they never come to us to the renters commission to talk the developers never talk to us the renters commission about what they want to build for the renters because some of them have sounded like good ideas um like they were talking about building senior housing on Packard Road um near Turnberry and it seems like a good location but it'd be nice to have a presentation about that to us as the renters commission and then next um and the last part is the stakeholder education um as a meeting medium priority was uh keeping improving tenant accessibility for locating information on open house code housing code violations um as well as the update to the tenant the rights and duties of tenants booklet um particularly with junk fees um and then additional we already had stakeholder engagement meetings from last year and that was a medium priority but this one was being a bit more specific by saying having at least two events that were at including festival and um I had Visions which they do at the library each year um Hannah yeah I was just wondering if under the uh item about open housing code violations if we could specifically add um information about assessing previous complaints on units because uh yeah like as we learned at the uh presentation from rental Housing Services that uh it's not available on stream you would have to I guess do a foyer request for them um Jordan I think the the stream thing to me like I'm trying to think of this in terms of like where do we get the most bank for our buck in terms of our work and the community and like what is needed and the stream piece to me and being able to access the information and knowing how to use that site feels I don't know for me I'm feeling like that is kind of it it's something that has some built-in accountability right like people can have choices but maybe maybe maybe the retort to that is um it doesn't help at all because the housing Supply is so limited and people feel so stuck that that information like isn't able to guide their choices as much but to me I guess I'm saying that that feels like higher priority the violations and the stream feel like when we're talking about education that those are the two things that seem the most mysterious and that I hear the most about but maybe Gail has some perspective on like what education feels like the two hottest ticket items are most most effective um for our work because she's hearing those things too yeah I mean I direct a lot of students to to stream to kind of see what's out there um I don't know if that really helps that much but you know and and they do get a lot of information from there so not sure if that answers your question Jordan so are you thinking about a different phrasing taking maybe just a different priority and maybe even those two things kind of like are combined in a like accessing information to make wise rental choices right like maybe those are maybe the concept of accessing information that is available to make smarter renting decisions is kind of the topic and the how do you know about violations and how do you use stream maybe are kind of the sub but I'm I'm open but to to me those are the things that are talked about most frequently I think that sounds better um Kristen can we combine um the first one and was it the stream one together and have it phrased as how Jordan said it and maybe have the EG that yeah accessing information to make smarter rental choices or something like that um maybe more informed or informed yeah yeah and then it would just be like EG whatever the the um previous VI code violations and stream thank you um and then another one that we talked about which is newer um and that's because we had so many power outages last year and extreme weather events oh sorry Barb didn't you want to add stream in there you said in the accessing yes uh okay all right um and then yeah there's in the last couple of years um we've had so many different power outages and extreme weather events for um that have negatively impacted renters where as a homeowner there's it seems like there's more recourse than if you are a renter um but there are certain things that you can get as a renter like if you're if you're if after a certain amount of time the power has been out in your food spoils then there's ways to get re um reimburse for that or if you're well if you're on snap and um I think that we should have some way of from the city to or from us or something to um D where it's a bit more prominent to direct rent um renters to that information um for next for the 2025 year and I had it as medium um because we'd have to discuss it and then I think that was the last one um are there any questions or concerns or something else that needs to be added if not then um can we have someone move to pass the work plan as amended anyone wants to make a motion for the pass the 2025 work plan pass it oh second thank you um all those in favor of passing the 2025 work plan um please unmute and say I I hi all those opposed please unmute and say nay all right the work plan is passed thank you guys um and then the next one is the uh meeting calendar um one thing that people have brought up is how late the meeting is starting at 7:30 um and what thank you for Kristen for um doing more homework because she put she had um had the monthly schedule and one thing that we can do is even if we can't go live because CTN is covering another meeting our meeting can still be recorded and update and uploaded to YouTube and CTN later um so that's not as much of an issue um I'm good on keeping the meetings on Thursdays um but I would like to move it up to like 5 5:30 or 6 o'clock is there a Jordan is there an option I I guess I I can see an argument for accessibility um particularly for like the college demographic to have it be available live um how is the green belt meeting really lengthy it seems like that could be a potential one that was like very lengthy would moving to the first Thursday at like 6:30 make more sense or that was just something I thought about as looking at the schedule maybe Kristen has more um options but I do I feel like we have had a fair amount of people that are able to participate during public commentary during the live zoom and that I don't know I guess I'm I'm totally open to others feeling like that isn't quite as important as a schedule and Quorum of people being here but I feel like that has been a helpful thing to have it but maybe the answer is it's still kind of live and it's live for them at the time even if it's not being broadcast live so maybe the broadcast doesn't matter so I don't know I'm open to that but Thursday the first Thursday of the month stuck out as the day that if we looked at moving that might be practical well um go and then and then Gail um what it I think it's important to be able for to have the availability of public comment I think that is important um and like when I hit to keeping it on Thursday I know like for the public market that's at 5:30 um but there isn't really a lot we conflict with that one but there's not a lot of viewership for that and there are no council members who are attached to Public Market either um I don't know much about the green belt one and the popularity of that uh Gale so can we still have public comment even if we're not live we can um because they can still call in right because it's within the meeting notice it's just won't be streaming live but they'll still have the zoom link and the ability to call in nobody will be able to watch from their TV um but that's the only difference people will still be or also YouTube um but people would be able to log into the zoom meeting um then I guess maybe I was envisioning maybe what I'm envisioning doesn't happen because we have two commentary periods can you can you watch something maybe what I'm envisioning isn't isn't happening so what I'm suggesting is like we have a second commentary period so being able to like rewind and have that functionality it like there's a way to kind of watch something and catch up before the second commentary period but maybe I'm not understanding that right and you can't go backward words um and watch something but maybe maybe that doesn't matter you can on YouTube but I just don't know how much it matters to people versus being able to just particip yeah just participate at that time all that then um Barb um sorry I keep forgetting to am I am I oh I forgot to M I forgot to mute myself before so I'm still here um I'm sorry I here's a my thought from uh the perspective of um watching 60 Minutes for years uh they've got this great time slot which is right after the football game is over so people have a tendency to just slide right on into 60 minutes so um do we know how many people actually watch this on on TV on cable is there a a program that people actually watch that we could take the advantage of being right after and would that work into anybody's time slot just a thought I for regular CTN programming I don't know what's popular I know for um and not that many people watch the commission meetings anyway I think the two most popular commission the most popular commission meetings are the Planning Commission um probably the transportation and like the the energy or environmental um both of which start at like six and seven or all of which start around six and seven um I know Kodi which is at four doesn't get much um and from what I've seen on the other ones there's not a lot of views except for city council then let's just try 530 do we have Kristen remind me do we have an option like if that's not working out for people or we're getting feedback that that doesn't work we we can switch it with the same constraint of CTN availability is is that right I mean I think it makes sense Ros just to go 5:30 then right and switch it later if we need to yeah you would have the option to change your meeting time we have to um publish and notice them for the year but if like in July you decided you wanted them all to start at 6:30 we would just cancel and reschedule them all um and then just so if you moved back to a 5:30 time on Thursday um we just like we've been talking about there wouldn't be TV live coverage and there also wouldn't be YouTube live it would be just the zoom link but there would be the possibility of it being live it for the second Thursday of each month because the next meeting isn't until 7 yes um CTN I'd have to ask them but I expect that they would say um the meeting would have to be around five five o'clock so that they have staff to be able to um cover it um I'm looking at the rent like public market and then renters are about two hours apart um and sometimes this group does run up to that two hours so it would have to be an earlier start time on that second Thursday um and then I don't know a lot about the third Thursday council member Rina may be on that may be part of the green belt group and he may have um like info on how late they go um but yes okay um so then for now do we just want to say um the third keep it it's the third Thursday but then just have it at 5:30 and if we have to make the change um then we make the change um Barb is your hand up from before sorry it it it was but I do have a comment um because you just said something about uh Thursday at 5:30 but there's somebody uh on the 3D third Thursday right you were talking about 5:30 right it wouldn't if we did 5:30 on the third Thursday then it wouldn't stream live it would um they could still they'd have to log into Zoom to watch it and participate that way the same way we log into to zoom only they stay they'd stay on as an attendee and not a panelist okay or or they could listen to it right they could call in and just listen participate by listening I'm sorry right yeah they could do that too um and then later and they could still call in for public comment or raise their hand as an attendee on zoom and still be called on it's just it wouldn't they wouldn't be able to like rewind part of it during the meeting is what it is um and then after the meeting is finished it would get uploaded to YouTube and to CTN sounds good to me okay um if there isn't anyone else then does someone want to move to hold our meetings at 5:30 on the third Thursday of the month or well I'll move I'll okay I'll second um so all those in favor of moving the meetings to the third Thursday of the month at 5:30 um please unmute and say I I I all those opposed please unmute and say nay all right the motion's passed and so starting in January our meetings will be the third Thursday of the month at 5:30 and then we have one last asked um item under new business which is a resolution to for in support of the proposed pre-tenancy fee ordinance um I wrote a draft for it um and the pre-tenancy fee ordinance we it was presented to Council on Monday for the first reading and it passed unan usly and so in January they'll have the second reading and the vote and it's expected to pass uh unanimously then two and um what it does is it caps the app it basically says there's no fee except a $50 application fee or up to $50 application fee that can be used for the administrative cost of doing the background check on someone um or the credit check and if you're not offered a unit um then they have to return that fee within 60 days okay um the resolution is titled resolution in support of adding section 8532 to chapter 105 of the housing code of title 8 building regulations of the code of the city of an arbor um I just took what the title of the ordinance update was um it says whereas the city of an arbor renters commission is committed to promoting Equitable housing practices and protecting renters from unnecessary Financial burdens whereas pre-tenancy fees Beyond those directly related to the rental application process create Financial barriers for renters and dis proportionately affect those with limited resources whereas the proposed addition of that section to the ordinance will limit pre- tenancy fees to only rental application fees ensuring greater fairness in the Rental process whereas the proposed amendment will also require landlords to refund rental application fees within 60 days if the applicant is not offered a lease further safeguarding renters rights and ensuring transparency in the Rental process whereas the renters commission recognizes the significance of this amendment and reducing exploitative practices and fostering Trust between tenant and landlord tenants and landlords resolved that the Anarbor renters commission strongly supports the addition of that chapter of that section to the housing code chapter of the city code which addresses pre-tenancy fees and provides protections for renters resolved that the renters commission urges city council to adopt this amendment promptly to ensure that the renters in an arbor are not subject subject to excessive fees or unfair fees during Sor during the rental application process resolved that the renters commission commits to educating the public about the importance and implications of this amendment and to collaborating with the city council and City staff to support its implementation resolved that the renters commission will forward this resolution to the Anor city council and request that it be included in the council's upcoming agenda for consideration that was a long meing um Gail I know I'm not a voting member but I support this and really appreciate your time in putting this together thank you that that means a lot um and I know how much this affects the the students as well um yeah I think it'll it'll impact a lot of people and I think it's I'm I'm excited about it so so am I and um yeah um and this is only the first this is for the first of two ordinances that are happening so there'll be a second one and when the next um up updated ordinance comes out that's why it's specific to the the pre-tenancy fees and not the other junk fees um does anyone have any questions concerns um any anything else they'd like to add or edit Barb oh sorry I just want to say thank you that nice job it covers it all and says it succinctly thank you thank you um sorry Jordan yeah you did great this is fabulous I was happy to see it today I just was wondering does anybody know why they went with 60-day return did anybody hear that discussion I didn't listen to the city council meeting I was and Travis wasn't here so I'm not able to ask but does anybody know why they went with 60 days versus like a normal deposit is 30 days and that would get people's money back faster but I was just curious as to if anybody heard that I don't know why they said 60 days um I know in previously there was no date um and then I brought and I had brought it up to Travis that there's no date on here is like when are when are people going to get their money back and it was and when before there was just like a reasonable time period which could mean anything especially to a landlord and could greatly differ to uh the the prospective tenant um but that's all I know okay great well thanks for asking it to be add it obviously we don't want to slow anything down so it wouldn't be worth readdressing but um yeah thank you so much for bringing that up and good job on the resolution ni actually actually you put everything in order and you showed the public what we have done so far this is a great step forward it's it's never happened that's very good thank you thank you and I had the um and within the resolve clauses I had the part about what the renters commission would do because that's what we do anyway um what we've been doing with the early leasing ordinance so it wouldn't be anything different um so if there's no more discussion then is there a motion um to pass the resolution a motion to pass yeah I second thank you so then um all those in favor of passing the resolution um please unmute and say I I all those opposed please unmute and say May all right great the resolution passed um and so we'll move forward um the we have 7D the plan for next meeting and um see the next meeting will be after this has was it after the ordinance has passed um and so we'll probably just I think go over the ordinance um I don't I'll be honest I did not think ahead for next month yet um trying to make it through December and the holidays um is there anything that is pressing for for people to have on the January agenda Barb this isn't necessarily pressing but um I just today had a chance to um look at the video of the November meeting that I unfortunately had to miss and uh that whole presentation about it um that included um oh God now my brain's gone blank anyway uh I I just wanted to point out first of all that all of the the the discour between what we got from one group and what the woman representing you know the rental housing was saying was disturbing to me and I just want to say to Julia thank you for asking all those good questions and I personally would like more understanding of what exactly between these two different presentations what is actually going to happen and who's going to be responsible for what because that's in my mind kind of huge that's it thank you um see Kristen between now and then do you think you could talk to um someone from OSI and find out what's what's happening or where we are in the rental ordinance yes I can find out about an update for sure thank you and we'll we'll have that on the January agenda does that work Barb yes thank you okay all right great um does anyone else have anything for January's agenda um and is there anything for a tenant education committee meeting before um the January meeting at this point I'll send out a when to meet over the next few days and I guess we could try to meet within the first two weeks of January if that works all right great thank you annah uh Barb I apologize I keep forgetting to lower my hand oh I'm good I thought it went up again I'm sorry no I know it's me it it's me sorry all right then we'll go ahead and move on from that and um move to the reports the report from the city C Council although um neither council member was able to be here tonight um they as I said they um had the first reading on Monday and that was um move forward to a second reading what he Al what they said too is that with the introduction of the ordinance staff now acknowledges they need additional help for enforcement and so so they're working with the city administrator on a plan to add an additional full-time um employee to the city with the appropriate likely paralal skill set to Aid infor enforcement of the new rental laws um and it'll be to determined where that person um resides though um if they'll be located within the same department or elsewhere um and the mayor nominated Chris body who he had applied um to the commission and who is a really good applicant um and so he's moving forward um to and should be was it voted on and approved to join the Commission in January um at the first meeting in January so hopefully we'll have him by our renters commit Miss meeting um he'll have all the paperwork in by that he has to sign by then um and then that leaves one seat open and we do have someone um to recommend for for that seat as well who also would be a really good addition to the uh renters commission um they're also working to amend the ordinance um about the attorney seat uh because because it is a part of the city ordinance so that that is part of what has to happen for it to be able to change within the bylaws um and then if all goes according to plan then they hope to introduce that second ordinance to more broadly address junk fees um in late January so that would be the second city council meeting in January um that's all I have from the city council meeting um Faith did HH Saab um meet this past month we're actually meeting in person in January okay all right um do you have any updates for us from hhsa and how that's going or can you explain to everyone on the commission which H what hhsb does um actually I don't have any new news U because we are going to be meeting in January and you kind of caught me off guard sorry that's okay so um I can get information for you next month all right then well um well just in FYI you're on the agenda for each month right yeah to let us to let us know um so starting in January um does do any of the other Commissioners have any reports or news all right Kristen do you have anything for us no report all right then um the LA whoops we need the second general public comment please Kristen we body um any member of the public would like to address the renters commission for up to 3 minutes about any topic you can call 877 583 5247 or 888 78899 and enter a meeting ID 935 881 941 you can also join the meeting with the zoom link and that is a2gov.org slash renters commission meeting if you're calling in to the meeting you can press star n to raise your hand if you're joining the meeting with the zoom link you can use the raise hand feature to be called on and if they're um oh we'll just give it just a second there's nobody in now but in case anybody's calling in or joining there are no callers okay then we'll move on to the second to last item on the agenda which is communication to the renters commission um if you could bring up the one from the U ofm Student please uh Kristen I think there were three this month right the um unfortunately it seemed sounded like something that we couldn't handle and I this is the one that Kristen um sent to ugail which is the student who's a UFM student who lives with in a house with 20 other students and their Leasing Company incorrectly was kicking them out for winter break on December 17th even though people still had exams on the 18th and they provided the Clause from the rental agreement um which said that the suble occupancy commences um or well terminates at 12 12:00 p.m.

e e e call to order the regular building board of appeals for December 19th 2024 is that an echo in that from it's from up there no I'm only Kidd she's got the amp on reverberate all right we can uh call to order or a roll call yeah roll call okay uh board member Paul darling here board member Robert Hart here board member Hugh Flack here board member Kevin Cox board member David arar uh staff Mike Lemieux present and uh M Redmond present and Juliet Harvey present okay we have a quum of three so that means we to have a majority we need to have two positive votes pass is that correct okay the first item on the agenda is approval of the minutes from the October 17th meeting any comments on those no motion motion to approve second those in favor I I minutes are passed the next item on the agenda is appeals actions and show calls hearing we have one appeal today and it's at U BBA 24007 7 appeal at 1201 Island Drive 202 in Michigan so if the applicant is here you can come up and state your name and sign in and I'll tell you a little bit about the process hi myot har okay um so what we'll have is we'll have the staff make his report of the summary and then uh you can present your case or your summary pre summary what you're asking for and then uh the staff will see you have any rebot of that or any clarification of that then the board will ask you questions and then we'll make a motion and um V up or down for the process so okay F yeah uh so the property at 1201 Island Drive it's a multif family building it's an R2 uh the building was constructed in 1964 uh recently a plumbing permit was applied for as a residential project um this was denied because it was a wrong work class in a commercial plumbing permit was applied for and issued for work described as a laundry box install uh at the application of this permit it was indicated this a commercial application and the contractor should have proceeded using Code requirements for this building type R2 the plumbing inspector failed the rough inspection because it did not meet the minimum standards of the applicable code which is the 2021 Michigan plumbing code a code compliant alternative was offered to the contractor which was to remove the stand pipe and drain the uh washer into a laundry sink uh information um on what fixtures were connected to this line on the lower floors was requested but not provided as of 1213 2014 staff recommends this application be denied as it doesn't meet the standards for approval uh building and residential codes are standards established for specific building types the residential code only applies to R3 single family duplexes and Tow houses which is clearly stated in the 2015 Michigan residential code 121 Island Drive is R is not R3 per the building code it's not single family residence a duplex or a townhouse therefore the 2015 Michigan MRC um is not intended to be applied to this building uh 121 Island Drive must meet the provisions of the uh MBC chapter 29 which directs us to the Michigan plumbing code uh the appeal for this application um of section uh p3004 in a commercial building in place of the 2021 Michigan plumbing code sections 46.2 no information was provided on the impact on the rest of the plumbing system the applicant also indicated the association has approved the installation of washers and dryers which if this appeal is approved could have compounded negative effects on the Plumbing Systems capability to function as necessary and safe in a sanitary manner um the MBC and uh MPC provide specific prescriptive measures based on the considerations for all of the buildings types uh residential buildings um like 121 Island driver classified R2 if the intent of the code were to allow the MRC requirements to be applied it would be the same requirement in both codes also if the intent of the code was to treat R2 differently than other usages in the Michigan plumbing code there would be an exception listed identifying our two buildings uh the recommendation for denial is for several reasons 121 uh Island Drive Unit 202 is properly classified as R2 the building department has required the proper permit work class for commercial building the plumbing inspector evaluated the project using the appropriate code for an R2 building finally there is nothing provided that demonstrates the impact of this installation on the plumbing system as a whole or best as an assumption this will function properly for Unit 202 and no consideration for potential impacts on the other units Downstream in this building okay thank you so you can State your case of ask for yeah you go ahead you we ask for is you state if if you're the code doesn't apply if you're providing something better than the code you know those are the provisions that we're gr variance for okay it well so yeah it was so I well like you know I guess you know I was like well you know I'm well confused about it was well this you know what process and I'll be honest um when I I to talk to Larry craft while while the plumbing inspector you know he's the one that actually mentioned you you know you know you know I should you know actually possibly you know go to the appeals committee because know well you know here's the case well the HOA you know is approving a well a you know certain you know Appliance you know you know it is not a standard R residential like normal washing machine like you know it is actually ventless you know you know what you know well duck lless you know you know what is you know high energy or well no low low energy and you know high efficiency you know actually the consumption of the W water and the you know the soap you know and will the will elect as is you know low it you know I mean it takes you know hours for just you a small loow to be done it it well well you know is only two well well the one one in the um client well that is I'm going to be going is you know only two two well 2.4 cubic you know feet you know it is small yeah well well you know and if you've you know seen these units like you know well they are small units you know it'll be going in a bathroom where where there's a you know I'm a you know I'm a sink right or there for you know I'm a brushing you know teeth well will and well and well this is what I explained over to lar craft and well know we we were in you know an agreement but like you know you know I understand like has to follow a code that it's up written um it it's just well the alternative that you know gave me was well there is a box in the wall well that we were going to discharge that W washing machine well then well that will you have to connect to a white 3in exu pipe well the you know well what well there isn't a 3-in exu pipe like diamond around the you know area you know I would you have to go like you know well downstairs you know lower what unit you know open up a walls and whatnot in order to get to that um where well well you know I get it um while accept well the alternative that was what was while while was that we while we while we take out the sink when we we put in like a nice laundry sink that has a nice unit faucet a b whatever well then well that wall washing machine will just will you know it would discharge you know into the you know sink you well you know the same you know me amount of w w water being you know dis charged it's not you well well you know it isn't increasing it's the know it's the almost same amount of wild water just you know it's going into a different you know stle you know drain and you know I am get well that I am one not actually fighting you actually with a plumbing code yeah you know I you you know you know I'm not looking for that you know I was you know under the impression that well we could actually get you know an deception maybe you know Well then well then if you know anybody else well I wanted to do the you know same thing well well all then we we make it you know known that you go through you know an appeals process we show up we explain our case and you know it'll be precedent for you know the rest of the well I get it you know I was you know kind of confused about what the process and until I read read the um while I'm well you know I'm a summary that you just read and you know when I was you know emailed a copy of that like you know well you know well I was you I me a few hours ago and I read it and I was like no I'm not actually fighting actual the plumbing coat you know I mean I'm not it's just you know a re real world exception that actually makes you know sense I mean you know you know act you know well that's what I'm you know going for and you know if well that is well not well this well well then well that's see well then I you know get it you know I mean it cost me 500 bucks and it's a learning experience and then yeah so that's it yeah okay thank you rebuttal this uh yeah I was just going to say that the uh through the code the board has three ways to approve anything that's presented here it's if it um the code was misinterpreted um what's being presented is better than or equal to the code um or that it doesn't apply um so so I would just say in this case it seems like you're trying to present that what what you have there is equal to or better than code well yes it's like it well you you know am I okay to talk to okay so sorry well it's like well you know it is you know you know you know I equal to it's it but it's what just I'm realistically well well well there's you know an appliance you know it's a box it's on the ground and I put well the laundry what discharge you actually behind it you you know for athetics like it's in order to keep you know things you know out of the way and you know you know that of you know having a hose you you know you know you know you know you know you know you know into you know I'm a sink you know you know if it's a house or you know a commercial building or anything else I mean I'm not going to you know Plum that in that way you know you know I mean I'm not it's just well like you have these small units you know and well the HOA is you know I'm An approved you well well you know a well you know a you know I'm certain what what unit you know when it is small you know well it well well it is you duckass I know well that you well the Fire Marshals I'm here like yeah you know it isn't using a lot of power it it's you know it's essentially just re rinsing some clothes and then like you know air drying it it's nothing it no it's not I get it it's just yeah you know I mean it's a real real world world like you know application well well that well the HOA well well they have you know obvious L well you know you know like also put some thought you know into his you know as a well and well that's why well they approved it you know and it's yeah you know I believe it's in with the attachment that I you know I'm a you know I'm a submitted as well that they're unable to go like over that you know a certain amount of cubic feet and whatnot okay board have questions yes first of all by way of disclosure I'm not related to hard pling so well darn I wish I could have got a vote off that um the are all the spaces in the condo complex the same that are being uh converted I mean were they like powder rooms or closets or what you it's a bathroom so most of the units you know are exactly the you know I'm same it's a small um what unit you know a kitchen you know a family room you a bedroom and a bathroom and well the bathroom is a little like you know oversized uh where the well there's this like you know a blank space next to the you know a sink where where where where where well they could put like a shelf actually for towels and well that's where we're putting it does that bathroom have a toilet in it yes is the toilet connected to that same Plumbing Arrangement yes so I guess where I got a little bit confused in the in the package was that the plumbing inspector was offering a code path to somehow make this work and it had to do it had to do with having a vacuum breake from the fixture to the drainage point but it also had a maximum calculation of dfus per 8 ft of drainage length so is that 8 ft within the uh run out in the in the space itself in other words if you look at the picture there's a there's a pipe that will obviously connect sink and the washing machine and is that pipe also connecting it's probably not connecting the toilet right it the toilet has its own stack um probably does because it's a 4 in you know I can you know answer okay it's on you know same you know a drains you know system it's what just you know how we were able to you know access it um while was we were connecting you know to with the N wall pipe mhm um well well which is you know it's a 2in actually pipe in there you know and in R residential you know code well this you know actually passes from what I was you know doing you know even a area tested that and he goes yes you know I get it but we're in you know I'm commercial because of you know they what dwellings well well and well well well well the only reason you know it isn't passing is because you know well the piple that we are connecting to while you know for I mean well for a commercial code wall wants it to be you know a 3 in instead of a 2 in yeah you know in order well for me to do that we we would you know have to go to the well unit below you know open up you you know their wall in order tax you know with that you know owners the actually pipe where where where where there is a like well a like 3 in actually pipe you know on near with the ground you know the first level well that we we what would you increase and bring it up well but well that's where well the problem all lies and we we would you know have to go you know into to another person's residence and and I'm you know and you know I'm going do that I'm a work work so well that's where the exception kind of came I was you know asking for but yes practical as far as no it's not you know it's a re real world like you know application is what you know I'm not well again you know you know I'm not expecting you know I actually will this become an issue with well the HOA you know you know you know I can even exlain it to what to the HOA that like you know everybody on a you know second floor unit now will will like you know have to file all the appeals you know claim we'll have to go through this you know process and that may or may not actually pass well while while well but we we're kind of be able to do this you while like you you know prior to doing all the work I would you know think rather than as we do the work if G she fails and then we go through the process if that makes sense so I well yes you know it is within that well I still I guess I I still don't understand what okay what the plumbing inspector was was offering up as an alternative solution because you've got a washing machine and you've got a sink and the total was three dfus and the toilet in that space doesn't contribute to the load is that true well that is you know correct on that you know on Branch line yes it does not no it does not well no to that you know a branch line so it yeah to that one you know a branch line that you know has the you know s okay so so that 8T length of drainage pipe that has to handle the dish the the washing machine and the sink is 2 in yes and it's allowed a maximum of six so I guess I'm not understanding why it's a problem because they're within the calculated amount for that length of 8 8T drainage pipe oh can I ask what can I answer that well you know well the only reason it's one not you know actually being allowed as well because you know it's in a book it's you know code like no that's a that's a big deal that's the Crux of the pro no no wait wait but just a sec because what I'm trying to get at is I I don't know that I UND I mean I I think the plumbing inspector offered a fix or a code path to make this work what I don't understand is why that's how he's how he's coming up with the calculation or the or the methodology because he's talking about an a pipe size of a minimum pipe size pipe run excuse me of 8 ft that can still be 2 in that still can carry the dfu requirements and why he's worried about what's happening on the floor below because it would seem to me that that's not coming into the calculation unless I'm re I mean may not really be understanding what what the issue is there I so I'm I'm I'm not I'm sort of putting that to building department yeah I don't there we go um so I don't from from what the inspector stated I think that his concern is additional unknowns of the plumbing system to to sort of put it in like a nutshell is we don't know what else is going into this line the only thing that was opened up was the stuff on the bathroom side of this one unit um so I think that that that is part of the inspector's concern so the way the drawing looks you've got the washing machine going into one service that hits the stack it looks like the sink is actually a separate grain that goes to the stack and then you got a to the toilet somewhere that gets to the stack and is there anybody up above you well no well there's only like you know two well well you know I SW you know to there craft you know it isn't you a concern well while while you know know act well the alternative where where he asked well hey why don't you dump it into the one the sink it's fine it it's you know well the know with the discharges until you know going you know to the you know same location the you know same stack it's via a you know a different you know method with which well which you is well well which you know I mean is me a box in a wall well which is you know like which is you know well it is like you pretty and like know hos in you don't want sink well wi is not pretty you know I get it well I mean the way I stood it is that by discharging into the sink there's a bigger vessel to hold the water to slow the drainage impact thing be could be could be have a drain in the bottom that you know I mean be closed well and we're not talking a vanity sink either we're talking no it be a laundry sink so it I mean there there are there multiple problems here here one is the code is the code I mean the building is classified as an R2 yeah commercial residential building and that's that's it there's nothing we there's nothing we can do to change that yes and that comes with its own code requirements um the other problem is there's nothing in for example even if we were to consider the unit that they're talk the appliance that they're the you're talking about putting in as being a special lowf flow thing there's nothing in the HOA letter that says you have to use this this type of Appliance and this one only just a sec okay and and you whatever happens here or in the future is going to set the stage for all the buildings and all the units going forward so I I guess where I'm going with this is if the if the plumbing inspector offered an alternative Arrangement forget the Aesthetics but just offered an a different Arrangement that would work and what's being requested is some kind of a schematic that just shows what the plumbing configuration is from the second floor to the first floor it seems like a way around all of this that isn't going to you know produce a lot of distress and heartburn okay throughout the the condominium and get you over the hump in terms of being able to get the work done according to code you you find a first FL you know wants a wash and dryer and St you go up open up the walls you understand what's going on in there they're probably all built the same you know yes well they are that's by the way excuse me that's the other thing that's assuming that what you're doing in that particular unit is replicated across the entire complex maybe may not same time well and well that's where I did well I disagree with what what you said about with the HOA and well they don't you know like you know have a set thing you know well they do and I like I have a document that said like you can you know only use you on this cubic feet is it in the back know you know you know you know you know so they not you know going you know I'm a you know I'm a rogue here they like you know I have their yeah yeah well their you approvals now you know obviously if we we were on you know like call the first you know my floor with all these I wouldn't even you'd be here cuz you know it would be approved it's just you know well so actually my impression of well this you PS meeting was well there well you know is well there is some you know exceptions in real real world you know um you know you applications you I'm not you know here to fight you know a plumbing code you know I'm a master plumber I love plumbing code and I will follow it it's just you know well while this real world you know application is you we well with you well well with you an appliance well that where were where were where well it didn't have you know anything to do with that you know code like it's you know I me a different Appliance it's well well you know I you know sure well there will be an exception you know in the plumbing code you in the future but you know at this point well there is not so yeah well well so yeah I understand you know I appreciate your time and you know if well there's a way to get that what done if not yeah you know I will rest my if that if if the grave box was called a utility sync you'd be all set because you're dumping in utility s right yeah yeah you know and it is like yeah you know I can't really you know say anything else you I think you guys are familiar with with what what I actually put in and well the HOA you know had a lot of you know thought in this well they re reached out to me like in you know some capacity and yeah you know I mean I actually you may have you know you well like overated like my boundaries with one you know one of them and all their approvals but you know well you know know well they're just looking to enhance you know for their properties where without you know having you know anything actually bulky and well that's what you know it is right now so if we you know if you could draw or have somebody draw at the risor diagram of the building existing is and how you were modifying it that would explain maybe answer the pl respons what's the floor going below what's impacting it you know that maybe your compliance path and to make sure that the appropriate code is what's being followed um yeah I don't know who could physically do that I mean you could draw up the right dver you you know familiar with how Plum downstairs and say Here's the you know yeah have an engineer do that for you and you know we could table this and then you submit that and that would give us what we need to to get a variance and well and you know I don't think we we could without like you opening up those walls cuz well then you're just you know what guessing and you find one person on the first floor it doesn't have to be the unit directly below you it could be Jason building here's well yeah I could you know find a rare remodel maybe they're you know doing a remodel and they have the walls open but anybody that's do a survey anybody's going to one on the first floor we want to survey it so we can get these second floor units yeah yeah and well that's something I would love to talk to the ho you know I well know they're going to you know have this you know happen again cuz they're remodeling they want to you know upgrade there's like 15 buildings here it applies like 15 different buildings the complex 15 unit all same I think it's only six right I was guessing cuz yeah you there's only know two stories so you know it's well not like it's a highrise you know I get it yeah um the original construction drawings they have those I mean that would tell you also how the plumbing lay out as well yes it's other past of what the Riser diagram is that would answer his question what's below yeah and well well and like I don't even know like you know how to obtain those so you know I I don't know um so the just to answer the question about the drawings um anything that's available uh is available through um track it stream or um onbase so there's the onbase is sort of all the older files um that the city still has records of um so typically you'd go in there and search by the address and anything that's there would be available thank you I mean they may help you maybe you got a 50-50 chance of being there I don't know you know hard to say but be one path and trying to find what the drawing was and then you wouldn't hire an engineer you'd have the drawing right Grand yeah um well so I you guess where we're at is yeah you know well we well we obviously already actually performed all the work and yeah you know whether is an ATT tenant and while they temporarily put the you know while the you know syn back and it's like usable and when nothing is you know happening oh well but well we do want to cover back up and we want to paint we want to get all that you know you know done for that tenant so yeah you know if we were to you know want delay this where I guess you find plans and S plans I mean you know I don't know you know how long that you know takes um you I don't know so Michael is there a way uh if you go to page 14 in the booklet where Larry offers a code path is there a way to get him to be before you go ahead and do all of this stuff just kind of get him to spell out a little more clearly what it is that he's looking for in terms of the total DF Fus that might be on a on a line because again he's referencing you know that you can only a 2in stack can only receive six dfus in a one in a one branch interval every 8 ft of pipe is considered a branch interval so are we talking about that horizontal run in within the unit is 8 ft or the total horizontal and vertical run of 8 ft I mean because it doesn't it seems to me that it's probably connecting to a larger pipe but if he's wor if the concern is that there's going to be a problem on the lower level I think he could offer a little bit more guidance or interpretation to what it is that he's actually looking for in order to bring that to some kind of resolution for these guys and I'd have to look into it further but I and maybe you know is the the reference made to that configuration is that residential code or commercial well you know well you know well as well as far as well with the dfus in the branch line well they are actually both the same so it where where this you know actually becomes an issue is well the hor or no so you well the vertical pipe well that well this you know what branch line is you know you know is you know I'm connecting to you know on a t or a y so you know where where drops one down well will so you on a commercial code well they want that from a ver vertical to be like you know a 3 in you know want a r potential you know it well again it you know no it will does not matter if it's on the first floor then you know on the second floor it can be either floor but you know on a you know on the ra residential well they want that ver vertical to be you know 2 in you know ATM in a minimum you know and you know I well the commercial they want that you know 3 in a minimum so you know you know well and you know I've you know seen stxs where you once it comes down to the ground you know you know it'll increase right well there you I'm in a clean out or a plug that like you're able to clean out so in all likelihood you know and well that one that's right I understand you you know if there's you a vacant unit or asilt or something like that that you know shows what there's that you know what 3 in on the ground I mean so if the 3 in is at the starts at the first floor floor you're okay but they to tie and B3 so I would still have to go you know into that wall about unit you know cut the you know drywall out and you know increase it from that gy base and go up to 3 in yeah so it is with the real world you know application of will do I you know do what do we you know evade that the bace well that you know somebody else you know one owns and well that opens up a can of worms um you know or do we do with a real world you know you know application um I mean well that's where we're at well well and will the alternative you know I understand what lar you know you know and I were were you know in agreement like you well well well that it isn't going to affect like you you know the plumbing it's just for the code and he can't pass it you know and I get it and well that's why I thought with the appeals and well that's what you know he gave mentioned what to me was you know about while while the board of appeals like actually well hey like you should you know ride out this he's you know seen you know other things you know what go through here and but but yeah you know on me I probably should have you know asked you more questions or called but you know I just you actually filed you know an application and you know attached a few things and said okay cool I can get an exception from you guys but and um you know I get that is not the case as as part of the inspection when we um fail an inspection typically we'll let people know of their right to appeal the decision to the board um okay just because it is written in code that that's an option that um that uh permit holders have well you know don't get that but well Larry and I wish he was on here but like I mean I'm not going to you know throw him on bus I'm you know you know he's a great inspector but like you know we we were like no I get it like well so the alternative is that that you tie that you know same thing and you dump it you know into you know sink it's the know the same load it's the same you know discharge it's not you know doing anything you increasing it or actually making it where it's any yeah not a safety issue it's basically a Lal law issue like well well correct in well well and then actually my mind it's well it is um worse you know in a real world application cuz what if that you know a sink you know you know somebody you know throws you a plate in it and you know it covers it up it can't you know drain it's over overflowed least in a box it's while mean it can't be like you know altered or you tampered like behind unit less accessible yeah it's there I mean so yes you know you it's a real real world you know application I would love to get it g you passed or you know exception but yeah well but you know I get one now you after reading the know summary that you know I'm not you know like you know here to change with a code I I really am and well that's what was what wasn't you with the intention so okay so it doesn't sound like finding the original drawings is going to help you because you probably already believe that the RIS downstairs is already 2 in cuz you see it going down is 2 in well yeah with the vertical but you know add you know at some point you know it'll tie three you know and it's usually at with the base yeah you know above you know a ground you cut it off you increase it go but the code is requiring that all the way from the second floor fixture down to that point being a 3in line not a 2in line yes well you know correct you know in a commercial code will that you know a vertical wants it to be you know three and a residential it can be two but and well that's where I was like you know hoping originally and you know how I you know well you know presented it like or Larry you know and well that's well the only that you know I added in with the beginning of my application was originally you I mean I applied for it and well then we started the work and then we got the call no no no like well this isn't residential it's commercial and and then well that point like we already had one the walls open we were going so you know I get it and well that isn't well the proc you know I get that too is there anything that we had done this in the past where it's Aur concern about how it physically functions that we physically test it you know R up a water f it or something else like that that that you know commissions the process of that it's limit number of fixtures on it what is the difference between the commercial code and residential code which why it would be allowed in one and not the other for fixture count height the building nothing pictures above it you know what all of that so we can go through say well there's no pictures above this it's applicable for when it's only one story or nothing above you I would I would just say that the residential code is never it it isn't acceptable in a commercial structure the the the building code and the plumbing code are the ones that apply to that structure so at some point the code must have changed because if there's a 2-in stack there now yeah that's possible do they have any recoil course by going through the existing building building I I think you would get back to the if something's changed the portion that's changed needs to be in compliance um they're change if it if they weren't changing something if it were if they were you know if they're replacing a sink we would never require them to upgrade the rest of the plumbing if they were replacing the toilet we wouldn't require that when they add a fixture it's a different I I see the code applying differently if they're adding something to the system so they take the sink out and put the washer in there that's what I just going to ask say balance of fixtures well that's have a sink in their bathroom well well no well that's essentially What will what will well you what what well what Larry is you know offering as they work around is that you know I mean it's say you don't want to sink and you just you know like you want to discharge your washer to it and you know EAS able to pass it well is you know it's like a regular you know you you know a sink and whether there's like you know an air gap or an A you know air break there and like you can you know dump whatever you want to um so you well that is will the work around see that's the part I'm I'm having trouble with how does how does that change the requirement for the size of the stack you're still stuck with a 3in stack requirement aren't you it's existing now but well because it's a sink well that's what it is and you know in with a code like you're able to discharge a washer you know to a sink I think that's the only workaround it's not a great you know explanation for your question but that it's no explanation for my question yeah I get it and well that's something we you like have to talk to the plumbing board about CU you know I don't see well I don't see like what the difference but you're just you know taking all the discharge and putting it you somewhere else all of a sudden it passes let's let's I don't want to beat a dead horse here but let's just take this one more one more time so if they if they take out the vanity sink and they put in a laundry sink and they discharge the washer into the laundry sink okay that that takes care of a code compliance but they're still stuck with the 3-in stack requirement but that's okay and yeah it's written in the code that it's allowable that's oh but he still wants to know just as a point of information well he many not to dump the sink in he'd rather have a dump in the back so you don't see this unsightly thing dump any K you know but but that I understand that but that's still that's a workaround without having to rip out the entire ground floor walls and all that stuff yeah and I think that that's presented in Larry's if if I'm correct that's presented in Larry's yeah well that's what you know he presented you as a work around but he's still even so he still says he wants to know how many fixtures are tying in to the to the to the stack I mean he says so in the well you know correct and when I um spoke to him you know in regards yeah you know well well we well we didn't you know have a conversation about you know actually the dfus we just like yeah you know get it you know it would W work it would actually you know want function but I can't pass it okay so one more time if if a laundry type sink a tub washer discharge into the tub is an acceptable workaround then it would seem to me that you have an alternative solution and what you would have to do is go back to the HOA and tell them this is the only way that this will work without having to rip apart everything in the complex to make it code compliant because you're stuck with an R to building classification but I would still expect that there should be some kind of a more detailed conversation between you and the building department Larry and Michael to make sure that this is exactly going to be fine and that there and his other requirements for wanting to know what's going down going on on the lower levels doesn't really apply that's what I'm understanding from all of this okay is that is that fair to say yes yes so only the second floors would require it well yes well that is the whole well that's the whole point you know you're exactly right so you know order to get you know everything you know you know well you know you know compant above like are we having to RI rip you know everything out you know what below and I mean it is you I'm in a real world you know thing that I'm going to get involved in I think the question is this is maybe maybe more for the HOA is what's more important to them allowing their tenants or their owners to have washing machines or a matter of sync Aesthetics because in the in the real te practical world I get you can look the other way no well I get it and well yeah well well this is what I started like you know an hour ago or whatever uh well well well I didn't really understand this process you know I thought we were able to get you know exceptions in here where we could apply you know up to with the HOA or whatever for the second floor units or whatever well and we do it on a Case by case and make sure everything w lines up with the appliance but well that is not how I read the summary um was I am not want wanting you you you know I am not want wanting in order to change on the plumbing code it's just you know are we able to you know have a re real world exception well that's where I thought well you I actually well the appeals process was going to I'm helping yeah you know I mean AB it does you know I mean please you know I don't know okay well I mean all things considered I think that I think there's a viable alternative solution for you but I also think that it requires making sure that you guys you the HOA and the city are all on the same page so I'm going to propose that we table this until that conversation or those conversations happen so that everybody's crystal clear about what the alternative is and that it's acceptable because you've got a bunch of other units that could be facing the same issue and I don't think you nor we want to go through this do it once more than one time yeah no yeah well no I mean I actually you know I'm enjoying this conversation but I would I would suggest when you talk to the HOA that you list the three things that we're allowed to change and why we're stuck cuz we can't seem to there's no other fourth other option that we can squeeze in yeah well I get it you know I'm just going to add AC Cross Road with you the client at this point because we want to wrap it up and we want to get them back to nor but we can't and yeah and you know I know thought what the exception would no or you know I mean whe the appeals would you know like know Grant something on real real world so we could di move past it and we'll then have the conversation I don't know in the future or with the HOA like whatever so tell the client all show her the new s she's just acquired well what is well there is you know I'm a pretty you know I'm a LW W laundry room you know s i can you know get and you know it'll work it'll you know I'm suffice it's just I mean you know I mean we're just you know actually taking it from a box like a foot away and putting it into a sink it's it's the same you don't want discharge the same load it's not affecting so do you have to rip the Stu off you put in or do you just have to discharge it into the sink no one no it's essentially what well no you know I band in that caet so if you get a at the future you know well that's what well well Larry said well why you cut it you want well and then like you're able to cap that you actually box so it can't be well used and then just you know what dump it in there and you know I'll approve it and we'll walk past it but of course well that's not what we wanted and that's well not what I you know well well that isn't what you know actually with the client envisioned it isn't even what what you know like what the HOA was envisioning on these know second FL units was actually they wanted to go in a box you know for the prettiness you and you know what concealing it and yeah I guess you can so sometimes a loophole will work to your advantage in the real world though well in will this case Ken it and I I would just say that I think that from what you're saying the argument then is that you would have a way to demonstrate or prove that your configuration is equal to or better than that's the path the code yeah um yeah okay and test by whether method you this equal two how you define equal two or better you know whatever Larry likes and I I think that yeah that would ultimately like based on what they presented um if that was the route that this meeting went was that it was equivalent or better and documentation was presented from an engineer or you know somebody along those lines stating that you know this system has configured works in the same way well yeah well that's a good actually point you know well there is you know I mean a part of you actual the plumbing you know code where like you know where like you know engineering will like you know well it can like you want to supersede with a plumbing code I mean is a prescriptive path you're doing a performance path or some of the path well correct but I don't know you know how like you know you know know like you know detailed of you know engineering and what that entails cuz you know I'm not an engineer I I was just saying that as a we if they're looking if you're looking at presenting as equal to or better that would be an Avenue to make that argument but that would assume that they're going to within a stacked Arrangement they're going to have a washing machine on the first on the second floor the same configuration on the first floor to do a complete test because and I'm not I'm not saying it as what what would I mean a practical it's a practical matter I mean if you just do the second floor the the next person that comes in and wants to do it on the floor below is going to be back to the same thing and what if it doesn't work and I I think that's why it would need to be presented in a holistic manner that addresses the plumbing system okay so you going to go ahead and put a laundry sink and close out your permit then you can keep your very over by tabling it and he work this out for all the other units so does he want to have it ruled on today up down or is he okay with it being caed or poone cabling is when you put it on the table without a date and we come back even when you wants to come back postponing as a two day C or he might say I want to know today which he has the right to do so it's kind of up to him on theing well so I'm okay with you know for the tabling well there is an issue with you well the plumbing permit you know has like you know X separation date you know I just you know got that one one notification uh well that will expire like in you know what January or something you know I don't I you know don't quote me but so while so well you know if we do you know table this well well do we close the plumbing permit out and you know how do we do that with going back to a so so without without the final inspection we can't close the plumbing permit out however if you send me an email saying the reason that you want to extend your permit I can extend it for another 90 days based on that um and then we would reevaluate if it needed to be done again well well while well that would at least allow me what to have you done me well you know I mean a conversation with well the owner and uh and yeah and you know tell them about you know everything the code allows me to do that just as long as it's in writing um and there's a a reason um uh given as to why it needs to be extended well yeah well then you while well while well to like you answer like your question well then yes you I would like to table this I guess and you know and you know see if you well there's a viable way to get you variance or you know or like you know an engineer might want to help who knows so once you know I'm have a conversation you know andless you want to pass it like you can do that so okay motion so the motion is to to table it to table the propos the difference you don't know when it's coming back or it's coming back yeah de table postp is like we're going to take it up on January 15th or February 13th or whatever so I would suggest we table table the motion and give the applicant time to work with the plumbing department uh and to come to an agreeable solution that we can address later or not as needed second does that make sense second oh is that motion oh yeah I second those in favor I I motion passes the appeal is tabled until we have more pration from the applicate all right all right thank you no thank you next item on the agenda is old business I see no old business anybody staff have old business anything no next item is new business any new business uh next it agenda is adjournment we have a motion move to ajour Second those in favor I adjourned that 231

[Music] e [Music] n [Music] sh [Music] pursuing to the open public meetings act at public notice has been given by the secretary of the eim Township Board of Education in the following manner posting written notice on the official bulletin board of the Board of Education Office emailing written notice of the brones and County Times And The Courier Post filing written notice with the municipal clerk of eim Township Mr Yates can we have a roll call please roll call Mr Bach here Mr Brown here Mr demarcy Mr demarcy is absent Miss Fox here Mrs null here Miss Lee here Mr Thompson Mr Thompson is absent Mr fisicaro here and Mr K here we have a quarum thank you Mr Yates whereas an njsa 10 for das2 allows for a public body to go into close session during a public meeting and whereas the Board of Education of eam Township has deemed it necessary to go into close session to discuss certain matters which are Exempted from the public and whereas the regular meeting of the Board of Education will reconvene following the end of close session at approximately 7:30 p.m.

I'm Angel Lopez and I'm the November student of the month here in West Chicago I I did uh 4 years of soccer it was really fun also became an avid tutor and then I was invited to National Honor Society so I thought that was pretty fun because I ended up making a fundraiser so the the thing I liked about high school was the teachers they were really nice they always helped you and no matter what I felt like they were always there to guide you so I thought it was pretty helpful and because of that my I was able to keep my good grades and all of that something I would tell younger students is don't let other people bring you down because most of the time they'll tell you it's corny when you try to get better again just be different be the one to stand out and help others motivate them so what I want to do when I'm older I really want to get into architecture I want to major in that maybe go to a UIC hopefully work at a renovating company and take care of my family and and at the same time play soccer I think that would be really nice [Music] [Applause] [Music]

all right 7 o'clock we'll go ahead and call the meeting to order can you start with a roll call please absent Adam hin here Andre Cory Kelly Moyer here Greg Meyer here Lisa schacher here Tyson search here that establishes the Quorum you all stand with me and recite the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge of allegiance 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 you he well well Welcome to our two visitors now thank you for joining us this evening got some correspondents going around I don't believe so okay no correspondence maybe like to make a public comment it's one of the two you it's the only option here so and we'll move right on to the business part of our meeting and we'll start with our consent agenda Dr C Dr us through that got all of your normal reports there uh we've got two resignations Jamie Bridges is um resigning from the after prom sponsor and so uh we have a name actually to fill that today and Laura Simmons is uh resigning from the cross country co- coach they have co-coaches on that we're assuming the other co-coach is going to cover that if not we will be looking for a cross country coach next month but right now um we've got those two res ations we've got two hires Stephanie Nelson Eagle View uh is our new nurse at Eagle View Eagle View healthc care provider and Addie daqui she is graduating and is going to become one of our Eagle Zone um adult workers so that's a good thing because we're always looking for more Eagle Zone people um it's one of those hardto fill positions we've got a uh extracurricular assignments Jessica Packard has stepped up and said that she is willing to do the after prom um to be the advis for that and as I said uh Mrs Simmons um was a co- coach so we don't really need to fill that position right now we'll see what happens and Duncan van bruskin is the name we need to add I uh was told today um volunteer baseball he's going to be one of our volunteers so it'll be an unpaid position but I just want you aware that Duncan van brusin is going to volunteer for the baseball uh no vacancies as I said and so Administration recommends that you approve the consent agenda as presented perfect any questions comments or concerns hearing any would be like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented I'll make a motion thank you Andrea second second thank you Tyson roll call please Adam H yes Andre Cory yes Kelly Moyer yes Craig Meyer yes Lisa schemer yes Tyson search yes perfect on now move on to our Communications reports and presentations ran report is in your packet on to our building report Mr Reeves so kind to join us this evening welcome hello everybody thank you hello uh just a couple things to highlight from the high school up here we have our four most recent students of the month the category was the generosity we have Parker Kish will Klein Schmid Jameson Myers and Haley Suri uh all representing our last month for generosity and then our next slide we have couple different we have a couple from our band and choir concert from last Monday Tuesday ours was Tuesday but the middle school was also Monday great performances by them all and uh we're in our Sports season another Sports season I should say winter our girls play second in our holiday our Columbia I'm sorry Columbia tip off classic and the and the the boys team won uh at Westland our Bowlers are in full swing our scholar Bowl team is in full swing uh our cheer team had their first competition this past Sunday uh so they're not only performing at games but doing competitions on the weekends uh so really active with sports uh I added one more I think and then we recently had 23 seniors announced as Illinois State Scholars and Illinois State Scholars uh they're chosen based on Sat ACT scores uh their class Rank and then they have to be in the top 10 % of Illinois high school graduates so if they meet all that criteria they could be selected for the Illinois State scholar and we had 23 which I think is a good number uh we have one more day of session of school at the high school we have final exams uh so it's been a hectic few days with exams going on but hopefully wrap up pretty smoothly tomorrow I [Laughter] second all right thank you very much we'll move on to our assistant superintendent report Dr gy good evening everyone um one of our favorite parts of the evening our district shout out we are going to start since we have the high school here with our high school shout out that is Mrs Grant she was nominated by the staff at CHS the staff shares that in our downtime I encourage seniors to reminisce about all the good things that have happened over the last four years on most days they need a prompt one day I asked what teacher was able to match mat their learning style best and by the end it was unanimous that Mrs Grant was the one many other names were mentioned for obvious reasons but the second one of them said what about Mrs Grant and her notes Pages they all agreed the classes were organized and they felt like they knew exactly what to review for for any upcoming assessment big shout out to Mrs Grant at the high school then we have Mr Dave Jackson he's our second photo I I do I will share I aspire to take a photo like that um before I Tire um that truly is Mr Dave Jackson in a picture um every time I'm at the middle school and I interact with him he brings forth the energy that I have never experienced before with one of our Paras um CMS says a big round of applause for Mr Jackson his upbeat attitude and contagious positivity make CMS a brighter place every day whether he's stepping in as a last minute sub rocking the role of Santa the Barbarian at the band concert or Faithfully serving as our cross in guard rain snow or shine Mr Jackson goes above and beyond for our students and staff thank you for all that you do to keep us safe and smiling Mr Jackson our next person that we want to shout out at the district is from Parkview Mrs Robin Syler um a shout out to our amazing school secretary she is truly the heartbeat of Parkview Robin is always positive and goes above and beyond to make our school exciting and fun for both staff and students whether it's answering phones greeting parents finding subs or supporting teachers positive posting positive news on social media knowing what to order for Mr Dugan's lunch stepping in as a nurse or custodian or even having the conversations with students about behaviors she does it all with a smile not only does she manage all these tasks but she also organizes our entire school fundraiser Robin is a true rock star and you never know if she was having a tough day because she always brings her best thank you Robin for everything you do and our last shout out comes from Eagle View Mrs crystal brers is one of our Cooks at Eagle View she is such a kind and patient person and builds relationships with everyone and everyone is in all caps uh she knew all of our students by name early in the year and she is always supporting students and staff in the cafeteria she's also a talented crocheter and has made some gifts for students and staff and we can account for that because we got one today didn't we Dr Grody you did um huge shout out we have amazing staff as always and and we're Proud To Be An Eagle um the next thing I wanted to share is some work that we're doing at the high school Mr Reeves can vouge I have been at high school often lately um one of the things we're most excited about is uh our ccpe plan that is our College and Career pathway endorsement um which is something that the governor brought um a few years ago but now it's time to really get this pathway um enacted for our students um what Mr re Reeves and I have been talking about about is we have a lot of dual credit college credit um opportunities but really we don't have those transitional Pathways and that is what a ccpe plan would do it would give a level one course a level three or four course and then it would put an endorsement on their um transcripts to hopefully make them more marketable um and possibly a vocation of their choice we need to start having these conversations um even at the middle school but right now we're focusing at the high school Mr frish I'm not going to make him speak but I'm glad he is here he's one of our amazing vocational teachers he is going to be instrumental in getting the ccpe off the off the ground in running here in Colombia we're hoping to do our first pathway as construction um and really we have everything set up we're just going to try to connect with some construction companies in Colombia that is the last part we need to get them some work-based um experience we also are partnering with swick to see what we can do and you might notice there's the waterl bulldog and Dupo mascot on there as well um which I'll talk about talk about in an action item but Dupo is doing two Pathways one is for HVAC and one is for electrical we did survey the students to see if there was an interest and there is an interest um to possibly take that pathway so we're working Mr Reeves myself um with Dupo to have some of our students possibly try that those two Pathways next year um and then waterl reached out because they heard that we offer the EMR class um for emergency responders and they would like to possibly partner and work with us to do some type of cooperative and and help their students have some of the opportunities that that we're doing so a lot of really good things are going on um and a lot of work at the high school right Mr Rees that's right all right um moving on I have something else about the high school um we are transitioning from sat to act um really this is not something that never happen it really is a financial decision based upon the state the state goes they go into the bidding process and act W the bid this year um for the the duration of the contract um because I feel like we have really started working and looking at our sip our school Improvement plans in our scores and doing some outcomes a ACT scores are important and we want to make sure we're supporting our students and navigating how they're getting prepared so um Horizon education is a program that districts in the area use um msca is using it Redbud is piloting it this year as well we've been in communication with both um and we're we're going to bring it to to Colombia I have some PD for our act Proctors or our teachers on January 6th so they'll be able to utilize this in their classroom and also use this for whomever is willing I'm still looking for staff members to possibly do an after school program for the ACT um prep we did did survey 107 Juniors um when I say we Mrs Bard helped me on on that front and out of the 107 um Juniors there were quite a few that were interested in an Afterschool ACT prep program so that's why I think it's important um to work towards getting that done um this is on an action item as well I did write this into our grant so it is going to be funded with grant funding um it won't come out of local funds but it is through a grant um but again I I'm excited about it I think it's going to be great for our students and instructors so I wanted to share it at the meeting tonight um so uh curriculum as I've been sharing we have been looking at Social Studies curriculum that has now grown to second grade all the way up to 12th grade um we are reviewing two companies TCI and mcra Hill we've had two meetings with representatives from grade levels all the way from 2nd to 12th grade um I have virtual uh tour that will be scheduled for January 6th for all of our social studies reps to tour um with a rep from both of these companies and they can ask all of their questions digitally to them um and then we're going to come back together in February and hopefully have um representatives from the companies personally come and talk about both of these products to then hopefully bring something to the board either March or April that's kind of our plan our timeline I want to make sure anything new you need to make sure you give that professional development and if I can bring it March or April that'll give me time to work with the teachers to get them fully informed on how to use it in their classrooms next year I am so pumped about this Mr Reeves knows about this and M Dr Grody does as well um we have been working on on team building um in particular with our administrative team so um we are working on an administra uh Administration Retreat um June 9th through the 12th we have lots of activities planned um for those four days some on campus some off campus and I I'm pumped it's going to be a great time a great week learning together and doing some activities to to help the admin team come together and and work on that team uh team and I also wanted to touch before I close tonight on Book Fairs um I know I think in October we started discussing Book Fairs and there's been um much discussion on policies and and how to move forward um all three of our schools did have a fall book fair but based upon conversations we are not going to do an in-person book fair in the spring um there could be other options we're going to continue the monthly um book clubs which I know we had talked about at the October meeting to allow some discretion to be taken with parents at home as to what is being purchased um Everybody um is moving forward with this I just wanted to give you an update regarding Book Fairs and I think that is it any questions questions on that okay thank you awesome thank you very much absolutely off to our superintendent report so always interesting when we start talking about next year and administrative Retreats and everything because we are in that part of Education where next month we'll be posting positions for next year you know so we're already starting to think about the years ahead um I will say that I'm excited to announce that I think this is going to be the last time I speak of Link during my superintendent report um they've got the historical data they've been there's been back and forth we've been checking and everything but we do have a salary report to approve tonight we got the report this morning and Kimberly Johnson was good enough to take each individual and enter it into the state system so that you would get the report you normally get the salary report is literally what was spent in salaries for people from July 1st 2020 3 to June 30th 2024 um the numbers are accurate and we uh really went through the history and I I am glad that that Kimberly was able to get those all done today I appreciate that immensely I'm also extremely glad that in the first week of January we've got meetings with them to make sure our W2s and our acas are are done correctly the historical data was one of the key pieces to make sure that our W2s would be done correctly correctly so next month is the W2 time and we want to make sure that all the taxes get to be done correctly so I'm excited about link being done uh I got a Foya request and we don't get those very often this was from Foya Professional Services a company uh they asked for there was a performance contract that we did an RFP be that was due February 2020 I was not the superintendent during that time this was I believe the High School HVAC units so we looked for the RFP that they were asking for we could not find the original RFP but I was able to send and respond to them and explain that we did the search and um I gave them the contract with train that was awarded and I gave them the letter from um FGM to Dr buer Who uh reviewed with FGM the grp Wiggum train tremco and CTS proposals those were the companies that came in and did the performance Contracting and then um it was awarded so anyway I responded to it in a timely manner I did call legal to make sure that you know what happens when you don't have the information right it's not where it's supposed to be and it just it we did our due diligence we looked for it and we couldn't find it um but we were able to give them what we have uh and then just finally we do have an executive session tonight to talk both about employment and student discipline that's a and b on the agendas um but there is no action afterwards so I just want to say to everybody during my report that I hope they have a happy happy uh holiday Merry Christmas Happy New Year be safe be smart and I can't believe tomorrow is the last day before second semester in January all right well thank you very much move on to our ad reaction the first one is the approval for the tax levy for the year 2024 yes and this has not changed any from last year I've had no questions or comments about it so the tentative Levy that you guys approved last year I'm requesting that you approve it again for this year and I will make sure it gets dropped off at the cour houses tomorrow both at Monroe and St Clair okay any discussion on the tax levy what may like to make a motion to approve the tax levy for the year 2024 I'll make the motion thank you Andre second second I think he beat you out there so had second roll call please yes Moyer yes Greg Meyer yes Lisa schacher yes Tyson search yes Adam hkin yes our next item is approval for the early graduates yeah 25 students I think that is the record or at least during my stretch here I would if we had 25 students the last time um anyway we have 25 students that have met the criteria for graduation and we recommend that the board approve those graduates as presented any questions regarding the early graduates he none would may like to make a motion to approve the early graduates I'll make the motion thank you Kelly second I'll second thank you Adam all in favor any opposed any extensions just curious right next item is the approval for the 2024 teacher Administrator salary and benefit report that we just got yes you just got the information today and I know it it's it's it's lots of eyes have been on it and checked it and double checked it um it is to my knowledge very very accurate so Administration recommends that the board approve the 2024 salary and benefits report you'll be doing this again in July no no no no we'll be we'll be having it submitting it in July but September is when this is normally done it's okay the system switch kind of made I'd rather have it right then have it rushed so I would like it both that's true any questions regarding the teacher administrative salary and benefit report he know would you like to make a motion to approve this report I'll make the motion Thank you Lisa second second call please yes yes Lisa shoeer yes Tyson search yes Adam Hunkin yes Andrea Cory yes thank you next item is the approval for the Horizon Education Act assessment yeah and um Dr gainy can speak more to this but administration's recommending that the board approve the purchase of horizon Education Act assessment and that's a three-year contract uh amounting for a total cost of $ 47,9 192.50 WR gr um so it'll be fully funded I'm happy to answer any questions if you have any the state is using ACT for the next three years so it's not that it's going to switch back to sat and we're going to have this act C so so that act is all they take they don't do the AC the SAT anymore no the the yeah it is the act now and the nice part about this program is it does transition so if it does go back to sat and we have the program and we think it's a quality program then they just shift to sat and then we can continue using the program to help with SAT prep other questions maybe we' like to make a motion to approve the Horizon Education Act assessment purchase thank you Tyson second I'll second thank you Andrew roll call please yes Lisa schoemer yes Tyson search yes Adam hkin yes Andrea Cory yes Kelly Moyer yes all right next item is e the approval of the adding of the production Tech and beginning electricity I must say I I I love the fact that we have Partnerships with the surrounding schools you know we um have students from Dupo currently coming over for German we send kids over there for Roc we've got the EMR class for the Emergency Medical Response and so what this is is we uh Administration recommends the board approve adding production Tech and beginning electricity to the course offerings at CHS and those students would be taking that at Dupo questions concerns is that a state I guess created curriculum or who comes up with that the curriculum I saw there was I'm going to defer that to either Brian or the curriculum for the C the CCP is as a pathway for them to get an endorsement it's not necessarily a curriculum correct correct a lot of with these and I I don't want to put Mr fr on the spot but he does a production Tech at the high school already um the curriculum is normally like from a CTE um place like like from The Vocational area like Mr frish you were talking about the curriculums that that you are partnering with for construction right it comes from the company correct right the labor unit yes from the workforce they actually produced a three volume or three step textbook through their training and they designed the book and it's what high schools can use and they they offer more than just construction they offer shop M they offer and but they make their own curriculum ex up to us to choose what we can take out of that to F our you know needs yes we're creating curriculum we're creating a specific pathway that the kids can in the end get an endorsement so we have kind of the classes but we're just tying them in into each other so they can follow the path to get to the work base uh experience and then getting an endorsement okay so answer your question yeah so my takeaway is the trade organizations provide yes the content and then you just you teach that's how we've been using it yes okay is there a cost to the district for the content no no I they're they're happy for us to do it because then we're preparing them more for people than when they try to join their their Union or their labor shop yeah like that right any other questions hearing none who would like to make a motion to approve the production Tech and beginning electricity I'll make a motion thank you Kelly second I'll second i r call please yes Tyson search yes Adam hkin Andre Cory yes Kelly Moyer yes Greg Meyer yes all right next item is f the first reading for the board policy 6230 instructional instruction library media yeah Dr ke gainy met with Mrs Corey and Mrs Moyer and they reviewed some of the um opt out instructional information and so admin Administration recommends the board approve the first reading of the board policy 6230 um which is instruction library media as presented and Dr gy do you want to go into the details of that yes um so so the recommendation is removing number five on the policy which a lot of surrounding districts have done um if you remove the number five it means that we're not adhering to the National Library um principles uh and their Bill of Rights which gives us more local discretion on the library media um items that we are putting in in our libraries so I'm happy to answer any questions that I'm able to if you have any any questions we like to make a motion to approve the first reading of board policy 6230 I'll make the motion thank you Andrea second I'll second thanks Kelly roll call please Tyson search yes Adam hkin yes Andre Cory yes Kelly Moyer yes Craig Meer yes Isa schacher yes all right last item for Action is G the second reading and approval of the board policy press issue 117 yeah and again Administration recommends the approval of the second reading of the press issue issue 117 as presented there really was not much that stood out in this one as far as it's all just mainly housekeeping following up the legal changes that have happened any questions comments or concerns regarding this press issue 117 heing none would be like to make a motion to approve the second reading I'll make a motion thank you Adam second second thank you Tyson roll call please Adam hkin yes Andre Cory yes Kelly Moyer yes GRE Meyer yes Lisa Schumacher yes Tyson search yes perfect concludes our business for this evening and our next item is the discussion items we'll start off with our facility study um we are waiting for them to pour the slab of concrete mid January is when the steel is supposed to arrive and so we're told by the end of January and um February you'll really start see that building pop up uh I've had people comment to me at church or whatnot um asking if that big structure that's there right now is the elevator that is the stairwell to that hallway is not the elevator the elevator is actually going to be on the current building that's there on the end of the thing but um yeah that's just a stairwell so uh next month you should start seeing more of the structure pop up but um yeah you have anything add no that's finish up ground work exactly um I would kind of like to address what we talked about last meeting with the over budget um we really are not over budget and I know it's semantics but we basically the the costs were higher than we were expecting so we've done a I I guess it sounds arrogant we've done a really good job on maintaining costs and so just to give kind of the public a little bit of idea and I know there's a bunch of stuff going on Facebook and I've never regretted not arguing on Facebook I've never thought my I I should have spent more time arguing with people on Facebook so I I just don't really do that um and a lot of things kind of were misinformation and I just kind of wanted to set it straight so you know when we started this entire project we evaluated a brand new High School versus everything else a brand new high school our numbers were $180 million to do that High School so kind of take it down we're looking at 50 million for what we're doing so that's a that's a huge savings overall for the district in addition we have our multi-purpose field that we can reuse we have the greenhouse we have the parking lot we have the roads a lot of that stuff we're reusing so it made a lot of sense to do what we're doing and also two years ago when all this started coming through and we had these ideas inflation was a lot different back then so just the inflation rate on our increase is what we're looking at for for this deal and also so when we started all this project also right now we're let's use round numbers we're at 50 million what we were expecting we kind of held them down and every meeting they would say well we're we're creeping up a little bit and Adam and I would say no we're not we're going to go back down to that fee that sum because that's living within our means and that's what we intended to do the entire time was live within our means we don't want to raise taxes we want to keep everything flat we want to live within our means but we want everything we want so what we're trying to do is set up the district for the future so we're trying to get all the infrastructure really done so the things that we can afford right now we can easily add later on so it's not a huge expense and so we're white boxing a couple rooms and that sort of thing to to make it done to get that achieve that goal when our plans went over the original estimate for the remodel was 78 million I had to go back and look at my notes uh so I mean we've cut a third of this budget already so again living with our means one of the deals we did was is Adam and I actually on we took Post-it notes and we said you know the original theater was going to go over where the where the greenhouse was so that means we're going to have to tear down the greenhouse rebuild it we're going to have to tear down the storage building rebuild it we have to redo the road we said that's silly we have this footprint that we can get all we want in the footprint so we we literally sat there with post notes said let's put this here this here this here we gave it all to The Architects and so that's how we're able to get this price down to what we are and the N thing is we didn't lose anything in the process we just kind of made a a better design um you know we spend a lot of time at the school we spend a lot of time with the staff and we find out the input and we find out what we need and what we need to do to to accomplish these goals and and that's what we set out to do the next thing so phase one is pretty much done it actually came a little bit under what we expected so we're in good shape there phase two was a little bit more than we expected but we're going to deal with it phase three we kind of all think that the estimates that we're getting are ridiculous and uh I'll I'll just say it I I I don't see any reason but you know we had a we had a meeting was it yesterday guess it was my days run together sometime this week so Dr gainy Dr uh Grody Adam and myself we sat down and we gra the plans again and we're going over it and we're like okay well how can we trim this money off you know we we have these goals and and everybody's passionate about you know we're not going to compromise we want what's best for the community Dr gy had some really good ideas that that uh she has a great vision for the future and you know it's it's nice to see The Passion of course Dr Grody always has and uh but so we then over to the high school we said okay where can we save some more money and how can we do it so we kind of went to the high school and we started brainstorming and we came up with another plan so and I think this plan is actually going to be an improvement on the phase three it's going to actually increase our spaces and it's going to save some money now The Architects have to draw it of course but it's kind of a concept so you know it's if it goes through but again there's there's a lot of work behind the scenes and and we're not technically over budget we are the the estimates are coming in higher than we would like them to be and so that's kind of what I want the community to to really kind of understand so so that's my soap box and but uh again the reason we also had this conversation last meeting is because we adhere to the open meaning act we discuss everything in person in public we don't have private conversations and we want to bring as much transparency to the community and to the board and everybody else and let you guys know that hey these numbers came in higher than we'd like them to come in so I know it it's technically over budget but again I think it's semantics and but it's not a final number and we are working hard and anmi are stubborn and and we just are not giving in and and we want what we want at what we want so the price so I will add I maybe it is semantics but you know it's it's not really over budget it's the the forecast of numbers are higher but we're still within our budget to obtain the goal of being at a net zero or or or less tax so I think that's where the difference is the numbers are higher than original but that doesn't mean that we're over budget and it's going to exceed the current tax cap you know the current tax rate that's that's ultimately where we're at so um and as you know Greg said it's it's really you know inflation you know we're fighting it we're doing this realtime bidding we can't ask for two years ago numbers you know we could only forecast as much as we could so um and yeah that's why we're trying to find the most efficient ways to to do these builds um as we're doing them so that's what the walk through yesterday was for see if we can find some more efficient building methods or you know reconfigure spaces differently that's more efficient so the but it will cost less without sacrificing you know the end product so right just re rethinking some of the stuff to come up with an alternate solution so but we're not giving up so no we're going to stay at it and we're going to we're going get the job done and we're going to live within our means I think that's the that's the thing I want the community to understand the most so any questions sorry for the soap box but I just kind of felt it was important to good I get out that it's talk it's being talked about all right we'll go on to individual board member comments anyone I have one whenever uh we were talking about the ACT prep uh you know just thinking in thinking in the future next year you know there was approximately 71 students that said either yes or maybe and as interested that'll be a great use of the auditorium next year won't it absolutely I mean you know that's College style lecture but you can fit all of them in one comfortable place where you have seats and you know that's looking forward to that exciting times all right wor pres prerogative you guys again heard way more than me than you than you probably deserved so we'll eliminate that uh we do have an executive session this evening for the purpose of appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of a specific employee of the public body or legal counsel for the public body including hearing testimony on complaint Lodge against the employee of the public body or against the legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity validity pursuant to 5S 5 ilcs 12202 C1 and also for student discipline cases pursuant to 5Cs 1202 C9 be like to make a motion to adjourn into executive session I'll make a motion thank you Kelly second I'll second Leisa seconds call please Andre yes H Moyer yes Greg Meer yes Lisa Shaker yes Tyson search yes Adam H yes perfect we're going to join to Executive section as Dr Gro alluded there is no action items as a result you're more than welcome to come back and watch us adjourn but if you don't want to we certainly understand so e e e Open Session no items for Action as a result of our executive session this evening all is left is a motion to I'll make the mo thank you Adam we a second I'll second thank you Lee all in favor all right that concludes our meeting than thank you very much have a good night

e e e good evening everyone and welcome to the Ashlin planning board meeting of Thursday December 19th um the meeting is obviously being broadcast and is also being recorded so we have two public hearings tonight this should be um kind of an abbreviated meeting that were actually meeting just to to cover these certain topics but before we get to that I will call the meeting to order at 7:18 and we will first have the clerk's report Kate thank you madam chair I did not have time to report I know there was one email received um since the last meeting which was responded to by the town planner all right great thank you um next on our agenda is public comment obviously we have no one in the audience but we may have people online um is there any public comment this evening all right I see one hand uh Mr Mark D Mr Mark D I'm going to ask you to unmute unmute we okay thank you um this is through the chairman to Mr Peter if I can ask him a question one is the um we were somewhat together Monday night on the comprehensive plans meeting you were involved in a lot of ways and the other one was the uh I was at the one Tuesday night didn't see you there figure a question mark yeah it's it's com up to question and um I just was wondering how did the other meetings go but I was went well we got done before eight and some of the some of the other companies groups got down little bit after that's a question that's one question to Peter I got another one after well the meetings was very successful month um you know I was at both of them on Monday night were successful um and uh the three meetings on Tuesday night uh I I I heard all good you know positive feedback okay and uh I sent you an email about economic business and well the mill building project did you get that I have not had time to respond Mark but yes I did see that com into my email box okay I came into the office yesterday and was I was G try to catch up on that with you but you weren't in I saw alv virro there but everything else went well okay and um to the chairman the other than the dog park and the ATT Tower is the rest of the agenda going to be the same from from what it is on on the sheet of paper that I saw those are typical things that we put on our agenda in case we have you know for longer meetings in case something gets cancelled but we are not going to be going into any of those other um any of those other things tonight this is a basically this is for basically for the two public hearings a special kind of online meeting and then um I for one will need to leave the meeting I assume others will as well given that it's a holiday season okay and on that on that little note there I say to the to the board have a good happy holiday Christmas Han and all and I thank you great thank you Mark thank you Mark all right so first on our agenda is the continued public hearing uh for the ashin dog park um I don't think there's anyone um able to attend from from the dog park though yolan Yolanda was going to maybe try to be able to get on but Peter you um we obviously have the um decision and you had um gone through various things with the landscape architect is that right yeah so you know since the last meeting uh myself and Michael rner who's not able join us tonight due the conflict um we did go through um all the plenty of board comments um we went through the design Review Committee comments uh that that all that information was sent out um there was an updated plan that I'm happy to bring up and I apologize if I if I I think I forgot to add it to the Friday email which I just uh learned of so I apologize for that but um that that that updated plan came through um the design Review Committee notes uh I mean responses were were sent out I just want to make one note I think there was a typo on my end there a miscommunication um the type of material that is preferred by the dog for the dog park um and um from the Stanton Grant is rice Stone and not P Stone I know in my in the response it said it had a had a had it stated P Stone I think uh that was a typo on my end just a miscommunication on on material rice Stone P Stone it's it's they're very similar they're just a different Stone different size um so with that said that was corrected and that was confirmed with the uh landscape architect then further I can state that the uh Conservation Commission uh did meet uh since have met since the last plany board meeting and have approved the plan um but the the the revised plan from the last meeting I'm happy to bring it up and share um it did does have all the evics that were were spoken about uh about B last any board meeting so um I did draft that agend that decision I sent it out and if there's any questions by the board members I'm I'm happy to answer any questions um do we does anyone from the board want to want or need to go like just through the drawings again with any questions so the I just wanted to make sure our documents are correct because one thing I saw and I I I think it might have been on um a followup saying the 38 stone or something like that and then it went back to the rice Stone but I think in between we have a document saying I believe we got something that said the Stanton Foundation prefers 38 but now it's saying rice Stone so maybe we didn't refer to that it was just in an email I am positive that I saw that and like maybe a typo but I just want to make sure we have all the documents um it's a reference okay do you want me to pull up the decision and go through it or I don't yeah that I do have a there's definitely um I guess a little more than a typo on that too but I don't think we refer to 38 or rice gravel or anything in the decision so I'm okay with that it's the backup documents that we to so I edited that I I did edit that and I just took and I took out that measurement I just put R Stone because that's the common that's been that's been the common term used um by by all parties yeah so I think what happened and correct me if I'm wrong Peter that Peter was in conversation with Michael and going Michael the landscape architect Michael rner and going through the list of the design Review Committee but Michael or sorry Peter was doing that typing on his end and mistakenly put in the the PE gravel instead of the rice Stone which still which still continues to be in the drawings as R Stone and which I think Michael was pretty clear at the last meeting talking about that that was what the Stanton um Grant people preferred so on the design Review Committee that's where the the typo is that Peter's referring to um because I I just pulled it up so in so this is a little bit something we have to on the record applicant response P gravel 38 inch is recognized as industry standard yes so that used in dog park so the applicant's telling us 38 but now we're saying rice but that's the part that Peter misinterpreted and no I understand I'm just saying I physically have a document that was issued by the that's why it need to be corrected I think the I correct I believe we sent it out today okay that you sent out the corrected version I asked Alber Alvaro to send it out but I'm happy to bring up that document Kate okay because I did edit it I did not get it Alo sent two documents and it wasn't I trust you I just want stuff to all match and I see Karen Dan who I know is involved with the dog park has her hand raised so uh maybe and maybe she has some clarification on this so Peter do you want to unmute um sure I just ask Karen to unmute hi hi everyone this is Karen Dan I'm with the dog park committee um I was able to jump on a little bit late so I apologize and I'm just getting uh in part of the conversation that's been uh that's been discussed you're right through through both parties uh through the design committee um but the Stanton Grant um wholeheartedly supports the use and and it's becomes highly recommended to use um the rice stone versus the gravel the PE the pstone gravel as it is a little bit smaller and uh uh the feedback has been from several Parks surrounding the area that stting Grant has already provided for that they use that stone and the feedback has been um responsive been very good with that that product great thank you yeah sorry about that I didn't mean to interject I'll no I'm glad that there was someone on uh from the dog park who could add to that um that narrative so when we our decision refers to memorandum from Michael rner addressed to Miss Jen ball no sorry I'm reading the wrong one applicant response to design review comments received planning office on December 13 there's really a REV one of that which I guess doesn't specifically matter I just want to make sure this is all clean so so I can take that you know I think this came up and I I I think it was misinterpreted of me we I did talk to Michael rer today I revise that awesome output yeah and then I I can make the change of the decision um I have a document here I I I did update that um and I'm happy to share it with you and I'm happy to make the update to the decision as well um with their revision of that oh so you're going to put a new date like today's date or something correct November I think that's a good idea then there's no confusion um because it was circulated I got it I'm not I I'm not to make an issue just making sure it matches I get what you did and but we should just say issued today then the 19th instead of the 13th on the decision okay so that would be what letter is that do you know uh I I I see okay yeah so that would be uh yeah December 19 corrected to December 19th um and that's a a document the corrected one that you can circulate recirculate right Peter yes I'm happy to recirculate um okay so um so do we want to bring up the um drawings of the dog park or has everyone sufficiently review that and we can bring up the um bring up the decision and to go through any corrections or changes or suggestions that any the drawings change from our last meeting uh the drawing I'm happy to share them I did update the numbers because Michael so this I did share the decision with Michael and the date was updated so it does so it reads 129 and I can share those updated drawings too so I think okay I'm very confused now because the draft I'm looking at says 1213 drawings which I did look at so I now I'm just confused like because you know what because that Michael put the date on yeah for date so he issued those right prior to the conservation so then he edited those and sent them to myself and the conservation agent and I think when I was writing the decision I was using 1219 so I changed those to match up with the conservation files so we're all working off the same plan C yeah that is the goal of this I okay so sounds like they're new drawings from our last meeting so can we bring them up if they're not I don't want to see them they are I think we should see them the on Al sent this afternoon is also from uh 13th okay which is not date Peter has on the new decision that's what I don't understand because the this is what I'm getting from Michael rner yeah so when I email Michael rner today he he corrected he looked at the decision and he made the note that the final decisions approved by the Conservation Commission read the 12 read the 9th I apologize for this confusion but the ones Alo sent say the 13th so we really haven't necessarily seen the correct drawings yet you know what I don't I I was I was working on a bunch of stuff today so I think I just asked Alo to send them out so so maybe we we circulated the wrong decisions and I didn't have time to to to pick up I did not pick up on it so I apolog no that's I think it it's it's fine it makes he would take latest drawings the 13th really they're the nth are the latest it sounds like um why would the ninth be the latest drawings and not the 13th don't no but that's what Peter's saying the new decision says the nin drawing so we'll see when he pulls them up with they're dated I'm just trying to find them right now I apologize I thought that the the decision I'm looking at the drawings are labeled 1213 24 the issue date is that they yes they are but Peter just pulled up a document to look at for the decision that said 129 and he said something about they got reissued because they that was the set approved by the Conservation Commission but I don't know I agree I don't know I so we have after so the Conservation Commission met and I'm sorry for this confusion the Conservation Commission met on December 9th and they Michael rner submitted plans after the planning board meeting which was on the 5th right and it said 13th and so the Conservation Commission could not approve plans that were that were dated the 13th because their meeting was on the n9th does that make sense so these plans right here are revived no 9th can everyone see those yep okay and then I have an email I can bring up confirming with Michael rner that the ninth are the date of the approved conservation plans and the most upto-date plan and so that's why they went back to the ninth instead of the 13th because the conservation couldn't approve anything onstead of the 13th on got it that makes sense okay but this is what we've seen on or they changed again based on meeting with conservation nope these CH these are the most these were approved by the Conservation Commission and you know they Incorporated all the comments that we had on the fifth and the ones that were sent out today at least right because I think Alvaro selected the wrong set of plans and I apologize for that so the only thing that's a little confusing to me about that is I recall at the meeting they got the they got the design review they said yes they agreed to that stuff they said yep we're going to move some Landscaping we're going to do this and that but when did that happen if they're actually going back to a 129 date I don't I I guess I just I totally understand everything you said up to then but now I'm saying I don't I'm trying to wonder if I've seen these and if I have I'm okay but if I haven't then we kind of have to scrub them for the changes we talked at that meeting okay so so so let's go through them that casate I think that's the best thing to do or we can scrub the uh we can we can move this into the to January 9th where we have to hear uh application on a special permit um for the for the site alteration um so so if you want to go through them I think we can go through them I apologize that these weren't these weren't the one circulated but I can tell you that these are the most up-to-date plans um and they were approved by the Conservation Commission okay i' I'd want to go side by side with ones from the fifth because I know like there was some landscaping and trees like maybe one tree or five trees where their move doesn't matter but we all talked about and spent time talking about it and I don't know that they're on here they in keeping with that the applicant very much was wanted it to look nice too um for screening but there were quite a few live changes made at the meeting that I don't know are on the set live changes meaning agreements to changes of placement of quite a few substantial number of things that people left happy with um so if they never got to these plans I'm not saying they didn't I just I have to scrub them I'd want them side by side so I can do that okay I I don't I mean people want this meeting to be quick and I think it should be and so that can't probably be done tonight but if there's so how does that work are we voting on this on these plans but there's another one like I don't I'm confused about that part because there's a whole other uh approval needed right correct yeah so if we're waiting till the 9th like are we supposed to vote on this state or do we just wait till the 9th anyway then no we we if I may Cher show on on the 5ifth we decided to meet have this special meeting tonight yes to to try to tie up any Loose Ends so we don't carry them into the calendar year um and it was discussed on the 5th that the the St in Grant you know we have to move uh as the town the applicant to you received this this grant right we talked to the stand Foundation um and they are they know where we are in the permanent pering and and so they also know that we have to come back here on the nth they're in favor of this um they know where we stand but we do have to come back on January 9th and that was there because of the um the advertisement dates in the newspaper regarding that that application um that you made note of at on the 5th um so therefore we do have to come back on the 9th and vote a special permit this was just being continually to be reviewed to move everything along um so we weren't carrying it over into the new Cal so I would uh Karen had her hand up again just a moment ago can we see what she wanted to add into that to this thank uh Karen would you like to step for oh sorry about that yes um I was my understanding those do look like the final designs that you just had there by the way um but I understand aate why you'd want to make sure whatever was discussed in that design meeting is also um you know carried over into any of the final designs you're right there were discussion about moving um possibly some plantings and um also some things over in to the uh I think the the there's a water runoff um on on the left side of that parking lot there was a decision to maybe plant some things over there but that design hasn't really changed I could tell by the fact that we had the um the ada8 we had the handicap parking close moved closer to the gate entrance and also um the parking spaces was brought down from 20 to 16 um and I'm not sure if we had chance to scroll down to further design pictures but we might have seen that uh we have plantings between the parking lot and the r as well that um that was also covered through discussion um I was under the impression that this meeting was also for the for the D um but maybe that is also the other date you're talking about then maybe that is the January date for the the um the d d signage needed for the part no the D signage would come from the conservation department okay um yeah that DP number would not come from from from okay so then we we might have that already then okay yep I think you guys already have we already issued that okay great yep so Peter obviously what we're we're trying to get to what this was supposed to be about what was confirming the final design so that they would have that for the Stanton Grant which is apparently needed by the end of this month right so where are we on that obviously we don't want to lose the Stanton Grant so so we've confirmed with the St Grant we're not going to lose a St Grant they know where we are um and and we have some you know was once thought uh that we to have everything done by December 31st I think we've reached out to them they know where we are in per they know you we are with the planning board and they have given us some flexibility um as long as we can go to bid um early I would say late to late January early February and I think we're still on task to do that as the applicant the town um but with that said we do have to come back on the ninth if there is confusion there's no harm to to move this to the ninth and and just kind of continue on and uh after the meeting I can send out the most upto-date um files and and we can kind of move forward and that would give us obviously a two additional weeks to to review everything um and then move forward in confidence at at one you know one meeting which will be on on January 9th so if that's a proga of the clinning board I think it's it's acceptable and it's understood okay well the thing I want to do that I still want to do is I think we should open up the decision because I think the questions really have to do with hey is everything in this set of drawingss I know that I looked at the set of drawings and but again again yeah I guess you know because the date changed is hard to say which side of drawings I was looking at and I noted in the details um that uh the comments that I made were Incorporated but it is kind of confusing um to have these various dates so if I understand I understand yeah so if that's okay that we wait till the ninth because we have to have make sure we're all looking at the same drawing which has been provided to us in advance without and we we're okay with the ston grant let's at least go through the decision okay and because we haven't done that yet see if anyone had comments on that um so that that is all wrapped up for the for the ninth as well and and that's other information you can give to the Stanton Grant people if you know if needed that we actually went through the decision we we took a we could take a preliminary vote to see if we're feeling okay with it we just need to confirm the drawings I want to give them as much information as much that we can that that act that you know about our feelings on this project so so I pulled up the draft decision I'm I'm happy to go through it okay yeah changes to this document since um since I circulated it okay so just for the board um I was given as fairly typical in what we do you know Peter gave me an initial draft of this I went through and edited it and tried to keep it very close to um what is asked for in the site plan language um and so um I I gave Peter my edits and then he um sent it out to the board so so Peter make sure that the date on the set of drawings this one has December 13th so if we are referring to n9th let's make sure we correct that thank you and is this a location that you would also change the date on the letter [Music] from um that's a memo yes it's down I so that should be the 19th and a lot of the drawing revision dates also at least the set on the 13th does not probably we need to make sure that these dates match okay yeah those the the um I assume the the engineering drawing the utility plan and things like that probably hadn't changed and we you know with the other things that happened on the landscape so that's probably why they have a different date I assume Ah that's correct yeah yeah okay I did notice that the I think on some of those drawings they continue to show the little built structure um in the first location but I'm not sure that that matters to their work so they didn't update it right so um but that might want to be confirmed uh everyone good with the the the the the documents yeah I think I'm done with the document this is a finding location has anyone has everyone have a chance did you already have a chance to read this we don't need to pause if if we're just looking for people's um notes on their own copies um I have on four I have a comment on four you want to take out those Extra Spaces while you're there Peter goad yeah uh yes Kate so um okay it looks like that might have been changed on the caliper of trees it said the rear section both large and small underbrush with a caliper of 4 in will removed and then so remain is that oh yeah it still says that okay so it should say small large and small dog areas underbrush and trees with a caliper less than 4 in will removed in so instead of 4 in or less it should be caliper of less than four inches yes so if you hit four inches you get to stay this right is the basic uh no next sent yeah right uh yep four inch the first four inches there you go okay so what it is uh in the rear section okay both under brush in trees with a caliper of four inches or less no less than four inches will be removed four in okay or can be removed I guess because I wouldn't mandate to remove any trees myself that just can be remov yeah that's fine but you need the word oh okay you got it yeah I haven't accepted the change I CH all right then it's kicks us off ah there it goes un less than four it just can be removed yeah I'll clean it up at the uh the end Okay so any stops any additional comments from the board correct I mean the only thing I would do I I read through so I didn't Redline anything I feel like the general project conditions are are standard for like a building so they feel like um maybe they could be cleaned up but I'm not sure it matters they're there's nothing wrong with them I don't think oh yeah the um well under building materials um General project conditions number two yeah I mean stuff like that doesn't need to be there but but I think that wait a minute I think all that actually needs to be changed is the word siding to the word structure yeah um because I do think there's roof there's structure there's Roofing and there's trim likely on that little Pavilion so but there is not siding y um the structure is very visible so it would make sense that that we put that word in there um I don't know what kind of there there will be some kind of trash pickup and rubbage rubish pickup at the site right I I think that there's waste cans there I assume so does this get a building permit is that what it's the permit is that called building permit though it will get a building permit yeah that structure will get a building permit and uh we'll also get a road or opening permit um as as water uh will have to be um pulled through to the the side of the road did that first sentence then on one prior to the issue of any permits like since it's um it's really the other permits are more important than the building permit that structure possibly could fall under not needing a building permit size and actually the reason why I asked is that building permit repeats itself in literally every other sentence in this conditions so taking out you take out the is there a hierarchy that's what I was trying to understand if there are other permits that's more important for this versus the building permit I mean and that's a good I think if in this case it looks like you're isolating to that structure by saying building permit and it's actually project site's more important I think I think any work on the site though is also a building permit like I don't think there's a landscape permit to I mean um that I'm aware of um am I wrong on that Peter I mean um no you're you're you're 100% correct usually landscape drawings usually landscape drawings and civil drawings are and are all included in the construction set and you apply for a building permit for the whole thing that's electrical drawings Plumbing drawings um this is really the permit per se for the landscape so if you would like me to change it you know please you know I'm happy for input um I'm happy to take any input I think um yeah I'm like I said I'm not that that's been my experience I can't say it's it's Universal um and I also thought building permit is more about the act of building than the object of a building um but um but I I don't I couldn't quote the law on that or anything so yeah I don't know if there's like a specific language for infrastructure work versus building uh when you say building permit obviously it's also the access and in to a building and that's when the surrounding areas come into play but I wonder if there's another word like for infrastructure this is more infrastructure upgrades versus uh a building building permit right so I don't know if that's the right word for the permit but when when we have a build a big building to do um and there's always um infrastructure and site work yeah and everything that needs to be done and we use this document and call it a building permit um in this case the the the building is very small and the infrastructure maybe I don't think the infrastructure is actually very big too but it has parking and it has yeah some Plumbing and you know some water and um but it has those same components um that a that a building would um so I'm not sure it's just a different type of project I I don't I don't think there's a an issue with that so was there anything else on um in the general conditions that was sounding like uh like that's something left over um or that is not applicable here I think most of them um I think most of them really are about any kind of any kind of site work about um pre-construction meetings about recording it at the registry of deeds about making a chain link fence for safety about not parking vehicles on M Drive traffic so all of them really are actually pretty um applicable to yeah you know to any type of to any type of project yeah the one not I could say I could say you know looking at condition one you could say you know prior to the issuance or I would say you know prior to the commencement site work um final construction drawings must be detailed and submitted with the you know the planning office the conservation office office and it shall reflect the Civil drawings and Architectural renderings as approved obviously those are all kind of what we're approving here within this permit right so it's kind of a you know one step over the other uh we do just put building permits and yeah that's a boorder plate from our typical our typical permit so that's the Peter wait a minute were you suggesting that uh your your first comment was saying something about prior to the prior to any site clearance or the issue issuance of any building permit is that what you that was like the first thing you said yes is would that be would people like to add that in just to kind of acknowledg that it's a little different kind of project I think that's a good idea I I just while we were you guys were talk and looked up like the state seems to imply building actual structure for building permits I think it would be good to add that and we don't have architectural renderings for this right I know we saw an example from another project but should we take that off because we we not holding to any architectural renderings for this um there there's a a landscape a landscape rendering like a landscape plan rendering because that I don't think that should we say that instead of the architectural renderings yeah I think we could do that or maybe you should say landscape drawings versus renderings even that's fine yeah landscape drawing probably color drawing so yeah it's a it's that's more in line with the with the project okay and then just take out the word renderings oh yeah um yeah and actually and put an S after landscape drawings because there was the a color render there was the colored drawing but the landscape drawings include details and and a lot of things you know in that in that set so I'm assuming this is like a boiler plate format right so we don't have to get it because like there are so many prior to issuance of building permits prior to issuance that literally repeats so often it feels like there's no hierarchy every sentence starts with that I don't know if this's this is just a boiler plate this one we can leave it and not really mess with it yeah I mean this is um like this is the this um decision obviously this is a um reduced set from the larger set that we have when for like 501 Pawn Street and that kind of thing but as I think Kate has mentioned in the past it could use another passed through I've gone through it pretty crazily a few I mean a few years ago now um to try to like put it in order in kind of like chronological order about how a project happens but it could use it could use it it's certainly some repetition in there and it could use another pass for sure but it is our typical boilerplate as we have it right now okay so okay but is there anything if there's nothing else and I'm not saying that there're not trying to end the discussion but if there's nothing else um we can um you know obviously then this this will go to January 9th but hopefully you know we just get the the set of drawing drawings we'll get this final edit and then we should be we should be good to go we'll have Marcelo and um and uh Anna you know review the tape you know of this meeting and I know I know we've done it before but I will just open it up for public comment I'm not sure there's any actually I'm not sure there's any Bu from the public really there so oh Mark is still there I didn't see Mark Mark you are now unmuted yeah I when with this project first came up I kind of was on the fence of this now and um I'd like that all this building permits talk about about it it makees it more official and more and more structurally talked about because that's what what I was asking about the first time but overall what will be the final after you sign this document to go what could how would this be going to the state for any reason that's my question no need to go to the state only bylaws and things like that go to the state so this is just local it'll be local building permit okay that's it thank you thank you and then I would say um I mean we only have four people here but um I would ask us to take an informal vote until we get this about just so that um if the dog park committee needs it that we have a general sense of of where of where this is going so I would just like to um take an informal vote about what um planning board members Amanda this is informal so if you're able I you can um vote as well um if we are in if you as an individual member of the board are in general support um of the dog park so de start with you sha just one thing I was just Googling to I was curious about this building permit and actually it's called Park permit versus building permit so maybe we need to kind of confirm that it actually is supposed to be called park building permit because when you just Google to see what uh Dog Park permit requirements are it actually says Park requirements versus building permits so maybe Peter is that something you can confirm with Doug um can you please can you please send me what you're looking at and I'll sure I'm just random I just Googled because I was very curious it was bothering me a little bit so I was like I just go it says actually Park permit versus building permit but I can send you what I'm seeing here yeah great yeah obviously look at it and and and talk with Doug and see uh um yeah if we just want to have the right terminology in there okay yep we'll take care of it but did you want did you say we are voting kind of yeah it's just an informal vote I just would like to know where I mean I think I know where people stand but for the dog park um to be able to tell if there is any discussion with Stanton about the members we had here and if we're in general support or or or not I guess I want them to have that information I support the project thank you Kate uh yeah this is great all right Amanda I support it all right and that is I do as well so that is four of the of the members we have here which is including our associate member all right thanks for that um so I make a motion to continue and then the question is I'm assuming the answer is no we probably don't want to close Hearing in case because it's a lowrisk item but you could still have something so probably don't close the public hearing I don't think we should close the public because also because two of our members aren't here and what if they have a question okay yep yeah I make motion that we continue the public hearing for Ashlin dog park to the January 9th 20125 meeting there a second okay and a roll call vote Katherine Jersy and I'll say Trisha Kendall I um so we will continue that uh till January 9th thank you Karen for uh coming on all right so um our next agenda item is um the public hearing for 400 Cedar Street this is the cell tower and Peter I think we have well we have someone here today I don't know if there's any additional um we have information uh there's been no additional information uh uh there's been um I did write to decision I did circulate it um at the note um I just want to make a note that I did add the three um bullet points a b and c from Greg eldridge's letter I thought I did but I think I miscommunicated so um I was able to do that uh when Trisha alerted me today um so I'm happy to bring up that decision but other than that uh Mr Tim Green is here uh representing the applicant and there's been no other changes to that decision um so um Mr Green do you want to step forward um do you have any updates that you would like to provide the planning I'm asking you to unmute uh no nothing has uh changed since the last hearing um same project all right right um Peter do you want to bring up um the decision y if anyone has any questions any questions from the board um please let me know I will again just open it for public comment Mark you are public do you have any public comment on this one I think Mark needs to unmute yeah I got Mark I'm asking you to unmute okay now I I know what the C and all the other T gone through the FCC and whatever the question is from regular citizens won't have any bearing on the final decision but I just wanted to just make sure that in the in the future of AT&T I know they they are going for 5G which this is 5gc 5G so I kind of understand what's going on with that but I just want to make sure that it takes in the public warning signs from um the FCC and the Board of Health to to keep it keep keep approaching them and in case anything comes out from the from the that that the board of health is going to be listening to them that's it thank you Mark all right so um this is our fairly standard um cell tower decision um except that as you can see on the um on condition number one um we have added in the the letter from Greg Eldridge of Haley and Ward I I have a question about I didn't really understand the way that's worded so AT&T shall ensure all required STW work be incorporated on a new set of drawings that should be peer reviewed so like we talk like is it about drawings or about work or both because that's I can't tell from that condition way it's written I I think it's ex it's almost taken exactly I believe from Greg Al's letter um let's see I have it open here somewhere I can open it up and show you yeah that's that'd be a good idea so they have so does this mean that the drawings aren't really final I guess so we're making we we're we're making on drawings that are going to have to be changed that's what condition the one saying then that seems a little odd I thought well let's open it up um the sorry I don't want to interrupt the drawings have been completed per what Greg Aldridge wanted those are the ones that were submitted to you however he hasn't given His official um concurrence that we did what he asked us to do although we did do what he asked us to do so the drawings are not going to be changed you have the latest drawings okay that's what I kind of thought because I remember so then that condition needs to be probably slightly changed how it's fored this is the letter from Greg Aldridge and I believe this is our the this is where the comment comes from so we're saying that the he's saying that the um the existing studs were tested and anything that needed to be changes anything that needed to be changed has on the drawings has already been changed that is correct we did the stud testing over the summer okay um but Peter did we receive anything from Greg aldri saying that that work had been completed so I know so Greg Aldridge has has I know plans have been submit I I do not Greg has not given me anything in hard writing since then this is the last big uh upto-date uh email except a couple email exchanges with Greg saying that he's reviewed the plans and he has and he feels confident within the plans uh I think this is just kind of one of those those items that are that some that will kind of um obviously more things you know I think TNT did submit new plans correct correct Tim yes okay yes we Greg has the new plans we've also gone forward this we're kind of running a couple things concurrently I don't know if this needs to be in the zoning decision it can be it doesn't matter to us at all but regardless of that we need to there's going to be a final letter and a final sign off by the water department before we can get a building permit so the zoning part of this is basically the concept of we're going to make changes and the detail work is going to really go to the building department again I don't have a problem with the the wording that you have there because we've already done it um but there's kind of a he's talking about a revision date of May 4 2023 and over the last year we've done some change we've we had to do some testing to the tank that finished in late probably late August and we made those changes to the drawings and move forward with zoning and they're well they're aware of it we just haven't got the official letter back from Greg all right so um I thought we had that already so um it seems like then this condition is um that either there's a condition in here um stating that the that the board's approval is um contingent upon Greg's final review and approval of the current of the documents because we haven't received that um or we get that and we take care of it on January 9th so so I I think that needs to that condition needs to be cleaned up up one way or another and then if there's something else that needs like sign off like I get that the building department has specific things we're we're making it a condition have to prior to the issue a building permit they have to provide the name and contact information of the contractor to town which this sign off by a town seems even more important than that right you have to give you an emergency contact so if we bother to that I feel like like um final town requirements referring to that just something can be generic um but I I wouldn't feel good about skipping that as a condition do you want to put that um document back up Peter I'm sorry so condition one can't that be changed to so I'm assuming this is all talking about 10 17 24 drawings that are decisions based off can it say that a condition is a approval by Greg Eldridge of haly ward of the 10724 drawings because we have not received that apparently I guess you could take out on a new set and just say stud work to be incorporated on drawings that shall be peer reviewed by Greg Eldridge prior to isin building permit that would cover it he has them we just need the letter is that the 10 10724 drawings yes yeah those are the latest so the there's I'm still the one thing is that's part of it settled but sorry what was the date of those drawings it wasn't he said she said 1017 that's what the that's what the decision says I didn't them to go check if it is but that is what I the dates of the newest drawings that were submitted to Greg alri okay and that should be peer-reviewed and approved one thing is it's on the drawing but it's already on the drawings but is this physical work like that's the way that's worded so they shall ensure all required Work Incorporated on the drawings and then he's going to peer review and approve but do we care if the work like those are separate things to approve drawings or the work and I'm not clear what's going on with the work and do we the planning board have to care about that or is that moved on to the Building Commissioner I'm so this says they shall ensure all required work be incorporated on a revised drawing set that Greg eldrs has to peerreview and approve the drawings it doesn't say he has to peer review and approve the work and I'm not clear if that is supposed to be a condition or not I talking about peer review peer review the the com the construction work it seems like there was some pre-work that needed to be done right like physical work and is that that's what I don't know what someone's trying to say with that sentence it's very confusing I think that I think the pre-work was done um uh see there a confirmation email that was sent uh out out on Friday sorry in in Peter's email that went out on Friday um the 13th um they talk about Greg eldri's peerreview letter which we were just looking at and his confirmation email so the confirmation email um that he sent on October 9th says that the review is done we need a copy of the stud inspection report I suggested AT&T ensure the required stud work be incorporated into a new set of drawings so the contractor knows what needs to be done that work that work should be confirmed at the precon meeting as also so that was an email from Greg eldrich on October 9th I okay so I what you just read to me I don't think is what that sentence says if that's what we're trying to capture I'm I'm I'm just not following so Greg eldris asked that the required stud work be captured in a new set incorporated into a new set of drawings this the the set we saw which came out I guess on October 17th apparently incorporates that stud work but Greg eldrich hasn't reviewed those drawings with the in their required stud work on them so I'm I'm I'm not sure I'm following what you're saying Kate I'm just looking trying to find those reports in uh email I mean maybe you can just say AT&T shall ensure that um drawing shall be peer reviewed and approved by Greg Eldridge of alien wood prior the Ence of building permit I mean they have the stud work the stud work is already specific though it's just a last thing I don't know if it needs to be a a specific condition the stud work but I mean we put it in there was nothing that really came of it and again Greg has it and we made the changes to the drawings after that email um where you got October 17 so it's kind of a formality but I have no problem with you know peer review by Greg at Halen wood we've been working with him for two years now so it's um a copy of the stud inspection report that's review is done it's the peer review I need a copy of the stud inspection report and then this is saying the AT&T the required said work be on the drawings which is okay AT&T all required that work incorporate on the Revis set of drawings um should reviewed prooved okay that covers that so it's not work that's but it is work because work was done and he wants a stud inspection report what says right on October 9th so did they get a copy of the stud inspection report he did and I've sent it all to him um looking to kind of clean it all up I thought it would all be done by now but it isn't yet but I'm not I'm not concerned about it it's just a matter of Greg saying yeah you did what I you asked me to do because we just had a we didn't have to change the plans we just had to add notes to the plant about the stud work that we had tested over the summer which is different than in stud inspection report though right it's the same but the stud we had to inspect we had to go out and inspect the studs on the tank and there had to be a plan if any of them were um faulty to fix them but none of that is is that um you know out of the ordinary but we we we got the stud inp inection report back on August 28th right so how do we need to change the first condition Kate so that it incorporates what your what your concerns are I mean if I I don't know I guess we don't have to care if there's a stud inspection report that they issue but we don't have confirmation of and then do the drawing say so I'm looking at Halen words from it's like from the 26th and he's saying it is understood by all parties any studs identifi during the field test which again they've done in August or something and any identified during the wireway removal so I don't know if that is upcoming work will be replaced an appropriate coding system applied to the damage coding system so if if the wireway removal work hasn't been done shouldn't that be a condition should but um I mean we don't want to uh I mean we don't want to do materials and methods here about exactly what is happening on site right don't isn't our sole concern that Greg alrich who has has brought up these concerns isn't our sole concern that Greg eldrich signs off on the final drawings that he peer reviews and approves the final drawings I mean if they have a note that says any others will be replaced along the way and he's satisfied sure that's fine that's putting a lot on one person but that's fine job right that's his that's his job it's certainly not ours to to decide what I mean I have no expertise in this in this area right about what needs to be done or not done but Greg does so to me so then why are we even referring to that why don't we just say the final set needs to be I think I think that's what Mr Green actually had just mentioned a few minutes ago that you can take out the stud work and just say that he peer reviews and approves the current draw the the 1017 you know drawings or you know the final yeah I think that's what we should do and not try to there's other quote conditions potentially so just make that that Greg alrs has to repute the the 107 drawings that are decisions based on yeah exactly that that's what Mr Green was suggesting um that's he's not just looking at one little part he's looking at the whole thing again or whatever he wants to look at um and um and that it'll be contingent on his final approval so I would say um I say AT&T shall ensure all require I can strike that um I I would just say um the revised I would take out the whole first part and just say the revised set of drawings um but you can't say revised you have to say the exact one revise please don't do that yeah the 107 24 drawings drawing set um shall be peer reviewed and approved you can you can just take it it's already there Peter you can just erase what the the next lines right it's it's already there yeah and keep PE yeah keep peer reviewed yeah and then you need to on your second review down yeah you need to take off theed so everything is contingent on prior to the ISS building department that that's that's totally fine because we need that anyway in order to get um the water department to provide the approval to do the work per the terms of the lease so that's fine right and if you're you know if we want we can add uh add on the end to that um you know any any significant changes must be brought to the planning bought brought to the attention of the planning board we don't obviously expect there to be any at all but no they won't be is that sounding okay all right anybody uh these two through four came directly from Greg's uh letter um which I'm happy to bring back up again and then moving on these are very Bo plate um conditions that we have for cell towers um obviously I'll change I format this uh then we're just move into vote does anybody have any other further questions if there's no further questions comments concerns we can close the public hearing Kate do you have anything else that you think should be incorporated no okay then um I'll make a motion that we close the public hearing is there a second second and a roll call vote keep J um and is Amanda in on this one Amanda haa Amanda is on this and Trisha Kendall I um is there any further comment before we take a vote on the special permit Kate do you want to make the motion you want me to um to bring up decision to get the proper wording there you want me share it sure I can do it too I didn't mean to put you on the spot no I I got um I make a motion to approve the special permit modification new Singular Wireless PCS LLC 396 to 400 Cedar Street was presented this evening I would say as modified uh okay I might present it on yeah on the screen live but yes as as edited tonight and is there a second a second all right a roll call vote Catherine jerse a guy Amanda ha and Trisha Kendall I so that is approved thank you Mr Green for your time thanks Mark for being Our member of the public um and as I said at the beginning of the meeting I am I don't think we have meeting minutes to go through tonight no no we do not if anyone has a general announcement I would love to hear it um but otherwise for any further work of the board we're going to wait until the new year does anyone have anything they need to put out there no no thank you all right thank you happy holidays all all right then we need a motion to adjourn folks um so I will make a motion to adjourn at 8:32 p.m second and a roll call vote Catherine Jersey Amanda ha and Trisha Kendall I now we can leave Deepa have a great night have a great holiday happy New Year H everybody

good morning Dartmouth and Uxbridge high schools I'm will Higgins an English teacher at Dartmouth High School and I'd like to welcome you all to today's special presentation we've read about history in our textbooks we have Googled topics on the internet we've even watched documentaries on the History Channel but there are very few opportunities in our lives to actually listen to someone who has survived and truly live moments of history today you'll have the unique experience and privilege of hearing firsthand from a woman who is both a witness to and as a holocaust Survivor a victim of History I hope that you will listen understand and appreciate the message of Hope courage and compassion that she will share with you today it's my honor and privilege to introduce to you our special guest Mrs Marian Blumenthal lazan thank you thank you Mr Higgins thank you Mr Higgins for your meaningful and kind introduction I thank you principal Shay and axb ax Bridge High School principal Dr Ruben for giving me the opportunity to speak to and with your dmouth and axb high school students and Mrs brittingham thank you for sharing your Tech expertise with us I'm here this morning with all of you to share my story it is my childhood experiences during World War II in the concentration camps I will tell you about our Liberation and how we finally started our lives a new in our blessed United States of America mine is a story that an Frank might have told that she survived this is also a story that conveys a message of perseverance determination faith and above all hope after the presentation I will be pleased to answer some of your questions I hear some disturbance in the background can we lower the sound on your end I'm gonna M myself right now give me one second life in the early 1930s in Germany was very much for my family as it is here for most of you today never did we think that the anti-semitic incidents there would ever lead to very much my father was in a successful shoe business in the small town my parents two-year older brother and I lived comfortably with my grandparents above the shoe store life for Jews was made increasingly more difficult and in 19 1935 the nerenberg laws were formulated and enforced the following are just some of the many restrictions imposed on the Jews in Germany Jews were not allowed into theaters into Parks or into swimming pools all public schools were close to Jewish children then there was a evening curfew for the Jews Jews were only allowed to shop during specific hours of the day and non-jews were not allowed to shop in Jewish owned stores non-jews were just not allowed to associate the Jewish people and then a brick letter J for Jew was stamped on ID cards and on passports these restrictions went on and on and it was then that my parents decided to make arrangements to leave the country my grandparents who were in the late 70s and Ill refused to leave their home they could not understand the urgency or the necessity of doing so my grandparents passed away in 1938 just 11 days within each other and soon thereafter we received our necessary papers for our immigration to America I was just four years old at that time November 9th 1938 chal or Crystal night it was the night of broken glass when the Nazis and the many follow followers smashed the windows and the storefronts of Jewish own stores Jewish establishments synagogues and Jewish books were burned and destroyed this was the beginning of a massive program against the Jews in Germany a massive verbal and physical assault against all German Jews in reality this was the beginning of the Holocaust on November 12th following Chrystal the German government actually fined the Jewish population for the damage caused that night these imposed taxes were used to rearm Germany the night of Kristal not our apartment was ransacked all valuables were thrown into P Cas and taken away but worst of all was that they forcibly transported my father to concentration camp banal in Germany all sorts of terrible stories were related to my mother and we did not know what never see my father again he was released after 3 weeks only because our papers were in order for our immigration to America and to think that just a few years prior he had been awarded the Iron Cross for his military service in the German army of World War I we were forced to sell both our home and our business for a fraction of its worth and soon thereafter in January of 1939 we left for Holland from where we were to sail to the United States and for almost 9 months while awaiting our quota number from the American State Department my parents were assigned to take care of some 125 children these young children had been sent by their parents from various parts of Europe to escape from the Nazis in December of that year 1939 we were deported to the detention Camp of Vestor in Harland to great our departure day to America Camp vesto was constructed by the Dutch to accommodate Jews from various parts of Europe in May of 1940 just one month before our plan departure date the Germans invaded hland and we were trapped all of our belongings that were about to be loaded on board ship were burnt and destroyed as the harbor of rale was bombed under Dutch control vest were tolerable my mother father brother and I shared two small rooms we all ate in a communal dining room and at that time there was enough food for us so that we did not go hungry adults were assigned to various work duties my father worked to PA shoes my mother worked in the kitchen we children had a makeshift education and lived a very dull stagnant life several months later when the Nazi SS took took over the command of estal we became acquainted with the everpresent terrifying 12T High barbed wire and as thousands of Jews were rounded up many taken from the hiding places as was an Frank and her family Camp Vach became overcrowded and it was at that time that we had to share our small quarters with another family and then the Dreadful transports to the con conentration and extermination camps in Eastern Europe began this started in early 1942 and from then on every Monday night lists of those to be deported were posted causing incredible anxiety anguish and fear and then on Tuesday Mornings men women and little ones were marched to a nearby railroad platform from where they were transported this area became known as Boulevard de Miser it was an area of complete misery at 11:00 on Tuesday Mornings the trains left for the destination and of the total 120,000 men women and children that departed vorg 102,000 were doomed never to return in January of 1944 it was our turn to be shipped out we children were actually glad for a change of environment we were very naive and we welcomed the move we were allowed to take one napsack each and whatever we could stuff into it we were permitted to take when we approached the railroad platform and we saw the cattle cars in which we were to travel our fears began to mount adults suspected and they somehow knew what was in store for us I remember that it was a bitter cold pitch black rainy night when we arrived at our destination concentration camp bagen belon in Germany we were pulled and dragged out of the cattle cars and greeted by the German Gods who were shouting at us and threatening us with their weapons and with the most vicious attack dogs by their sides I was a very frightened 9-year-old and to this day I still feel a certain sense of fear whenever I see a German shepherd B and bellson were divided into various areas it was sectioned of and surrounded by electrified barbed wire guards were always in strategically placed high God towers and in the evenings as soon as it would turned dark the bright search lights from above would constantly sweep the campgrounds we were placed in the section that was known as the Stan lager or the star Camp named so because we had to continue wearing that yellow star which had been issued to us back in Harland men were on one side of the camp and the women on the other and they did make it possible at times for families to get a glimpse of one another we were placed in this particular section of the camp with the hope of being exchanged for German Nationals in Palestine who the British put under house arrest because they were citizens of an enemy country unfortunately that hope never materialized for our family 600 of Us 600 of our people were crammed into each of the crude wooden heatless Barracks meant for 100 when originally built there were triple deer bunk beds with two people sharing each bunk German Winters were bitter cold and very long we were given only one thin blanket per bunk and a straw filled mattress and this bunk was our only living quarters and that for two people I was very fortunate that I was able to share a bunk with my mother and that my brother was able to share a bunk with our father but can you imagine two adults two strangers sharing a bunk under such horrendous conditions a bun that was no larger than the small cut bed that we're all so familiar with I remember the first time seeing a wagon filled with what I thought was firewood for the one small oven that we had in our Barrack that oven of course was never used I soon realized that what was in the wagon were dead naked bodies thrown one on top of the other toilet and so-called washing facilities were at a great distance in the most primitive ouses toilets were long wooden benches with holes cut into them one next to the other there was no privacy there was no toilet paper there was no soap and hardly ever any water with which to wash and in the almost year and a half that we were in bag and Bon never once were we able to brush our teeth there were no trees no flowers nor did we ever see a blade of grass and whenever it rained we had to slush through the mud adding even more misery to our already dismal existence every morning every single morning without fail we were ordered to line up on a huge field it was called an Appel Plotz five in a row as we were counted we would would have to stand there until each and every one of us was accounted for often from early morning till late at night without food without water no matter what the weather without protective clothing Force bite was common we would treat our affected toes and fingers with the warmth of our own urine our diet consisted of a slice of bread a day some hot watery soup with grizzly meats and turnips and potato peeled bread was later cut back and given to us just once a week and only if our so-called quarters were needed in order our birthday present to one another was that little piece of bread that we had saved up from the previous week once a month we were marched to an area to shower and there under the watchful eyes of the Gods we were ordered to undress we had heard about exterminations and gas Chambers and other areas of Europe and we therefore were never sure when the forces were turned on as to what would come out water or gas the Nazis did their utmost to break us physically spiritually and emotionally Unfortunately they did succeed with many of our people it was not uncommon for people who were no longer responsible for their actions to attempt Escape even though they knew that the chance to succeed was next to Impossible but they also felt that they had nothing more to lose the failure of their attempts were obvious when we saw their lifeless bodies hanging electrocuted against the barbed wire malnutrition dissenter and the loss of the will go to go on is what destroyed body and mind death was an everyday occurrence the dark crowded quarters often cause us to trip and fall over the dead bodies could not be taken away fast enough we as children saw things that no one no matter what the age should ever have to see I know of course that you've all heard you've read you've studied you might have seen movies adults most likely have seen true documentaries about the Holocaust but the constant foul odor the filth continuous horror and fear surrounded by death is Indescribable there is no way that this can be put accurately into words or pictures our bodies hair and clothes were infested with lies we learned that there's a distinct difference between headlights and clothes lights squashing them between my thumbnails became my primary Pastime much of my time was taken up with making Bel games and one game a game based on Superstition became very important to me I decided that if I were to find four Pebbles of about the same size and shape that that would mean that the four members of my family would all survive my mother my father my brother and I it was a torturous painful very difficult game to play what if I couldn't find the third or fourth Pebble might that mean that one or two of my family members would not pull through nevertheless this game gave me something to hold on to some distant hope after a number of months on our omga diets our stomach shrunk so that the hunger was no longer painful teenagers and Men suffered most from malnutrition and were the first to die those who lasted the longest were the women and mothers in particular it was their strong will to keep their children alive that kept them going and my mother was one of those remarkable ladies there is no doubt in my mind that it was my mother's inner strength and fortitude that finally saw a one day my mother was able to smuggle some potatoes and some salt from the kitchen where she worked and somehow somehow managed to cook some soup in secret this was done on our bun I was on a bunk with her trying to hide and shield what she was doing super simmering just about finished when the German Gods entered our Barrack for surprise inspection in our rush to hide that setup the boiling soup spilled on my leg we had been taught self-discipline and self-control the hard way for I knew for sure had I cried out it would have cost us our lives this happened in the spring of 1945 I was just 10 years old the population in kmag and Belgium were dying off rapidly but not nearly fast enough to satisfy the Nazis several weeks later it was decided to send three train loads of our people to Eastern Europe towards the extermination camps and the gas Chambers we did not know that aitz with its gas Chambers had already been liberated my family was among the 2500 on the last of these three trains it was April of 1945 Russian army was closing in from the Northeast and the British and the Americans from the West under normal conditions this train ride from B and belon to whatever area of Eastern Europe they would send us would have taken no more than 10 hours but because the Germans tried to evade the Allies we were on rout for two long weeks without food without water without medical supplies without sanitary facilities that meant no toilets whenever train came to a St those who were able and those who were strong enough were permitted to get out and take a drink from a nearby stream or they up roots to eat my mother remembered taking some sort of a pot and collecting water from the locomotive and who knows what else a pot was used for the need for water at that time was almost more important than food because of the severe dehydration due to the dentary and the high fever due to the typhus let me briefly explain typhus it is a highly contagious deadly disease that's caused from filth and spread by lice at the same time while the train was at the stand still the Nearly Dead were taken off and buried along the tracks in addition our train was subject to frequent air attacks by the allies it is truly remarkable how any one of us was able to survive under such horrendous conditions in fact 500 of our people that's one out of every five died on rout or shortly thereafter my burnt leg was severely infected and it was impossible to keep the wound clean or lies free in late April after 14 days of this surreal and horrifying Journey German Gods stormed frantically through the train seeking civilian clothing so that they would not be recognized by the allies and we knew then that the war was coming to an end it was the Russian army that liberated our train and led us to a nearby Farm Village in Eastern Germany most of the inhabitants had fled and R took over their homes kitchens were stuck with emple food it was rich and good actually much too good for our staff bodies we could not tolerate that unfamiliar nourishment and at that time at the age of 10 and a half I weighed 16 kilos or as we know a de 35b and my mother weighed a mere 70 the Russians in a crude way tried to help us the best that they could I was B to a near by clinic for medical attention my leg was in very bad condition and I was close to losing it fortunately it was decided to treat the wound and I was very lucky that my leg responded to medication and it gradually healed as I regained my strength I also relearned to walk and in the inim our heads were shaved because that was the only way that we could rid ourselves of headlight although we were all weak ill and thoroughly exhausted I vividly remember the spring of 1945 weather was beautiful sunny and bright trees and grass were Lush and green flowers were in bloom birds were singing it was a wonderful exciting feeling to be free at long last we were all Elber typhus but my father had to die from it 6 weeks after our Liberation and this after six and a half years of mental torment and physical abuse my 12-year-old brother Albert actually helped bury our father when I talk about those years it is as though I'm relating a nightmare a very bad dream I separate myself from it ever having happened to me and that is how I deal with it it is a wonderful story as to how we gradually recuperated and were sent back to hland to start our lives new my brother and I were eventually placed in the children's home in preparation to live in what was then British mandated Palestine and we know today as Israel most of the children in this home survived alone without their parents I felt like a total Misfit I needed to learn how to resettle into a normal society had no training for that here I was by this time 11 years old had never been in a store had no idea what money was all about had almost no table manners it was like learning to live all over again it was in this home that we became reacquainted with life in its normal State meals served us were delicious and nourishing and you can imagine that just about anything and everything tasted good to us although our surate parents provided a very strict environment much love and care were given us I began my first formal education at that time at the age of 11 and a half we were taught the secular subjects Reading Writing arithmetic in a montauri school where we progressed at our own pace the Dutch language in which we were taught was all new to us we also received a thorough education in Hebrew and in religious studies the British who were governing Palestine in the 1940 had issued what was known as the white paper restricting the number of Jews permitted into the land they were intercepting many of the refugee ships and in turning the survivors on the island of Cyprus and in some cases turning the ships back to Europe in November of 1947 the United Nations voted to partition Palestine between Arabs and Jews which in May of 1948 led to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1947 just one year prior to Israel becoming a state our illegal Voyage from hland to Palestine was planned and danger once again loomed over us and because parents at that time were not permitted to accompany their children my mother managed to make arrangements for a family of three to immigrate to the United States and thanks to the Holland America line we were able to use the tickets which had been purchased 10 years earlier we arrived in Hoboken New Jersey April 23rd 1948 by coincidence exactly 3 years to the day of our Liberation it was a Jewish relief organization Hebrew immigration Aid Society that found a home for us in Peoria Illinois I had never heard of Illinois definitely not Poria and there at the age of 13 I once again started life aew in a Strange Land and again learning a new language my third new language in less than three years first Dutch then Hebrew and now English and because of my inability to speak English I at the age of 13 was placed in the fourth grade with niney olds although both my brother and I worked long hours after school to help our mom pay bills I nevertheless found time I actually made time to take extra courses during the year ATT 10 summer school and by working very hard in my studies I was able to be graduated from Peoria Central High School 5 years later at age 18 ranking eth in a class of 267 students it was two months after high school graduation that I was married to Nathaniel lazan who I had met at the age of 16 in Peoria in the synagogue and we're so grateful so very grateful to have celebrated our 71st wedding anniversary this past August and uh you might be interested to know that Nathalia was a US Air Force pilot and of course it's very disciplined and very conscientious I am grateful I am very grateful that I survived healthy in Body Mind and Spirit and that together with my husband I'm able to perpetuate my Heritage with a wonderful family we have three grown children all three are happily married and I've given us nine beautiful grandchildren and 13 magnificent great grandchildren amazing amazing and in March of 1996 my memor for perfect Pebbles co-authored by lla Pearl was published by Green Willow division of hara Collins it is now in its 34th printing in hardback and um then a few years ago Papa decided to publish a 20th anniversary edition that this is it I don't know if you can see this I really don't don't bother even looking at because I don't like the cover anyway it's it's this Bob r that really bothers me but Harper was in charge and that's it um Scholastic Book Club has made it available since 1999 it's been published and translated into he into um German and into Dutch and French also and yadvashem the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem published it in Hebrew I don't know if you can see this this is my image when I was 7 years old and if you like you may all read it in Japanese maybe there's someone in your school who can do just that but above all I am so grateful that the story is in book form so that it can be passed on to Future generations and I'm thrilled that a documentary has been made entitled Marian's Triumph with the actress Deborah Messing as the narrator so you see that despite all the terrible things that happened to me as a child my life today is full and rewarding although I've spoken to Upward of two and a half million students and adults over these past 25 years or so it still has not become easy however I do realize the importance of sharing that period of our history with you simply because in a few short years we will not be here any longer to give a firstand account yours is the very last generation that will hear these stories first hand and I therefore ask you to please please share my story or any of the Holocaust stories that you read and hear about share them with your friends share them with your relatives and someday someday share them with your children and yes even with your grandchildren when we are not here any longer it is you who will have to bear witness as difficult as it is the horror of the Holocaust must be taught must be studied and kept alive only then can regard guard it from ever happening again this this is the very yellow star that I was forced to wear it says UDA which in German means Jew it was just another way to denigrate us to isolate us and to set us apart from the rest of society this represents the Star of David a beautiful meaningful Jewish symbol but the Nazis made it so very ugly each of us each and everyone of us must do everything in our power to prevent such hatred such destruction and such Terror from reoccurring and we can begin by having love respect and compassion towards one another regardless of the religious belief regardless of the color of our skin regardless of the national origin this respect towards one another must begin in our homes around the kitchen table the dining room table Wherever We Gather as a family we the adults must pass it on our places of business you the students in your classrooms in the halls of your schools communities towns cities and only if there's respect and compassion towards one another in the countries can we expect to have peace in the world we must begin with you the students we must begin with our children let us treat people as individuals let us look for similar ities and respect the differences let us build Bridges and reach out towards one another and we must be true to ourselves and not blindly follow a leader without thinking ahead and searching our hearts and our minds as to what the consequences might be it is not cool to follow just anyone's lead without first checking to see what his or her true intentions are please please remember these messages share them with your friends who are unable to be with us this morning share them remember them but above all let us all live by them we all aware or we should be that six million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust 6 million your state of Massachusetts has a population of approximately 7 million can you possibly imagine almost the entire population of Massachusetts wiped out the 6 million also represent onethird of the entire prew walwood I Jewish population among them were one and a half million children children just like you we also need to remember that there were 5 million non-jews who lost their lives among them were the righteous Gentiles as we refer to them very special people non-jews who jeopardized their lives to save Jewish families that would hide them in the attics that would hide them in the basement Farmers would hide them out in the bonds they were hidden in convents and when these good people were caught doing what they felt was the right thing to do they also were deported to concentration camps and in many cases lost their lives and that brings me to another the message we must never generalize and judge an entire group by the actions of some within that group these are all Universal messages messages that each and every one of us is familiar with but need to be reminded of over and over again and this certainly was a good opportunity to do so these messages are the lessons learned from that dark period of our history and certainly apply to today World situation and definitely to our own individual lives by listening I hope that you prevent our past from becoming your future okay I now need to share something with you about an extraordinary lady one minute okay this I don't know if you can see this clearly this was my mother at age 104 mom passed away six weeks short of 105 an amazing magnificent beautiful lady there were two things that my mother demanded of my brother and me when we first came to America number one learn English learn it quickly number two work as hard as you can at school and at work in order to succeed you need to know that my mom was 40 years old when we came to America knew absolutely no English learned to read write and speak a magnificent English amazing when Mom was still with us we were five generations of women and I referred to that as survival and continuity and it certainly was that she was a fabulous mother-in-law to Nathaniel and he was an outstanding son-in-law to my mom my brother Albert passed away a few years ago dealt with this alog together differently than I he did not talk about it as freely as you heard it from me this morning was happily married lived in California but by choice did not bring children into this world had a very difficult time with organized religion all of that made me very sad but I didn't fault Albert we have to remember he was 2 years older than I am was with my father in the men section and I'm convinced that he saw and experience things that I did not God puts us on this Earth gives us a beautiful mind it is this mind that allows us to choose right from wrong good from Evil therefore men did this towards one another but did he have to make it so bitterly cold when we were standing out there on the pel all day I have a direct line I ask loads of questions don't get too many answers but that's okay Faith I will always have after all here I am three children nine grandchildren 13 great grandchildren from whom Generations will be forthcoming he made sure that enough of us survived so that we will always be here I am proud of my faith as I'm certain you're part of your faith and of your heritage but please please let us all remember to respect the right of others to their belief be kind and good and respectful and compassionate towards one another that is the basis for peace had there been respect and compassion towards one another some 75 80 years ago I would not be here this morning with you to share that dark period of our history 911 would not have occurred Afghanistan Iraq Libya the Ukraine the Middle East all these countries that are in such turmoil would be peaceful countries for its people be kind and good and respectful towards one another please it is such a simple message and yet so difficult to achieve there is very little that we can do against the negativity in our world but how we treat behave and reach out towards one another that is entirely up to us did I ever find my four Pebbles frequently Asked question I always find my four Pebbles I made it my business to find them when I search for them and I I I would always put them in a safe place the next time I search for them I couldn't find that third one or that fourth one well I knew exactly where to go and pick them up maybe that was cheating but it was my game and guess who made the wols you need to know that I was only about 9 or 10 years old when things were it's absolutely worst we had nothing to occupy our time with constructively no paper no pencils no books certainly no games so I was lucky at such an imaginative mind my imaginative games were always based on a positive attitude I would search for a piece of glass or piece of a mirror whatever I could find on that dirt ground in bag and Belton and when the sun would shine that little piece of glass would cast a reflection onto the ground and that little Wiggly reflection it became my pet as long as the sun would shine I would have my pet and my pet would never ever die I would also imagine that one day I once again would have my three bees and these three bees represent our everyday Comforts and Necessities that we all take so much for granted first be represented AED I knew that someday I once again would have my very own bed with the real mattress clean sheets and enough blankets to keep me warm second represented a bath warm water soap clean towels and with that would come toothpaste and a toothbrush of course and the third be was bread I knew that someday I once again would have enough bread so that I would never again go hungry these imaginative games if you will they were my survival techniques they were my survival skills do you know that we all have survival techniques and skills within us when the need AR we just have to search for them find them and be sure that we put them to work no one is spared adversity no one is spared hardship we all have to overcome obstacles at one time or another but with perseverance with determination with faith and above all hope one can overcome just about anything and everything above all never ever give up hope it is not so much what happens to a person it's how we deal with a situation that makes the difference I came to America and I got acquainted with potato chips and whoever was eating them with dipping something white and creamy I didn't know from dips so I thought it was mayonnaise well I couldn't wait to get my own big bag of potato chips and my own jar of mayonnaise and did that do a job on me I very quickly became a big 13-year-old and remember there I was with these little nyear olds you know that could have made plenty fun of me I look differently than they did certainly acted differently than they did but I need you to know that they were so good to me helped me with my homework included me in their games I hope that when a new student comes into your class your school or community that you too help him or her to adjust to a new situation put yourself in his or her place how you might feel if you're placed in a strange or new environment be good and kind and respectful towards one another and you the students at the um dmouth and axbridge high schools you are so fortunate to be receiving a good education in beautiful environments with dedicated teachers do not take your educational opportunities for granted make the most of it give your studies an extra measure of hard work you will never ever regret it nathani is from New York he went to Bradley University in Peoria lucky me he went home on vacations and way back then in the 1950s long distant telephone calls were very expensive remember there were no computers or texting or any of that technology but with a three cent stamp and there really was such a thing as a three cent stamp we would write to one another every single day major major problems in his letters to me he would add five words there were more than five words Nathaniel only five man only five but there were more than five but whatever he asked me to define those words and put them into a sentence that's a lot of nerve with all I had to do but I knew he meant to help me with my English and I guess it did work so Nathaniel once again I thank you once again I say you're quite welcome okay talking about a dictionary my father always carried did I mention the use a dictionary yes I did did I mention I use a dictionary right and I I would use a diction when I I wrote my reply to Nathaniel I would always have a dictionary by my side and only when I was satisfied with the way the letter was written would I dare mail it to him but talking about a dictionary my father always carried a little chunky German English dictionary with him and he would study the vocabulary in secret whenever possible always with the hope that someday he would reach America when we came to the United States back in 1948 and approached New York har we were told the night before that if we wanted to see the Statue of Liberty we needed to be on deck bright and early the next morning well you can be sure that each and every one of us was on Deck to greet and be greeted by that magnificent symbol of Freedom the freedom that had been denied us for so many years and when that tall figure of that long for symbol appeared I became too choked up to talk so many emotion seized me at once joy and gratitude bitterness for the cruelty we and so many others had suffered and deep deep sadness that my father would never know that we have reached America at last and when we cross the thing let me have this and when we crossed the verizo bridge the VIS very brid here in New York connects the bur of Staten Island with that of Brookton and when we cross that bridge I will always cray my neck to see the Statue of Liberty to me it is one of the most magnificent beautiful sites we returned to Germany on various occasions the very first time was back in 1995 it was the 50th anniversary of our Liberation and we visited my father's grave and the reason my father and about 60 other have a private resting place in that farm village where we were liberated was because they died after some of the chaos had subsided those who died early on were all buried in Mass Graves we also went to B and Bon and B and Bon looks nothing the way I remembered it had been burned down under the direction of President Eisenhower who was then the commander of the Allied Forces and um so today be and Bon looks like a green grass shrubs trees really not bad looking at all except except for the Mounds everywhere Mounds with plags that read here lie a thousand here lie 2500 these are the mass Graves of our people we also went to my former hometown of Hoya near hanova and they were greeted by public officials who over and over and apologized and then there was one young couple born after the war who took us to the Jewish cemetery which has been in terrible disarray had not been cared for since 1938 took us to our family plot and there among the toppled over Stones was a brand new shiny Granite footstone with the inscription in memory of the desecrated plot of the Blumenthal family who 1894 to 1938 placed there by this non Jewish young couple unbeknownst to us a most beautiful generous kind gesture never thought that I would refer to non-jewish Germans in such glowing terms it's people like these that Renew on faith in humanity and have become dear dear friends of ours and whenever we return I speak in schools University churches do so in German and tremendously well Reed but oh so difficult for today's young people to hear after all it happened in their country by their own people their own grandparents and great grandparent generation it's a huge huge burden for these young people and unfortunately it will be their burden for generations to come and then we returned back in 2010 because a brand new public high school was named in my honor in my former Hometown so now we have the maram blal Oba in Hoya tremendous celebration and very courageous for this little town to redress what happened so many years ago in the midst and the night before the celebration we commemorated the night of broken glass on the site where our synagogue man stood yes difficult trips but no regrets having returned I do want to add that Germany is doing everything in its power to continually remind their people as to what happened so many years ago for one thing it is mandatory for the subject to be taught in their schools and it's against the law to deny that the Holocaust has happened and then they came up with something that's called anpin a stum block you don't stumble over it it's a metal plag that's deeply embedded in the sidewalk in front of the home where a person once lived and never returned and on that plaque is engraved his or her name date of birth where when and how he or she died a tremendous tribute to the person who never returned um okay I will take some of your questions please and um and then we're go on from there okay Mr Higgins hi Mar we'd like you to hear our Applause first thank you thank you thank you you were a wonderful audience I could see you all and you were wonderful audience I wish I could have been with you in person maybe next time okay and happy birthday Marian oh that's tomorrow right happy birthday yeah thank you thank you it's only a number okay we just have a couple of questions Maran that will that will uh give you uh that were solicited by our students so here's the first question what's your advice to the younger Generations in terms of remembering the Holocaust oh okay you all heard the question and you heard the answer while I was speaking right to Remember to Remember and to remember and never to forget and to please please be respectful towards one another be kind towards one another that is the basis for peace such a simple message and yet so difficult to achieve there's so little we can do against all this negativity in our world but but again how we treat and behave towards one another that's entirely up to us so be good towards one another pass it information on to those who were not participating this morning's presentation and visit be good towards one another please Mar here's another one um how would children cared for in the camps were parents able to care for their own children or is it the responsibility of guards of guards you're telling me Gods would take care of the children they were the gods only wanted to get rid of us that that no no and parents did the best they could there were it was one particular family who would take children in and and take them in the best that they could and sort of watched over them not that they could give them anything more to eat or or ease their pain but uh there was there's some families who helped and protected children who were left parentless uh the best they could yeah Maran just one more question for you um this is a kind of a long one but the Austrian psychologist and Holocaust Survivor Victor Frankle once wrote The Last of one's freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance What attitude toward life and others did you have that helped you survive through your experiences well I was extremely fortunate to have always been with my mother who has a very positive attitude has a wonderful um her fortitude and her her thinking and her hope she never gave up hope and she instilled that positive thinking onto me I was very fortunate not all children have that so it I tribute my mother for my survival 100% And for my way of uh dealing with the situation and never to give in never to give up never to give up hope ever that is the basis for survival really if you give in then you may as well give up and that's the end of it do I still speak those languages exp a I speak a little bit of Dutch I name I speak some speak an excellent German and I do speak some English um I'm often asked whether I have a tattoo on my arm I do not that was done in aitz only you need to know that there were hundreds of camps major camps sub camps but it was in aitz only where they burned that number on innocent men women and children for no reason other than to torment them to inflict additional pain and to dehumanize them it's a mentality none of us will ever ever understand um we're so grateful Mr Higgin for having this opportunity and to speak with your students and with the students of the uh axbridge High School and uh this would not have been possible without this technology and talking about technology please you guys use it for good only use this technology for good only do not disparage others do not intimidate others do not embarrass your friends and please don't believe everything you see on the internet and on the what is this thing called social media don't believe everything there's so much misinformation out there use your own bright Brilliant Minds before you make decisions and before you lead anyone's thinking or anyone's uh uh way of life use your own be good and kind and respectful towards one another please and unfortunately those out there who deny that the Holocaust has happened they have their own agenda you know it did happen you heard it first s pass it [Music] on to others and never forget to be kind and good towards one another please okay I would like to share a song with you not to worry I won't sing Mr Hagen are we able to to play that okay Miss we are we are I just have I just have to move my cable over and there's going to be about a 10c delay okay just I'll just introduce it it's a song that's written by John Hall from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and it's sung by an 11y old girl by the name of lyric listen to the lyrics hopefully you can watch the lyrics you'll find them very meaningful okay only two minutes of your time [Music] in my hand some made of granite some of sand found in this dark and desolate land for perfect pebbles in my hand mother Comforts Albert and me Father Shields Us From Misery no par love can ever be ra they sad and for God the lonely place four perfect appes do I see one for each member of my family I hold them tight I will not cry all will live no one will [Music] die if I should lose my precious stones my secret hiding place will Ral more perfect Pebbles far beneath these bercks made of wood and steel for perfect pebles do I see mother father Albert and me I count them over one by one I fall fast asleep my work is no [Laughter] [Music] thank you thank you again everyone Mr Higgins Mr Shay Dr Ruben many many thanks for having given me the opportunity to be with you this morning and I wish each and everyone of you a joy Joy's holiday Joy's Christmas happy Hanukah and a uh wonderful healthy peaceful 2025 to each and everyone of of you enjoy your vacations and consider yourself hugged okay consider yourself hugged Say Say Goodbye thanks bye okay thank you thank youday oh yes happy birthday [Music] thank you thank you thank you you all consider yourself hugged okay wonderful stay well and enjoy your vacation and have a wonderful wonderful 2025 for you and your families okay thank you so much e

um Mr jeny can I have the roll call please M Mr Mr G here M Mr M Rosenberg here Mr White here thank you um I I do ask for you to um stand with us for the Pledge of Allegiance and afterwards if you can please give a moment of silence to the Madison Wisconsin situation States thank you right we begin this evening with our student reps um report and I believe you're running solo right am okay all yours Lydia all right good evening we have a few announcements to wrap up 2024 so hang tight starting off with a thrilling note midterms are just around the corner students are prepping to take their exams from January 16th to the 22nd to harness their overwhelming excitement CHS link crew will be hosting what we affectionately call Coco and cram these are test prep sessions in the library for our freshman students during the two days prior to Mid midterm exams meanwhile our length leaders will be assisting the freshmen in creating study schedules organizing materials and preparing for the exam for their exams in all the for subject areas but before the Doom and Gloom of midterms we wanted to get CHS in a nice festive mood students cut and assembled snowflakes during our advisory sessions yesterday which can be seen by the front entrance of the high school be sure to stop by to check them out our snowflake making got cut short though because someone here wanted our feedback for the Board of Education review of chure cell phone uh tresure cell phone policy so every student completed the cell phone use survey to give Dr Solen an idea of chs's opinions on the matter Switching gears the end of 2024 is only the beginning for the future at CHS in fact just last week CHS implemented e-hall passes which aimed to increase student accountability minimize potential for past misuse and monitor student Behavior patterns the season for winter sports has also just begun and with the finalized casting for our spring musical Foot Loose rehearsals will be soon up and running you'll also soon be hearing about our incredible Unified sports program and the recognition by the C CIA later tonight as well closing off every everyone and whoa everyone around the school district will be taking a well-deserved holiday break from tomorrow December 20th until January 2nd we hope you enjoy the holidays thank you fantastic board members have any questions or comments for Lydia well thank you I wish you a happy holidays so and we'll see you next year but you're welcome to stay because I am loving the fact that they're all these faces right now in front of us so thank you Lydia of course um up next I believe we have some partnership Awards Dr Zen we're doing the first one I think Dr herrian is harrian uh will present with us the DD partnership award yes hello everyone thank you for coming out tonight um this evening principal Guillo Kelly gillo in the house um SE she is delighted to nominate Carrie banck for the school partnership award for Dodd Middle School car's unwavering commitment to building a strong School home partnership is truly inspiring as a dedicated men member of the PTA she continually supports teachers through thoughtful Hospitality efforts throughout the year car's dedication shines through in the many events she volunteers for and the countless hours she devotes to chairing committees attending meetings and collaborating with the broader PTA to plan and execute meaningful initiatives her tireless efforts organizing events like stock the fridge the coffee truck and teacher luncheons reflect her deep appreciation for our teachers and her commitment to fostering a positive and supportive School environment overall car's role in strengthening our school's connection with the wider PTA Community greatly enhances the educational experience for students her exceptional dedication and hard work make her an outstanding choice for the school partnership award Carrie banck please come up here the chesher Board of Education thanks Carrie for going above and beyond for our students thank you that was the most begrudging for you Smiles remor very good [Applause] our next partnership award is Chapman School um Chapman principal Diana Burns said it's her honor to recommend Nas Nastia and I apologize if I messed this up kukina yes no okay good from the American Red Cross for the school partnership award the Red Cross has made a meaningful and lasting impact on our school and this award celebrates the vital role Partnerships play in enriching the educational experience and fostering student growth Chapman is proud to recognize the American r cross for their incredible support of Chapman School recently they provided our students with a program call there's nothing stopping you from becoming a preparedness Champion through this initiative our students learn essential skills like proper handwashing techniques they also gained valuable insights into the life-saving work the Red Cross does to support communities like ours on behalf of our students staff and families thank you to the American Red Cross for your commitment to helping us create a safer more informed and and prepared Community congratulations and we are so grateful for your partnership the treasure Board of Education thanks Nastasia and Red Cross for going above and beyond for the students of Chapman Elementary School anasia there you are thank you would you like [Applause] of unified Champion schools Dr Solen I believe we have two which is really exciting tonight so I think Mr Mr J phone first or well we're going to bring up uh from the CIA and um Special Olympics Barbara horn and Steve trone Coach good evening members of the board I'm Barb horn I am unified Champion schools coordinator and members and and a staff member of the Unified sports division of Special Olympics and CIA I am thrilled to be here today to be part of celebrating Highland Elementary Schools renewal of their UniFi Champion schools national B Banner status reflecting an ongoing commitment of inclusion for all students in the athletic and social Arenas Highland Elementary is a model for other schools when I'm asked by a new program for a connection with a successful unified Elementary program Highland Elementary is always my go-to school in my Outreach new programs I often share Highland's best practices such as their UniFi newsletter their UniFi leadership team their seasonal celebrations 900 students from all grade levels participated in the spring unified celebration buddy reading and unified Morning News are other examples these activities reflect the three components of unified Champion schools Unified Sports inclusive youth leadership and wh School engagement which qualify them as a banner school I'm very pleased to be here to shine a light on a school district which offers a pathway of unified opportunities from elementary to middle school and high school with Highland Elementary laying the foundation for new friendships and connections and speaking of that pathway my colleague Steve drafon would like to say a few words about the high school program [Applause] thank you Barbara and congratulations to Mr Jeffrey Elementary program as Barbara mentioned it's one of the finest programs we have in the state here and that's just a reflection of what you guys do at elementary so good evening Dr soul and again uh members of the board great to be back here at chesher uh chesher High chesher Public Schools heart yeah yeah um I'm the assistant director of the Conneticut inter Scholastic athletic um conference Unified sports program Special Olympics uh it's not very often that two schools in the same district receive a unified Champion recognition Banner in the same year it just demonstrates how strong chesher Unified sports are here the national unified program offers opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities to participate in athletic programs and activities currently close to 90% of eligible high schools have a Unified sports program but some of those schools go above and beyond to successfully demonstrate larger commitment and inclusion by offering additional activities to achieve the overall goal of full schoolwide social inclusion Sports Olympics North America recognizes those schools as a national unified Champion school it's not very easy to achieve the chesa high school unified program serves as an example to others of how to make all student students be part of a school climate to achieve National status a program must meet 10 national standards uh which Encompass three components whole school engagement involving the whole school inclusively inclusive School leadership allowing all students to get a chance to be leaders and of course a Unified sports program which which they have chesa high school unified program is no newcomer to this prestigious award through the continued dedication and commitment of the program chesher High School athletic department and Administration chesher has once again met the requirements of national status we at the unified office congratulate chesa High School District for continued support in this inclusive program for all students as the former athletic director I had many opportunities to present state championship teams to our board tonight it is my honor to present an award for National recognition to our Unified sports team so I ask head head unified coach Matt gida athletic director John Perino and principal G Gad and members of the unified team if they're here to come forward and accept your National Championship Banner [Applause] we'll no buck Shir today how we doing there ready when you are I know RI but there's still time John look every everyone look here Smiles one more very good anybody else want to take piure okay as soon as our high school Champions Clear the Stage we're going to invite the students athletes and representatives from uh Highland School up on the stage oh my God what what an incredible it's conratulations not going to put it on the back of the car or something cck all right so if the folks from Highland School could come on up [Applause] this way guys thank you conratulations bailing out of the photo everybody look right here smile one more smile [Applause] forid special thank you to our teachers mentors who make this possible for our students uh encouraging them and dedicating their time but also to all of our families who are here this evening who support the program and make this success possible so thank you all very much thank you congratulations everybody up next um Dr Solen if you can uh introduce our guests of our trade Partners my honor so um the I think this is the last group of recognition recognitions for this evening but um uh about two years ago uh we had a school Business Partnership meeting and wanted to breathe some life into our our programming and called members of the trades community in chesher and uh we were thrilled to be able to meet with them and pick their brain about how can we better support our students at the same time supporting the local trades and uh among the many ideas that were brought forth was any any way that we could better connect our students to the trades and so we decided to offer for our middle school students and and uh high school students the opportunity to get out and visit the work sites to go see it in action and I think uh you know one of the concerns was the the old mental model of Trades being you know dark dingy workplaces where um you know everybody's covered in in Greece and um that it it wasn't really a glamorous place to work uh that model couldn't be any further from the truth that uh our trades Partners in this community absolutely do hard work still but uh the the demands have shifted and they're not only the professional demands but also the demand for people in the field uh there's tremendous demand in these fields for skilled uh members of our community to get out and connect and and learn and work uh in these partners that we're acknowledging tonight so over the last two summers these folks have taken their time uh multiple nights over each of the last two summers to invite students from Treasure high school and Dodd Middle School into their workplace to educate them and their families about the professional opportunities that exist and so we uh would be remiss if we went longer without recognizing them uh unfortunately this evening Doug Johnson from marry and Manufacturing could not be here so uh I I want to welcome up uh from East Coast mechanical norm and Steve from Richard Chevrolet Jason and Jill from FF Hitchcock um Mike and from hanoa Aerospace Jamie roord um if you guys could all come up we just want to say thank you we have a plaque in production um we just don't have enough skilled laborers in the market to deliver on time um but it will be a belated Christmas gift for you uh at your place of work so if you guys could come on up we'd love to just say thank you so much front here with you guys begrudging group shot no no these guys are C [Applause] thank you Dr s and I just want to kind of make a comment because I you know this is an area that's really near and dear to my heart as you know trades and skills um gave my family an opportunity for employment um but also built communities so uh and I do in my day job um promote Career and Technical education so thank you so much for your partnership you know not all children will be going to college um and this is another opportunity for them to build community and and grow the community as well so any board members have any comments or go ahead Mr White thank you so the when I got elected to the board about five years ago if I recall correctly the very first conversation I had with the superintendent was about encouraging alternative Pathways because I graduated from chesher high in 1990 and my recollection from that time was that college was tantum out to success and no College wasn't and it never sat right with me at all at that time and it built over time and it was one of the one of the Lesser reasons why I wanted to run for the Board of Ed I think it's getting I see it you know in the news a little bit more where I think people are recognizing it so I think that's a really good thing but I just want to say thank you very much for taking the time because taking the time with the students because I've had interns before they can be great but they normally take more time than you get a benefit from them so you're put putting in the time and I really appreciate that just um from you know from our perspective sitting here but it's so much bigger than that it's for the in my view it's for the whole country because there are kids who end up spending a lot of money on College and it isn't really a benefit to them um so thank you all of you um yeah it's uh this evening is really um fantastic and it shows how far we've come um when I uh first came on the board in 2018 um I asked an administrator who is not here sitting at this de right now and no longer works here um I I ask this person I go um what happens if uh a student decides maybe College isn't for them and they're you know 16 years old and at the time the answer was well then they have to leave chesher high and and apply to a technical school not the there's anything wrong with that but that's a big decision at the age of 16 um and then we uh moved forward to I think one of our teachers got the a grant for a CNC machine and then I think there was an evening where I think we all shared our stories of how all our like Grant my grandfathers worked the line at Pratt and Whitney um you know and all these great stories of how manufacturing is fantastic for the for the state of Connecticut and for our students here and it's great that tonight uh you come and and we h honor you as as a man as manufacturers here in chesher so it's a really great that we've come this far so yeah I just want to thank um all of our trade partners for being here tonight and um uh to just to point out that I had a lovely conversation with these gentleman from uh East Coast mechanical and it was explained to me in just a very few minutes how how successful it it can be for some of these young people to um go through at the the technical program at the school but then get right into um working hours in their Junior and senior years and these hours are then applied towards their um apprenticeship hours um they quickly get certificates built up and um and they're they get into jobs and they're placed in positions where they're making really good salaries as young people and that's absolutely what we need um across our country today so to all of you thank you for all that you've done because we've had years of really good Partnerships with with um people in the community here in Cheshire and I I just wish that other communities had as great Partnerships as we have here in chesher thank you from the bottom of my heart thank you did you have comment um I just want to give a personal shout out because I just took my car from Richard Chevrolet and he did a fabulous job um but I also want to clarify too that you know you give our students an opportun an alternate opportunity even though you know again kids can choose to go to college they can choose to go into the trades or they can do both so so you know we really appreciate the fact that we have this wealth of Community Partnerships within chesher so thank you again um I know Dr Z oh good evening um just to reiterate what te um Tim said that um many of our students do need other choices you know they need to be Su we want them to be successful when they leave us um as seniors in high school but also we want to make sure that they are on the right path for them what makes them happy what makes them successful so um there needs to be choices and we appreciate um our ability and your ability to help us with this partnership to make sure our students are making that right choice that career choice um to make them happy and successful so thank you I know we've showered you with a lot of Praise but it's deserved um not only are all these businesses so welcoming to our kids and Community uh but also so valuable to our general community so um you know not a paid endorser but you know look these people up when you need work because they do great jobs for uh our kids and the broader community so again thank you all for for being here tonight and what for what you do for our kids thank you um next item if there's uh any audience members that would like to address the board um if you can come to the podium and state your name and address please no do we have something thank you I Patricia Baker 341 South brooksvale Road chesher Connecticut I come to say how proud I am of the equity and diversity policy that is on the agenda tonight and how important it is having uh just re recently retired from running the Connecticut health Foundation whose whole mission was to eliminate racial and ethnic Health disparities this is a fundamental policy that can make a huge difference difference because it requires intentionality in ensuring that all of our students have the opportunity to achieve the success that's best for them whatever that is and whatever level that is and Equity really requires us to think differently about each individual student thinking about them in terms of what barriers structures and institutional issues that they could face so I am proud in the uh to be a member of the community to see a policy like this that provides this kind of opportunity and a commitment to full uh full education and history for our students so I want to thank the policy committee and the board and the school this really makes a huge difference around not only developing the policy but I hope how we implement the policy because polic is only as good as the implementation and execution so thank you thank you Miss Baker any other audience members would like to address the board great up next we be our committee reports we're going to start with um curriculum so I'll hand this over to miss Cullen and to give the curriculum report please thank you madam chairman um so the curriculum the curriculum committee meeting um was held on December 9th and um tonight we are going to go through a quick report on the meeting and ask the chesher Board of Education to approve two motions this evening that will go into a littleit more detail on approval of a textbook and approval of two um outof country field trips I'm going to turn it over to our assistant superintendent to give us an update thank you so to review the meeting we had uh two guests that evening we had Kristen hassa our German teacher who presented on a trip to Cologne Germany this is a trip that has been an ongoing Exchange program with students and families in Cologne since 1983 and students will live with host families attend school embark on two-day trips and she is uh requesting the board's permission to continue with that trip the second trip is being coordinated by Tina aone our French teacher and that is a trip to Ren and Paris France also during the summer months from July 19th through the 4th of July and she um Miss aone reviewed her field trip request and that was to take students to who had previously hosted French students here in chesher to take those students for 12 nights um in October sorry uh they did this in October they want to be reciprocal and now they are planning to go and spend time in Ren and that area with families as well so those those are two items that are are up for further discussion um after the report um in addition I shared with the committee that we had Matt mvis who's the director of skills 21 he's part of our Ed Advance resque he came and spoke to two different groups he worked with our administrative team and he also worked with our strategic planning committee which is made up of a host of teachers from around the district it was a really great presentation all about artificial intelligence and how teachers can use it how school system can use it and how our our teachers can use it to help students be more critical thinkers so his presentation was really exciting and um both scary and energizing and we have invited him back in March for our PD day to do a broader communication with our staff the other update was on the teachers and science coaches that you also graciously approved in last year's budget and I want to tell you that the first session of Robotics in grades four and five is nearly complete the students this this was designed as a pre-engineering experience um but the stem and and and stem teacher coaches really shared about all of the seal implications that this has had for students so while yes they learned coding and while yes they learned about robotics they really learned so much more uh they talked about emotional regulation and collaborating with each other having to compromise they talked about that sheer perseverance that they had to had to endure to get the robots to do the things that they wanted and there's one robot and three kids in a group so you really had to work together when asked uh when they asked the students the students said that they had to learn to work with partners and that they had to learn to be a better listener so it really was a positive experience um the other thing that we discussed was that Vince massana and I recently toured the Southington agroscience program and while students from cheser currently have the option to apply to Lyman Hall we have 13 students at Lyman Hall this year um the district we're just exploring whether or not the Southington program might provide yet another option for our students so the Southington a science program has connections with some of our local Farms in Cheshire including Dietrich Farms and Kurt's farm so um we're thinking about a next visit to Lyman Hall to also just get an update on what they have but it was I'd say we it was a great day and we had a wonderful experience with the students um last but not least in January we will be getting a um overview of the schedule um from Dr Gad or perhaps from Mr hanlin at that point in time but um also at our next meeting Mike dine who is our department chair for health and PE will be sharing about some changes to the health and wellness curriculum and last but not least there was um a YMCA survey that's going to go out to support children with special needs Doug Levens has been meeting with us as part of the um Health District Health and Wellness committee he's really been so active involved in so much of what's happening in the chesher public schools and he's connecting with the special education parent teacher Association to conduct a survey to see what kinds of activities the YMCA might provide to students with special needs so some really nice things happening and last but not least um which was covered at the November agenda is a new textbook so we have Essentials of human anatomy and physiology it this book was reviewed by a team of teachers including Anna harasta Pam Mell and Tanya Cory who are high school teachers they were looking for an updated book that was aligned to the ngss content and standards there were a lot of things they liked about this including some intera i options online they felt that it supported multilingual Learners that the questions provided in the text have varying levels of complexity and particularly had some real world application they looked at everything from the readability range in the book to um lab manuals and clinical case studies they liked the PowerPoint slides there it they had done this research over the period of more than a year so this book went on display both at central office at the chesher public library at chesher high school and we also posted it that it was available to our families there was no feedback from any of those groups and it has passed the twoe um review period on public review so we're asking um for approval of that textbook tonight so I'd like to make the motions um the first would be that the chesher Board of Education approved the purchase of the following textbook Essentials of human anatomy and physiology 13th edition as recommended by the curriculum committee is there a second Dr herrian any comments on the motion that is on the floor Mr grippo um Can can you uh say again which groups reviewed and and had no response I I missed the groups it was out for public review at all the places that I mentioned it was at at our office at the library and we leave a a page for if anyone has any public comments on it they can submit that to us and there were no comments thanks any other comments great um the motion on the floor miss Colin and if you could just read it one more time for clarification that the chesher Board of Education approve the purchase of the following textbook Essentials of human anatomy and physiology 13th edition as recommended by the curriculum committee all those in favor of the motion that is on the floor unanimous thank you next one bonjour are we clumping these together or are we separating the two countries they are separating okay go ahead Madam first motion is that the chesher Board of Education approve the participation of chesher high school students in the educational field trip to Ren and Paris France from June 19th 2025 to July 4th 2025 is there a second Dr heran any comments Mr gripple um just a quick question um do we know of any logistical problems of traveling on July 4th into New York I'm assuming none none were discussed but they're working with a company that actually some of our board members I believe took down the name of the travel agency because they came highly recommended how long is the trip for um it's from June 19th through July 4th oh okay they um it starts June 19th because they want some time for our students to actually be in classes and then at the end of the trip they'll be doing some sightseeing great all those in favor of the motion for the Run and Par France strip unanimous thank you and then we have Cologne Germany I believe it's hallo what is it I'm not German so I can't is that it my brother speaks German not you well I'm going with cologne so we'll see okay the that the chure Board of Education approve the participation of cheser high school students in the educational field trip to Cologne Germany from June 19 through July 2nd 2025 it's there a second for the motion Mr gripple Second Great Is there a comment all those in favor of the field trip to Cologne Germany unanimous thank you next item we have the calendar committee um and I believe I will forward that to Dr herkin so the the calendar committee uh met on December 3r um and Dr Solen at the that time shared a draft of the calendar that was approved at last year's calendar committee for the 2025 26 calendar and um also a proposed draft of the 2026 27 school calendar um Dr Solen said that because of the opening of the new schools this calendar the 2025 uh 26 Calendar is different from past years so in order to allow as much time as possible to move into the new schools during the summer of 2026 the school year is starting earlier and ending earlier than in past years and um the committee reviewed uh the significant dates uh within there uh so the first day of school will be for students is August 21st 2025 which is significantly earlier than than usual uh that means the convocation is scheduled for August 18th and professional de development days on the 19th and 20th of August um also uh November 4th and March 20th 2026 um with no snow days that means the last day for school for students is projected to be June 4th of 2026 and the last day for teachers would be June 5th snow days will be made up June 5th through June 12th and any additional snow days Beyond those six will begin with April 10th and move backwards to April 8th those three days and um I would also like to volley this to Dr Solen if you want to explain in any more detail the open the early opening and early closing of the school year sure so um I think as you hit upon we are opening schools in the fall of 2026 as such we're going to need time to transition everything really the biggest uh challenge will be getting everything out of Norton uh into the new Norton and demoing that building and laying down space for parking uh so that's where we really need as much time as we possibly uh possibly can get uh and in and doing so we we are adjusting the calendar as you mentioned uh one other point came up uh which is you know if we are making every effort to stay to that calendar that we can be this this didn't come up at the calendar meeting but came up uh since then Adam raised the question we had been thinking about was you know does a three-hour delay help that so you know that's um not anything we're considering for the the current school year uh but I think in the spring uh Carol and I were talking about just H bringing returning here with that conversation to consider a three-hour delay for next year here uh we're still reviewing all of that so so it looks like we have uh a motion to approve we're separating the calendars right now um if I can actually ask Dr s can you clarify there was some conversation about depending upon construction were we going to come back to adjust the calendar if right yeah so it I think it's in the um that first year if there this next year's calendar if there um is extensive snow and we started to push out the number of days uh once we got to August or excuse me once we got to June um I forget the day off the top of my head was it 12th is it on there June Jun une 12th we were going to start taking back from April days that would be a significant number of snow days uh we'd be taking it off the back end of the April vacation for a few days before we go back to additional June days but um you know the likelihood of you know not on what you know okay I I would just like to add um there's already been significant notification of our families and the community out there and um that will continue and um these calendars are also are available on our website for chesh public schools great so if you can um if there's a motion for the first calendar 2526 I believe sure I move that the chesher Board of Education adopts the 2025 26 school calendar as presented is there a second miss cullinan any comments for the 2526 school year calendar motion Mr White thank you so to be perfectly clear I support the dates all involved here and I'm happy to vote for that in favor of the calendar but I do not expect to be voting in favor of this tonight I attended the calendar committee meeting uh probably a few weeks ago and I tried to address a concern and I didn't feel like it was addressed adequately for me my basic concern is that when we did the calendar 9 months ago 10 months ago we I was unaware of it until we were voting and I did not get to uh thoughtfully consider what it meant to me the vote um that is on me that I didn't was not aware of it until we got to the meeting that night and I apologize to the voters for that regardless um my basic concern is we're changing from last year we changed Columbus Day to indigenous people an Italian-American day and the the basic concern I have with it is that I it's unclear to me what we are celebrating when we add indigenous people's day and this is I I I would like to know what we're celebrating um and so here's just a little bit of back ground on where I'm coming from on this which is just in the past few years I've tried to bring our kids they're in elementary school to different places one time we were went out to visit family in Arizona and we went to a you know some of the we went to a national park or National Monument um near Phoenix some other places and one of the things that I picked up on there when I was speaking with the historians who work at these parks and that is how they describ themselves was as historians what they talked about the history that existed was before any um European colonist showed up there were Wars for natural resources among the indigenous peoples there was people were captured and enslaved and that was Arizona we also brought our kids up to Montreal we went to a museum up there and basically the same story was sort of told by Just One of local historians Museum employee who I don't think was trying to uh create any story other than what they had learned it was just like a one-on-one conversation and so the concern I have is what's happening in America is let's change from Columbus Day to indigenous people's day because and and I asked I asked uh miss harrian about this and she can tell me in her own words but basically my take on what she was saying at the calendar committee when I asked about this why we're doing this and I felt like she said well the um the indigenous peoples took care of the land before the European Colonists came here and then we took the land or something to that effect the concern I have is we're as a board of ed I feel like the pendulum was over here in the past talking about the you know the the Wonders and virtues of European colonists and everything that went right and had no acknowledgement of all the wrongs that were committed um relatively relatively little acknowledgement and now what's happening is the pendulum swinging over to the other side and I I don't like that there's a middle ground where you I feel we can be more candid and forthright about history um the rights the wrongs and the way I see the world is generally most things are mixed there's not a lot of things that are like purely virtuous or purely evil um and so I think our history could definitely have uh details added to it important details and so what I'm hoping to do by asking this question is really to have a dialogue about this and have people talk and say you know tell me I'm wrong if historians come forward and tell me I'm wrong I'll I'll eat my words I have no problem this is I'm not a historian but this is my understanding based on you know observation and just talking to people who I believe are probably experts in their particular field in history and so what I want to do is basically just have more of a conversation about this rather than um well this is what other towns are doing so we should do it too I I think we could serve the uh the school children of chesher and the town at Large better by having a more robust discussion about this so it's not saying that um making you know the day indigenous people's day is something that I'm opposed to uh necessarily but I want to know why and I think it could be I think it could be done differently and for that reason you know I could still be sued here tonight but right now I'm planning to vote against the calendar and again it's not about the the timing of any of this um it's just it's about this one particular thing because I I do feel like there's a much bigger conversation that could and should be had about it one second yeah I that's it for me thank you any other comments Mr gripple um Madam chair I'd like to amend the motion um to uh read that the treasure Board of Education adopts a 2526 school calendar um and change um uh indigenous people's day Italian-American day to indigenous people's Day Columbus Day I believe I don't believe we called for the motion in second already care no we're still in discussion are we in discussion on the motion we we haven't even called the motion and oh you haveen any called the motion oh yeah we're in discussion right we did yeah we we have a motion in a second and we're discussion right so so it is it is appropriate to have an amendment so there is a motion there's an amendment to the motion currently can you please read the amendment again Mr gripple sure um that the Board of Education adopts 20 the 2025 202 school calendar and uh change indigenous people Italian-American day to indigenous people Columbus State is there a second for the amended motion on the floor Mr White comments on the amended motion currently Miss col yeah I'm I'm just um I'm a little bit surprised by the amendment because my recollection is that we had a very robust discussion of this last year and this actually the way we did it and worded it was a compromise to both sides um being conscious of um the demographics being conscious of indigenous people's day and we we weren't jumping on any bandwagon of districts around us because if you took a look at what probably correct me if I'm wrong um many of the district in the state of Connecticut have called it indigenous day we went out and kind of changed that um the composition to call that day indigenous people and Italian-American day so I think it represents Heritage and the country and our state and our town um after the robust discussion that we had last year Mr grible um I agree we did have a robust discussion about it last year um and and last year I think the point was or was attempted to me to be made that the state of Connecticut no longer recognizes uh Columbus Day which is not true uh the could because the state the Columbus Day is still on the state of Connecticut calendar um there are only 14 states that don't celebrate uh Columbus Day and Connecticut is not one of them so the the calendar that that we're proposed in does not um uh synchronize with the state of Connecticut this is something we're choosing to do on our own so all I'm attempting to do is to bring our calendar back in line uh with the state of Connecticut any other comments Dr Aran yeah I just want to say um I find myself in a difficult position right now because I kind of agree with the uh Amendment but I don't agree with the way that it's being brought up right now um as Miss cullinan said we did have a robust conversation about this and I did not vote for this this change that we have um Mr White I believe you did and now you want to have another conversation and change it back to something that was proposed during our robust conversation I Believe by Mr grippo back then um so because um I I feel we need to honor that conversation that we had and the outcome that came from it I um I will not be um agreeing to this proposed amendment but in theory I do agree with it D white thank you yeah just to be clear I seconded it I'm not supporting the motion I just want to have the discussion that was all thank you I mean um I'm just going to rewind and and agree that we did have a conversation um I was present at the calendar committee meeting last year um and my stance my position was that um you know we do not want to honor colonialism which led to the forceful taking of land widespread um and and deaths of the indigenous people um and then we also the full board wanted to honor as well you know the contributions of Italian Americans so we're we're doing two things here we're honoring the culture and history of the indigenous people as well as acknowledging the contribution of Italian Americans which is why the compromise was laid out and we did approve that naming last year so I I will not be as supporting this amendment at all um and I think the other piece of this is that we also need to consider given that we have school construction going on um that we need to approve a calendar so that we are not delaying the fact that our community needs to understand when exactly school is starting when it's going to end so that they have enough time to properly plan as well so the motion is on the floor um Mr gripple one more time if you can read your amended motion uh that the cheser Board of Education adopts the 2526 school calendar and change the uh and change indigenous people uh Italian-American day uh to um indigenous people Columbus Day all those in favor of the amended motion all one in favor all those who that oppose the amended motion four the uh motion fails we are back to the original motion if um Miss Dr heran I think you read the original motion again I move that the chesher Board of Education adopts the 2025 26 school calendar as presented those um second Miss cullin Madam chair we still on discussion we are we we can discuss because we're forwarding the motion again yes uh I just like to say um I I won't be supporting the motion however I did attend the meeting and I fully support the calendar and all of its contents uh I think it's well thought out um it it uh fully um or at least attempts to to the to best of our knowledge about being able to see the future entirely um uh helps helps us uh plan for school construction uh and the uh I guess the the hope the hopefulness that uh construction will be done on time and that the move will then go smoothly um I know that the you know you can't help but read social media and there are comments of uh well uh you know what if it uh doesn't work out and what's the what's what's the contingency plan if it doesn't work out because we'll have redistricted all sorts of people and we'll have schools that open and schools that don't open and you know what happens then but I guess we that's not really really part of the calendar committee uh discussion but or is it I don't know if there's something that has to be considered there but uh yeah um I I won't be supporting the motion but I do support the motion if that makes any sense then can I just say I I think the time for this discussion and for the amending of the name of the day the holiday that we take off should happen during calendar committee meeting which it didn't but it could next year so I would ask that if people are really cannot vote for calendars because of the name of one of the of the holidays please come to calendar committee meeting make your motions then so that we can take care of it before it comes to the full board uh well I I did attend uh Mr White basically said everything that I would have said anyway and as a uh a member of the board but not a member of the committee I felt I would have been um out of place to speak at all unless it was part of public comment because I didn't want to uh create an illegal meeting so I did uh listen and consider um and if I recall the I don't know if the vote was unanimous or not um when uh Columbus Day was changed for the 2627 cuz I think it was it was already baked in for 2526 um yes it was unanimous okay yeah so anyhow um it is what it is thanks okay thank you any other comments Mr D thank you yeah just my recollection of the calendar committee meeting for people who are watching on TV the board Ved has a number of committees the that consist of pretty much three board members MERS the calendar committee cut me off Jeff if I get something wrong here um the calendar committee is more of a staff committee with a board one member uh Miss herrian is the liais on to it and my recollection of the meeting was not about make I I thought I conveyed my concerns and you disagreed and that's I totally respect that um but there was one staff member who said okay this is probably above our pay grade can you move this conversation along to the board of ed that was that was my take and so I didn't I didn't push it any further and I actually don't mean to push it here tonight I mentioned this to Sam in advance I'm not trying to um I do believe strongly about it although I also do um so that's a little bit on the calendar committee and how that functions and my take on what happened there uh rather than making motions to amend anything there but I do have a real question for the superintendent which is if this calendar is not adopted tonight what does that mean mean to you from your perspective because I mean the truth is is that I could I I can support it I've made my point here I really would rather not I would like to sort of uh I would like to have a more robust discussion about history and what we're doing here because I really do believe that a lot of towns are just going oh that sounds good let's do it without putting a lot of thought into it that's my own perception right or wrong that's it that's my concern but what does it mean if you don't have your calendar uh tonight because I could vote in support of this it's not that I want that done that was I think the first thing that I said I do want you to have a calendar yeah I think uh particularly given the unique nature of the calendar over the next two years adoption is early as possible is certainly welcome um you just to go back to your point about who compos who can like who are the members composes the the committee um there are different Union Representatives on that committee there are um PTO representative board represent representation um so it is a kind of inclusive committee um and certainly if if we wanted to have a broader Community deliberation on the merits of Columbus versus indigenous peoples they versus Italian American Heritage um I would suggest just that maybe we uh publicize that in advance of next year's conversation and we just go from there but certainly early adoption on this calendar is is welcome uh for our community can I just ask Jeff do you mean that that discussion would happen at a board meeting or at the calendar meeting probably at the calendar committee meeting I mean it's up to you ultimately if you maybe we take that convers station up early in the year next year at a board meeting you know solicit opinion via survey or something um of our parents it can be done in a myriad of ways and um maybe that's something we discuss at another Point Mr gble um how many votes do we need for it to pass three or four this evening yeah just three simple majority of present yeah okay thanks any other comments yeah I I just think um I think it's just two separate things the calendar right the days and times and weeks and beginning and ending to facilitate the construction folks to know they have some extra time right to move furniture to level the building Etc and then the indigenous people Columbus Day Italian-American day is a separate factor of one of those days on that calendar that you approve or disapprove is named after something so I think tonight it's important that we move the calendar so people can plan ahead so like Adam I don't know one of you said like people need to know right like I I was already looking at you know like when kids are going to get out this year in June 4th that's a long time for parents to plan for child care so we need to get that out in our community so they can start figuring out a camp or whatever is going to happen um I so I understand your concern about it because the feeling that if I agree to this I'm agreeing to all these names convocation day and professional development day and Etc um and I think you know as Dr Solen said there is a time in place for us to discuss that further if it needs to be discussed further and have input um on what people think so I'm just saying tonight I think we need to vote on on moving the calendar forward within the notes obviously it would say that further discussion needs to be had any other comments so the motion that is on the floor currently was the um to have the treasure Board of Ed adopt the 2526 school year calendar as presented all those in favor of adopting or in favor of the motion that's on the floor right now three Mr jinsky all those oppos two motion passes next motion Dr herrian yeah I move that the chesher Board of Education adopts the 2026 27 proposed draft school calendar recommended by the calendar committee second is there a second Mr grippo um comments on the motion that's on the floor comment no Mr I'll say um I I will support the draft as there is still opportunity for change you any other comments great all those in favor oh Mr White go ahead yeah just following on the comments that the superintendent made a couple minutes ago could we have a discussion about this like next September get back and the board I'm just I'm looking at board members right now because this is a board discussion we the supered discussion should go back to committee to the committee yep okay definitely welcome a conversation further on this um but I think we need to plan ahead to have that conversation and do so within the committee and then bring it forward to the full board yeah okay thank you um all those in favor of the motion to approve or adopt excuse me the 2627 proposed draft school calendar recommended by the calendar committee unanimous thank you motion passes thank you calendar committee um next committee report would be finance and it looks like Dr herin or Mr Masano don't go at once I I'll start and I'll um send it to Mr masiano let me find my place here go okay included in your packet is the financial report for 2022 23 board of education budget reflecting expenditures and encumbrances um Mr Mariana will uh provide us a discussion and then move on to the medical benefits report that's okay with you Mr M yes it is thank you and good evening members of the board our November report I'm happy to say we've got five months down uh in this fiscal year the um expended and encumbered portion of our budget is 80 .

see if you try to show something after I put some okay yeah you put better make gabing I already got one twin taller muchas thank you kiding testing testing it's good I testing testing one two three I'm like right oh okay I justess volum [Music] 530 to the restant let me T I met earlier today nice I need a break just and he already I texted him you go right here report to the dance floor the right there huh there's a off that one e oh what I thought that no using M just just one say now who knows right I'm G one more minute yeah last time we started at 5:32 th in yeah yeah breaking the yeah there it comes okay he's walking start welcome everybody uh I'm opening up the meeting this Thursday December 19 2024 annual organizational and regular board meeting agenda this meeting is being recorded it's 533 uh Miss mivel can you please do roll call today is an annual organizational and regular board meeting of December 19th 2024 at 5:30 pm members of the board in attendance president Linda Chavez present vice president Andes kto pres clerk M fam present member Corda present member Men new pres members of administration superintendent Herman pres we have quum tonight and we will start with the annual organizational meeting nomination and election of board president Madam president of Allegiance oh pres of Allegiance whoops trust like lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Ali United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible withy and jusice for all thank you Trustin okay on the annual organization and meeting nomination and elections of board president uh item 102 it's an action item uh I'm opening up for nominations I would like to nominate Linda Chavez to serve another year as uh president of the boorn uh I accept Okay Okay um any more nominations okay um all in favor of reelecting Linda ch as board president raise your hands okay so it's for yay any against uh no no oh excuse me one no and for one vote with uh trusty Corina uh with the name so uh moving on to the annual vice president uh any nominations for board vice president this is an action item I'd like to nominate Andre quo for another term as vice president okay I second you accept Okay so uh there's a motion and a second all in favor of uh of um electing vice president uh kto to the vice presidency raise your hand so it's 5 Z the vote is unanimous Miss uh congratulations uh now the next one uh the nomination for to elect the board clerk uh yes uh vice president kto okay uh I accept Okay I second and uh so all in favor of all in favor of uh uh the nomination please raise your hand Z motion passes unanimously congratulations thank you congratulations to you too and okay approve the superintendent as the secretary to the board this okay this it's do I have a second second okay I have a motion in a second all in favor of the superintendent as Secretary of the board please raise your hands okay it's 5 Zer unanimously I accept [Laughter] no choice yeah yeah no choice thank you for your compliance okay discussion and modification of the agenda the board may change the order of the business including but not limited to an announcement that an agenda item will be considered out of order that consideration of an item has been withdrawn postpone rescheduled or removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion and possible action excuse me uh any modifications to the agenda uh pardon oh uh I'm going to be pulling item 806 on the consent calendar um the entire 806 and so uh the welcome and explanation to the audience uh any person may address the board on any item on the meeting agenda persons who 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 for each speaker the board has the right to limit total public comment on any agenda Madam president I've been corrected by marabel that we we the board does need to vote on polling a 8.06 from the oh I'm sorry um all in favor of pulling item 806 please raise your hand so it's three okay both the motion was made by the board president can I have a second second okay second by trusty fam and so now um we will take the vote to adopt the agenda as modified and and to adopt the agenda as modified okay that's my motion are you seconding that motion thank you so can I ask sure um I just want to make sure is there anything that uh is uh on a deadline or that we need to do on that item not not on a deadline other than a request uh there was a modification to the attachment on principal assignments and it was for the requests of principls they wanted to be notified of their assignment prior to going on break and so I wanted to honor that yeah yeah we did receive that email at 2:35 pm today okay so all in favor of the adoption of the amenda with the uh the item pulled please raise your hand okay so that's five to zero motion passes okay so I was in the middle of the motion and explanation I did I I went up to the board I'll do it again welcome and explanation to the audience any person may address the board on any item of the meeting agenda persons who wish to speak on an item on the agenda we'll have an opportunity to do so when the agenda item is introduced and presented during this meeting there is a limit of two minutes of each speaker the board has the 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 of the jurisdiction of the district but not on this agenda we'll have an opportunity to speak during item 201 on this agenda as stated below so I am now going to move on to 201 any public members who wish to address the board on not on the matters of the agenda seeing no oh oh there's one there's one okay you need to please if you could please come up and step up to the podium you have two minutes so I'm I'm not sure if it's on the agenda but um just for advocating I know we weren't given opportunity to advocate for our principles um so my son is a student at Joseph George and our school would be closing but would' like to advocate for our principal since the site would be closing to be in leadership for the new site to be receiving the students at least they would see a familiar face for the receiving students that would be a nice thing for the students that would be a request for us that would be all that I asked thank you thank you H Laura thank you okay okay seeing no more public comment uh can I get uh Teamsters uh item 301 Teamsters see no member from Teamsters present I'm gonna move on Pardon we know thank you uh item and for the record you can't just raise your hand and start talking thank you yeah yeah yeah yeah okay uh item 302 um CCA California School Employees Association actually Sharon Miss Sharon said that she wouldn't be a uh able to come tonight and she says hello to everybody Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year moving on to 303 uh Alan Rock Educators Association Miss Sandra guys so um hello happy holidays to everybody um I just as we part for the holidays you know I know that there's a lot of still some anxiety but um hopefully the district and area have come to a agreement on theou so once it's presented I hope that we can share the news with our members to relieve some of those fears and anxiety and start answering questions and moving forward as we try to build alumrock into the great um educational institution that we all know and love and why we're here and contributing to all of our students and parents and community members um yeah I just want to wish everybody a happy holidays and that you guys came really fast so I didn't get to write my full okay I gave you three minutes extra Chavez don't do that for nobody but Sandra okay moving on to um 304 alrock administrators Association a AA uh she doesn't seem to be present so I will move on to the superintendent comments 305 yes thank you uh President Chavez I do have a few things uh first and foremost I want to welcome uh trusty NW I keep chopping up your last name so right me new is good new is good uh to alrock school board so welcome and uh look forward to working with you uh also want to share with you Wellness Center openings uh over the last two weeks the Department of Social and emotional learning has hosted Wellness Center grand openings to promote the district's investment in student wellness they were able to organize six Wellness Center openings in six weeks some of you attended they were able to um recognize just the hard work of our all our faculty and staff adente uh one adente 2 Shephard Renaissance hubard uh and today it was Okala uh and today what they had was uh they were unique in that they actually had student ambassadors so they had about 20 students that were present so that was beautiful to see they participated uh and also their uh Teacher of the Year miss buam was there as well so she spoke and she was part of the uh organization and and uh support in getting the wellness center up and running so uh congratulations to all these schools uh for their Wellness Center openings and then the V vapa winter showcase um I attended the my first timeing superintendent and it was very impressive and students across the district performed at the 2024 arusd vapa showcase at San Jose State University and this is including Joseph George Visual and Performing Arts Academy Lindale Linda Vista Curtin and the first time I see them play the Mariachi the ausc Mariachi that was awesome too it was great to see them they closed the the the show and it was gave me goosebumps throughout the whole uh show so it's very very impressive uh I want to thank um all the faculty staff the teachers that made this possible especially uh our vapa coordinator uh Emily mcchristian she did a phenomenal job in organizing it uh and uh just a great job overall it was just ah you know those are the great things that are happening here in alumrock that I I just I I I love and uh we need to be promoting more of that uh I also had a meeting with mayor Mayan last week I had the opportunity to uh meet with him and also the San Jose Public Library director Jill bour and uh we talked about well one the priority right the concerns for safe routes and so uh we had a very good discussion around that uh as to how we can shift some of the since some of the sites are going to close getting some of the crossing guards uh over to some of the sites uh where they will remain open and so I did invite him to come and visit uh you know some classes um here in in alumrock and he he did mention he says hey I used to teach over at you know at George and so um so so we're gonna we're we're setting up a date for that and we'll continue to engage in conversations with with mayor Mayan so we can uh continue to of course Priority First the safety of all our students um and then uh just an update for the 2025 26 uh there's a a school placement letter that we're going to be sending out to all the families when we get back in uh January we're going to be sending out all the scied schools uh of where the students will be uh uh enrolled in uh and also giving them the option like we uh mentioned during the presentations the intradistrict process and the application so that we can ensure that they are being placed at the proper schools so that we can account also for the number of students that will be assigned to each of the schools uh so that we could also uh by the end of January uh Mr Toro assistant superintendent of human resour ources can then begin to assign positions for for teachers for FTE for other uh positions as well so uh so we'll keep you posted on that I'll keep you updated and um yesterday I also joined the cafesito uh parent Cito at dorsa elementary school so I had a very uh good conversation with some families there some parents some Guardians regarding some of the concerns since I did not have the opportunity to have a town hall with them I met with them yesterday and and answered any questions they would have or concerns and also the transition and next steps and so uh it was a pretty good meeting overall so I just wanted to update you on that and uh happy holidays to everyone so thank you very much president Travis thank you uh any truste comments uh trusty Minn that was excuse me Fam oh my God that might happen a few more times over the next four years if you don't mind I'm I'm going to call you trusty fam and trusty NN sure and I hope uh you guys both are you know forgiving when I when I get it wrong thank you okay trusty Min fan thank you very much no problem Madam president I was gonna say you know Charles Dickens had us wrote a story called Tale of Two Cities and this district is about to be uh called The Tale of Two Men but I want just a few words uh to uh you know uh from last month we I had fun of crossing the finish line of my annual tour of alam Rock V visiting adalante 2 dorson Hub and I all I think board President Chavez and superintendent Serta for accompanying me there and I wanted to say that uh you know a special thank you for Senora Hernandez at adalante 2 longtime teacher for uh gifting to me uh a picture of uh soner when it first opened and you know I have you know turned you know turned it over to marabel so that the piece of alam Rock history uh be viewable to all Alam rockers right but you know uh it was a great Turkey Trot at alante too it was a beautiful garden with night you know it was a cloudy day but there were plenty of sunflowers at D's garden and I always get uh Mr s the now fourth grade teacher you know he and I have a bit of a history because uh you know he you he frequent writer to the board in his day so uh always good to see his class um and wrapping up at hubard you know one thing I like about principal sento she's the district Zo ologist so we didn't see the python as usual but we did see uh a skinny pig which is sort of like a hairless guinea pig here and you know we always uh love that but uh you know uh superintendent certain board president I saw the the Verizon lab there and you know that there are there are uh assets that you know I believe you know are important for us to keep uh I Al got to see the hovered Wellness opening uh it was a nice opening albe it happened on a rainy day but you know the weather doesn't always uh you know uh go the way we want it like lot of tickets right I keep buying a lot of tickets and I have still yet to win Mega Millions jackpot uh it was a wonderful vapa showcase at San Jose State I think thank Emily MC Christian for her efforts and or organizing that as well as our uh Visual and Performing Arts teachers for organizing it uh you know it's always good to see our kids on stage from piano to choir and yes we Clos with the Mariachi singing the ever famous Jose Feliciano's felis Navi dad all uh I am always you know we're all proud of our kids on stage tonight uh that night and you know it uh we run the largest K8 uh performing arts program and proudly so in east side San Jose uh also you know I want to as we wrap up this year you know I want to uh acknowledge the challenges that are still uh on this District's Horizon and I wanted to give you know uh speak to some of the anxieties in this District right and uh first of all you know as I've always said you know I have I will keep saying it as I've said the ABC7 News to NBC bay area and the San Jose Spotlight uh no school board member uh wishes to close schools that's a school boards member Nightmare and I recognize the gravity of the situation and that you know many of our schools have honorably served this community for at least three generations if not more and I want to thank more President Chavez for working with me and superintendent Cera for collaborating you know and that you know we were able to present to this community the skinniest possible consolidation a net closure of six schools which is you know instead of the nine authorized by the board this past May and the initial Administration proposal it say you know so you know we save you know we save schools we save facilities at uh you know the district would not be able to reduce in the medium term uh athletic fields ver Verizon Labs science classrooms the preservation of half the V the at the very least half the vapa cluster so we can continue to have things like uh the vapa Showcase next year uh preservation of a special education capability as uh as it is at Lindale Elementary uh and that and not and that's not saying you know the preservation of teaching jobs and classified staff jobs you know and in in the fact that uh you know you know if I may if I may say man president I and or President Chavez did did our very best to protect as as many Alum rockers as possible from the worst and I know that you know no plan is perfect but uh we we protect the jobs and we save the furniture and I hope that that gives superintendent Sur a good foundation to in which to improve our curriculum and hopefully bring students back so on that note I you know uh wish everybody a happy holiday season as well as best wishes for the new year thank you so much thank you trusty B um any other board members uh trusty nin uh I just wanted to um start off by expressing my thanks to the community um this is my first meeting I'm really grateful that the community elected me to serve um folks who don't know I'm a math teacher at Independence High School uh I'm going on my eth year um I hope that's a good indicator of my commitment to the community um at large um I know that this work is going to be very different from teaching in a classroom uh but I think you know like I said those eight years and uh the next four years at least uh I hope to show everybody that uh I'm really committed to this community I plan on teaching for probably another you know 20 years maybe um I know this is a transitional time for the district I know it's not an easy time uh but you know uh I'm in it we're all in it and I really look forward to you know helping Alan Rock be the biggest and best version of itself um and I think we can all make that happen sa from Men to Men congratulations uh any other trustee comments go ahead nobody else has him uh first off I want to uh welcome uh trusty Minn uh to Alam Rock um it was a pleasure working hard to earn these seats um it's not easy so um with that same token I want to thank the community for reelecting me for another four years to serve here um in elmrock and represent our children and families um that often get left out of these rooms so I'm honored to be here uh and with that um I didn't get a chance to talk last last uh at our last board meeting to um because there was no space to just talk about you know uh things that were feeling or um related to Alam Rock and um I I couldn't sleep I'm like oh my God am I is she going to be in the room at all so I'm happy to see uh previous trustee Andrea Flores Shelton and our audience and I want to thank you for the service that you've provided to Alam Rock um I want to thank you for going above and beyond because you got promoted to a high level position in the city of San Jose and you fought hard and you uh really begged your supervisor to allow you to stay here when others would have ran as fast as possible so I want to recognize that um that's a true leader and um I'm glad you're here today and I want to thank you for all that you've provided and will continue to do on behalf of our uh families here at alen Rock so thank you um and moving on it was also great to attend our um California Schoolboard association annual education conference and it was great to um really get to know uh trusty uh NN out there and spend some time outside of this boardroom and business um you know it was a great uh start to this month um and with that you know being there it was an honor to stand alongside Russo mcentee um staff and Sandra Garcia and our superintendent Serta um for their golden Bale award so I want to congratulate Russo mckinty for um this honor you know um and really representing Alam Rock to who we truly are um and uh you know the climate change work that is happening there um is a testament to not just you know the the grants and the hard work that you know we do behind the scenes of not me but the staff but also the um staff that actually implement it out with our students um um so I want to highlight that that work and um you know congratulations on what's happening there and I look forward to seeing it continue to grow um also last week I was um um unfortunately uh but fortunately uh present for Mr n Nicolosi's memorial service um and I know he gave a lot to our district um you know began our um our our Jazz um Band program and um just so much more than just music you know the students that talked alumni from years ago and how he impacted their lives um you know cannot be measured so I just want to you know mention his name um you know it was great to be there with um other trustees and Mr Serta there um and recognizing his life and all he's done um in addition I am uh one of my favorite things is when a student reaches out and invites me to something so um I was invited by Irene who was my student uh guide for the Ruby Bridges um day at Shephard she invited me to the rally um she's a great choreographer and so she choreographed the staff there to dance to the Jingle Bells Rock um song and so um you know when anybody reaches out to invite me or I'm invited I do my best to be there but especially when it's a student so it was an honor to be there and um you know you know see the leadership in our students and what they're doing is just so amazing so um congrats to the leadership team out and Shepherd I was I was able to hang out with them earlier today um they had an amazing uh holiday rally and uh I want to thank Irene for her leadership um and inviting me as well um and with that I'll go ahead and turn back to you President Chavez oh PR president Kel it's been a a eventful uh past few weeks uh had the opportunity to join a community meeting at the Mexican consulate where um there was a discussion regarding um a strategy on ensuring that um Mexican Nationals residing here in the county are given proper information and so it was a lot of uh or different organizations of school districts large community clinics that have access to large numbers of people where there happens to be the people that they connect with and so um I'll be pass long information to superintendent as well as um setting up a meeting with the uh Council general of Mexico uh so we can have a conversation regarding uh how Alam Rock can help facilitate the proper flow of information for uh people who might be feeling as if they're being targeted or they're at the risk of being separated and so uh the consul was very clear and they have nothing to do with uh immigration policy that's a perview of the United States but um they do you want to be available they want to be a resource if in fact people are separated uh and that's what the role that they play uh to ensure that families are reconnected once they uh do get to their home country so um I'll be following up with the superintendent with regards to that had the opportunity to uh connect with the S Santa clar County San Bonito Building Trades Council and update them on what uh has taken place in the district a lot of folks have been reading uh the news they really didn't have a lot of the details and so it's good to be able to talk to some of our uh key Partners out there in the community and let them know what's been going on at alrock and U with and also in addition I was informing them about the update that we're going to get with regard to the solar uh program which they're they're very invested in that given the fact that we worked very closely with ibw to put together that power purchase agreement uh policy that alen rock has that ensures that we use locally that this does not become a project that sends out work to Texas or to other states no not knocking on those States but uh elen Rock dollar should be recirculated here in Alam Rock and uh ensuring that our local folks in our community get jobs and are able to provide for their families here and so um it was a good conversation um and um and so yeah it was a great conversation have the opportunity to hear from a former member of the um County Board of Education CL Rossy Who provided an excellent uh presentation on blood pressure and so I'll be asking the board if you will uh support me in asking her if she can come over on behalf of the American Heart Association and provide a presentation on on blood pressure and she has a lot of Statistics that really uh talk about how uh um strokes and all heart attacks and all that type of stuff having are over represented in certain communities that are uh represented here in Al rocket so I think it would be well worth it to give uh space uh to uh um uh former board member Rossi to talk about um the importance of monitoring your your blood pressure so it was a very brief convers very brief presentation but it was very uh chalk full of really really good information that I think needs to be told over and over again uh to get folks to take action on this very very serious issue um have the opportunity to attend the Wellness Center openings at Matson and Shephard and so very uh thankful to uh the partners uh that are helping us of Ali Health Foundation that's Distributing millions of dollars in federal funds as well as County funds in order to make these uh these uh these wellness centers happen and so very appreciative of the support they're going to be able to provide our students um you it it they show up um student doesn't just show up and and and you can just expect them to be to to um start learning there's a lot of issues that uh might come with their students a lot of trauma that they're going through maybe in their homes and uh hopefully these uh wellness centers are going to be a refuge to help students be able to um be able to focus on learning and while they're healing um I also have the opportunity to attend Senator madel's 90th birthday sen m corale is a long a uh somebody who's represented us here in Santa CL County uh since um his um since the 60s and um he he came he he went on and served in the California state Senate and did some amazing stuff um some people go out there do some stuff and this individ he went above and beyond and had a huge impact on our County and I think that um it is a it's a it's unfortunate that he does not get the recogntion that rightfully deserves uh before it was cool to accept things like um you know be be to to to with regard to diversity he was uh the one who was pushing to have more diversity within our our hiring practices at the County uh he was demanding that uh the county go ahead and uh bring on uh nurses that could speak the language of the people they were serving uh social workers that could speak the language of people they were serving and so it's unfortunate that he dides not get the recognition he rightfully deserves and so it's for that reason that I intend to bring forward through the small schools Innovation committee an effort to find recognition for somebody who rightfully deserves it um once you hear uh the legacy of the things that he's done uh the pushed for the first special headed schools that were here in Santa clar county is kind of surprising that uh uh it wasn't that long ago when they began to provide access to a quality and dignified education the kids who uh learn differently and it was through his work and his uh his effort that it happened and so I'll be moving that through the small schools Innovation committee uh so that we can here at alrock find a way that uh uh provides uh Senator mcale the recognition he deserves he's 90 years old and I would hope that we can move through this and uh as a district figure out how to provide appropriate recognition and if need be uh rename the school in honor of of such a giant a giant of our community that uh uh went out there and did things that um before it was cool to do things he took these uh measures he moved forward uh demanded that things happen and uh and we are a better County as a result of it so I'm looking forward to the work that's going to be done there at small schools Innovation committee and um I um had the opportunity to attend uh Mr Nicolosi's um Memorial it was beautiful um uh amazing and so uh superintendent said that think was there uh or remember fam and so I'm glad that you you all there uh to uh be able to witness his legacy a number of students that was there uh it just massive number of students that he's touched over the years uh was uh just that that itself was uh uh right there that his legacy with a you know large number students that could all speak to the uh the how he touched their lives um the bounding of the Jazz program the awards that go with it uh all amazing work individuals that rolled their sleeves going back sound as a state re U starting the marching band that at uh Gone by the wayside uh but he got it back up and running all all excellent work by Mr niosi he's left a a a lasting Legacy here at alumrock um that uh is indelible um and uh also want to welcome our new board member uh menn uh thank you for taking on the challenge I know that it's difficult to run for office uh you put yourself out there you uh find out who your friends are and so you you really really uh it's not easy and so thank you for taking on that challenge and for uh doing something that you know not a lot of people do they they choose to um sometimes stand on the other side and uh and and as rightfully they deserve to make comments uh very few are those that actually take out up T take take up the the challenge of putting their name out there uh and U and running it so thank you for doing that those are my comments thank you um Mr fam trusty fam wanted to go one more time just a few updates uh you know it was a beautiful service for Mr Nicolosi and I had the opportunity to see you know I did see superintendent Serta and you know it was a big big uh ceremony but Alam rocker's past and present right so uh retired area president Joselyn Ms I mean the vi uh was is it uh music teachers from Alam Rock past and present as well so I you know uh to honor beautiful to honor his legacy uh in shaping what would be you know not just the largest K8 music program in Eastside San Jose but it's uh shaping as well the the music programs of theast side Union High School District through his work in alen rock uh I did want to thank painter Elementary School for inviting me to uh was it uh to a cameo in their in their rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas uh uh in their holiday pageant so not necessarily A a vocalist but you know they asked me to to to sing with their principal and their teachers the you know the the final verse of the 12 Days of Christmas so thank you to them uh for a beautiful holiday pageant and lastly oh I had a I had lunch with Senator coresi today and you know we talked about uh first of all he's working on on something regarding the Equitable funding of uh for people expenditures for all school districts so I'm hopeful that you know he and his fellow Senators will find a solution and also we spoke about the issue of land use as it pertains to uh School District properties and he's also looking into it and I think last and not least in the spirit of the holiday season now first I want to congratulate uh prusty Herrera Lera on her reelection you know it's sort of like again as uh board vice president quo said it takes a lot to put yourself out there I certainly know so and as some as a veteran of campaigns but not necessarily a candidate you know I know it gets heated uh heated out out there on the road and I see a former trustee foror Shelton in the audience and I you know though we disagreed on many major issues uh on this board and uh you know very much so right I do want to thank her for her contributions to this board uh you know this board is not necessarily an easy board to be in and as they said Alan rock is not necessarily an easy District to be part of but uh you know what is it they say you gave it the old College try and then some so I do want you know uh in you know in the in the spirit of this season to to also thank you for your contributions on this board this you know and as I said this in in spite of all our disagreements too so thank you very much okay um thank you all for your comments and um I just wanted to say thank you for all the invites of the wellness centers uh unfortunately I got really sick and so I didn't want to go get everybody sick so I didn't attend and so today was the first day out of quarantine so um Mr Nicolosi will be missed so greatly uh my kids went through that program and he was awesome Mr Nicolosi would eat sleep and breathe even dream Alan Rock students how he could help them in the music and he did that for decades and his untiring love for the children of alen rock is just commendable um even the adults they would all come back and help with the music program and he just had that way with people and um always thinking of hey we need to raise money for this the kids need this the kids need that and he would get it um I remember donating all of the instruments that we own back to the um kids just so that they could do it and he was always going to uh music shops so that you know the kids wouldn't have to pay for things and uh sadly enough I got invited to his Christmas he would um have Christmas carols at his home and I just um really missed out on not uh being able to be there this year but I want to thank him and and so many others who have helped the children here at alen rock as well as all of the teachers and the principals and the staff that um have put their heart and soul into alen rock and it's um it's rough for them right now because they don't because of the uncertainty of what's going to happen in the next couple of months and uh I want to thank everybody for their service and also for the care that they've given all the children and for the care that they're going to give each other in these next couple of months to get over this next hump um it's it's not easy for them but if there's something that we can do to make it easier easier for them um Miss Sandra and um some of the other uh presidents of the other unions if you can let uh us know or me know uh and email you know I'll I'll try and do my best to convey whatever messages you you all have especially on the moving because I know you guys uh you ladies have been through it and that would be awesome if uh you could put your input into everything and all everything will be considered um thank you very much and congratulations to Corina and and excuse me Corina era loera and to minu uh congratulations again and um and my condolences as well but uh you'll see what I'm talking about later but uh welcome to the club thank thank you um and moving on to 401 uh discussion action to wave second reading requirements of board bylaw 9310 and to approve amendments to board bylaw 9320 upon first reading so so I'll introduce that speak sir uh superintendent sir can thank you President Chavez so what I'm recommending uh trustees is that we uh add some language that gives the board flexibility to uh change throughout the year if need be based on uh the need of the district to schedule regular board meetings instead of special board meetings right because you can not approve certain contracts uh during special board meetings so it gives you a little bit more uh yes more meetings less special board meetings but more flexibility in you determining whether uh once you approve your your board calendar for the year so uh the language is is uh I I struck out the language that's very fixed that we were following before uh but recommending a new language okay any truste comments uh truste um as someone who's going to continue to advocate for transparency um I know that part of the action is to wave the second reading is that to be able to um pass then 402 or just that thank you for bringing that up my apologies I forgot to mention that yes it's so that we can approve the uh forward to correct okay thank you are you also making a motion I motion to uh yes to pass do I have a second second purpose of discussion okay I have a person a second uh is there any public comment on item on this item [Laughter] 401 uh seeing no public comment um any trusty comment uh vice president kto I've uh seen the need for of to for multiple meetings because of everything that we were going through um I was uh comfortable with that second Thursday of the month that uh had been fixed and that was already uh known to our community that uh that's the day that you show up T Rock if you have comments to make um I I I've seen that we we've needed more meetings because of everything we've going through um but and I'm I'm willing to support it uh that way we can try it out if it's absolutely necessary but if in fact we see that things kind of calm down uh I don't I would rather go back to that second Thursday of the month that our community has been used to for so many um Generations since we've been think for a little while we went to like a Monday meeting and threw everything off and it caused a lot of Havoc uh years ago but that Thursday has been the meeting that it's been held mon so um given that it's been recommended by the administration um I'm I'm willing to support these two meetings just to see if um it's absolutely necessary once things calm down we don't have as much I'm i' be willing to entertain next next time to go back to that one meeting a month I have a question uh do I ask do I ask superintendent well let me uh recognize you and then just go like this and then I'll raise your hand and then I was actually going to say something after him and then I'll allow you after me okay um where did you finish uh yeah well yeah I just want to underscore the point that um two meetings a month are uh asking for we have difficulty getting people getting serious people uh we left out um we got some good folks to go run and uh and got elected so thank you for that but um that that might be a deterrence to some to to some folks who are got got a stuff going on they were willing to set aside one evening a month maybe a couple committee meetings here and there but now to full full full evenings May wind up in the Detroit like I said I'm willing to try it out um see if it works because we only get one shot at this set it off for the year um but if uh things settle down and um things get fairly light I don't I may be inclined to say let's go back to that one and know you know it feels like a heavy LIF when you get it done so um you know me I want things to run quickly uh but efficiently so as soon as I see that we don't need a meeting I'm going to be the first one calling hey we don't need this meeting so and I'll be the also probably first or second of you saying let's go back to the one meeting a month okay and so trust you yeah my question just being that um you know if we commit to the two monthly meetings um is that essentially uh locked in for the next year or is it as I think as you just referred to um if you don't think it's necessary then you strike the meeting as is uh Mr s superintendent s let let me clarify so this language if you uh you're adopting this language gives you flexibility that through board action if you want to modify throughout the year the meeting calendar you can do it let's say in three months if you don't see it's working you can take board action add it to the agenda and change the the calendar whereas before you were locked into the uh was it second Thursday of the every month correct and so you had to modify the bylaw and then bring it back so yes okay trust vice president kto Al so the problem arises that we set up our calendar for regular meetings here so we can't uh we can go ahead and remove them but we can't uh add more anything like that's why we had a bunch of regular meetings so um yeah so I'm I'm I'm I'm I I will be supporting it based upon the fact that you said that we're going to be monitoring if things get light we can handle it in one month and one meeting month then uh we move back to we we cancel the next one just to clarify for the new trustee um Mr trusty when what used to happen was we used to have uh get called on a special board meeting on Monday or Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday and so everybody had to clear their calendar and it was a lot more difficult that way if we already have this in place it's going to be easier for us and if we don't need it then we don't need it we just don't have it okay thank you uh any further board comments seeing none uh let's take a vote uh all in favor so that's 5 Z uh unanimous uh pass on 401 so 402 approve proposed board meeting calendar for 2025 the board will discuss and determine the proposed schedule for the regular board meetings for the calendar year from January through December 2025 proposed dates include January 16th and 30th February 13th and 27th March 13th and 20 and March 27th April 10th and 24th May 88th and 22nd June 12th and June 26 July 17 and 31st August 14th and August 28th September 11th and 25th October 9th and 23rd November 6th and 20th and December 4th and 18th of 2025 uh any move to approve okay I have a motion to approved do I have a second um no no second or you second second I don't want to have to ask for to edit or to I'll second oh I have a question okay goad okay wait a second so he's still talking then I'll get you then I'll get you second yes I second so then now we have to go ahead and fix the motion or fix the motion if in fact it has been fix but no go for it take okay um so are you finished yeah okay so it was trusty nin and then uh I'm not sure what the dates go by but on the uh document that we have the January 30th is labeled the 4th Thursday and not the fifth Thursday I'm not sure if that needs to be there's a reason for it because a lot of the staff is on vacation the first couple weeks and so that's how come it started into the the later weeks yeah and so January and I want to say June and December are are usually the only ones that get changed around somehow okay uh trusty Gina I think uh you misunderstood on um January 30th that's actually the 5ifth Thursday yes so he's saying to I'm saying it started it started later so it was in the third week so every other week is the fifth so you're just I think what we're saying you were just repeating what I just said in different we can edit it to say fifth on the paper uh on January 30th so that's one and then um on the second on the top of say second Thursday so if we can also add if we are going to do second and fourth or but it doesn't say that we take every second week we don't have to edit that if it doesn't say that it doesn't say that right there okay it just says meetings are normally scheduled to be held at the AL School District right now we will be voting on can can I finish my talk go ahead thank you on the second Thursday of each month at 5:30 so either we take that out because this is third and fourth or third and or second and uh fifth maybe we should take that out sure because if I'm going to vote on something that's you know formal I want to make sure that it's it reads right okay you that's something that we're gonna excuse me do you want to amend your motion no I'm I'm and you know what maybe at this point we don't I mean I don't because I don't want to vote on something if I'm going to vote on it I want to make sure it's reflected with accurate information we can remove the the third fourth the ual week of the month that it's happening and just the actual Thursday which is the date of when it's going to take place so we can make that do so do you want to amend the motion with what he just said um or does somebody else want to make the motion with the Amendments so amending to read just the dates then Thursday okay correct so are you amending your motion trusty yeah I mean just edit Ting this this form to make sure that when and if I vote on it it reads correct and then on the top that it we either take out on the second Thursday of each month at 5:30 um so that we don't have to go and figure out how we're going to read that okay Miss Mill can you read back um so is that your motion that you're going to REM take out that sentence it's already here so we don't need to say it twice take out which sentence so miss marel or take out after California on the second third okay second Thursday we we could just take out everything after California up until open is that the only edit yeah okay so then I take it out okay so she made a motion I second on the on the edit okay so sorry trust the uh vice president kto leave at 5:30 so April 10th and 24th what you still what you have there correct yes so April 10th falls on no school week so yeah our stakeholders are not going to be here or they may be here whatever but uh either way they're not scheduled to be here they're probably on vacation because they can't take vacation other times and so I think it would not make sense and that's what I was trying to hold off on making the actual motion okay then we can got it look at the calendar and ensure that um we may want to consider changing that first meeting or Scrat and holy holy one oh that's good for me okay let's put it this way can we put would the maker of the motion be open to if it falls on a certain like if School Clos closure that week that we will revisit it ad act calendar so we just scratch off the 10 okay all right no tent that works for me correct unless we go to the 17th and and scratch out the 10th and 24th what do you think keep the 24th we can keep it and you can always call a special board meeting if you wish oh we're not going to do that let's just say the 24th hey Noz Chavez I know so um okay any other comments from the trustees on the calendar dates so now I'm going to bring something up on the May revisions what date does that fall on I do not have the exact date of the May Revis but usually it's the third week in May yeah so we have the third week on here can we move that one to the 29th so that that way we can have the meeting after the May revision so that that way it'll allow uh you plenty of time to do whatever you the magic that you do and um that way we can have it updated as soon as possible uh yes trust you said in May May revisions I don't see the third week I see the second and fourth yes but the May revisions what she just said when they come out from the governor's office is that third week so we won't get all the information and she won't be able to compile it she we we can have we on the fourth week yes we she will have it right so no she's not GNA have it because they're gonna have it that week so it'll be easier for her and for us to get the information if we actually have it the 29th go ahead um so so we usually present on in in June okay so then I will have the information so I don't think the May meetings matter too much do we want to put it off to June giving all of these things that were school closures and everything do we really want to drag it to to June when there's so much happening in June um so normally the first meeting is the presentation right so it's the lcap and the the adopted budget with estimated actuals and then you um you approve it at the second meeting um I don't think that we would have enough time to assimilate all the information within one week to prepare it for the board by the 29th of May so you could give us until that first meeting in June to do that okay superintendent s yes I agree with uh assistant superintendent to cel's recommendation okay so keep the six excuse me keep keep June as is and just may as is as well may as is okay all righty is there any is there any month that the staff that Mr said that you think that might be conflicting or maybe a little bit easier if we change another date no not not anymore just the just the U the spring break one that you've already addressed okay thank you uhhuh and last but not least on December fourth that always falls on the csba uh conference so uh do we want to change that or keep it as is uh trustees any comments questions or concerns I think that's a good idea to change it yeah I think so too so are you motioning to to edit it and change it yes um and I'm wondering we need two that's why I'm thinking so if we move it to the 11th we can actually maybe knock out the 18th I would I think that would so let's can are all trust okay Madam president maybe I think the reason for the 18th you know because uh in in election years it was done according you know to ensure that it met the you know so that when the board has its organizational meeting you know the you know it would be done in line so that the a newly elected Schoolboard member would be able to take part in the organizational meetings yes I also took that into consideration however this is not going to be an election year is there a consensus of the bort to to do this to to Move It from the because there is a csba every single year but there isn't an election every single year okay let's do that if all trustees are willing if we have a consensus do you all agree leave the yeah and and knock out see we're already knocking out these meetings there you go next okay um uh so we have a motion we have a second um no more I took that before uh is if there's no more uh discussion uh let's vote on the dates all in favor of the dates proposed raise your hand as amended and edits and whatever else we added okay 5-0 motion passes thank you board okay moving on to 403 approve resolution 292 2425 proclaimed January 2025 at school board recognition month uh second second okay so I have a motion from vice president kto second from truste fam do I have any um public comments seeing none do I have any trustee comments seeing none uh all in favor raise your hand okay 5 Z motion passes unanimously uh discuss the process for the board self- evaluation this is information only uh uh I just I know I went back to see what we've used in the past and I'm wondering if we just want to do the same and get it done are making the motion now uh can we is it on um inform okay so I actually you don't need a second but I actually agree with you so um if everybody agrees just raise your hand okay 5 z uh in uh we will have the same board self evaluation makes it a lot easier we already know the process thank you uh moving on to 405 informational uh hold on I got two people talking uh who was first last year we uh Retreat self evaluation okay and so I believe um superintendent Sera was um Mr Manny going to do it this year uh yes uh the recommended date that you can uh discuss we it's not the 18th it's the 25th because that's a holiday weekend uh on a Saturday oh what month uh January the 25th that's not that's not good for me or it could be the 18th it's it's it's supposed to be the 18th is what we agreed on it's 18th or the 25th and if I was on a holiday if you do it on the 18th so can we do it the 11th wait wait wait wait wait wait let me go to there because I know the 25th there's also a um new trustee uh that Santa Clara County CS VA is putting on uh School Board Association and that's the 25th I'm just wondering if you might want to I think that would be a great um opportunity but if the 11th is opened the 11th is good with me uh is it good with Mr Manny I can check with him but he's been pretty flexible so so we're going to say the 11th of January uh can you actually text them now before we actually close well this is uh still on the board evaluation so maybe we can leave it open and then check yeah we'll leave it open get that the answer and then we'll go from there uh so in the meantime uh if it's all right with you I'm G to move forward to the next one and then move back uh if we get a response is there any uh oh wait hold on it's the I breaking my chain at thought I don't think we need to come back to it um find a date right okay but if you want to open it up to public comment uh go ahead all right let's do that um do you have any public comment uh good on this item on this item yes it is about this item thank you so uh I'm glad to see that there is now a a process in place to do board evaluation I would highly encourage that this process includes input from your constitues us we've been here to many many board meetings and I'll tell you it is very disheartening some of the behavior some of the comments especially when we have children here and some of that has to change some of the things that happened last year the one of the board members recommending hey let's let's get input from the community no no we rush through it what did we do many months later we had to do it and we compress so I really really think that for this last year it was a very difficult year and it's an opportunity to get input from us on what we' like to see improve to make sure that we are cohesive board that we're working together because it it does not look like it's we're working together and it's painful as parents when we come and you want it seems like you want input the way it's taken it's not and excuse me board president the tone has to change from the top there's been times where we see Miss laera making a comment and it's just snapping at her has to change okay we saw some positive things at the last board meeting but it needs to be consistent so I would really encourage us to get input outside of our comfort window if possible thank you thank you oh last piece uh we Al I really also think it's extremely important for us to do what did well do better on this consolidation process it was very very painful we did a lot of missteps and it's not going to be the last time we're going to do this we're going to have to do this in three years and if we don't write down the things that went well and the things that we should be doing better we will make those same mistakes again thank you thank you uh moving on to 405 information discussion action board created committees creation dissolution of and or appointment to board Crea committees as per board bylaw 9130 uh trusta thank you board president um I know when I had my 101 with uh superintendent Serta I asked him if he can um get a list of the ones that are currently that we currently have um which would be helpful it's in your packet oh thank you it's in your packet um to see I I know some of them did not meet at all this past year so um and then we had new additional ones from last year uh but let's look at that yeah yeah I don't have it in my so and maybe it's in the packet that just gave to us today oh okay I was like maybe I missed something because I I go through my packets believe me I highlight things so let me go through the packet that you just left for us today okay thank you and if there's any way that we can get this packet uh ahead of time instead of at the board meeting I think we would all appreciate that I just have it no I don't think I no yeah oh okay I didn't have it give that to me okay and the only other one that I don't see on there is um the committee um actually I didn't see superintendent he just passed it out I don't um it's this it looks like this I don't have one yeah anyway so I'll read it I'll go down it's the budget the curriculum and safety and wellness the workforce housing and the community engagement um and and unless maybe I'm reading it wrong is the community engagement one the one where we discuss the Sinclair site or is that separate no the Sinclair site ma site MX the forly known as Max Center that's not on here yet right okay additionally sin clear okay so I'll add that one thank you sorry Bo presid I just want to make sure I'm glad you brought that up uh go sorry uh okay these were the board created committees the budget committee the curriculum and safety and wellness committee the workforce housing committee and the community engagement and then we just added the St Clair site and the St Clair site let me add that we the MAA site committee um it's actually the Sinclair site formerly known as MAA Community engagement Workforce housing is now Workforce housing we changed that a couple months ago to to housing just housing yeah okay so that we wouldn't have to go affordable work I also remember you being on the school uh small schools are you I'm going to put that one down too small schools small school Innovation okay keep taking this let me take a picture okay pardon you emailed it no oh thank you I just need it for for in case somebody starts talking about I don't know what they're which one they're referring to okay so what number am I on hold on I just pardon 406 okay so no this is 405 405 405 um say that again I didn't hear you are you g to take names for the on who want yes um so I think I want public comment on this first and then so we can get into it so is there any public comment on item 405 right now so during um once again during the um consolation committee there there said that there was going to be a follow-up committee uh to implement the changes and to engage the community that was going to be affected and so there's no mention of that I'm not sure if it's a uh temporary committee or how it's going to be handled but as as you saw the committee the community felt engaged when they were included and I think it's very important especially as we're going to go through a very painful time to engage to have a committee to be able to to engage them again because they will be able to tell you um Things That You Don't See to be able to help you retain families and or welcome families so the last thing you want to do right now is business as usual you think you you know everything say and then next thing you know you had a larger percentage of families leave you because you did not see some things that they could have helped you with thank you very much um I go ahead trust I'm sorry because I excuse me that was that question was an intent for Mr CNA yes but we can't answer you thank you uh no sir please TR go ahead I was just saying I was going to ask if we can move into our nomination and if so I'm interested in continuing to be on the housing Sinclair site um okay I'm taking nominations right now okay nominating myself for housing Sinclair site um and Community engagement Vice pres um I want to be the chair of Housing and schools small schools and innovation and THS um truste uh Ben I'd like to nominate myself for Budget small school and Innovation and curriculum curriculum safety and wellness keep track I thought I'm keeping track so that that way I know uh Mr Trustin win uh I'd like to nominate myself for curriculum safety and wellness uh excuse me curriculum and what else did you say oh it's it's all one curriculum safety and wellness or curriculum and safety and wellness we're all nominating ourselves is there any I'd like to nominate uh board president the budget as well housing and mitee okay accept uh your nomination okay so correct me if I'm wrong um [Music] UHA era on ma uh vice president on chair for the housing small school Innovation and uh truste fam on the budget small schools curriculum safety and wellness uh truste n on curriculum safety and wellness trusty Chavez budget housing and Sinclair okay is that correct okay so um let's start with the first one that I started with um uh I I could start with the last one but that the first okay let's start with the last one or actually just just start with the first one since I it's easier to go down okay um a question sure um did anyone else nominate themselves for Community engagement besides Kar uh trusty Herrera Herrera I think she didn't nominate for herself for oh you did I didn't get I missed it housing community engagement and S okay I miss Community engagement sorry and that's why I repeated myself cuz I do miss okay so um so you nominated yourself for two correct housing engagement and housing okay got it all righty and I can nominate pry ptero for Community engagement as well okay uh you're nominating truso for Community engagement okay okay so um the Committees can I have the paper on the Committees yeah so maybe I should just take it by committees I think it'll be easier if I do it that way okay uh for the the first one is the budget committee uh so uh truste uh trusty fan bless you and uh board President Chavez both for the budget committee we can take them individually or we can just uh take both uh do would you prefer individually that one's okay okay so let's take them both at the same time all in favor of trusty fam and President Chavez to be on the budget committee raise your hand okay 5 Z okay now the curriculum and safety and wellness uh so that would [Music] be I gotta go back to this note yes but who's on these thing curriculum would be trusty NN and truste the mens have it okay so let's say uh if let's vote for the curriculum and safety and wellness for the mens all in favor for the mens okay 5 zero the mens have it okay I think I'm GNA like this okay so the um Community with the work excuse me the housing so that is Trusty kto as the chair and truste oh I think we have to take this one individually because there's three correct yeah okay so uh all let's first take trusty kto uh all in favor of having trusty kto as the chair of the housing raise your hand actually I don't know that that's fair if you're going to go it's only two right we're we're going to go individually because there are three people I know but if you go each one and then the second one gets voted in then that automatically leaves the third person so like say you take him and then me that doesn't give you a chance but that's okay so it does it just matters who was nominated first no it just matters whoever they vote for so what order do you have it in because I was nominated first uh okay uh I'm going by this order so to make it easier I'm going by this one uh unless you prefer to go first I it just depends who's first second and if it's I'm the last one if that's okay with you you're in the middle I'm just okay I just want to make sure it's fair across the board okay so all in favor of having the truste Kinto as the chair for the housing committee raise your hand so the vote is 5 Z all in favor of having uh truste Corina loera on the housing raise your hand so that's one all in favor of board President Chavez being on the housing raise your hand that's three in favor any nose any okay I abstain from that one Iain okay zero nose and one abstention so yes oh yeah trusty Herr were not voting on that last vote oh she voted for herself on that one that's fine sorry okay so the ones that will be on the housing is the chair will be truste uh vice president Kinto and board President Chavez so moving on to community engagement there was uh trustee engagement this I can't read your writing I nominated myself I don't know that accepted it's both him and I that I see on uh he he put himself up so I don't think he has to accept it if he makes the motion okay let's okay just simplify it you know if needs me I'll I'll nominate my last minute nomination did he community engagement committee okay you're you're you're nominating yourself to the community okay pardon oh no no no okay let let me let me uh get the votes for the community engagement I'm going to take these individually uh pardon just want to know then that means so the first one on the list is truste kinaa the second one on the list is Trust trusty GTO the third one on the list is Trusty fam okay so all in favor of the community engagement uh for trustee era Lera to be on the committee raise your hand okay two all in favor for trusty kto for the community engagement raise your hand four all in favor for trusty uh fam to be on the community engagement raise your hand four are you a no or an abstain abstain Zer one okay so the ones that will be on the community engagement with the high highest votes is uh vice president kto and trusty fam okay moving on to the next one um let's do the small schools and innovation oh wait a minute okay wait a minute I miss I skip one okay the St Clair maxas site committee no we haven't uh I don't have no me go to the other one so the ones that are up or the is Vice President Kinto uh trusteer and myself okay we're going to take these individually starting with uh vice president all those in favor of vice president kto on the St Clair Maxa site committee raise your hand okay it's five Z all in favor of truste Corina era Lera on the MOX on the St Clair maxas site committee raise your hand one all in favor of President Chavez to be on the St Clair MOX asite committee raise your hand for any notes any abstentions okay one exstension uh Community engagement uh excuse me small schools and Innovation sorry this was listed twice uh small schools and Innovation the ones up for it is trustee vice president Ino as the chair and trusty fam and I I guess TP is fam correct yeah not the other TP okay so all in favor of uh both uh trusty kto as the chair and trusty fam for the small schools and Innovation raise your hand okay it's 5 Z you n so there's score for Miss Manel to president yes may I just confirm yes I was not elected for any of the Committees correct correct okay thank you so moving on to uh [Music] 46 approval to appoint the board representative for the county committee elections for 2025 the California ation code requires that the governing board of each School District as its annual initial meeting select one of its members to vote in the election for members of the county committee on the school district organization so in the past um this last year the one who represented us was a board trustee fan since he did a really bang up job I would like to nominate him again um any Trust nomination okay um and the reason for for me voting nominating him is because he worked in the assembly he knows a lot about uh the assembly work and I think uh to me no nobody is better than him uh since that was part of his profession and so any further board trustee comments on this uh do I have a second second okay so I have uh Motion in a second is there any um uh comment from I want I don't want to say X from truste I still want to give you your title truste Flores Shelton that's Andrea Flor Shelton member of the public thank you um so the consolidation committee um seems to be critical just like the other committees I think um what on I am um want to be mindful of is what are the this committee has a specific role right they're members of different school districts on this at the county level um and given the conversations about reform I think um it would behoove all of the community to understand when this committee happens and um I also want to understand because I didn't comment on the last item committees in general what is happening are these um items items where certain board members get to be influential about those topics or their actual public meetings and when will those public meetings be noticed I just want to say that um I never we never had Community engagement meetings actually because when we rolled into the um School closure process the process was the superintendent at the time uh Mr Barbara was going to take that on and so it was really clear that that process that Community engagement was owned by him and the committee and the board sort of had a um was supposed to sort of wait right we assigned people to the superintendent committee we assigned people to the different um to the consolidation committee and that was sort of our role going forward I think the community needs to be really clear about the scope of these committees when they're meeting and how members of the public are picked to join them because I think that has also been a very um clear process so I would hope that every single committee and those members the meetings um and their scope is put on the website and potentially that same email that pushes out the public agenda should let us know how those committees will be meeting given that there's two members of the board um and how does the committee engage with all of these committees especially the county consolidation committee and thank you I know I'm of more time any more public comment seeing none a comment night it's just general education comment so I wanted to explain a little bit about the county committee on school organization so what it is is um they are grouped by supervisorial districts so school districts grouped in each supervisorial district you know uh members are recruited to you know uh nominated by those school and they they are elected at large by all 32 member school districts in Santa clar County so each district receives one vote uh to elect members members of the county committee on School District organization uh so each each member of this organization is uh runs in supervisorial districts based on the nominations of their respective districts and uh the function of this district is that uh you know it's only activated once there is a uh a dispute on School District boundaries brought before it so sort of like the People's Court right there's a petitioner who goes and says uh our hypothetically our neighborhood would like to uh secede from School District X and merge with school district y so that petitioner would go before the county committee on School District reorganization you know the the defending School District goes before it and you know uh decisions are rendered based upon the vote of the county committee on School District organization so you know it has a in the event should you know should there be a challenge on School District boundaries uh you know it's you know this body would be adjudicating those decisions thank you vice president the other significant role that it plays is that uh the County board of education does not draw up its own boundaries but rather it's left up to this obscure committee that U serves randomly at different times every 10 years there a task with uh the charge of going out there and putting together these lines that are going to pack the district the various districts into different supervisorial districts uh a long time ago um had the fortune to work with uh board member Frank beel at the time who served on this committee and uh he was very instrumental along with atino leadership Alliance uh that took the the the the task of ensuring that we no longer at Alum Rock were tied to South County um the Jerry man that district and would connect us to to South County we were always represented by somebody from Gilroy which was weird uh having alen Rock in the east side and Mount Pleasant represented by a very rural District that um is very different than us in many ways and so um thankful to the work that he did at the time to uh while he was a member of the board and uh a Theo leadership Alliance stepped up pushed back and put together Coalition of folks to ensure that uh alen Rock had the opportunity to be represented on the County Board of Education by somebody from this community rather than somebody from South County okay so we have a first and a second we have the public comment any more trustee comment seeing none all in favor please raise your hand it's 5 Z on item 406 motion passes unanimously 407 action review needed November 5th 2024 January election certificate of election results for school districts Allen Rock Union School District move second we have a motion and a second do we have any public comment on item 407 Andrea Flor Shelton member of the public um I want to congratulate the uh two winners in the November election and um I am um thrilled about your um your passion for our community and your willingness to step forward um and yet the top vote getter was just cut out of being involved in any of the board committees that will influence um the policies in a very critical year um so is very disheartening that the person and while you're all duly elected um there should be voice from the people um that were elected on these committees there should be a balance um using the Board of Supervisors as a um example every single board member has a committee assignment that's how it works and if you are concerned about the number of regular board meetings that you're having and you're trying to cut them but you just put yourself on four committees I'm not sure if that's effective governance structure so I implore you to think about how you make assignments to committees so that they're effective and that the board president have a process that um makees sense next time thank you any further comment from the public seeing none any trusty comment seeing none we'll move on uh all in favor raise your hand 5 Z motion passes unanimously discussion action to wave second reading requirement of board bylaw 9310 10 and to approve amendments to board bylaw it's actually should read 9270 upon first reading do I have a motion uh since it's uh I would motion for uh adoption a question or sorry uh sure go ahead um there's a line in here that says uh represent represent anyone else whether or not for compensation um yeah I guess I just wanted some clarity on you know if that line how much thatl matters superintendent Serta can you please explain to him this was actually actual language that was recommended by trusty F oh yes so this is you know M if I may respond you know so basically you know this was uh this is adapted from the side Union High School District's own uh uh conflict of interest in revolving door policy uh you know so basic Al uh well representing whether or not for you could have a paid lobbyist or an unpaid lobbyist basically right uh you could have a volunteer so in that case a volunteer lobbyist um which would not be compensated you know either through their lobbying firm or or you know employed as a lobbyist okay so uh any further trustee comments ments seeing none let's vote all in favor oh public comments I think I took that already you think F I took it already Okay Okay seeing none uh let's move for the vote on 408 all in favor raise your hand 5 Z motion passes unanimously moving on to 409 approval and ratification between alamro Union School District and Eastside Education Foundation for the period of November 15 2024 through December 30th 2024 do I have a motion second so I have a motion and a second any public comment seeing no public comment any trusty comment seeing no trusty comment all in favor please raise your hand for item 409 are did you your hand yes I'm gonna abstain you're gonna abstain okay so it's four yes any and um just an absten just an Obion okay so it's four zero and one exstension with truste n uh on the exstension okay motion passes so Business Services Board discussion andaction the board may take action on any of these items in the section unless it is designated for information only approved 2024 first interim report uh Mr s that could you please call your thank you President Chavez I would like to call assistant superintendent uh of business uh Teresa desel who will be providing a presentation to the board for good evening board President Chavez vice president cantero members of the board and members of the community um this is a brief presentation on our first interim budget and multi-year projections uh most of these slides you actually saw at the last board meeting um in the fiscal stabilization plan because our fiscal stabilization plan was based on our first interim budget and multi-year projections I'll briefly go over the enrollment projections uh changes since the adopted budget some key assumptions the first interim multi-year projections and then next steps in future considerations and I apologize I do have a cough drop in my mouth I'm still getting over my cold so I apologize no problem I recommend Pine Brothers C I thought you just were eating your candy and didn't bring up for the class I wish I had candy right I next time I will bring candy and have it for everyone no [Laughter] need um and I have to say the cough drop that I'm eating right now is called Fisherman's friend and it's very um mediciney so I don't really recommend it but it's very it's good yeah but it doesn't taste very good okay so here is our 10year enrollment history and uh six-year enrollment projection which I think everyone has seen several times um unfortunately you can see the 10year history of the enrollment drops and then um we are projected to drop about 300 students per year going forward uh and this is an updated projection from our demographer who uh gave their presentation in August of 2024 what's changed since the adopted budget so here's some enrollment changes um Alan rocks enrollment for this fiscal year is actually better than projected at budget development the preliminary October seabeds enrollment is 7,226 versus the projection uh 793 the 2024 updated demographics report includes the updated 20 20 2425 projections which increases the projections for next year and the year after for 2025 26 and 2026 27 so that is helpful The increased enrollment in Ada has been incorporated into our first interim lcff Revenue calculations however to account for the potential decrease in enrollment due to school closures and consolidations enrollment was decreased by 300 in fiscal 2025 26 and fiscal 2627 um other items that have changed since the adopted budget overall for the three-year projections the ending fund balance has increased by $6.8 million which is great um the beginning fund balance increased $3 million to 50 million from $47 million due to savings from the 2324 school year for 2024 25 there is a $1.7 million savings due to increased indirect cost out of the unrestricted general fund to the restricted fund to account for the $26 million in carryover and for 2025 26 and 2026 27 there is a savings of $1.6 million and $478,000 respectively due to the increased lcff revenue from The increased enrollment and funded 88 key assumptions the multi-year projections includes the board approved School closure consolidation plan the multi-year projections also include the board approved fiscal stabilization plans the fiscal stabilization plan includes these savings which are incorporated into our multi-year projections the closure and consolidation of schools which will be saving us approxim ately 7.8 close to $7.9 million starting next year the consolidation of ellante 1 and two at the Fisher site in the 2026 27 school year will save us a little more than $1 million um we had four counselor positions that were not filled and so that's saving us money now which actually com compounds our savings next year and the year after uh this is why even with these reduced school Savings um if some of you remember our at budget adoption we were trying to project $10 million in school closures but our multi-year actually looks better even though it says that we only have a $9.5 million Savings in 2627 because we are realizing some savings this year that were not Incorporated in the 2425 budget at budget adoption okay additionally we have district office staffing reductions of the $1.8 million next year um the 99 is due to uh my payroll manager leaving early and so we just decided to not fill that position so we have savings this year uh the special education Staffing reductions of close to $1.9 million starting next year and then certificated Staffing reductions of 1.5 million next year and an additional 1.5 million in 2026 27 for a total of 3 million because that comp account this is our unrestricted general fund multi-year projection uh so we start our beginning balance at 50.6 million our total revenues are 79.8 million that includes the contribution to special education and the routine repair of Maintenance of 38 million our total expenditures for this year are projected to be $97.6 million for deficit spending of $17.8 million and again that is an approvement over the adopted budget where we were projected to deficit spend of 19.5 okay so that leaves the ending fund balance of $32.8 million after this year we start next year with the 32.8 million uh we have total revenues next year projected at $ 82.3 million and then total expenditures of 91.5 million for deficit spending next year of $9.2 million and again this is an improvement over the adopted budget of we were going to deficit spend close to $10 million next year so that leaves an ending fund balance of $23.6 million and then in 2026 27 we start with the $23.6 million our projected revenues are $82.5 million our projected expenditures are 90.3 for deficit spending of 7.8 and again that is an improvement over the adopted budget for that fiscal year so we end the ending fund balance after the three years of 15.8 million here are some Revenue considerations that have not been included in the first interim multi-year projections uh because we haven't realized them yet yet or we can't quantify them yet um some of the items are repurposing of excess facilities to generate facilities use or leasing Revenue the possible sale or land swap of the excess facilities the district would like to hire a real estate consultant to assist us in evaluating various real estate considerations and revenue options uh we did put out the RFP for that this week okay so that is being advertised it takes three or more years to realize revenue from leasing a site or land swap options here are some expenditure considerations that are not included in the first interim multi-year projections um the first one is the step- and column increases for employees are included in the projections however there are no raises or off salary increases in the multi-year projections since negotiations are not settled yet uh we know we're going to have moving expenditures and other costs uh due to the school closures that are not accounted for in the multi-year projections yet since they are not Quantified here's some potential surprises that may come up um the cola may change uh as we all know the cola changed drastically last year when we had the projections to what was realized this year these are the current Cola projections for fiscal 2526 it is 2.93% for fiscal year 2627 it is 3.0 8% and for fiscal year 2728 it is uh projected to be 3.3% okay um we don't know what the changes will be to our Ada due to the closures so we just need to keep uh keep an eye on that we do need to also keep an eye on the special educatione maintenance of effort um we don't have an issue with the special ed Moe this year but we may next year so just something for the board to keep in mind and figat had highlighted concerns with liability exposure when they gave their report in November other considerations um we are uh we have started actually conducting the comprehensive special education study um also this year we will continue to evaluate each position as vacancies arise we do get savings this year if we don't fill those vacancies for fiscal year 2526 and 2627 we may have additional certificated Staffing reductions due to class loading efficiencies um we tried to be actually pretty conservative in our projections when we uh discussed the certificated Staffing reductions earlier this is the multi-year projection of our restricted general fund as a first interim uh please keep in mind this includes three different funds it includes the routine repair and maintenance special education and our restricted grants so if you take a look at the contribution line of $38 million that is made up of $5 million being contributed to our routine repair and maintenance to fund that and 33 million to special education to fund our special education program okay um there total revenues uh including the contribution uh come to 85.5 $5 million our total expenditures this year that we are projecting to spend is $112.3 million um the deficit spending is because of the carryover of the $26.8 million which is our carryover in our restricted grants so we are projected to have no ending fund balance we will have some you know there's carryover every year in our restricted programs okay um so for next year we are projecting to have total revenues of $ 67.9 million and total expenditures of the same with the restricted programs we um we can only spend what we receive in revenues and that's why they match okay and that's why there is that contribution to special ed and routine repair and maintenance when those two funds are underfunded for fiscal 2627 the revenues and expenditures are approximately the same at 67.7 and 67.7 so very close to um the 2526 projections here are some next steps and future considerations um December this month we began our school closure cons and consolidation process and the fiscal stabilization process uh next month in January we will have the governor's budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 26 and we will also begin our budget development process in March of 2025 uh I will be giving the second interim report which is our budget as of January 31st 2025 in May 2025 that is the governor's May revise and um we will also be presenting the third interim report which is the budget as of April 30th 2025 in June we will have the public hearing for the 20242 budget and the lcap and the second meeting in June would be the adoption of the 20242 budget and lcap thank you very much for your time and if you have any questions I will take them now oh it's very comprehensive thank you very much Mr Rissa for the presentation is there any trustey comments at this time uh sure I had a question um under potential surprises it says changes to Ada due to closures but um didn't wasn't it adjusted by minus 300 yes so that's the projection but we have no idea what it's going to be right like we hope it'll be far less than 300 right it could potentially be a little more but we're hoping that it's less okay yes any other trustee comments seeing none thank you very much for the presentation uh no we didn't is there any public comment on the presentation see none uh moving on to do we do we vote motion to approve yes moving on to the motion motion to approve okay I have a motion do I have a second okay uh there's a motion in a second uh so we will now vote on 502 all in favor of approving the 501 excuse me 501 all in favor of approving 501 please raise your hand did we take public comment on yes we did we did okay thank you um and there was none so uh motion did everybody vote on this yes okay so we're going we had public comment we had trusty comment after I had the public comment and so uh we are now going to vote on 501 all in favor uh please raise your hand i'm AB saying okay so the first interim report uh there's four in favor zero no and one abstention from trustee n okay moving on to 502 approve strategic energy plan next phase implementation Mr s that um can you call uh yes I'm going to call our uh interim Chief Bond's officer Mark freas who will be introducing this item and the presenter good evening trustees board president board vice president board clerk um and uh super attendent Serta and administration um this evening uh this board item is to seek uh guidance and approval on the next phase of our strategic energy plan that we initiated uh about a year and a half ago um to provide a little bit of context and history around this um back in a July 22nd board meeting um we had Arc uh alter natives come and do a board presentation uh and seeking um approval to uh issue an RFP for all the uh School sites in our inventory as well as the district office this also kind of came at the same time um that the district was beginning to understand the the fiscal situation that that we're in and so at that time uh the board made the recommendation to table the RFP uh until the school sites um that were going to be identified for closure um were were were approved so subsequently we're now since the board has taken the action of identifying the schools for closure and consolidation um this board meeting is that first opportunity to return to the board uh and we've re-evaluated um the um number of school sites that uh we would like to recommend to the board to proce proceed and include in the issuing of an RFP for a power purchase agreement um so that uh we can get better pricing on our utilities for electricity um with me here we've invited um Russell driver he's with Arc Alternatives um he presented back in July and he's here to provide a revised uh update and recommendation to the board so with that I'll uh I'll hand it over to you thank you Mark good evening everyone um I have a few slides to run through and then uh we can do questions so I'll I'll talk a little bit about the background because it's been a little while since I've been here um and some of the key issues that that we're working through and trying to balance with the project talk about that original project scope if you will what what everything would look like if all facilities uh were included and and that that's a a scope we looked at starting back in 2023 um what a revised scope could look like uh some potential next steps and then some considerations to keep in mind um in your decision making about the project so in terms of background um we did look at the entire District uh at the outset and identified about four megawatts worth of power which is um a significant capacity of solar power um offsetting the majority of the um electricity consumption here at the district somewhere around 90 95% of what the district consumes um we wanted to point out that that given what we know now verus is what we knew then if that program if that scope were actually implemented and there were school closures uh and we had to terminate those agreements for those closed schools uh we ran some numbers and and uh that would have cost the district eight or1 million dollar to to go back on that and I'll come back around to this theme a little bit later that that what we're trying to um sort of scope out and advise you on is a program that balances savings and being able to deploy the program and minimize your risk one of the worst things that can happen under a power purchase agreement is to try to get out of that power purchase agreement before it's over um and I can get into the details of that uh a little bit later I also wanted to remind everyone of the the net energy metering question and I know I talked about a lot uh that a lot at the last meeting but a lot of what was was pushing Us in terms of our thinking and our prior work is this transition between the existing or old set of NM rules and the new ones um and you have to have systems installed and connected to pg& by April of 2026 to take advantage of of the current rule set which results in more robust savings so in order to to to grandfather the district and leave that option open for you we submitted um paperwork interconnection applications to PG on the District's behalf back in 2023 and we've been maintaining uh those interconnection applications as live uh projects with the utility um since then just just to make sure that uh every opportunity in Avenue was open uh to the board as as we go through this um there there is a slight Twist on that I I focus a lot on April of 2026 there's a certain class of projects that actually has until February of 2027 but it's very few sites within the district and identify those specifically in a little bit um and as Mark said the last thing on this slide is just talking about timing and I have a schedule slide later on where I can show you uh more graphically what that all looks like um I'll go quickly on these two slides and and certainly when we get to Q&A um we can dive deeper if you like this is just more information about what a solar program District ride uh kind of looked like two years ago um and and a table that has the details about what all of that looked like like um assuming project savings under what we call nem 2.0 net energy metering 2.0 the the current set of rules and so that that last column in there would be the net Financial benefit to the district as we estimated um under that nm2 set of policies and so this has system sizes and sort of the the interconnection deadlines uh all in it as well so that's that's the detail on the original program now in terms of revising the project scope as I alluded to at the beginning we're really looking at two things and working with staff uh to sort of optimize uh what we're talking about and it's primarily looking for sites that generate robust savings so those are important to Target otherwise the economics of the program obviously kind of fall apart and that's really due to um lower construction costs um because of the configuration of the site and you know how many different little solar systems you'd have to deploy on the site to make it work construction complexity that kind of thing um and kind of larger sites they're big enough to um to generate some savings and then the the second Factor I've kind of called persistence which is you know the the security or or to think about it in terms of risk that any one site might have a significant change to its operations in the future so you know even short of of a closure or consolidation if programs go away or the site used in a very different way or there's a risk to that it's it's not as bad as having to terminate an agreement and and maybe remove a system but you end up having more solar than you Canute so and that's also a situation um that isn't good from a financial performance perspective um one thing uh that I've included on this slide for these seven sites is a view of what the 20year net project savings would look like like if we miss the nm2 deadline and so that's the last column in this table on this slide compared to the second last column and you can see the results are dramatic they're still positive um but we end up seeing a loss of about 75% of of the estimated savings if we miss these deadlines so um again the theme Here is how quickly can we act how do we minimize risk and and how do we get as many of these sites as we can uh built by the NM deadline um recognizing there there's schedule risk uh to to doing so um I also included some graphics uh around the the sort of smaller project scope with seven sites that have some uh metrics that you can look at here with a comparison of what the cash flows in the chart would look like under nm2 and nm3 um as well as a full annual cash flow under nm3 for you to refer refer to mostly so that you could see that um even though the savings are positive and strongly so the first couple of years are negative and so that that's often a very very important consideration um and then the other point I would make is is as we think about project risk and whether all of these systems or or any number of systems whatever you would choose can be built by that April 20126 deadline um if you have a mix of sites that make it and those that don't obviously your results are going to be between those you know two lines on that graph the blue and the orange line and we still might be able to achieve cash flow positive results in year one even if we just get a site or two over the line in time uh so with that I wanted to talk about the next steps uh that that we're putting in front of you for your consideration this evening um and that would be uh the immediate development and release of a request for proposals to find a PPA provider um to part with the district to get these systems built and and again a power purchase agreement is a pretty simple idea structurally where the PPA provider owns the asset not the district um and they they execute a lease or license so that they can place it on your property the district enters into a contract with that provider which obligates the district for 20-year period at least it can be longer too though though we don't necessarily recommend that uh to purchase all of the energy produced by those solar systems under that agreement in that agreement your solar partner if you will in all this has no responsibility or impact for what's going on on your side of the meter and so the the scenario that I I mentioned before if the consumption at the site drops precipitously you are locked into buying the power from the vendor that you've agreed to period they they don't really care what's going on with your savings stream and so that's why I think it's important to talk about and think about all these issues and and come back to them through the procurement process if we move forward with it when we have fixed numbers from vendors in front of us both in terms of schedule and what they want to charge you for the energy and talk about those risks and make sure that you are all comfortable with whatever scenario we land in you know best case or worst case and so that's kind of what I'm trying to position here in terms of the project is to make sure you understand the range of outcomes and that if it is kind of a worst case outcome that that we all collectively um haven't haven't made an error in just so uh specific to the timelines here I I have two snapshots of this on the slide the first is exactly what I showed you all in July of this year um and the intent at the time was to show that it's going to be a race to make April 2026 given typical kinds of durations that I see on other projects for other K through2 school districts uh in terms of how long these projects take um the bottom half is is an updated version you know starting now um accounting for the very logical and reasonable delay we experienced to make sure that we weren't going to implement projects um where there are no school operations um and and honestly at this point in time I left the last section blank under construction showing like when these be turned on because I don't really know um and there's so much sort of uncertainty around vendor performance right now because because it's important to recognize that everybody in the state is racing after these same deadlines and so I'm not super comfortable trying to fill in those blanks until we engage the vendor community in more sort of direct conversations through a procurement and get their commitments um what I do know is it's tight if you ask Russell how what would you think would happen if we acted tonight and and we were moving as fast as possible I would say some of your portfolio would be delivered under an M2 and some under an M3 just based on the pace of work we're seeing elsewhere um but I don't know I I want to come back you know with with firmer answers for you um on that particular question um if we do go to an RFP certainly one of the things we will be asking the vendors to commit to are these delivery timelines and we'll be evaluating that for you to all discuss and and look at um as well so uh in terms of considerations um I am negotiating contracts now and and over the previous couple of months for these solar projects at school districts and we have passed the point where any vender I'm aware of will sign a guarantee that they will finish the projects by this na NM deadline and by guarantee I mean if they don't you can terminate the contract without any consequence that doesn't mean that we can't put off ramps in your agreement and manage that risk in different ways but Ironclad guarantees I think were a thing of maybe eight 10 months ago so they see the risk and they have a lot of work uh their workload is high and and it's very difficult to get Ironclad kinds of commitments um in light of all this I think that as we get through the process um figuring out how to prioritize the sites and phase the construction is super critical because it'll be more important for some sites to finish under the nm2 deadline than others and so we haven't really begun that work in Earnest um and we'd want to do that with the vendor at the table and and input from all of you and others um and then I wanted to reiterate I guess I've already made the point that even under nm3 the portfolio we've identified with seven sites does result in savings um over the 20year period of a of a presumed power purchase agreement in our modeling and that is it I have I have all of the layouts to refer to if you have specific questions and and Mark can help me answer uh any of those site specific questions and I'd be happy to turn it back over to you VI person thank you for the presentation um and um I'm assuming that October 3rd would have given you a little bit more time to would giving you the SES H but time is time you know any time is good time yes um I am concerned about the district offices uh being included especially because you mentioned that we're locked in for 20 years we have to pay regardless the district offices were identified in a previous process as the most desired location for any for Teacher Workforce housing and um and so I wouldn't want to lock the district office site uh 20 years out under these under this um under a solar panels that are going to keep us from being able to exercise that option these are pretty old buildings um I think that uh it's it's I I would be more comfortable with us leaving this as an option given the fact that it was a top boat getter there's other criteria that we we used and we ultimately went with another site um but I'm I'm cognizant of the fact that there is a desire it's more desirable and so I would um I wouldn't be comfortable in locking this in for 20 years without being able to access it in fact we have to shift around and do other stuff with which we're going to have to do it's a lot of sites that we have um I see that Okala was left off of here and uh I get it it's based off of energy consumption however that site's going to have a lot more students come in and so the energy consumption might jump uh is is is going to have to jump up and so uh it's one of our newer sites uh when you compare it to the rest of our sites uh and so I'm concerned that it's not included as one of the solar sites so those are my my comments uh uh at this point um you you said back when we when you came back in J July or July it so long ago yeah you had mentioned the you were looking at all Sites moving forward like in a parallel path just to make sure that everything was in in um prepared uh to move forward with whatever sites we ultimately chose so I'm assuming that you did work on the Okala site and it it can be included in this list if the board so chooses and to move sites things of that sort yeah the the technical details have been pretty static you know over this time so it's there it's prepared um in large part and I think it relates to to your point um about their their you know student population and electricity use growing it's part of this nem2 nm3 thing again we're locked into the sizes we submitted in those applications so unless we're assuming we're in this new net energy metering world and then we just resubmit for whatever we want um we're we're stuck with what we put in in 2023 which was based on historical you know consumption at that point in time the other thing is you know PG does limit your system size to 100% it can't see exceed 100% of the of the historical load you can go through an exception process with them where you justify you know bigger systems but none of that happens under the N2 so if we were talking specifically about that site um to get the benefit of of maybe looking at a larger system or doing something different there um I think um you know we'd be talking about that being one of the M3 sites if if we're talking about a a package of projects that was some of each okay so you put it at 252 uh which is pretty comparable to what you have in other SES though yeah I was just looking for uh the layout to see if uh if that gave me some more clues about uh our thinking there I I apologize let me see if I yeah okay thank you the original solar scope uh page five you have it at 252 which seems to be even bigger than some of the other you most of the other ones that you have here other than the district office a so yeah that's the thing about do right is it's big there yeah yeah so if we if we just went with this layout as is is an M2 site this this might be viable the the other slide I wanted to check real quick for you is what we estimated the savings to be the the other challenges sometimes they're on different um PG rate schedules and tariffs and those deliver you know savings differently so it's not always as simple as size but let me see what we got there we had that yeah at over a million I mean that is the other one on the list that that could be so 1.1 so yeah in in that case it would be comparable to some of the other sites here so given the fact that's the case I i' be comfortable with uh director staff to uh replace the district office with um at least one of the district office sites actually both because I'm not comfortable with locking in the district office site given the fact that it's the one that our staff has stated that this is the desirable Workforce housing through the um surveys that we conduct the other thought I I thought I would plant uh because because you raised some interesting issues there um is that just because we have something in the scope of the RFP document doesn't make we mean we can't make adjustments later on too right so to keep on schedule if you have specific direction for us as we start engaging vendors if other things pop up we can work those issues as we go so I I don't think there's a huge risk to going a little larger I wouldn't want to put a scope out that's very different than what could be implemented but you know around the edges I I don't know that it it's a bad thing at all my greatest concern is that somehow we're gonna wind up getting stuck because somebody you know just somehow the idea was hey you told us it was this much and we somehow get stuck with more sites than we need and we're stuck with this gazillion dollar bill every single month yeah and and and we need to be sure we're Square on all those issues before you all approve a contract with anyone I did want to remind you that that an energy project like this is typically um executed under what they call government code 4217 which gives us collectively and you a lot of flexibility on how to run the procurement and and flexibility meaning control so you will not be obligated to implement anything until a deal is negotiated with a vendor and you're all pleased with it so if you'll permit at whatever you're willing to accept I'll make a motion to adopt the Revis cope but with the inclusion of the Okala site um um accept the motion I'll second it but I do want to ask um another clarifying question so you said that right now that there is no vendor that is willing to guarantee it correct correct and and and you've seen this going on and depending on where we're at you haven't seen this happening any in any other District that at this point in time that they can get any guarantees or or even that you can guarantee that it's going to be done by that date correct contractual guarantees yes correct okay uh uh trusty vice president then truste cor the economy going down we see a lot more folks that are being laid off is that going to give us more leverage uh in terms or these or are these uh solar firms so immune to the financial the economic forces are taking it it's a great question and and difficult to assess and and so the greater availability of subcontractors and labor to them is just offset by this mad Scramble with these nem deadlines I mean that that's really the the truth of the world I'm living in is everybody's a capacity trying to build all these systems by April so that's precisely the kind of commitments I think we need to get directly from from the vendors yeah so just want to um confirm that the Strategic energy plan that we if we voted in today um does not meet that deadline however that doesn't mean that it won't there may be a possibility of that it may yeah so I'm sorry to be so Wy about it thank you for I'm just position yeah the the the honest truth is it's it's going to be a a a tight schedule um and and I would think we'll get some of the sites in by that deadline but I but I couldn't guarantee all of them okay yeah yeah well I appreciate you mentioning that we have the the offs there might be able to Avail ourselves of I think that's what going to be important because I I get it there is some savings under an M3 and I want to be helpful but I also don't want to lock a bunch of sites in for uh savings that aren't going to be really significant so if there's a way maybe take out insurance on whether or not they meet the deadline who knows um so but thank you for mentioning the opamps if there's that's out then I'm going to be more comfortable and at what point are we at where we can jump off savings aren't really going to be realized or it's going to be very very minimal so and I would like to address that and in terms of the offramp so the initial offramp would be on the uh the responses we get on this initial release of RFP that's that's our first off ramp and we we don't get any guarantees uh we'll have kind of what their projected uh completion status and timeline would look like and so that's a decision point right there um the second decision point would move transcend that we enter into an agreement and then we begin that process of design um there's some Capital outlay that that company that we enter into an agreement with uh begins doing that work and then comes back and says well you know this needs to go to the division of State architect because of that we're we're definitely not going to hit that timeline at that decision point off ramp we're going to have a a cost involved that we would have to reimburse I can't give you what that figure is maybe Russell can I think it depends on how many sites how far they've progressed in that design um but there is after the initial RFP assessment that's the the one offramp that has no Financial Risk to it so I just kind of as we get further and deeper into it um these off-ramps tend to have some some cost Associated so I just want to kind of put that that thought out there and also I have a question um so can you give us the drop dead date for the off ramps uh not for precisely I'm afraid because uh the the process that Mark's describing is is exactly what we see in these real projects right so you get an agreement with a vendor it may even have schedule related consequences like liquidated damages and things I'm I you know I'm talking about like a hard guarantee on that they we terminate with no consequence so they will go through the design and and you know based on the schedule that I showed you if that's not proceeding a pace you sort of learn more and more you know the further you go through it um and so the the big decision point is around the time DSA is evaluating things and and before you give a notice to proceed to the contractor to begin construction because then all you're on the hook for at most is the design one and maybe even not that much depending on the deal that we negotiate and so in terms of timing I mean we're talking mid 2025 you know slightly after early third quarter 2025 we'll know whether or not we're going to make April 26 what is the average time that the turnaround for DSA to do the evaluating um in most but not all cases this is done over the counter because they have pre-check designs for the structural uh elements so DSA is pretty quick for these kinds of projects so 12ish weeks 16 weeks yeah it's not a year yeah it it is 16 weeks is lightning speak if if the geotechnical studies come back that and that's one of the first things your selected partner would conduct as geot technical surveys if they come back and that project has to go through um uh CGS the California Geological Survey um then they can't do over the counter and then there are all these fill over effects so that that would be one of those triggers where we go uhoh you know we better report back to all of you that here's the schedule consequences of when we learn that right which which would be within a month or two of executing the contract for the vendor vice president D has one more question uh before you add to that go ahead what's the number of uh the average number that you've been seeing coming back in terms of responses to rfps um I'd say two to five depending on the circumstances a lot of it has to do with the size of the portfolio you know um so this this might be uh two or three would be my best guess uh and we we'd have to do some Outreach to to those vendors make sure you got yeah in terms of that that overthe counter with DSA unfortunately we're not going to benefit from that um our our schools are within a designated liquifaction Zone you wouldn't know that but we've done a number of projects our our playgrounds have to go through it geological analysis our Portables uh classrooms same thing because of uh being in a liquifaction zone so we're not going to it's not going to be that streamlined unfortunately I can answer that already oh yeah I'm afraid my schedule was a bit optimistic then I I apologize for that so when you see that that that uh that we have the liquea the zones how much time would you say is added to the uh about 90 days three month I mean sometimes CGS takes an awfully long time and and it's um we've we've got projects that have gone and sat there for a very long time and then DSA takes longer too so it really is kind of a Snowball Effect because they do the full review uh any more trusty comments okay um anything else you would like to add Mr I I would thank you board president um I I just want to kind of talk about a little bit why we identified the sites we did um because we looked at the lwh hanging fruit right we want we want to come back with the greatest impact in terms of net savings for the district and so you as you pointed out trustee ketto vice president ketto um the do is our largest energy consumer right and so we've thought that was the best opportunity to get the biggest bank for the buck we reduced from 23 sites down to seven so we roughly got rid of 2third of all the sites to minimize that risk over a 20-year period of potential changes uh and then but yet that seven sites generates 45% of what we would have gotten from all 23 sites so we really looked at it from that perspective of lwh hanging fruit where can we get the biggest bang for the dollar in terms of uh benefit to the district that's kind of the some of the rationale we used and then we wanted to be again cautious about committing 20 years um um so that was just kind of the basis of it and I appreciate that that's why I mentioned the Okala s of the 1.1 million bucks and benefit if in fact we need to replace the the district so we wouldn't be uh completely out in terms of savings and and that's why thank you yep I I just for the again as part of our role we want to provide the Board of Trustees as much information and so that they can make the best decision forward right but there are other models um another model other than a PPA is that we utilize bond funds for example and and install and purchase our own power system right there's that kind of model so it does involve a significant Capital outlay Russell could probably talk to pricing and what you but that would change some of the Dynamics there in other words we own it and if for example we were to close one of those schools that that we've identified we could pick those up and put them somewhere else it's going to cost money but we own it whereas in the other PPA agreement as Russell said we don't own it the the savings that are projected um eventually once we move forward sign on doed line they're going to be locked into that correct so we're going to be able to hold them to it you said that we're GNA this much if we're if we're using this much that that's how we are going to be realizing the savings over the 20 year uh life of the project or the of the P yeah there's a subtlety to that though in in in the PPA providers contract what they're locked into is the price of energy they're charging you and and we usually negotiate that to be flat right there's no escalator to that so if you get into a deal for 22 cents you know and that's less than what you're paying PG that stays for 20 years and and that's a really good thing I do want to be clear uh that however you know your savings come in reduced payments to PG on your pg& bills and things that PG does in the future you know are a little out of everyone's control and and again the vendor is like that's on your side of the table not mine so you know in the past the savings estimates have been pretty good we tend to be fairly conservative with the escalation rates we're assuming that PG you know uh rates will grow in the future so we tend to be low on those numbers but in terms of what you can control the cost of the vendor we do lock that in that it's locked in doesn't change thank you so this evening we're looking for board action items on this uh is one to approve and release the posting of an RFP for PPA agreements solicitation to approve either the recommended or modified version of school sites to be considered in the RFP and three we wanted to let you know that we are also including in this particular packet um a requirement that they honor the community labor agreement as part of the RFP process go ahead and then you are aware of the the power purchase agreement policy that we adopted do you have that I don't have it with me no oh okay no I just want to make sure that you're aware of it way it is um it's provided to anybody okay I got one in three what was two again that you were you said that we're asking for today to approve the either the recommended sites that were were submitted tonight um or a modified version of those and I and I believe truste Cana was making a motion around that um to uh remove uh the district office site and to add Okala am I correct on that that's was that seconded and all second okay I asked questions on would it cost more and will it delay it uh TimeWise that maybe we shouldn't amend something right now is it going to delay anything no not at all we're we're at that point we've not issued the RFP that we wanted board approval and then we can execute that so it's just swapping names okay it will make a difference on the projections however we're taking out our largest consumer yeah right and so that you want to speak to that and I I just want to assure you that our our model has all that in it and so it's just selecting a different couple of rows in it and updating the numbers so it's it's really no more work from that okay so we're ready to go with with whatever sites ' like us to move forly okay uh so we have a motion in a second uh did I get public comment there any public comment seeing none uh we already got a bunch of trusty comments anybody else just sorry about that I've been talking a lot about this but just wanted to um give credit to trusty ban who way back then U began the conversation and then followed it and continued to um move this forward and so he's not here to speak to and I just want to make sure that uh your credit to uh the work that he did uh many years okay all right all in um yeah thank you B all in favor of voting for 502 please raise your hands amended right amended okay uh so it's a 5- Zer vote uh motion passes unanimously moving on to 50503 approve renewal of the use the premises use agreement Pua between the district and the city of San Jose to allow the city's offices of Emergency Management to use certain facilities owned by the district during emergencies for shelter or mass cas Services I have a motion and I have a second is there any public comment on item 503 seeing none any truste comment um just some brief comments regarding our um the last time we brought this forward was during the pandemic and I was really uh glad that the district was able to be a resource to the community we saw that uh no longer was it just the place you Dro your kids at school off of in the morning and you go to school or the place that Neighbors look at as you know there's that's a school with the kids but rather it was the location that was a resource to everybody who needed support whether it was a lunch or information or whatever uh and so um very uh grateful for the partnership that we had with the city uh that at the time um they provided us some resources and provid a lot a lot of resources as well to our community thank you okay so we're going to vote on 503 uh if there isn't any more trusty comments seeing none uh all in favor of voting for 503 please raise your hands uh the motion passes unanimously 5 Z and so the instructional Services Board discussion and interaction uh item 601 School approve School sponsor field trips list can you okay trusty Min second and trusty Min can you speak on that there you go okay all in fa uh any um comment seeing none uh any trustee comment seeing none uh all in favor of approving 601 please raise your hands uh it's a 5- z vote motion passes unanimously 602 approve resolution 28 2425 Lunar New Year January 29 202 approve okay we have a motion and a second is there any uh public comment on item 602 seeing none is there any trusty comment I'll just say one thing you know uh a little early because it's not quite Lunar New Year yet but it's always a you know good just like we honor you know to to honor uh was it the the complete fabric of this community you know I've always said that alen rock is greater than to some of its parts so I'm I'm glad to see this on on you know that the board is can take taking his up for approval and I urge passage of it okay um I need more trusty comment see none we will now vote on item 602 all in favor please raise your hands so the motion passes unanimous unanimously 5 Z so moving on to Human Resources board discussion and interaction the board may take action on any item in this section unless it is designated for information and that's 701 the resignations that's an information only so moving on oh have to take public comment uh for the public comment on 701 is there any public comment regarding the resignations okay seeing none any trustee comment uh you if you want to come up here to the podium I I think you're here for 806 I asked earlier and this is yeah this is the resignations you're good okay so seeing no trustee comments uh uh we will move on now to I to the consent calendar um motion to approve uh all all items on the you know 801 through 805 and 807 through 8.10 okay so uh item 806 was taken off so we this is for the uh entire consent calendar except for item 806 second okay so we have a motion and we have a second um is there any public comment at this time on the consent calendar yes so uh you both each has two minutes to speak and you're lucky we don't have a timer so if you want to take three go for it oh there is a timer okay you got two minutes ready hi there uh relle shamada I've been a teacher in elmrock for uh 19 years it's my 19th year and um we I will speak for myself but my colleagues and I came um to support our principal um Jackie monano um a little bit of background I worked for her at Matson uh for three years I taught at Lee Matson for 10 years and um then I decided to go to Lucha for four years to see what was going on in elementary school and then when I decided to go back to middle school I post go to Joseph George because monana was was uh there um she's one of the good ones I've worked for I lost count at like 20 uh for principles I've worked for and she's the best one um because that's an opinion I wanted to provide you all with hard facts and data so I have uh compiled a bit of a packet where you all yes yes to uh give you guys in order to provide support for my claim I'm making here um and basically I also wanted to that IUD that's fine we can make cop thank you I I do have a a really high student growth rate there you could see I'm one of your people that's that's there and is effective um so I chose to follow her to George she's a fearless leader she's an excellent one an incredibly effective one and I you know gave you guys lots of data to look at regarding how she concretely improved uh Joseph George in a short amount of time they also laid the foundation at Shephard so it could be successful and thank you for hearing me thank you uh good evening my name is latia vas I am a first year teacher at Joseph George um many of you may have received my email ear here and same thing um my turn right now isn't if I have a job next year it's more of if I do who would be my admin she was my admin 10 years ago at sheer and I can tell you it was crazy we had food fights the whole first week of school um that was quickly turned around and all I can say is she's great I was super scared it's my first year teaching um knowing she was there made me feel that much more comfortable and just I don't see her as Jackie I see her as M Montana just wanted to share that with you guys thank you thank you okay um so going back to any more public comment seeing none uh is there any trusty comment go ahead um ju we're talking about the total content calendar correct correct uh I just wanted to point out uh the the resourcefulness of some of our schools for example the $10,000 grant that um aptitude was able to pull in from a chargeable trust and the over $200,000 that they've beening in uh and private money that uh that they go out there and they look for and so very grateful for the work that uh folks are doing out in our schools to um uh to to find more resources um so thank you all for the hard work thank you okay um all in favor of um approving the consent calendar without the item 806 please raise your hand uh so it's a count of four is NOS abstain okay all right so motion passes on the entire consent calendar except for 806 so we will be moving into close session now announcement and Public public comments regarding items to be discussed in close session government code section 5495 7.7 and after this we will be re sessing for uh let's say let's give him 12 minutes this time so we will meet in close session at 8:30 and I believe I did take it already that's why they spoke oops whoops sorry and is there any public comment on Clos session items uh other than the the two already spoke okay San uh we we're GNA go to close I mean when have a recess and now at 8:30 we will return to close session and excuse me we will go to close session and we will return approximately let's say 10 is that good from 8:30 to 10 all right thanks oh I'm pushing for 9:30 but I don't want to say that interesting e e e okay so we got on testing Lis can you hear me testing Lis here Mr this is your first meeting all right all right so it's 9:49 we are back uh from close session is there anything to report Out Mr s nothing to report okay thank you everybody have some happy holidays and see you

e e e welcome everyone I love the sweaters and all of the festive look and regalia you look wonderful uh Welcome to our December 19th regular Board of Trustees meeting we will now re reconvene with our Pledge of Allegiance and close session report out with our student uh Board of Trustees Aon Beck all right please stand put your right hand over your heart ready begin to the flag of the United States of America to the for stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all many events have occurred throughout this past year globally and individually as we step into a New Year let us take a moment of silence this is a time to reflect on the challenges and losses of the past year to honor those we've lost and to Express gratitude for the strength that has carried us forward let us also take this moment to welcome hope new beginnings and the promise of a brighter year ahead please join me in this silence thank you thank you Miss Beck all right uh moving on uh to our student representative report close close session report Pardon Me Close session report thank you uh 4.1 no report of action taken regarding public employee performance evaluation superintendent 4.2 the Board of Trustees please unanimously approve the settlement agreement in oah case number 202 411 0029 resolving all issues and students due process complaint by amending the IEP conducting assessments and providing compensatory services and other reimbursements 4.3 the Board of Trustees unanimously approved a settlement agreement with parents providing reimbursement pending completion of Assessments 4.4 no reput action taken regarding negotiations 4 .5 no reportal action taken regarding Personnel 4.6 no report action taken regarding Personnel 4.7 the Board of Trustees took formal action by a vote of 0 to approve the expulsion of student 24-7 and that concludes the close session report thank you trusty Guerrero now we're moving on to our student representative report okay starting off with anahim high school they had their first class competition featuring the popular childhood TV show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to represent each class students were able to participate in various activities focused on friendly competition and callon his Spirit Anaheim all high school also hosted its annual talent show on November 14th featuring The many performative talents of its students dancing singing and acting students were able to show their skills in this cohesive show now moving on to CVA CV's highlight was definitely the market day in which they collaborated with their neighboring School Dale jior High and students and adults enjoyed a day of shopping many businesses set up stalls to Showcase and sell their items it was definitely a memorable moment for CVA and served as a main highlight for the month of November now Cyprus Cypress had their senior bowling it was the second senior event and was incredibly good November is the month of Thanksgiving so Cyprus had a Thanksgiving spirit week and fundraisers ASB constructed a spirit week to engage student involvement with their peers and staff these kinds of activities made the time festive and exciting the fundraiser was a Goble ground fundraiser which furthered student involvement with their friends these notable events and activities displayed the Centurion pride and was incredibly fun we can't wait for what is to come at Cyprus now moving on to Kennedy Kennedy would love to recognize Richard Tren class of 2025 for receiving the National College match scholarship he'll be receiving a full ride to Princeton University where he will be attending the next fall let's congratulate Richard for this massive accomplishment [Applause] now catella on December 13th and 14th ASB catella students volunteered to distribute bags of Hope at the Anaheim Town Square Distributing bags would gives to families in need brought immense joy and relief especially during the holiday season the thoughtful gesture not only brightened their day but also fostered a sense of compassion within their Community now looking at Laura the Highlight for Laura was their Laura High School Community Market it was a lively community garage sale at Laura high school and brought together over 60 vendors showcasing a wide variety of items including clothing plants food and much more families from across the Comm Community participated adding to the vibrant and inclusive atmosphere the event featured live musical performances that filled the space with energy and joy creating a memorable experience for attendees free food was also provided fostering a sense of connection and care among participants this unique blend of Commerce entertainment and generosity turned the Gathering into a heartwarming celebration a community Spirit at Laura high school now looking at Magnolia in the spirit of giving Magnolia has also had all clubs on Campus sign up to fill a bag of Hope to give back to the community around them many teachers and staff members had also begun to fill bags of Hope to support the bag of Hope caus to give every child a gift for the holidays now looking at Oxford in November Oxford had numerous drives to donate food and toys this holiday season clubs such as Red Cross had their blood drive early November with numerous donors donating for the cause as well now Savannah Savannah provided their medical career students the opportunity to go to Tiger Woods Learning Center and engage in hands-on experience with different technology and labs done in healthcare through this Workshop students were able to learn more about science and also network with Healthcare professionals lastly with Western Western's highlight was the Day of the Dead event and Festival they had that one of their Spanish teachers Mrs Gara organized this event displayed performances from Western stance Team figures made by 3D design students displays that were made by students this event really highlights Western's aspect of community and truly is a memorable experience for Western's month of November thank you very nice all right wonderful thank you that deserves a round of applause my goodness so what the audience sees is just a snapshot of uh all the activities that are going on but these reports are extensive um and they're given to to you and um you put them together so well thank you so much all right uh before we have our student speaker um I'd like to acknowledge something special guests that we have in our audience uh first up uh nitish Patel and mayor protm of laama and the uh representatives of our associations uh Jeff Morganstern ASA president is here Lisa e sitting beside him our um Jennifer our ala president and I believe we have Tony quatch our VP of cssea here anyone else that I missed all right welcome everyone we appreciate you being here moving on to our student speakers uh Haley [Applause] satell welcome Haley thank you and good evening members of the board my name is Haley soell and I'm a student at Savannah high school I'm here to thank you all for action item 15.3 providing all children with equal access historically Orange County has a history of segregation but through what we've been through we've come a long way one example is Mendes versus West Minister will where syvia Mendes was prohibited and denied access to go into a white school and study in Orange County through the effects of this case we see the importance of equal education for all students no matter their immigration status race religion socioeconomic status or background throughout history we continue to learn why policies like action item 15.3 are still relevant today I'd like to give you guys an Applause for that thank you as we enter a new presidential term I'd like to give a message to my community thank [Applause] you okay moving on to our report of the associations and whoever would like to join us first welcome Jeff well good evening board president Rand tro Board of Trustees superintendent mana and cabinet um we made it to the end of the year so that's really great uh just a couple quick things I had a few things to discuss but I think I'm going to hold off till January it's all going to be there when we get back on break so I want to take this time to just enjoy the fact that we made it through the first semester uh wish everyone a happy holiday and a Happy New Year and just you know spending time with family and friends over vacation uh but I do want to acknowledge assistant superintendent Brad Jackson and his team for the bargaining uh we did wrap up our negotiations last week um we tweaked the process a little bit this year and I thought it was more efficient and and productive and so therefore we look forward to the continuing work with the district bargaining team I also want to acknowledge uh a colleague and and good friend of mine our CTA staff uh Lisa back I know she wasn't expecting me to do this but a round of applause for her please as a uh member of the community for her entire life uh former president of Asa and uh a CTA staff for almost 30 years and I know 10 years here uh in supporting the Anaheim secondary Teachers Association and the Anaheim elementary Education Association um and working with her very closely for my first year as being president of Asa I couldn't think of a better person to be a colleague and a partner in all the work that we've done so as many of you know she is is leaving us in this role uh we are going to miss her she'll still be around for all the great things we're doing with Community Schools but I just wanted to put it out in here this space to share my appreciation and the appreciation of you know 1200 teachers and members of the anahim secondary Teachers Association that uh we love you we're going to miss you uh and look forward to many great things together thank you Lisa [Music] and and that concludes the report thank you thank you Jeff we love you Lisa all right before um you speak I had oh guess just say right there I have someone that I Peak through behind Mr bski there Marissa Bermudez from with OKO I'd like to announce her presence and uh you're the president of the uh Anheim Elementary PTA Council PTA welcome welcome Jennifer thank you good evening Madame President Randall tryo Board of Trustees with your warm holiday glow superintendent matsuda executive crew students parents and Community to first to our trustees elected a new O'Neal Smith and hosi congratulations to you your steadfast commitment your care in your heart guide ahsd as we all play our part next to our AXA Ulta awardwinning stars shining brightly like holiday sparklers and jars floor Leon Chavez of Oxford Acclaim director Hernandez whose visioned is the same superintendent matsuda leader of the Year principal Moreno we give you a chair principal Crawford your Junior High Reign assistant principal iara your efforts sustain to Cypress college for partnership true dual enrollment success is thanks to you our students in Esports with skill and flare competed with teamwork Beyond Compare intermural Sports wrapped up the fall building leaders great players and bonds for all at Orange view in Western the future took flight redesigning their schools their Visions burn bright with principal Crawford and teacher Anne Rice their future talks episode truly precise as a year WI down to a holiday rest we wish you all the moments of joy and the best may your season be Mary rejuvenating too from Ulta happy holidays to you w great Dr CI we all want copies of that thank you and Troy uh would you like to come up and speak he here all right right anyone else that we inadvertedly miss for associations all right moving on to our public comments Open Session items uh Miss Sophia Romero please good evening board members families and parents and Community everybody that's watching out there um I hate to start this with something negative um I am bringing to your attention that um I would like to seek for your help to um bring more attention into our booster programs in our schools we have been having issues with our booster club in Anaheim High School in the girls basketball um we didn't even know we had one but a parent asked me hey so um what are you guys doing with the money that you're bringing in as you all know I reach out to many City officials for donations to sponsor un for uniforms equipment and whatnot but um when they told me that um the booster Club was not the booster program was not being transparent I wasn't aware that we even had one we were never asked to vote on this we were never um even told that they were going to form one and um we need to have everything being very transparent uh so we had a little meeting I requested a meeting with the so-called booster parents and I spoke to the pressure person um they refuse to provide me uh statements and what is being done with the funds and how they're managing the money I don't think that's right uh parents we pay uniforms and we pay a lot of money into this and most of the time we don't even get to keep the the jerseys don't even have the names so we want to know how we renting this are we paying I mean are we just you know getting it borrow but then what we get is being it's something that is used um this is not right also coaches prohibiting students to use their inhalers while practicing I just don't think it's right it is U something that was prescribed and it shouldn't be asked to not do that um I also want to know if the ahsd is going to make our schools sanctuaries you know we are starting next year with the new president coming in and we want to make sure our families are not worried the other thing is the situation at Sycamore Junior High School that pipe that broke during um Thanksgiving is not the first time it breaks you know and um that's a big concern our kids are not being able to get dressed up in the gym um so I think that that needs to be something that has to be fixed as soon as possible and the other one is um regarding the Cypress baseball coach he's making um tons of money from parents and students and he's demanding students and parents to sell poker tickets five tickets per student at $100 each if these students don't sell the tickets you're obligated to pay for it why are we paying when um again we are public schools and I agree with um doing fundraising 100% you know we need to support our schools we need to make our teams look good but I don't think that anybody should be obligated not not and then on top of that they're asked to pay for volunteering why do we have to pay I mean I'm not part of that but I have a a parent that U brought these concerns to me that parent will speak in a bit um I would like that the student doesn't be retaliated anymore as he already has been but um again I'm going to leave it up to her the other thing is um you you know I just want to say thank you there's a lot of things that have been going on and that are positive and uh my goal is always to help our schools um be good examples to our parents you know being uh the volunteer person that we are and um I don't want people to take bad images anymore from our district I know that things can be fixed immediately but I know that once we bring them in here I can trust that you guys will take care of it so I want to thank you for that extra time and um and that's it I you know I want to wish everyone happy Holidays happy New Year and I know great things are going to happen next year thank you thank you Mr Mayor [Applause] Lopez will Tina Lopez welcome thank you hello everybody I am a parent from Cyprus and one of the issues that I have um a concern with is our fees are $650 for Fall Ball $650 for Spring ball our players are not provider Transportation the games are at 3:00 in the afternoon and each player is obligated to find their own way to and from the game which which game is is this Cypress High School baseball baseball thank you baseball and so if the player cannot find a ride from another student or their parent has to get off of work take the student they get in trouble for not showing up to the game so our my thing is we're paying all these fees why can't Transportation be provided for the player why do I have to leave work when my son texts me Mom I need to be at the game in 30 minutes and my friend's car is full he can't take me and I have to tell my job hey sorry but either my son gets in trouble or I'm G to have to leave early to go take my child to his game some games are J Sierra lagona far at that time there's traffic you know so he's late he gets in trouble as well um the other thing is like Sophia said the poker tournament he raises money each player there's 90 some players all divisions have to sell po poker tickets if we do not sell them we have to purchase them even if we don't show up we it's mandatory we had a toy drive this weekend every player had to show up with a gift that coach doesn't know these um family's Financial situations and you know you have students or players I should say oh my God I need to take a gift I'm going to get in trouble I'm going to get that you know the coach is going to be upset a child shouldn't have to feel like that so that was the only there's a lot of other things but I will save that for somebody to contact me because I don't want to bring them out publicly thank you so much andreo welcome Andrew hello good evening board superintendent matuda and C members um to start I'd like to congratulate trustees hosi O'Neal and Smith on their victories um it was an interesting time many races that um you know I was monitoring as the weeks continue to drag on um I returned to the boardroom tonight after completing my first quarter at UCLA um now although I could spend my whole public comment time talking about that not only would that not fall into the board's jurisdiction but I would also fail to acknowledge the state of our school district and the progress that has been made since the first time I was here and since the last time I spoke although much progress has been made there's still many things I fail to accomplish wrapping up this year of challenge My Hope Is that students who soon will walk the walk the stage of graduation enjoy the graduation regalia that I spent well over a year advocating for the only way we can accomplish this however is if the board upholds the decision they made my graduation year um and I'd like to see that decision upheld through somehow on paper possibly voted on and passed additionally as we approached the year mark since the Riff notices were first sent I'll note Santa Ana Unified School District's current state approximately 169 teachers are now facing layoffs while the Su superintendent Jerry ales is scheduled to receive a 3% raise pretty unbelievable reflecting on this year many teachers resigned and missed the stressful and horrible processes they found themselves in public schools in Santa Ana are going to face overcrowded classrooms a lack of student to teacher contact and an overall decline in class quality I don't want this for Anaheim Union I'd really hate to see us at that point and I think we could avoid that situation serving as a voice for so many teachers and so many students about a year ago was one of the greatest honors um and if it came to that point I would gladly do it again this year if it becomes necessary um but now I'd like to turn our attention to agenda item 10.1 um which is the selection of a board president and our officers president Randell tro your time as president I hate to say it was a little disappointing um from my perspective um although I will note you were giving many tough and unusual circumstances there were many times however you responded to me while I was on the dis and failed to respond to emails texts and calls I hope that the board notes these circumstances and situations we faced as we now make a decision um of electing our officers I think we need strong leadership and we need leaders more now now more than ever the state of our school district I believe is stronger than it's been in a while um however I'd like to see more discussion and acknowledgement of public output but most importantly our student input um your duty is to the students and basically to them essentially them more than the community I think it's the students um wishing you all a restful and happy holidays and the new year of success thank you thank you Andrew Andrew how School how's UCLA awesome awesome Nati Patel good evening honorable trustees superintendent cabinet members and respective representatives and faculty staff and um uh community members first of all I'd like to congratulate uh truste O'Neal trusty hosi and trusty Smith on your election and um we wish you the best and from on behalf of the city of leama and we look forward to the good things and the engagement that you will continue to do um second I want to acknowledge um trustee O'Neal hosi and assistant superintendent Dr Nancy nen it's important to be out in the community and I know that you take time whether it's during the day or even after to come to City events and um whether it's for fire police or Civic uh engagement but it means a lot because it helps to build relationships and our agencies work together and when we can put a face to the person it really means a lot to us and it helps in whatever we're going through and what we're going to deal with so I thank you for taking that time and always making the effort to come to engage and to build better relationships again thank you and congratulations and wish you the best in the new year thank [Applause] you and now I'd like to invite up Tony quatch hi welcome uh thank you chairperson R Tru Board of Trustees executive cabinet uh staff parents students and community members I am Tony quu and I an instructional assistant at Hope School go Tigers and at my school I am a member of the Community School site team leadership team and in this District I'm also the designated IIA overseeing a trial period of the bus monitoring system um currently I am an incoming vice president of a chapter uh CSAA chapter 74 representing the anahim Union High School District of the California uh School Employees Association I'm an Anaheim resident born and raised and I am an alumni at Ball Junior High and Lera High School go Blackhawks and go Saxons thank you for the opportunity to address you on behalf of the classified CSAA members as we come to the close of 2024 I would like to thank the district and the board for their continuous continued support of the CSA employees um we are the first faces you see whether we are walking into the front office or dropping your kids off on the bus or meeting your students at the gate um CA CSA has always been on the front lines in terms of student Outreach our Union serves both as a problem identifiers and as a problem solvers we represent such diverse job class ifications as payroll technicians instructional assistance campus safety AIDS technological support secretaries and attendance clerks as well as registrars unfortunately while despite the decrease in stud student enrollment there has been no decrease in the workload of our members in fact if anything there's greater need for as many CSAA positions such as campus safety AIDS I am a parent educator SL instructional assistant one of over 570 employed by Anaheim Union High School District in fact combined parz make up over the largest component of the CSA bargaining unit par Educators or instructional assistants are integral part of our classrooms then why are we not part of more of our district sites professional learning development opportunities um in March CSA will be holding this annual pair educator conference many districts throughout the state send delegations to their members to this conference for for this amazing training opportunities that are offered we would like to see more anim Union High School District uh to start showing our support for our paraders thank you thank [Applause] you all right moving on to our uh oh sorry superintendent and staff reports thank you madam chair I um am very proud to share the news that the district has um nine national board teachers the most in our history and I believe the most in Orange County so our national board teachers we will be honored in uh early spring but this is breaking news the most ever in Anaheim Union High School District so I think that deserves a big round of applause [Applause] I have a couple of things to share tonight uh the first I do want to respond um you know a couple of our parents I want to thank you for coming up and and speaking to uh the board tonight um just so the board is aware in February uh for the first time I think in our at least in my lifetime in the district which is over about almost 30 years we're going to be hosting our first booster training with all of our booster presidents our athletic directors our baa um directors um cheer directors anyone connected that has a booster program we're going to be doing a training with them and the corresponding staff to make sure policies and Protocols are in place we're also working on a board policy that we have I don't think we've ever had that's going to create some ground rules in terms of how those things happen so the things that you mentioned tonight are going to be obviously addressed through the policy and the training um the other things you mentioned I think uh those are things we're gonna have to look to outside um but I think that's important to know because that's something that is we're seeing across not just Anaheim but across school districts throughout the county and probably the state uh with boosters so we want to make sure that we really get a handle of how we can support the boosters to support our programs but in a way that's responsible ethical and um legal um the other thing I wanted to share real quick um one I think you heard from Jennifer aside but I want to know Scott's in the room and Eric Greenwood's in the room we had our annual Esports tournament last week and I just want to give them a shout out along with all the teacher leaders the East boort advisers who led that event it was a couple hundred students plus staff we had our Community Partners there just a tremendous uh event and I know the kids had a great time so thank you Scott Eric and for your respective teams and then lastly uh last week we also got to participate with our uh gearup Partners at Cal State Forton our 25th anniversary um in working with gearup uh for those who don't know gearup is one of the few bipartisan and one of the largest grants that are given to schools across the country to really F uh further um underprivileged or underserved communities who are trying to get more access to higher education and O and career opportunities and so we have been fortunate to partner with gear up at Cal State foron for 25 years and I'm also proud to say trusty Guerrero served as a keynote speaker um at the event having been a gearup student herself so it was great to hear you speak and share your story but those are the reports that I I want to share and I think they'll have a few reports to share as well thank you well um I also would like to uh ditto with uh what president Jeff Morganstern uh indicated regarding bargaining uh we really appreciated working with you this bargaining season and uh I think we can all be collectively very proud of ourselves we did a great job and we got done before the holidays and look forward to working with you guys uh in the future in the same in the same manner Lisa gotta call you out a little bit here um you know uh Lisa uh you have just been uh an invaluable partner for us um over the last uh decade uh I personally have worked with you so closely and on so many things and um I consider you um I hold you in such high regard and I have the utmost respect for you I consider you a friend uh and I've learned from you and uh we are really really going to miss you but looking look forward uh to working with you in your new role thank you that for everything that you've done uh for for for our school district for your members um you know uh nobody no nobody will ever know uh what what you do in the background for so many people so thank you a couple items here so first of all thank you so much Lisa you've been such an inspiration um uh um to me from day one four years ago when I when I came here and so thank you for being so kind and patient and just an amazing lady that I can always look up to thank you for that um I attended a city of Anaheim Tech scholar event earlier this month which they awarded 20 laptops to our students within our district from um who resides within the city of Anaheim so students go to Oxford Kennedy uh laera Savannah anahim High School all these schools they receive a either a apple um laptop or another device or iPad with two years of Internet service so thank you for all the amazing partners that partner with the city of Anaheim to give our students these amazing devices so thank you so much um I attended uh with our council member Nish pel at the OC FAA division Chief St Bowman's um uh retirement party today which he serves uh Brena Park statan laama as well as Cyprus serves our schools he also come to many of our events at at um at hope school as well and so thank you for your amazing service to our community and we will miss you um and then just lastly wanted to address the uh Sycamore concern our our director of um Main and operation Quinton rals he's been there multiple times already uh pretty much every week to be there uh updating the staff uh regarding um what's happening and so we're getting some um information back from uh external companies and so then that will be something we be working on and he's on top of it uh every single day to make sure that this thing is taken care of so I want to make sure that we give that update the community and the uh staff and students there as well thank you thank you my car rep thank you just wanted a quick update as we've been visiting campuses uh myself and Dr freed and just checking in with principles and staff noticing um back to our report from our our ambassador here and all the ambassadors a lot of holiday cheer and a lot of efforts to support our families from both our classified our certificated and our students from bags of hopes to pot for different organizations and programs and and students and so it's just really nice to see us so on that note just want to wish everyone thank everyone for the efforts and wish everyone the happiest and safest of holidays thank you thank you all for your reports okay moving on to our formal administration of oath of office and how about ladies first how about Miss Smith so if you will please raise your right hand Katherine and you're going to repeat after me I Katherine Smith I Catherine Smith do solemnly swear do solom swear that I will support that I will support and defend and defend the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of California and the constitution of the State of California against all enemies against all enemies foreign and domestic foreign and domestic IC that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States to the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of California and the constitution of the State of California that I take this obligation that I take this obligation freely freely without any mental reservation without any any mental reservation or purpose of evasion or purpose of evasion and that I will and that I will well and Faithfully well and Faithfully discharge the duties discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter upon which I am about to enter congratulations [Applause] I would just like to speak briefly because I'm going to be [Music] leaving I am so honored to continue to serve this District I take such pleasure in the time that I have been here to see the changes that we've made and the occupation of so many people that have put their hearts and souls into the school district I know how hard all of our cabinet work our teachers people that work in our schools at all different in all different areas but I want to tell you you folks are precious and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart I'm looking out and I've seen faces that I've seen over the years that I love and cherish and I I wish you all a lovely wonderful safe happy holiday season and may 2025 be wonderful for all of us bless you thank [Applause] you rosi yeah yeah you're all right [Laughter] you'll have to talk about that later of the United States of United States enemies willes uned States that I take obligation fre without willar [Music] [Applause] conat so before you speak you have to tell mom always love you more oh my goodness oh speech Yes you know as I look around I am truly blessed um to have this opportunity to serve the students and families of I never thought um coming into this District 40 years ago starting off as a teacher then as a uh actually swimming coach um and um assistant principal principal and then being able to work with students the student ambassadors I value student voice so much and I do think like what was sharing shared tonight how important it is but you know it's really kind of funny because people have been treating me so nice lately and I don't know why but the thing is that I I really want to reiterate to everyone in the audience um we are public servants and even though you guys have been so nice and respectful it's it's me who's supposed to be serving you and I want you to know that from the bottom of my heart I mean I love to attend events I go to as many as I can because I feel like uh councilman Patel was sharing it's so important for people to see that we're out there representing you and that we show that we care and the only way we could do that is by being there so with that said um if I don't know some of you in here please come up and introduce yourselves but I um look through I see I have some best friends my best friends here I see people that I've sang with I perform with I see people from my church I see people from all chapters of my life and um I see my mentors um here that started me in this journey as an administrator Joe Carmona and Carlos and even like Mike it's been people get Mike and I so confused I'm the one with the chunkier glasses and he's the one with the designer purse Mike hold it up show them you got the coach first come on now okay he's gotting all bougie on me so um but anyway um we're you guys we're all here because we love kids and we're here to serve you so just remember that parents I love it when you come up here we're here to address your concerns so thank you for taking the time to share with us Bravo [Applause] and next [Laughter] Mr ra your [Laughter] Al discharge the upon I am [Applause] iel only the district the community at and out of support others to the community thank you for supporting me over the years thank you for your support this year last mon I apprciate I apprciate students coming every meeting we have students coming up so important students opions it tells the board that doing something right Al [Applause] all right we appreciate our new sworn in trustees and we appreciate their support out here and we appreciate the folks that took the time to um swear them in um I always think that's a nice um addition to this all right so it's official now so now we are going to move on to the election of O officers action item uh did we want to enter a brief discussion or do we want to move on to the nominations move on to the nominations okay item 10.1 president of the Board of Trustees I would like to nominate my colleague uh Mr O'Neal to serve as president next year here I will second that motion okay any discussions all right uh all in favor I I okay that's four one and I will [Applause] off the power of the gavel so next item 10.2 Clerk of the Board of Trustees do I have a nomination I'd like to nominate uh Jessica Guerrero do I have a second second okay any discussion seeing n all in favor say I I opposed thank you congratulations Miss Guerrero thank you 10.3 assistant Clerk of the Board of Trustees do I have a nomination I would like to nominate uh Miss Randall trold to serve as assistant clerk do I have a second second okay motion second discussion seeing none all in favor say I I opposed congratulations thank you tro next uh appointments to to the Board of Trustees 11.1 secretary it is recommended that the Board of Trustees appoint the superintendent as a secretary of the Board of Trustees do I have a nomination or do I have an approval motion motion we'll get there second motion a second any discussion seeing none all in favor say I I opposed 4 Z congratulations Mr superintendent president O'Neal if if you'd like you you may take all take them all together all right 11.2 three and four slow moved second any discussion okay seeing none all in favor say I I opposed congratulations to the assistant secretary the parliamentarian and the chief negoti the next we have established day and hours for regular board meetings number 12 is there any concern about what is proposed no I'd like to make a motion and just uh second second motion second okay I just like the fact that uh we start at six o'clock um I think it's just enough time uh for folks to get here in the after in the evening time um I know some board uh starts at at five or even four and I so I I love that we keep it at six o'clock to make it available thank you thank you seeing any more discussion seeing none all in favor say I I opposed 4 Z next is um Board of Trustees appointments to committees if you'll turn to exhibit B and you'll see what those assignments are are there any changes to the stated uh for the North Orange County Regional occupational program is your term ending it is it is I would like to be considered for that okay um I'd like to stay on as I just was elected yeah I was just president she just became board president to uh last week oh it doesn't transfer over no like you did all the hard work Prett good we're we're kind of in a good transition period if you don't mind um like to stay on for another year okay I I it can be it can be amended for the a couple of years if we so order it but at least this year oh it's a four-year term yes okay any other changes Mrs Smith said that she would like to maintain her position so uh before she left she asked me to just mention that so seeing no other changes to I have a motion can I one friendly change oh one friendly okay yes on the legislative context uh for Congressman Korea um may I be added as the alternate or serving member instead of instead of Mr Smith yes or Mr H you don't mind switching do you want to Mr Smith didn't say anything about that do you want to stay on that's the last item there refer to the career legislative cont I do want to see on that you want to do the alternate then alter okay so we'll make that um okay any other changes I would like to be considered for the city of leama you would I don't know well there's two of us I think that's a I have to be with you friendly Amendment we could do that um yes you get the all right all right privileg we're we're okay thank you for that I I appreciate that knowing that you're sitting next to me okay anything el else in changes so would that if I did go to Lama would that take me off of you know where it is it's on it's on Walker Street I I taught there oh I Tau that's right that's right okay 14 years um so that with that move me on no I could still be on multiple we'll allow you to do that okay he's new he doesn't and then I had one addition I don't know if I sorry sorry so I'll do I could do um leama and Cyprus and and um and no I'll stay on Stanton man you want to if you want to okay okay and then I I don't know have to bring this up but um for the csba delegate assembly I know there's a possibility for multiple positions um but I know you have to run an election um I was nominated last night by the Anheim Elementary School District but I know the election is not till March so I don't know okay that doesn't affect and that does not conflict that just I we did uh concur that yes yeah several openings are coming up as um terms out for region 15 so she was nominated last night okay um I'd like to be considered an alternate on the Parks and Recreation where where is that which where is that city of Anaheim Park and Recreation one window fourth window yeah that works okay see that Bri yeah it's right here so you just want to be just add your name to it is what you want as it like an alternate yeah okay okay okay any anything else I think this was the amendment but I but um trusty Guerrero is on the insurance committee and I am the alternate correct yes do you wanted to stay that way you wanted to see I'm happy to yes to okay thank you okay and I just have a question uh it says sen state senator vacant for 36 have they elected somebody do you know it would be a special election okay I don't I don't know I believe it's a special election occurring in March okay next year okay okay all right see if that's it okay I I have a yet clarifying question is there no longer a sister city with no there's not that went out a few years ago and we've never heard anything back since we're just waiting for the city of Anaheim to say anything okay y anything else okay all in favor say I I I opposed okay hope we got all those those adjustments back there okay um that took care of number 13 so now we have number 14 reception time the Board of Trustees will host a reception and I believe it's probably out the door and down the hallway go out and that way and 10 minutes 12 get some cupcakes and punch cupcakes WoW tonight well you got to have a little levity once in a while too seriousness going on are hi nice to meet you [Applause] every one of PR we've been rep and me being aent volunteer Andor I want to make sure parents trust us and trust everyone in our district and that they don't think that nothing is being done they need to know being done it is being addressed but we have to you know give it time I know immedately and I said no we need to avoid things like that we need to and I and I think for the trust thank you than Sophia I'm going to be addressing the uh resolution that's up how are you good to see you to thank you for coming how are you good how are you heard e e e item 15 item of business we've already pulled 15.1 and 15.2 when we adopted the uh agenda this evening so we're moving on to 15.3 oh we have not we have not taken action on 15 what the other 15.1 15 we pulled we pulled 15 no we only pulled uh 15.13 oh I'm S I misunderstood what you said I apologize 1513 15 it was 15.12 and 1517 it was 15.12 not three right 15 oh gosh 15 1.2 yes 151 seven S I make a motion to adopt the uh School sponsored student organizations second we have a motion second any further discussion and we have a Miss Beck you're to vote on the school sponsored organizations any more conversation okay all in the favor say I I oppose that's 5- Z next I do have a comment because uh just to let you know these items were pulled prior um because we're going to go back we're not opposing these organizations a name change for for 15 1.2 1.7 yeah okay okay okay all right next is 15.2 uh resolution number 2024 25- b-09 accounting of developer fees have a motion so so move second any any discussion seeing none all in favor say I I call vot I'm sorry it's a roll call thank you get back in the groove of things Mr hosi I miss Guerero I Mr an fro I and I vote I that's 4 Z 15.3 resolution number 2024 25- b-02 providing all children equal access so move motion and we have a second and we also have have someone that was wishing to speak on this item and will Samantha sandavol please come up to the podium good evening um yeah hello um thank you so much for having me here it's um really nice for you guys to actually letting me talk because this is really improv I haven't even written anything I didn't even have the intention to talk I just sayy to come here express my concern as a student and as a Latina and here I am now I'm talking to all of you guys and so today I came here to discuss a very serious issue for me which is immigration at schools because now with the new Trump Administration and all of those stuff that they're trying to do they're trying to deport us back to our countries just because they say we're illegal aliens and I feel that that's not true we left our homes we left our families to come here to work to sustain ourselves to get good education and now they're trying to send us back because they say we're criminals we're drug dealers that we're animals and that is not true we're here for a reason and so as a student I really have a concern because they said they're going to go to our schools schools are supposed to be a place for learning for growth for friendship we are supposed to be worrying more about the final math test not about getting deported back to our countries for no reason I really feel this is very very unfair and I feel that they shouldn't be doing this to us because they just feel like doing it because all because America is a free country the United States is a free country for every single person who wants to come here the American dream is supposed to be here but where's the American dream without the people they're going to send us back for no reason and that is my concern school is supposed to be a safe place where all of us feel included no matter our race or um how we identify ourselves what gender we're attracted to that doesn't matter we're just here because we need to learn and grow it doesn't matter where you are it or it doesn't matter like where you come from it the only thing that matters is how you treat others and how kind you are to the world and now they're here P judging us just because of our race and I feel this is very very unfair so I am literally banging you all of you guys here you guys have the power please make our school sanctuaries so we feel safe and we feel protected I have friends who have no papers and so I feel really worried for them because what if they deport them at school that's not supposed to happen so please I'm begging you advocate for us as students as people thank you thank you Samantha and this is a roll call vote uh Trust president O'Neal is it okay if I take a moment just to address a few things that are connected to the resolution so first of all thank you Samantha very eloquently said um you know as a as Ron hosi said up here that you know our charge I think all of our charge even as board members but even as members of cabinet or teachers we are intended to be servant leaders right uh in our role and and as a community school district we need to serve our community and the resolution before you tonight is it represents just that um I'm proud of the work that our district has done and in in in in correlation with what you're about to discuss and and potentially uh approve I want to share some updates with you as it connects to the work that we've been doing around um the pending policies that that we've heard about that that could could happen as early as January 20th uh so as a district we have been actively engaging with a lot of our local um activist groups Los Amigos OKO okapa along with the OC Coalition or immigration Coalition uh and and we've been engaging with them so there's a couple things that we've been done that have been done um as the board knows we already have board policy that has been approved back in I think 2018 it is the board policy 8145 the response to immigration enforcement which speaks directly to what Samantha was speaking about where we actually have very specific protocols and procedures that our sites are expected to follow uh should anything like that occur um we're going to be revisiting the training we did training previously with our administrators but when we come back from break obviously prior to January 20th we will make sure that training is done with our administrators are both principles and APS I know we're going to be doing work with our faces so that we all folks are equipped with understanding these protocols uh should anything like that ever occur um also I want to make it clear that we have already six town halls scheduled to meet with families to share the the the town halls where we bring in a lot of our partners like that I just mentioned where we kind of do the know your rights and other um facts that you should know in case things like these this happen uh but in addition to the town hall is one of the things we learned from last the last experience U you know over four years ago was um we need to provide other ways that parents can access that information because some parents either weren't able to attend the town halls or maybe had anxiety or emotions in being at a town hall so we're looking at doing some virtual options as well so families have an ability to attend still get that information even though they may not be able to physically come and then lastly we're also looking at ways to engage our students you know as a California Democrat School District we take pride in Civic engagement and we really want to make sure that we equip and Empower our students with this information as well so one they have the information to to protect themselves but then also uh for families who aren't able to take advantage of those opportunities students can then go home and share them with their families and then the other thing I I did want to mention too um that uh tomorrow I think it's at 10: a.m.

e calling the meeting to order who can I get Chief can can you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance 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 thank you thank you so much roll call Maria oara I am here Rick Ry I'm here as well Anita is out today Amanda Buchanan here Renee longshaw here it's such a pleasure to call your name thank you um uh public comments um Kylie do we have any public comments pertaining to close session we do not okay now we need to go to close session to discuss the following superintendence evaluation people Personnel annual review cases ar4 2425 through ar9 2425 conference on litigation government code section 54956.9 subsection a current litigation 11 cases civs 201111 183 Civ SB 2111 303 222 0303 221 8676 231 4073 232 2171 241 2359 2687 23 21161 2 40444 and cvs24 289 government code section 549 54.5 subsection C and 54956.9 subsection D subsection 2 and subsection e and subsection I anticipated litigation one case 2020 2105 Public Employee discipline dismissal release reassignment transfer leave title certificated and classified employees number five public public employees appointment resignation retirement reduction uh title certificated and classified employees number six conference with labor negotiator agency negotiator Jeremiah Harrison uh employee organization Apple Valley UniFi Teachers Association number seven conference with labor negotiator agency negotiator Christine Dupri employee organization California School Employees Association number eight conference with real proper negotiator government code 5495 6.8 negotiating parties Matthew schulenberg Apple Valley Unified School security matters government code section 54957 consultation with Appo Valley Unified School District chief of police and ask ask for a motion to go into close session I'll move I'll second all in favor I any opposed I okay we we shall e e e calling the meeting to order roll call Maria okara I am here Rick Ry I'm here Anita TKA is out Amanda Buchanan here Renee longshaw here um Mrs Sabers can you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all thank you very much good evening everyone and thank you for being here before we get started I would like to say that the board appreciates and supports our educational Partners input at our at our meetings engagement by members of the public and and Civic matters is the Cornerstone of our democracy everyone should have a chance to express their opinions within the guidelines the board has established for its meetings so that we are able to conduct the meeting effectively and efficiently during the meeting there will be time for the public to comment on matter not on the agenda in addition members of the public May comment on specific agenda items after I your board president as a public comment on an item until it is your turn to speak or if you are here just to observe the meeting please refrain from any behavior that prevents others from participating in the meeting or that disrupts the board's ability to conduct the business of the board once again thank you very much for taking your time to join us this evening and to be a participant in this duty of serving our students and educational Comm community at this time we are going to listen to the student report Rancher verie Elementary Camila Toledo and Aria figeroa [Applause] [Music] Valdez good evening board members superintendent Nelson cabinet members and Families my name is AR Figaroa and I am the ranch of ver student council vice president this school year and my name is Camila too I am a member of Friday Night Live one of our student leadership clubs thank you for inviting us to present about the wonderful things happening at rental ver this year we want to start off by highlighting that at Ral Friday we are doing the fresh fruits and vegetables program for the second year all students get a fruit or vegetable to try three days a week this means that students get a healthy snack that the school provides us with the fruit that we get is good by the end of the day all the fruit we get is gone improving our School attendance is one of our goals this year some of the things that we are doing to encourage students to come to school is attendance challenges with rewards for the students when we meet the goal for example one month where we met the goal students were invited into the cafeteria to watch staff members eat bugs they eat worms ants and grasshoppers to the amazement of students this past week of school we had an F Elf on the Shelf scene each morning greet students as they arve to school one scene was the elf in our school mascot Road Runner having a snowball fight another scene was the elf fishing for C fish crackers with Gummy Worms gummy worms we think these scenes made students want to come to school to see what the elf was up to Saturday school is is offered at ranchel ver I have attended and liked that they gave us breakfast and fun learning activities throughout the day Red Ribbon wig is an opportunity about saying no to drugs and alcohol teachers use the week to teach students about the dangers of drugs I really liked dressing up as Ariana Grande on be a star saying no to drugs day we got to dress like a movie star we also had other dress of days to celebrate during the week at ran at ranal FR we have several family and student events to involve the community Grandparents Day math day and night and Holiday Program are some examples a fall festival is an annual annual annual annual sorry event at Rancho ver centered around Halloween time this year we kicked off our school day with with a Halloween parade kit parents were invited to watch a show off our costumes classroom representatives were entered into the costume contest there and there were several winners selected the night event is family friendly there was a lot of fun games and food music and cool costumes there were along with cool cars that were decorated in preparation for for our partici participation with the youth TR truth and Community School surveys student leaders presented to us they talked about when we would take the survey in our classes and they gave us tips to be truthful and that there are no wrong or right answers students and parents got to complete the surveys my parents completed the survey we have fun learning activities before and after school for example there are many elop clubs that encourage us to read cook or receive tutoring Friday Night Live FNL is a club to build student leadership SK skills I am in that club also students in fourth grades fourth through six participated in the steam Fair which was held this month we have nine student projects that went to the district steam Fair and performed well board members we are ready to begin our winter break now we thank you for for your time and allowing us to present tonight we have a gift to remember Ranch of ver and our and our presentation by have a safe and happy holiday season [Applause] thank you thank you very much [Applause] thank you so much young ladies Sandia Academy Isabella Barnes Ilan Rodriguez and Angel jenez jenez Fox [Applause] go boy yeah he the dest one now okay just stick around okay good evening my name is Isabella Barnes I am an eighth grade representative from Sandia Academy tonight we will be presenting how Sandia howls hello my name is Elon Rodriguez I'm a third grade representative and part of the ASB leadership program called pups at Sandia we how by helping to be safe offering respect working responsibly and leading by example my name is Angel hean is fox and I am a first kid representative here s hasus been Halloween the first half of the school year we did many of our usual activities like reading and literacy our annual seventh grade trip to science camp and the Halloween costume parade Middle School sports our ABCI family night and just recently our annual Kinder Leaf play day when the leaves fall from the big tree in front of the school what we are really wanting to focus on though is all the exciting new things happening at Sandia like the fresh fruit vegetables program where several times a week we pick up coolers from for our nutrition break filled with variety of fresh fruits and vegetables some days it is something we are familiar with like bananas or apples last week we got to try pomegranate the students are leading the way to ffvp we by being responsible for picking up and returning the coolers also new this year are two jobs one is done by Miss Amber every first grader goes to see her every week and practices phonics with her the other new job is to work on student intervention for attendance and academics Miss Jen hosts the monthly attendance activity to celebrate excellent attendance so far we have had a glow-in-the-dark dance party bookmark making ornament making and for everyone who has demo tardies in December get we get to have a movie date in January this year we have dedicated teachers for art music and stem here are some examples of artwork and art Concepts worked on by Sandia students so far this year in art our music students have studied Rhythm and percussion and even sing Russian at our Winter concert we have also added time in our maker space with all kinds of experiments and our sixth grade steam Fair team in one of our talented authors won third place medals at the district science fair we have also enjoyed getting to know our mascot better in the form of our ASB Leed Shadow who made a guest appearance at our first ever Sandia at the stadium our Middle School elective program continues to expand this year by adding crafty Creations which you are receiving tonight as a thank you as well as our new stagecraft class which supports our thriving theater program which I am lucky to be a part of adding to all these new opportunities the staff has been ho been hosting family engagements activities from our traditional Harvest Festival in October to our second annual Kenny Kane Lane holiday event to our first ever family literacy night in November where we we gave away over 300 books to our upcoming events like family night in February all of these events have been supported by our new parent poer group Paw Patrol in our school's PTO these parents help with every event and also have calendared structured and recesses and activities for the second half of the Year teach things like tortilla making embroidery and games it's not just inside of our school that is changing the grown-ups worked on our drop off and pickup traffic making it safer for everyone and more importantly we are getting new classrooms for our TK students there is some so much more happening at Sandia that we don't have enough to time to tell you about tonight but on behalf of Sandia Wolfpack we invite you to visit visit soon to experience how we Howl in person ready help to be safe help to be safe offer respect work responsility and leave examp [Applause] thank you so much uh board comments oh there's something coming hold on presents just sit one over there CU she's going to get one when she comes back one for her when she thank you very much hyeh yeah thank you so much we love your gifts uh board comments Rene longshaw sorry my button is sticky I want to say Well done students I know how intimidating it is to stand in front of a group thank you and how intimidating it is to stand in front of a group and you all did such a lovely job you spoke with confidence you spoke with Clarity and it's just encouraging to be able to see that in such young people um I was totally excited to hear about your fresh fruits and veggies three days a week um I think that's amazing that you guys tried pomegranates that could be scary um but just that you guys have access to that um is wonderful um I look forward to as a board member visiting sites I would be very interested in coming on that day so I can see that actually happening I think that's cool so thank you so much Mrs Buchanan all right I know we were just here a week ago so I will I don't have a lot but I do want to thank our am speakers you guys all did so fantastic um and I'm glad to see the picture of the real live Elf on the Shelf because I did see that online um a couple days ago one of my friends was dropping her kids off and posted it so it's adorable um earlier this week I did have the honor of attending operation recognition uh which is the county Awards uh the county Awards diplomas to Veterans from World War II the Korean war or the Vietnam War who were drafted and as a result were unable to graduate high school and get their diploma um in particular uh there was just this phenomenal presentation by Payton Brown uh and her she's a junior in high school about her great-grandfather Marvin Minter um but thanks to her outstanding research and working with the VA um Mr Minter not only received his high school diploma but also was awarded an honorary associates degree to sardino Valley College and to see his daughter um who was Miss Brown's grandmother just cry knowing that her father was given this honor um posionous Le but it was just an amazing sight to to be there and see that so it was a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by all of those that serve and I do want want to encourage our students to take time to research your own family histories um and consider submitting your family servicemen who may never have completed their diploma um as a result of those three Wars that I mentioned um it is a meaningful way to honor their legacy and contributions on a lighter note I have to express my disappointment that our principles tonight are not dressed in the same festive attire that they were at the budget committee meeting yesterday uh the audience is really missing out but it was fantastic I walked in I was like oh this is the best meeting I've ever been to um but anyway as we approach the holiday break I just want to wish everyone a safe restful and joyful time with your family and friends thank you Mr Ry thank you madam president I first off I like to just welcome Renee Longshore um she's sitting here to the left some of us uh we didn't really get a chance the last meeting you know to officially welcome you uh here so we're glad to have you she has a long history in teaching her husband's a teacher as well so it's in her DNA so you'll do very good here we appreciate uh appreciate your service on another note um I'm looking forward to a great 2025 it's almost upon us and I can't believe it uh just seems like yesterday it was the year 2000 and now it's 2025 so um I just wish everyone a Merry Christmas and and happy holidays and uh should be a great year so thank you thank you um I'm going to take this opportunity to um also welcome Renee as you can tell um starting the next uh board session there will be F five women here and it's a first and I'm really honored uh to be part of it no offense I get along with women just I know I know uh I also had an opportunity to uh come on this campus um on uh Wednesday oh no Tuesday uh for the Sparks of Love uh to give away toys and food and and I have to tell you it is it gives me such honor to be able to be of service uh to people who otherwise won't have anything for their children and and as we go out to celebrate this um holidays I hope we keep in mind that there will be people who will spend it in a shelter and there will be people who will have no place to live and there will be people who will have no food to eat and so as we celebrate let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers but above all I wanted to give my final speech today as your board president and I took the time to actually write it and usually I don't write speeches I I read from my I go from my mind and I look at the crowd and it helps me so but this time I decided I'm going to write it so here we go as I step down from my role as president of this board I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has supported and worked alongside me this past year it has truly been an honor to represent the children and families of our community there are so many unsung heroes within our district who deserve recognition from the bus driver who ensures that our children arrive safely at school to the custodial staff who maintain our campuses to the cafeteria workers who provide nutritious meals daily often while accommodating NuMe numerous dietary needs each of you plays a vital role in our success I also want to thank the instructional support staff and the office staff who are the first faces our students see each day you all make such a difference I'm incredibly proud of my fellow teachers who continue to make the needs of our students their priority I call them my fellow teachers because I started here as a teacher and I've never forgotten that I I used to be a teacher and I'm still a teacher your care your dedication and passion for educating and nurturing our children are truly invaluable to our administrative team thank you for your tireless efforts behind the scenes the work you do each day is often unseen but never unappreciated and of course my heartfelt thanks to the parents and students you are the heart of our schools and your involvement and commitment are the reasons our schools function as they do we are all working for you and I hope you never forget that you are the driving force behind everything we do while I'm stepping down as president the work ahead of us remains as critical as ever I remain fully committed to the continued success of our students and our schools and will work alongside all of you to meet the needs of our educational Community once again thank you all for everything you [Applause] do and now comment from the superintendent some of you were not in the audience last week when we recognized mrar for um her board presidency and um at the podium so um we did do a recognition for her last week and we appreciate all that she has done as board president welcome Renee um it's great to have you at the other end here um Renee and I have gotten to know a little bit about of each other and while my name starts with a T it also ends in Renee um TR um we both are married to Paul's I think I think Paul was here for a little bit wasn't he yeah okay we we're both married to Paul and um we're both tall not the same one separate Pauls yeah Nelson long um and uh our middle names are the same something came up and she said her middle name was Michelle and I was like wait mine is too so I hope people confuse her for me in public and no when they have a complaint no I'm kidding I'm kidding Renee but welcome we're glad you're here um Ari and cam cam Camila C you made an entrance like I have been doing this for a long time and you came out of that room back there and up to the podium and I thought way to go make an entrance ladies you both have something special on today Hello Kitty was a big thing for me almost 50 years ago when I was in elementary school as well and it's been around a long time and um you are already dressed like a star so I don't think they have to have a special day for you okay okay both of you got up to do something at a board meeting that has not happened in quite some time you got up without having the high school students do their presentations and to see how this all works and so you did an amazing job and um I'm proud of all of the students out there um we loved that you had attendance goals and you got to see teachers eat bugs that's pretty cool um Isabella elen and Angel I am overwhelmed at the fact that the three of you got up and um Isabella like you took them in but they probably could have your job tomorrow right like they're ready to go that's what we want we want you to encourage and lead and have them take over as they go so good job you guys great presentation and I love the Sandia Academy shirt sitting in the audience is like support that's a cool thing um this week I was able to attend a c te tour at both well I got to get the beginning of it at Apple Valley high school and we had co-administrators here on property so I had to come back here um as they went over to Granite um we had two of Our Town Council Members that toured with us um Larry kusak and Carrie Leon who are both alumni of Apple Valley High School um got to see where it's at now and we had a representative from tomorrow's Talent Ginder anos and two representatives from General atomics General atomics is very engaged in our school system and they are looking at ways to incorporate our students into paid internships over the summer and so we are thrilled with that partnership and we will continue to tour them whatever it takes keep the partnership going show show off what we have um students have access to and what they're able to do um our elementary Med or our our Emergency Response medical responders at appal Valley High School took a final today it's typically the last day the last morning of the um fall semester and all of the firefighters and different EMS um support throughout the valley come and they are the people that grade this vyl and so the students go through a practicum years ago they didn't have enough patients and I was a patient um and students had to do their practicum with me on the table this was amazing and it always is I'm always very impressed and for all of you sitting in the audience that are closer to my age or older you um would appreciate to know that there are a great group of students that will be caring for us in our old age and they're ready they can do it and so I go every year just to look him in the eye because I know I'm gonna need them at some point um Matt schoenberg's daughter Victoria was called out um by one of the um people assessing saying what an amazing job she had done and that she's ready and she went through the entire task so kind of cool to be there to hear that Matt wasn't but I brought it back so congratulation Mr schenberg and then um we do have a new addition to the Apple Valley Unified School District family this morning you'll notice that um Mr or Max mcney Sergeant Max mcney is not here his wife and he his wife Alex and he added their third daughter um to their family and we're thrilled for them [Applause] yeah and then wishing all of our Ames a restful break all of our staff time to relax and um welcome be back in 2025 I'm really excited about that I I know everybody wants to have a break and not be excited about coming back but I am always excited about what's next and so looking forward to the to the restart next semester thanks you guys thank you very much and when we come back next year I'm hoping everybody will find a word that will be their gu guiding word um for the new school year I'll have mine ready to go California School Employees Association CC and Nicholas Garrett he's not here okay app Prov Val unified Teachers Association avut Karen Sabers I don't really have a speech but I just want to say the last last time I ate a bug I was a teacher at Sandia and we were walking the track and one of the kids gave me a cricket I got called to the prince's office and got in trouble for that because they weren't supposed to share their food and then their turkey I saw the turkey up there I didn't realize they take the turkey out at lunch until I was over there one day and I got to pet the turkey that was pretty cool and then the keyboards on the floor that's really cool too so um but I do want to wish everybody a happy holiday and hope everybody has safe and um restful holiday and I also want to invite the board to the annual CTA High Desert Center School luncheon it is on um January 11th at 12 and I have your invitation for you give it to me [Applause] thank you we didn't have anything in close session then uh no reportable action in close session okay releas the um I'm going to release the kids so you can go get your homework or go get some rest go start your break just just curiosity I know my uh my daughter my stepdaughter that live down Hill School District and I know different school districts things but like the whole thing on Wednesdays how you guys let let the children out I think it's an hour or something early on Wednesdays uh there's grand school they do it on Fridays and so the school down is that something that possi voted on by chance we do we do have a that's a conversation you should have with ed services but we do have a calendar that's been approved a year in advance so that's what we use yeah yeah yeah thank you thank you thank you very much okay go ahead and have your holidays and enjoy see you next year see you next year 2025 excellent byebye she said byebye is a little one yes the one in the jacket yes byebye she has to say bye-bye now we're wasting her time with that little pink well they found a [Music] snack oh okay I forgot I'm bus watching um the board May approve the agenda as is or ADD and uphold items from the consent agenda for discussion and or action I need a motion I'm moving our second all in favor I we don't have any recognition do kie do we have any comments uh public comments uh we do we have one this evening thank you okay Casey Maldonado good evening school board members my name is Casey Maldonado and our youngest daughter attends sitting bow Academy she's had special needs since she was an infant she's always had an equivalent of an IEP since infancy when she started kindergarten last year at cting Bow she was receiving all the services she needed this included 450 minutes a week of time with pushin support in the classroom as well as 60 minutes per day in a pullout SI class at the end of kindergarten her annual IEP was held and we received the offer of fape which included the team agreeing that both push and support and pull out Sai support were both still in the best interest for Charlotte my husband and IED I AP in good faith based on what we had discussed as an i AP team when first grade started the teacher reviewed the I AP and let me know that there was no pushing supports listed in the IEP I requested copies of her 23 and 24 IEPs from Mrs Bean the psychologist at cing Bull and found out that 400 excuse me ma'am um I'm just gonna um inform you it's okay to um explain what happened but please refrain from using the names of people okay thank thank you very much um and found the 450 minutes weekly of push in support had been removed from the current IEP the IEP still stated and I quote the team agrees that the most appropriate placement is to be pushing support in a general education classroom and specialized academic instruction in a separate setting in a pull out program however there was no push in minutes listed on her I in her Services no one at any point in the meeting had informed us that the push in support would be removed had they done so I would not have signed I called for an addendum mid October via email it wasn't scheduled until the end of the month during the meeting I was told by the psychologist that she had no idea what happened with those minutes because she didn't attend that IEP basically told me I had to uh I was so out of luck she also said that the special ed teacher was out uh that wasn't that was present for the April meeting was out on on a medical reason I requested the missing minutes to be put back into the IP s since discussed prior to the meeting or during the meeting and again um rather than fixing the obvious mistake I was told by the psychologist in a rather condescending manner that we would have to schedule it to include the principal in a decision like that I also pointed out to the team that another Student's name was on my daughter's IEP when what services she received clearly confidentiality was broken here they were quick to offer her to be moved to another classroom my daughter has a diagnosis of childhood aaxy of speech I don't know if you know what that is but she knows what she wants to say but her muscles and her mouth do not let her always say it and she is often unintelligible so I didn't feel it was right to move her out of a class that she's uncomfortable in who somebody who understands her so another IEP was scheduled and it was metion that the budget was there was no funds for to pay for my daughter's push and support it took me getting in hold of Mr Wheeler and um we had another IEP meeting in which she fixed it I still haven't sign the IEP meeting because or the IEP itself because I just feel like I need more time to look at it um I would like to take the psychologist off of my daughter's case because I don't trust her anymore I I feel like she just wants to remove services from my daughter and I don't feel that's appropriate there's no reason why this should have happened no reason I should have had to take time from work for meeting after meeting four different times most importantly my daughter should have not had to lose nearly half a school year for services while these meetings continued on if someone could have just owned up to their mistakes and fixed it I wouldn't be standing here today bringing this to your attention attention thank you board members thank you very much thank you board comments Renee long Longshore sticky button um as a mom I just want you to know that you've been heard and um I appreciate you bringing this to us so that we could hear you Mrs Buchanan Mr rley nothing further uh somebody will look into your case thank you for coming TR Nelson I just want to acknowledge that um current assistant principal at Sandia Academy is in the audience and um he will be leaving us to to take a principal position in Victor Elementary School District at Challenger um congratulations Reed on that um wonderful new [Applause] position all right it is recommended that the Board of Trustees discuss and take action on the following items annual organizational meeting in accordance with educational code section 5 0 17 35143 and 7200 subsection C subsection 2 and subsection a requiring governing boards hold an annual organizational meeting within 15 days commencing with and including the second Friday in December to elect a president of the board Clerk of the board the name of a trustee and an alternate who will serve as a representative at the annual meeting of school and Community College District representatives and determine dates of regularly scheduled board meetings for the coming year I am going to um uh recommend that Mr Raley be the new president I'll second any opposed all in favor I I welcome Mr President thanks lady that was the most casual yeah and then uh the clerk of the board I nominate since I'm the new president I'm gonna nominate Amanda you Canon for clerk I'll second that any any opposed all in favor I I any opposed I gota do it congratulations Mrs banan um representative I need a motion so moved okay who do we Mo who do we recommend for representative I make a motion to be nominate Maria okay I need a mo um who's gonna second that I'll second all in favor I I I you opposed and Alternate I recommend I nominate Mrs longshaw since you're the last one over here I'll second that any opposed all in favor I I are there any organizations connected to our district and our region for which there is an interest to serve by any of the trustees uh right now we have a trustee who is also a delegate but is not an organization it's part of the csba uh but do we have another we have an opening coming up who wants it who would like to have it there one that coming up from csba okay we're going to leave it alone and nobody will run from our department if there is interest from a board member um we don't have one yet um if not effective January 1 2022 AB 486 provided an update to the period in which organizational meetings of school districts County offices of education and Community College districts can be scheduled in non-election years the law now allows these meetings to be scheduled any day in December but no later than December 20th I need a motion to approve the 2025 2026 meeting schedule I'll move the item I'll second it any discussion we have the calendar already all in favor I I I okay approved the recommendation of the administrative hearing chairperson effective immediately ar4 2024 to 2025 all the way to AR N I need a motion I'll move it a second all in favor I I I okay it is recommended that the Board of Trustees consider approving a number of agenda items as a consent list consent items are routine in nature and can be enacted in one motion without further discussion this procedure conserves meeting time for a full discussion of significant issues consent items to be approved in one motion uh one through four that is the shortest we've ever had I'll also move that item I'll second that all in favor I I any you opposed um do you have any future any members of the board have any future items no not for 20124 next regularly scheduled board meeting is Thursday January 23rd 2025 at 5:00 p.m.

one day following the University commencement ceremonies um on the 31st of it only talks about the 31st of May and August 1st um and that the premises is closed for all University recognized breaks um and that they have to have alternative housing during that time um but it sounds like if you still have finals then it's not officially the break when they were being asked to leave and I think this is the one Gil is this the one that you handled yes I was just trying to look I don't think the student ever reached out to me so I suspect the issue was resolved yeah because this is is this one of the ones that it's unfortunate well that it's not under the purview of the renters Commission what do you mean I mean the reg wouldn't be able to help figure out if it was because I thought that like dormitories weren't under us and but is it a h i couldn't understand if it was house or a door yeah I'm guessing this is some sort of fraternity okay if it's a u if it's a u ofm dorm we it's not something my office can get involved in so um and if it's a fraternity house we can okay and if it's a fraternity house or sority house then is that something that the renters commission is involved in or no or is that a John Riser question well I mean we it would never be a case that we would take as a renters commission but I mean certainly having you know Kristen sending it to me or or directing it to whomever can help and providing resources seems to me always appropriate okay thank you can you show the next one please um this one had to do with the early leasing ordinance I believe and um them asking in the renewal time period [Music] um I'll be honest I am horrible with the math for the early leasing ordinance um but as always Kristen uh gave the correct information and referral and and I've seen a few of these from the same leasing company and I sent an have another I I don't know if there's been any decision reached on this one yet but one of the things that was supposed to happen in changing or updating the um the early leasing ordinance is that I mean it's pretty clear to me in the ordinance that you can't make any renewal offer before a 100 uh before 180 days into the lease and so by offering hey I assume the January 10th date is before the 180 days or they wouldn't have um included stated like that so to me it's a violation um so far I've only seen it with this with this one particular landlord but we'll wait and see what the what the city determines okay uh Jordan can we ask that they get back to us I mean can Kristen like follow up on this specific case because I mean to me I agree Gil and if if this situation isn't getting infraction then then what we've done isn't effective you know like i' I'd like to I'd like to see this be effective um and so if it's not then I think it's good for the commission to know why it wasn't cited and why there wasn't a um follow up on it I have already put in a call or a text I can't remember to the City attorney so I'm happy to let everybody know when I hear back about this um can we formally have this on the agenda for January um in hopes that the City attorney is here because it would um if it the if it was August um and it's and they received it December 9th and that is a clear violation um because it's only like about 90 days and they're they're getting it right um yeah I mean I think I I think that's why they have the different sections the maybe renewing so I think it's pretty clear I I think well I guess I can say in the other incident that I have um it was pretty clearly offered prior to the renewal date with in the same way they were doing things landlords were doing things last year of you know hey if you sign now even though it's before the 180 days we're going to give you this deal of of whatever the renewal rate is and then they go on to say you know in the maybe renewing par paragraph that basically if you don't take this deal your home will increase the rate rental rate for your home will increase significantly over the renewal rate so I I feel pretty it's a pretty safe assumption that they're trying to get around the right to renew ordinance or the early leasing ordinance right that's my guess but again I think it would be good to have the City attorney speak it agreed at the meeting um Kristen and the um the last one I think had to do with like a 20 was it a 20% rent increase um yeah the landlord raised their rent by 20% and under a year um unfortunately we don't have rent control and not knowing the type of lease the person has if it's month-to-month or a yearly lease or a six-month lease um don't know uh Kristen did they ever get did they get back to you they did not respond okay yeah um but we you know we don't provide rental assistance there is Hawk um and is it SE um and then at you know as at the state level we don't have rent control here within the state of Michigan and this because of the State Constitution the city cannot do its own rent control so it's it's an unfortunate situation itself sounds like um are there any questions or comments about any of the Jordan just so quickie on this type of situation you know obviously we just got through leasing some of our May leases and we were hearing from residents increases of up to 30% and so you know I just want to keep on our radar obviously it is a lot at the state level we all know that but um the right to renew without some sort of vision for how much they can increase rent you know right to renew effectively becomes like they just can't renew so I showed to a lot of groups um and we we talk to a lot of groups that were experiencing really high um increases of of 30-ish percent for some of them and so I just I want to make sure that we're all hearing that as a commission that that is a reality for um you know these were all student groups of course but um for people here in Anarbor is it is it really just the early leasing ordinance or is it also because the the pre-tenancy and the green rental ordinance and um the desire for a higher profit well okay I mean all of the above right like and and maybe Bob can chime into like our insurance has gone up tremendously so so some of this I get um some of it I understand but of course there's no accountability for a landlord to like explain to a tenant why it has to go up 30% um we have not had to do that on any of our properties ever because of rising expenses but I mean I will say ours have gone up proportionally higher than in past years like our insurance is going up at a higher percentage some of those things are true um 30% no we're we're not seeing that so I can really only speak to my experience um on that um so I don't know I see Bob's got a hand up so I'll kind of switch over to him but yeah 30% to me is still really just unfair and you know you're forcing these students to move um or tenants in general to move uh with increases like that it's just not something most people can shoulder B yeah I think I would agree with Jordan I mean uh expenses have gone up and you know they've gone up more than they have in in Prior years but but not by that kind of percentage um so so it looks like this is this is not not something that's consistent with increases in expenses it's other things okay thank you you were both very diplomatic how you phrased that so thank you um does anyone else have any uh questions concerns or comments about the communications all right then the last item on the agenda is we need someone to make a motion for um adjournment motion I second thank you all those in favor of adjourning please unmute and say I I I all those opposed please unmute and say nay all right the meeting is officially adjourned have wonderful holiday season um enjoy the the New Year be careful with ice and snow and I'll see you guys the third Thursday in January at 5:30 bye happy New Year happy holidays thank you happy holidays you thank you and thank you Kristen for all of your help this year

now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education will go into Clos session for the following reasons as outlined in njsa 104 12 items 2.2 through 2.4 do we have a motion to go into Clos session motion by Mr Brown seconded by Miss Lee Mr y's roll call please on Executive session Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null yes Miss Lee yes Mr FIS Caro yes Mr conon yes that motion carries thankes we'll see you back at approximately 7:30 p.m.

4% which is typical at this time of year the um budget is tracking very well and as I sit here tonight I don't have any specific concerns about any of the line items in the budget we did speak last month about a very high medical benefits claim month in um October the you know I'm going to jump right over to medical benefits and say that in November our medical benefit claims were a mil 148,000 So Below the $1.18 million expected uh and that enabled the Reserve balance to actually increase by 94,6 23 so the uh Medical Reserve ended November at 1.48 million that's 1.24 months worth of claims however that is going to be booed off by two things one I did talk about last month the high claims that we've had we know that we're receiving $250,000 in stoploss reimbursement so that will increase that 1.48 million and also we received notice just last week that we'll be receiving another roughly $200,000 in prescription rebate so that will bring our Reserve fund balance to about 1.9 million certainly healthier than um it is currently leaves us in in reasonably good shape I think that the only you know going back to to the budget as we go forward if medical claims you know continue to Trend you know along the lines of where we are in November we won't have any impact on the operating budget if claims Trend worse we want to make sure that we have some room in our operating budget to fund additional uh monies into our Reserve fund again I don't I don't see the need to do that at this point so our budget is holding and we'll keep watching medical benefit claims and that's really the long and short of the finance report there are no questions I will introduce the next item Mr G um uh you're next you were going to move on to the presentation yes okay uh so yeah so my um I just like to say that um it's nice to see that at least we have at least one month relief on the medical benefits and that's before uh stop loss yes yes that's before 200 50,000 uh which you know will be booked soon but I don't enter it on the report till I know it's booked and uh just like to comment uh looking at the the uh the budget detail and seeing uh very little shuffling between accounts is I don't think something we've seen in quite a while so um good news so far it it looks good and obviously we'll we'll make more of the moves as we get later into the year but right now everything's you know looking quite good so we hope that continues thank you all yours okay the next item I'm I'm going to um just introduce it and I will ask Emily Taylor our assistant chief operating officer and Erica bietti our director of Food Services to make a presentation on this topic but in June of 2024 at a fiscal year end meeting the board did discuss a recommendation to increase our meal prices for student meals for this uh fiscal year that we're in the board decided not to increase prices but rather you know look again at our meal prices as we entered the new school year so tonight's update um from Erica and um Emily will be about where we are with meal prices where we are with our revenues and a preliminary recommendation so with that Emily Taylor our assistant Co yeah thanks everyone um good evening so you have two things in your board packet you have a PowerPoint presentation I'd say that's the cliff notes and then you have a memo which is the more meaty version with all the all the bits and pieces you might want to look at for the uh preliminary recommendation for an increase to school meal prices last spring I believe you all discussed potentially increasing the school meal price and that conversation was ultimately deferred to this fall so here is the conversation uh but I want to give you some background so last last year when you all were having this discussion chesher Public Schools requested a waiver for an exemption to uh have their meal prices at the CSD Target price which was 385 last year um that our district weighted average was 375 and ultimately we received a waiver so that we did not have to increase our meal prices to that 385 number and last year was the first year where we did not have free meals in the 23 24 school year free breakfast was still provided and the year before that was when there was free breakfast and lunch for all students so ultimately the meal prices didn't have that much of an impact in those years because students were getting those meals for free so um and one thing you should note about I'm on the background slide is the district weighted average as you can see our weighted average and meal price is going down year after year there is a lag there so if you're looking at the 23 24 school year uh our district weighted average is actually the data from October and that's always our October data is used to determine our district weighted average how great job okay so if we're moving on to our next slide which just has some history of meal price increases uh you have going back to 2122 school year 2122 but I will say prior to school year 21 and 22 the last increase to school meal prices was in the school year 1819 with some it was either 10cent or 25 cent increases and before that the last increase to school lunch prices was in 1415 and School breakfast was 056 so as you can see starting in 2122 there was an increase to High School breakfast and K8 lunch and a 15c increase to high school lunch there were free meals for all so again the impact to students was pretty negligible because they were getting free meals the rate of inflation that year was 6% and the minimum wage uh was $13 and what you're going to see over the course of a few years is the minimum wage starting January 1st of 2025 is going to be 1635 so there's been a pretty significant increase to the minimum wage and we'll talk about Erica will talk about that in a minute um and the impact that it has on our school uh meal programs so in school year 2223 there was a 25 cent increase to lunch only uh breakfast price remained the same again that was a free meals for all so there was not really an impact to families and then going into school year 23 24 is when there was free breakfast for all but school lunch prices went back to the free reduced in paid model and we are currently in school year 2425 there was no change to meal prices um so that we could have the conversation that we're having now and again uh you can see that the minimum wage is going up this January did I forget anything that's great cool I'm going to pass it off to Erica in a minute and this is a brief presentation so that we have time for your questions but we are requesting that starting next school year uh that we increase the meal price by 25 cents which will increase the average meal price by 78 7.8% across breakfast and lunch we're not proposing an increase to the 8 O milk option and you can see in the table and the preliminary recommendation which is slide four gives you the increased prices at all the grade levels um but again increasing it by 25 cents making it a little bit easier um for families we haven't increased um in a few years and one thing that's really important here is that we are not guaranteed that waiver that I talked about the beginning the slide that allowed us to not increase our prices so we might be subject to an increase anyways and so we want to share the information with you really proactively BEC because come spring when the waiver is either available or not we might need to move our prices upwards anyway so we want to just share the information and provide you some information but Shar uh Erica you want to talk about some factors yeah can I ask a quick question first before you leave of course yeah I'm still up here but um it's is isn't it true though that this year we don't have that um that division between paying reduced and free that it's either the threshold is either free lunch or paying for lunch um no so yes and no um free lunch is reimbursed federally the state of Connecticut has a um they have funded with arpa funds the covering of the 30 cents and 40 cents that parents would have to pay for the reduced so that's being covered through the state of Conneticut through funding that they have from arpa I believe it's still arpa it it might have changed um pots as the money has as what it is so it's not funding there is still reduced families still qualify for reduce the state is the one picking up the 30 and the 40 cents that would have hit those families directly um so that 70 cents a day is covered in in that facet and is that going to continue with the state or that is not determined so the legislative session opens uh in January and I know that the school nutrition Association across the state is fighting for funding for the reduced meals as well as meals for all and uh various other um important factors that face the nutrition industry the school nutrition industry I apologize thank you for reminding me no problem Oh yes so our factors um so there's many things that um bring us to get to the school lunch price and making sure that there it is being that integral part of the school day and they have the fun um the best meal in front of them so the minimum wage for us and the Staffing in the Staffing structures that we're facing right now that is a very large increase we want to make sure that our wages are are competitive in the school nutrition Market especially with our neighbors around us and that we're offering our people um a competitive wage and that it brings in excellent staff that we have who care very much about our students and work um very hard to make sure they have nutritious meals and the other major part is seeing all of the food increasing and all of the food cost prices rising uh I know the bird flu has been all over with eggs it's been crazy we do have eggs it's fine um so we choose to have products that are like for our chicken example it's whole muscle chicken we prefer to get an item that is more expensive but it is a better quality item and it's better for our students where there might be alternative items that are available but we would prefer to have the quality of the local produce that were're able to get all the fresh vegetables fruits everything that gives the students a wide variety of options um and the so the paid lunch Equity waiver it was the first year that it was ever offered was last Year and that is due to the excess funds that could be available in the accounts and the state made it a grant for that one year that's why we're unclear if they're even going to have it be an option um it's kind of like the funding for the reduced meals they're not sure what's going to be available or what's going to be there so it might not be available and we wouldn't want to have that for our families and rely on that waiver oh and also so the 25 cents um increase when we took a look at our meal sales from last year it would give us about a little over 100,000 in Revenue um based on the meal sales from last year so 25 cents to the families would then be able to give us revenue of a little bit over 100,000 which would help us combat these increasing costs and keep the program self- sustaining which was part of the next slide sorry no you're fine you jumped ahead so uh the last SL here so our conclusion what is the impact to our families when we do an increase of 25 cents per meal um and you can look if you look on this last side it'll say at the elementary middle school and high school what the current cost annual cost is if a student ate breakfast and lunch every day at school and the annual increase to a student that eats breakfast and lunch every day at school is $90 if we do a 25c increase so that is a the individual impact to our families and like we said we are currently self- sustaining the operative word there is currently and so we would like to continue to stay self- sustaining and we of course want excellent and nutritious meals for our students so I'm going to open it up for questions but like I said the next time we'll probably talk about this is when we know if we have the waiver option available um in the spring but we want to prepare you for that conversation early so I'll open it up to the board if I can add just one point and I the the paid if we get the waiver the implication though is that the the difference between the cost of meals and the price we're charging is made up by the Food Service Department's reserves so I just wanted to be clear that if they give us a waiver it's not because the state is going to make up the cost difference that's correct it's because we have a Reserve balance that that we're using and we use those excess funds for um kitchen enhancements equipment repairs equipment rep placements um staff professional development training any of the above um to improve their environment and for the students new equipment very nice uh speeds of the serving line gives better presentation to all the food items makes it much more um attractive and a desirable Choice thank you questions Mr Grio um uh firstly I'd like to say um I've had the opportunity to work with your staff and have uh done several events uh with your staff and the quality of food is excellent and the staff are fantastic and professional um and so I and so that's I guess besides the point I just want to say you run a great operation um so the the 100,000 in Revenue that you're talking about is that so you hope to generate an additional 100,000 in Revenue but does that then allow you is that just allow you to break even if the waiver goes through or or is that are do you have like a certain amount of um I don't know profit isn't the right word but no we are a nonprofit so our goal is to be able we like to in the sense Break Even we do need Reserve funds so that we're able to replace the equipment if anything breaks um that's not always accounted for and put into it it sometimes is in capital depending on the volume of the work um but if you know the milk cooler breaks and we need a new one or the freezer goes down and it needs repairs um so we need to keep those reserves in there it does work to deplete the account just because the waiver was available to not increase would mean that food services would be offsetting the price so we would essentially be serving meals that costed us more and we'd be offsetting that cost price and um what is the status of your reserves right now is it near zero or is it so the reserves are currently being used so we are in a mid project so the reserves are being used right now to replace the we've replaced half of the serving L the serving lines have been replaced at chesher high school as well as flooring and um new equipment and uh Panini presses and now we have the second half of the project that's going to begin and that is where there's Plumbing Electrical uh new ovens new ranges new walk-ins we did the walk-in fridge and freezer at the high school so they are very large projects so it is difficult to say the exact amount that would be left in the reserves once we complete that project which saying that once the high school is complete then we would move on to Highland which that school is the next one that would need a redo in the servery especially with the enrollment at the numbers that it is it needs a better layout so that they're better able to serve the students and give them most of the equipment there was original from maybe 30 years ago I'm not sure it was before me that's all I know and the the increase that you're proposing is it up two 25 cents per meal or is it that's that's your proposed so increase that's the proposal is is flat increase 25 cents by every meal okay breakfast and lunch we don't prefer to operate in dimes and nickels it makes giving any change back to students even that much more difficult and if you moving to increase a flat 25 cents is easiest for us in the actual service industry and for parents and given that would put us above hopefully that would put us above the recommended price so that we wouldn't have to do this year-over-year um we were very grateful that we were able to do this during covid when it had no impact to families and that has gotten us even closer to this Mark so we haven't had to impact or re like increase it a dollar family like no one wants to see a dollar like that's too much so small incremental amounts of the 25 cents make it much more palatable and easier on families who we know are always um plenty of people are always struggling and any help that we can give is always better beneficial thank you wait sorry thank you uh yes I'm not sure if I missed it or not but I'm curious is any is any of our funding Federal yes and I'm wondering do you have a number do you know what the number is annually and if you don't that's fine no it would I don't have an exact figure of what would be separated federal and state um I could figure it out no no that's fine my so this is more of a rhetorical question I guess is to figure out how much money is at risk right now we have a new president Trump will be taking office and I've seen the headlines about cutting quite a bit uh including I'm thinking where it might intersect with school lunches snap I don't know exactly what what we get or it that's not the point the point is is just to be aware of what could be coming because I'm under the impression some of the stuff could just happen administratively and then it's cut off in January and so if we go spending reserves and we don't have that I'm being totally like this is these are the articles that I'm reading I don't know how it would work but it could happen and I just want to be prepared for that and then um one other point oh uh do we do you so Vin Emily Erica whoever knows the last couple years we have had unpaid balances that we've tried to chase on because uh it hasn't necessarily been people who are unable to pay but maybe there's a few families that were unwilling to pay uh because we didn't enforce I'm just curious how how big a number is that right now and just how and and if it's if it's a small number that's a it's not intended to make this to discussion but the concern and how that would play into this sure increase right now so I the the balance as of November the unpaid meal balance as of November is about 3,000 which is about where it was at this time last year U I'm sure the board remembers that at the end of the year it was about $118,000 that the board's operating budget had to cover to repay the Food Service program that's a requirement under state law uh and we'll continue to try and work that balance and collect as much of that as we can like we did last year in the most respectful way that we possibly can um so we do follow-ups by text uh by letter and by phone call as well we do so so I mean I'm happy to support this I just wanted to make sure that those two particular risks are incorporated into your thought process and how you roll this stuff out yes including the U reserves um the state of Connecticut has very strict parameters around negative balance um and our ability to interact with students and family so we do the best that we can given the structure that fits with it within that and um we do constantly try to work with families there was new guidelines um October 1 that increase some snap uh threshold amounts where families could qualify for snap but they wouldn't qualify on a traditional application and we're always working with our families if they do need it and how we could better help them um it is hard to say who can and cannot we do not try to dis discern that all we do is is State the facts of what is there what meals were charged and what's on the accounts and then we go from there thank you thank you J yeah thank you for the presentation um something that you said that I really want to commend you for is this idea of maybe spending a little bit more but getting the high quality products in our meals for our children so please continue to do that because um from my perspective that's really important and then I'm hoping this is a quick question that can be answered very surfacy because I I don't mean to go into a big long talk on breakfast but is there any benefit to just putting a bowl of fruit out for our students for you know the whole thing a whole Apple a whole orange a whole banana sure I mean it seems like that would be way more nutritious than whatever packets of sugar contained breakfast surprisingly a lot of our items are sugar reduced compared to the actual same product name in the store um we do put out whole fruit um especially if it's farm fresh apples oranges you could put them out whole they will all go in the garbage you will just fish them out for the rest of the day if fruit is in its whole form students are less likely to eat it depending on the consistency of it I I just we have checked garbage cans we do scans we get very upset when food goes in there we work really hard that it doesn't um breakfast in the classroom does make it more difficult to give an array of options because we want to ensure that the classroom stays and it's nice and clean and neat form and that items are not spilling they're not messy they're not sticky you don't have kids coming up with like hands full of anything um but we do try to offset it those sunbites um that are on the tray those are a breakfast offering that we feature at the high school um that we would love to expand to all schools they are very labor intensive for us to make but they are deliv ious they are delicious I had one earlier I was like thank you but they are sticky they're they're a little sticky and I hadn't thought of that um but we we do try to give as many options to students in the variety of forms thank you no problem Mr gripple uh this a procedural question are we supposed to take action on this I don't see a motion or anything are you are you just telling us that you're going to do this is that is that is that what we're not telling you we're going to do this what we're saying is we're prepping you for the conversation that we're going to have in the spring that we might need to that may so there's no motion tonight we don't want to Tak unilateral PR oh okay gotta the preliminary part okay prary the motion are too difficult families okay thank you yes they are um I just had a couple questions um just for clarification first off isn't there an adult price if I were a staff member it's on there $7 it might be worth it tasty $7 proposed at$ 725 preliminary proposal gotcha uh the adult meal price is set by the state of Connecticut based off of the meal price of the highest paid student we did not come up with that $7 we did not decide that it is set for the state of Connecticut I have answered that question for teachers very often okay um the other question I had was you talked about equipment I thought that was in our capital budget though uh for the most part the replacement equipment for Food Service you know other than cafeteria Renovations that is carried by food service department budget oh okay yeah so we we do have a couple of items in our capital budget that like the Highland cafeteria the chesher high school you know cafeteria Renovations that's renovation not just purchase of refrigerators those types of things things typically then wouldn't the income that's made could help to offset the unpaid balances versus having to take it out of our operating budget no the state law specifically yeah indicates that unpaid meal balances have to be paid to the food service operation by the board's budget it was three different committees that each put the spin one said that it that it has to get paid the other one then said that we cannot collect it in any other way or discriminate a child um and then the another piece of legislation said that it has to come from the Board of Ed budget I don't know if they all talked to each other or they did a phone game but the three of them put it together to be a perfect storm of um that would be a legislative conversation it is okay it it is and speaking of legislative conversation you know one thing that the board uh lobbied for last year was to increase the thresholds for free and reduce price lunches because they're set federally and they're not indexed and they need to be indexed you know certainly in the Northeast and here in Connecticut so I do anticipate that we will ask the board to add that to its lobbying list again I think I think it's important that we do that and and see if we can find a better way to provide you know funding for families who need it the threshold this year is um before taxes 57,000 for a family of four so you a four income four household of four no matter how many people have the income you have to have less than 57,000 before taxes to qualify for reduced that's not even free that's just the reduced price insane not realistic um sorry I just want to ask a question I was just looking at your chart um there are two different lunches at the high school a $4 and a $5 is that like a deluxe lunch or something or yes oh have you seen the Panini presses they're very fancy oh okay we do offer there is two tiers we have a market that has Express meals that are grab and go as well as um made to order Deli line that offers uh fresh sliced deli meat salad quinoa salad and then we've got um a better and a bowl line now you guys just get the whole food Spiel um which offers like fresh made salad bowls uh pasta bowls um local baked potato bowls anything is offered there so we do have the tiered pricing so that we can even bring in some other elevated it uh that fit into that the you can ask they have a Chick-fil-A sandwich we do it every other Friday it is a very big hit it is a great chicken breast I would it's whole grain and everything and it's delicious so that's it yeah but it's actually after meals sorry it was going back to Vin before we leave the financial report oh okay um thank you ladies um I do just ask if we can kind of come back back to this conversation so that again for communication purposes for our families and so forth that we make a decision earlier or sooner rather than later yes thank you we'll be back either April or May you know with a final recommendation if that's your question okay yeah yes we will okay so Mr way has a question for thank you yeah I may have missed this if so feel free to just have us move along performance contract uh bids have been exended to January 9th bid due date so they did a walk through and the due date is January 9th correct got it and you have nothing else going on in January so you're good yes I'm kidding I'm being sarcastic there there's we have other help working on that project as well but yeah Big you know we got requests from a couple of the interested proposers that the the date that we had in December they weren't going to be ready so we didn't want to miss the opportunity to get everyone's proposal so we extended to January 9th so we'll have the proposals then and how many how many BS did the walk through five five okay do is which is which is fine I mean we've got you know the big names that we would want to say okay great thank you you're welcome any other thoughts okay so that concludes the finance report or finance committee report um then we're going to move on to the policy committee Mr E is not present um so I'm going to forward this to Dr heran again if you can give us the policy committee report sure so the policy committee met on December 2nd 2024 and um first we had a presentation by the director of Technology um Mike Papa who is always enthusiastic about talking about the state of technology in Chester Public Schools uh he he's very proud of what we provide in chesher public schools and he explained the Safety Management program Gaggle that monitors all student drives and talked to us about keywords and how things come up and it was very thorough um another product of Gaggle is a program called speak up which is essentially a digital tip line that encourages K through 12 students to share their concerns anonymously so that was um that was a very very good conversation um we're happy to have Michael come talk to us every once in a while um um then we reviewed policies for a possible first reading including um 0521 non-discrimination policy and notice which was scheduled for a third reading but we're bringing it back to a first reading because on the advice of our attorneys uh it was recommended that we dovetail this policy with a sexual harassment and Title 9 policy um so another first reading is for 400.1 42.1 44 which is all the sexual harassment Title 9 and regulation so those were the first readings I just have a question on that can we expedite that after so I know you said you were foreing it to the attorney to review last time oh it was it's already been reviewed it's all set but um I mean the board policy requires uh three readings but yeah um it could be accelerated I thought when I was there at the meeting I thought we were forwarding that one again or we were waiting on we were waiting on uh attorney gold that that's all set now I mean that's that's what this reflects and her advisement was to couple it with the uh sexual harassment policy because they're complimentary policies they interface with one another okay thank you um so we're not doing a motion for first reading um then we had uh some policies up for a second reading including 42125 security check and fingerprinting criminal justice 4118 .51 rights responsibilities duties social networking 6148 FAFSA completion program and 6172 alternative education program and uh those are up for a second reading and then for a third reading um we have 5114 suspension and expulsion due process and 0523 equity and diversity um we have had and those will be coming up for a for approval by the board with the third reading um so we had a policy for discussion 51 3181 uh electronic devices and we'll continue with that one in future policy meetings um I know our student rep had said that they were surveyed any yeah the the surveys have gone out and we're going to discuss all the results at the next policy meeting we surveyed parents staff and students so uh January 6th is the next meeting so then we have two policies it looks like that we're going to need to do um a motion for approval first one is policy number 0523 the equity and diversity um policy so somebody can please make a motion on that one so let me just give you a brief overview too um so Dr Solen reported that our uh attorney Goldberg reviewed our draft policy made changes to update the language in this policy um we deleted things like some definitions that are social constructs and not legal definitions and um so this has gone on under review for actually many months now and um has gone through lawyers and c and um all sorts of scrutiny we've had um people come to policy meetings and and talk to us about concerns and um I think we've addressed as much as we can uh with this policy so I would move that the policy um that the where is my motion sorry move that the Board of Education give a third and final reading to policy 0523 equity and diversity and direct the superintendent to put said policy into immediate effect is there a second on the motion Miss Cullen and um discussion on the motion Mr gerbo thank you um so we've been uh I guess revising this policy for the better part of six months or so uh when we first uh had this policy it was full of uh aggressive and divisive language in my opinion um and uh as the months have progressed uh through the um a work of myself Mr perini and um our attorney who I guess sort of had the final revisions Who removed almost all of the inflammatory language except for my opinion the actual word Equity um uh it it it is no longer I I question why we're even approving this policy I I don't even know what what purpose it serves or the intentions that we mean to to put in as as part of our policy it it's not exactly clear as to um what what it does um almost all of the language can be found in our uh uh affirmative action policies are um uh part of the non-discrimination policy that we'll be reviewing again uh Title 9 language uh all of the uh any of the other uh title federal language that we go by um and so I again I I question uh why this this Board needs this policy on the books at all um it's as I as Dr Solen and I had our uh I guess final discussion at our last uh policy meeting um we both agreed that this is not required by state law this is something that this board is I guess choosing to do um and I certainly uh have voted against it at every Cho uh chance that I've had and I will continue to do so thank you any other comments Mr White thanks uh question for the superintendent I was I watched one of the one of the meetings that I watched on YouTube [Music] um you think you were asked about problems that are um problems that would be addressed by this policy and my recollection was you said that there weren't any problems that would relate to this policy you address them as they come up something along those lines are there any problems in your opinion that would be addressed by this policy does this solve a problem yes is kind what you're asking I don't know that it solves a problem as much as it makes a declarative statement yeah okay so no I understand it being I understand it being symbolic um but so um here one second so I in general I do support the concept um for example um Equity we have foreign language Learners here in town kids who are displaced from war who have come here to chesher and I wholeheartedly uh support legal immigration the last thing I want to do is have my son get shipped off to a foreign war they come here and I do view it as a responsibility of the town of the board to support those kids who are displaced and give them extra support learning English is a basic one um to assimilate I think that's important that we do that um so I I support the I support the goal I do think there are definitely times when uh we can do something but paraphrasing the paraphrasing the superintendent I feel like it's a u solution in search of a problem it's it's unnecessary and so I won't support this tonight thank you any other comments from members of the board yeah so um I agree with Dr Solen that this uh is a strong statement um but I don't agree that it's it's symbolic I believe there's a real purpose for having a policy on equity and diversity um Dei at its core is really simply stating to our vulnerable populations um English language Learners is just one it's not just the students it's it's the families it goes much broader than than um just who's in the schools um but it's other vulnerable populations that we have um our entire lgbtq plus families um are vulnerable in a lot of ways and I think a strong statement um saying that we value um all backgrounds that we value everybody's um where all of our students are coming from and we want to get all of our students the uh best education that we can offer to them and the only way that we can do that is by being I believe that um Miss Baker who spoke earlier on during the audience participation said you have to be intentional about um including all voices and Val and showing that we value where everyone is coming from and I think that this policy does that it it really shows what we are committed to here at chesher public schools and I think it is necessary to have and uh we've been working long and hard to make it um really pretty brief and um concise and it's um it's an expression of uh what we value here at chesher public schools and it it it's it's important it's important to those families um when they're looking to send their kids to school they want their kids to feel safe and to feel valued and they want um parents want to feel um as part of the community as valued members of our community so I I am definitely supp in this Miss col so Dr Solen I don't want to put you on the spot but I heard somehow your name mentioned in um giving some information on why we're doing a Dei policy so maybe you can elaborate on that a little bit because I'm a bit confused over at this time and I think this has been about 6 months that it's been rolling around and again we're at the point to vote vot on it and there seems to be still some confusion as to what Dei means and why it's needed and maybe you could clarify some things well I think the the value like I said in terms of the declarative statement uh the value in having this policy is just that that um you know I know that every educator who works in the chure public schools and I I believe that every person on this deis believes that every student who walks through their building through our our doors regardless of background is valued um and that we will do whatever we need to do to provide them opportunities to be successful and um there are uh there's you know deep history uh that indicates that not all students have that same level of access to success and this outlines the steps that we will take as a school system to ensure that uh that happens I think we certainly try and do that now to the greatest extent that we can um but the policy you know really codifies that and uh sends a message to every member of our community about our commitment to to do so and maintain that commit thank you doctor for that clarification and that's exactly why I guess I'm so confused here because I'm not understanding why we wouldn't as a board of education and obviously my background is in education so I'm a little passionate about this why we wouldn't want every child who walks through our doors and every family who's behind that child and the community as a whole to know that we as a treasure Board of Education believe um in accepting every child that walks through our door regardless of wherever they've came from where their families come from Etc and that we believe in a diverse culture and how healthy that is for all students to have exposure to other peoples and religions and Etc and Etc and um Equity is something that stands for something different from being equal Equity is that we make sure sure the playing field is equal for every child right I mean and I I could go through a lot of examples of that especially with my special ed background and inclusion is exactly that I mean we saw that right in front of us today right we saw that with the children from Highland and the children from um chesher High School where they value each other as equal members of the school population whether they're a child with a disability whether they're in gen Ed whether they're purple pink white green whatever they all stood up here right in front of us holding that right that they were awarded because they know how to understand diversity understand inclusion and they all grew from that everyone grows from that exposure we have a general Ed population that can become passionate about students with disabilities and later on in life people that they're working with who may come in to a company or wherever with a disability they have that empathy build into them because what we have given them in the Treasure Public Schools so I will vote for the the um whatever I'm voting for but I'm voting for ity policy um yeah I I just want to say uh and Maria I agree with everything you just said uh and I I also believe that a uh a declarative statement like this isn't necessary because this school system has demonstrated through action that uh we believe in these things and I also uh believe that again this this policy is not needed because we already do these things and it's perhaps um you those who support this it maybe it makes you feel better that we have it but not needed it's not necessary and I I think uh you know the original um uh version of this was incredibly divisive um and would have would have passed probably the first meeting if uh I hadn't spoken up and if Mr perini hadn't done some research and uh spoken with cab and and asked their opinion on things um and and you know we've just gone through a very divisive election um and and and I think that that um you know we should have a more statements about perhaps uh reconciliation and about understanding each other and not about trying to um enact uh uh language that perhaps can be divisive instead of uh bringing people together because um the the final version of this even after it passed the uh the lawyers uh purview there was still language in there about applying an equity lens to everything that we do and no one could uh um Define for me what that meant and to have that language in a in a school policy that that essentially would override everything else that we do um I thought was unacceptable and luckily uh I saw it and and we got rid of it but again um that's to have even a a framework work on the books that can continue to be tweaked uh I think is dangerous um the actions that we take the laws that we follow make this one of the best school systems in the state of Connecticut and I don't think that uh having a layer on top of it like this is necessary I'm sorry but I respectfully disagree with you I can't sit here and justify one of your comments about saying that the actions that we take prove that we believe in um um diversity and equity and inclusion just because of what we do in our schools I don't know about you but I don't know what happens in every school in every classroom in every child's lunch table Andor on the bus or at the bus stop Etc that happens to him or her during the day I can't sit here as a board of member and say I know that all the actions that we take protect all of our children protect our families and we accept everyone so I again have to respectfully disagree with you that this says that we are expecting that to happen in our schools that that's what we believe is happening but this in writing it says it has to happen because that's what we believe I mean we are the guardians of what happens in those schools so you know I I mean I think we could just respectfully disagree and move on but you know I am passionate about this and have to disagree with you so should I just leave my button on because you know I'm going to come right back at you so fair enough um and I again respectfully disagree with you because what you're saying is is that we've been operating without any guard rails up until this very moment which is absolutely not true we have up hundreds of pages of policies and laws and and uh administrative directives again that has made this one of the best school systems in the state and this policy is not necessary it is not needed because we do all those things already just because we have a declarative statement even because we have a declarative statement doesn't make even this U uh change anything it changes nothing so just because we have it it changes nothing well again and and this is my last statement on it because I I think we just disagree but I can't say how many students are in our schools 42 4200 okay I can't say that every single one of those children when they walk through that door get off the bus and walk through the door and go into their classroom that they feel that they're included I know that not all of them do and you know it too so I don't think I know what you're going to say well this just because the words are written down means it's going to happen you're right it's not going to happen we can't say that those words are going to make every 4,200 kids feel a certain way but you know I'd rather go down saying this is what we believe in in chure that every child should feel that way and that we believe as a board of ed that kids are diverse people are diverse our families are diverse our community is diverse they need to be included and there needs to be equity and I I you know I fully agree with you Amry um this is this is very aspirational this language and um there's I don't think there's anything wrong with having aspirational um language because we do want to stand behind this as a board in my opinion um and you you know if if the argument that we don't need policies because we're doing it anyway then we probably don't need most of the policies that we have because we are following We are following policies We are following rules and we are following the law in chesher public schools um yeah I'll be supporting this policy I to than thank you to the policy committee I understand the length of time that it took to kind of navigate the legal Le of it all and the um board attorney for assisting with this um and I just want to just you know this policy acknowledges the things that we are doing and and I feel like it should underscore that you know this is a safe space this is an inclusive environment and we are being proactive and like an said you know there's nothing wrong with being proactive we don't always have to wait for the state to tell us what to do uh and we've we push on the superintendent to be Innovative this is one way to be Innovative to get ahead to to be really Progressive so again I I understand the work that went into this and I appreciate it and I I feel that we can move forward um I feel comfortable with what you guys have finally established within the Lang language so thank you for all your work Adam Tony wherever you are um and I will be supporting this so that being said there is a motion still on the table um if Miss heran can you read the motion again I think I can find it somewhere here that the board of chesher Board of Education give a third and final reading to policy 0523 equity and diversity and direct the superintendent to put said policy in to immediate effect all those in favor of the motion that is on the table three in favor all those who oppose the motion that is on to oppose motion passes next policy there is um needs to call for a motion yes uh the other policy for third reading and vote is 5114 suspension and EXP expulsion due process um this policy was reviewed and it's regulation containing statutory changes uh we did have Connecticut Association of boards of Ed c um they originally combined two other policies uh for easier reference the policy contains language that reduces the maximum number of consecutive days for in school susp suspensions for preschool to grade two and shortens the maximum out of school suspension from these for these grades from 10 days to 5 days um we have also been looking at this for several months and it has gone through all the readings and reviews and um I'm comfortable with this policy but let's see how this one goes you read the motion so I would move that the chesher Board of Education give a third and final reading to policy 5114 suspension and expulsion due process and direct the superintendent to put set policy into immediate effect is there a second Mr gripple second is there any discussion on policy number 5114 the motion that's on the table Mr gero um I just want to say I uh Dr herrian I I'm not sure if you said this already but uh this policy is very long um and what was written I guess through years or months or whatever of legislative committee where they've gotten down to a lot of minutia on how to handle ex uh expulsion cases um Dr Sol we we discuss this at length as well so um there wasn't a whole lot of changes to me made um there wasn't aspirational page that I think we kept in right so it was essentially untouched at the end of the day right I don't think we changed much of anything basically we had to combine two policies and um integrate the legal updates like the ones that um Dr herrian mentioned there the around the changes really things that honestly don't impact us ever we we don't suspend a lot of preschoolers right but we still want this policy yeah we still have to adopt it by law any other discussion on the motion okay so we have the motion to um approve policy number 5114 those in favor of the motion that is on the table unanimous thank you motion passes um next item if there are any other committees that need to be reported on nope okay we're going to move to um the approval of minutes for November excuse me November 21st I do need a motion if somebody could Mr Gro can you move that the Board of Education approved the minutes from meetings uh from meetings held on November 21st 2024 is there a second on that Mr White second um do we have any additions or corre CS that need to be made at this moment in time no okay um those who approve the minutes the motion on the minutes of November 21st 2024 all in favor unanimous motion passes thank you [Music] all uh next item Mr secretary are there any corresponden to be read sir um I am not in possession of any and I don't see digital any in my packet um I recall an email that we received I don't have let me see hold on Mr ziny no it was oh GE I forget the topic it was written by um let me see if it comes up here I don't know if it was oh uh Mr bester was that that was was that meant to be read or not yes it was okay I do have that you have it okay yeah I have it um uh to the members of the Board of Education and District administration I must admit I was disheart by some of the audience discourse at the last Boe meeting that called for book Banning in our school libraries I remain a firm firm believer that understanding others through Reading is a uh crucial Pathway to compassion and empathy that will allow us as a society to move forward in acceptance of and solidary with who may with I can barely read this evening um who may think and believe differently by giving in the fear we threat threat to relegate anyone who dares to live or Express themselves differently to a world of rejection and hate this is not a s sentiment uh that is shared by any moral spiritual or Humane standard that I know is particularly unnerving at a time in our history that is dominated by Relentless myth and disinformation the presence of many online groups that are organized to promote promote minority viewpoints as if all all of us agree with with their thinking I just want to to caution you that those who are not as passionate about such views should not be ignored just because we choose not to attend or listen in on public meetings please continue to respect and honor those of us who want our children and grandchildren exposed to a wide variety of multi-ethic viewpoints and cultural experiences I hope we can all agree on this that the daunting task before Educators is to prepare the upcoming generation for the time in which they will live I can only trust that you will not fall prey to the anxieties and fears of those who are too frightened to face the realities of an increasingly complex and mostly unknowable future John bester and that concludes correspondence thank you sir you're in the middle of chewing so but we are on to the superintendent report sorry I'll at school lunch talk and not having dinner catching up with me but anyway um we were oh thank you um this evening we're going to be um providing an overview of the pupil attit attitudes uh to self in school survey it was something that we had adopted last year and and really I'm really excited about this new frontier that we're engaging on I mean the for the school system we have been focused on uh social emotional learning as a goal for uh N9 years now and never really had a way to gauge what sort of progress we were making uh in that regard and this represents a tremendous opportunity for us to uh gain some understanding about how our students do perceive themselves and in their school environment um and it also allows us as buildings to focus on how do we best support our students to make sure that they are feeling uh positive about their school uh in experience because that only helps them be personally and academically more successful so you know what we're going to talk about tonight and what you'll see in our data is that um a lot like our academic data uh we do really well we do exceptionally well really across the board um we didn't become the eighth best school system in Connecticut per the district performance index by not reviewing our data and even though we're doing well identifying places where we think we could do better and that's a real Testament to every teacher par educator um an administrator who works in the school system as well as our our students and families so Marlene is going to uh take you through this uh overview of the past um and uh I I want to just uh add a few sentiments at the end some some thoughts that we've kind of distilled down after going through this process with our principles and um our staff over the course of this you know basically first semester Mary everybody still awake so you recall that um back a couple of years ago we had the presentation on this survey and we were very excited about it because we'd been working on social emotional learning for so long and we really didn't have a way of gauging whether our efforts were panning out out and we felt that we needed some way to determine how our how our kids were doing you know how did they feel what were their attitudes about school what were their attitudes about their teachers um because we're really focused on removing barriers to Student Success that's really what's at the heart of this so um you can see that there in that first page or second page that the success of how our students their our students experience is is really determined by their attitudes and the attitudes that they bring to learning and this assessment is got multiple ways of measuring students attitude to school to their learning and to their success and so we're using this this measure to look at it from the district from a really high level overview which you'll get tonight and then each of our schools looks at their own individual School data and then we look at that even further to the individual student so the way that this pass assessment is set up it's looking at nine what are called attitudinal factors so feelings about school how a student feels about their own learning capability their self-regard as a learner if they feel that they are what their behaviors and attitudes and learning situations are their attitudes towards their teachers their General work ethic how confident they are in their learning and their attitudes towards attendant attendance and their whether or not they feel that they're prepared to respond to the curriculum demands the way this assessment is set up it it sort of groups some of those factors into three buckets connectedness do they feel connected to school do they feel a part of things do they feel included and then their self-efficacy do they think that they can do it how confident are they do they feel prepared and then there's these General motivational factors about how much you know what their attitude is towards their work ethic and if they feel like they're putting in their best so on page five you can see that there are some color codes that go with the results and so the lowest level of satisfaction is we're talking about students or cohorts in the lowest 5% and then that green band is really pretty pretty wide it's the 31st to the 100th percentile uh if you'll skip to um the graphs so if you go past page eight and you can see this page we're out of order this first cohort is our grade K through 2 students so when you look at the overall percentages of students who who answered these questions their feelings about school in the percentage was really very high 94.6% preparedness for learning all of those are are high but if you look at the national um standardized measures below you could see that that's also still green but there's some variability there if you look at the next page you could see it broken down by school for that same for those same factors again that's a that's a healthy look there's some variability there and that's why the schools will be looking at their own individual School data and their individual student data if you turn to the next page this is a look at our grades three four and five so [Music] again you could see that self-regard as a learner their percent there was a little lower when compared that again that's that's just looking at the kids within those schools if you look down below in the green that tells you what how they measure up against other kids in the nation if you turn to the next page you could see that broken down by school so what stands out to us the yellow the yellow at Chapman School tells us that we need to look at what is what is this telling us about feelings about school because that's a lower a lower score when we look into that we see that it doesn't mean that it's the whole school doesn't even mean that it's the the a whole grade but you can kind of get to what that means so that would that is an area of focus at that school if you continue on to the next page that is our grades 6 through 12 so you're looking at secondary DOD and the high school the national percentages percentiles rather are at the bottom and you can see that there are some areas for Focus if you flip to the next page that gives all of the information 6 through 12 by school so each of our teachers I'm sorry well our teachers but each of our schools is looking at those and then they're coming up with some goals for themselves so if you look back on page six there is a goal statement there that this school is working on enhancing social emotional learning by addressing areas identified through the past survey data and they're looking at improving students attitudes towards attendance their feelings about school and self-regulation and that is aligned with our district Focus area and they talk about how they're going to analyze data what strategies they're going to be working on they're going to be engaging in professional development about integrating those seal practices into their daily routines and academic instruction and how they're going to engage families to supportal initiatives at home if you flip to the next page this is a middle school example the strategies and activities are certainly more um more um more detailed but by utilizing a responsive teaming approach and analyzing the past data and taking their knowledge of theal components they're going to work to support and enhance students social emotional learning and they're looking at improving their self-concept and fostering a positive School climate so one example of doing that is they've developed a loft a lunch Loft in the cafeteria they took some feedback from students about how loud it was in the cafeteria they made some changes to the amount of students who will be in there and they gave Alternatives such as the lunch Loft to help out they've also engaged in um professional development about an engagement rubric and how they went over that with the students during advisory about gauging their own level of Engagement in in the work because the work can be challenging and so that's something that I've heard many of our middle School teachers talking about as something that they were excited about doing this in this time before winter break and just two examples of some of the um some of the action steps that principles and teachers are taking to improve to to remove those barriers to learning that were identified in those in those past results com thank you thank you for this Marlene I'm curious I I may have missed it we're comparing ourselves to the nation here yes typically we're comparing ourselves to the state and other metrics I'm just curious yeah there's no um we this is a an assessment that's not required of all districts it's not required of all other towns so the the the metrics that are behind it are really for national standards and um sorry n it's um you know National standing and we don't have any they didn't give us a data set for the state no okay that makes sense um and also I appreciate this and I've seen in action in our own home what's happening at Norton and it seems to me like it's a good thing action steps being taken in the classroom so thank you for that we we've been focused on strategies by building so is is Marlene shared a couple of different um versions of building goals uh and as you know I said sharing some thoughts at the end um in the fall uh between meeting with principles and going in buildings and seeing the PD a lot of the PD that we had in November at least at all the elementary schools was coaching teachers in how to read this data um and we can drill down to the student level so you can see in your classroom uh where kids are uh and tailoring skills coaching to support that um and so when we were talking about do we look at districtwide goals we could establish districtwide goals um the building goals have been really powerful uh that we've seen because it's really focused to that cohort of students yeah as long as stuff is anonymized it's it's not going to be nearly as helpful as when the teachers have the right the individual information and it's I I feel like it could be really powerful and thus far it's been it's been surprisingly good uh and when I say surprisingly I'm speaking on more on behalf of a fifth grader so anyway thank you so I want you to think about this sort of from an srbi model so so most of what's Happening Here is to strengthen that tier one instruction that happens every day in the classroom and that's what we're doing some professional development around and that's what that engagement rubric was targeted to but then we also have that tier two and tier three where school counselors might pull kids who you know need an extra boost or different they might counselors might help teachers with navigating some leadership opportunities for students who might not necessarily navigate to that but who need that in their life and in their school life so um we have training focused for talking about training Focus for our school counselors for our school psychologists so it's really that tiered levels of support to remove those barriers and we've done a fair amount of training for our admin team too uh going through not just how to access the data but that second step how how does that um data turn into an action plan and that's what they ultimately engaged in with their their teaching staff so that um you know like I said it's it's turning the information into action that supports the students and and that's why it's so exciting because like I said we we were focused on strategies in the past but the strategies were um disconnected from data to tell us how that was going um it was all good stuff uh and I you know I know that when we initiated that many years ago we were at the Forefront um but didn't really have data to tell us exactly how we were doing and how to support students at that individual level we have school climate data but uh that is anonymized uh and that is valuable uh but it doesn't support individual student growth the way that this does which is has really been rewarding yeah I mean this in my mind what this does is at a high level it'll you to move resources around move people around and take action where it's most beneficial most needed and most beneficial so anyway thank you for doing this it seems to me like it's working really well and there are you know sheets of data here I mean you're looking at a lot of data points uh the nine indicators uh in various buildings and stuff like I said at the outset there's only one area in all that data where yellow shows up this this is green yellow and red in the reporting um you're not going to see red I the data overall is solid however you know we are always looking to find places to to evolve and to grow and that's where we're focused um with the buildings and supporting that you like a little snapshot of everything if I brought the actual reports they would be lengthy thank you Mr um Marlene can you just explain the difference between the mean percentage and the percentile score because it doesn't seem to well in my mind reconcile all that well because it's like I see one it's like U the mean percentage for feelings about school on on one of these was 87% but then it says the percentile score is 41.6 which would seem to be very low if from the way I understand a a percentile score normally so what what am I missing yeah you're you're not alone Adam we we we we had the um we spent some time with this and we had to revisit it a few times so the best way and Jee you can help me out here the best way I could explain it is these are all the percentages of kids who responded let's say affirmatively and this is that information compared against the National Standard so or or the or the or all the other kids in the country this is just our school this is against all the kids in the country right but then that would mean that it's like a pie in the sky standard because wouldn't this then um sort of allude to that the the percentile is like near 100% yes on everything which does not seem to be realistic at all I would think our results are pretty good but compared to this percentile that doesn't seem to make any sense yeah we've had those same conversations and the the data you know is normed and you know we we've gone back to the um the uh you know the rep who's been awesome by the way and helping us and you know we've had other conversations internally about do we do we kind of reshape the norms for our own local expectations a little um so you know this is really new um we've had two administrations and we're still you know kind of getting our feet underneath us as it relates to that but uh I I we we appreciate the question we have the same question okay I I definitely agree with you Adam I think you know feedback to the company would be that they need to adjust the bands the bands are way too the sticker shock of it all is like it's we're in the green if we're at the 31% which is not comforting to see at all and I know we dig a Little Deeper but if there's any way to align it we've done some of our other sorry so we've done that with some of our other assessments knowing the students that we have here and how they come to us and we've made adjustments to the band levels and so Jee and I have talked about doing that after we get through this second year because we we could also you know look at sort of like cut scores like we're not going to consider anything below this number truly as a green you know I mean there's such variability there that you know let's get through this year let's look at how these goals shake out for those individual schools and then maybe we look at if you have anything under you know 75% this is where your focus should be's one more question so does that mean that there's like one or two questions in each of the question sets that's heavily weighted and those are the questions that are throwing everything off is that kind of like what you're thinking because it seems like maybe there's a uh let's say the question set is like 20 questions and 18 of them are affirmative but there's two that are really the ones that they're looking at and those are the ones that are off or you know are are not what they were expecting yeah I don't know if that is exactly it I mean on the K2 there are 27 questions on the 3 through 12 there are 32 or sorry 50 questions so it is yeah it is it is different and certainly right okay I I can't expl fair question and that's we have the same question on some of that but um you know we do think that it's it's an entry point right and it's uh a place for us it's really uh ignited a lot of really good conversations and efforts uh around coaching these skills which before it was um it was definitely something that we were focused on obviously but it wasn't it wasn't always tied to how students are perceiving it and this is has really helped us to to establish goals and to really focus on these things with these strategies and we're going to monitor to see how those strategies influence results sorry just one last question so is this like 99th percentile is good and one percentile is bad or is it like you know if you're in that one percentile you're the best you know how is it reverse or how are we supposed to look at it the average if if you look at um the with the colors on it I believe it tells you what the average is and so but again that average is a pretty a pretty wide band yeah it's too wide it's too wide that's all it is again though when schools are making their goals they're not making them based on being in the red and the orange and the yellow they're making them based on looking at the green and picking the two or three areas where they're the lowest in the green to improve upon them so regardless of the color we're not going to get too hung up on that we're still going to look to in the low areas the relative weak areas to improve those and I I think from what I remember from uh seeing this information curriculum there's just a lot of information to be able to dig into to get to really get at what it what we need to improve upon yeah for example if when you look at the individual student reports um anything that that has not no green in it you're able to know who that student is and then follow up so any other comments questions thank you Marlene um Dr Solen yes um there are several other items uh that I want just quickly uh shoot through uh I did make an announcement to the community yesterday that uh treasure High School principal Dr Gad was intending on retiring at the end of the year um but kind of found uh what was more of a dream job for her but that starts on February 3D um so she made the difficult decision to um move on in the middle of the year and uh we have appointed our K through 8 curriculum coordinator Kevin Handlin uh who's with us tonight um to be the interim principal well we were already engaging in a search process um I roped in a number of students and staff to help create a recruiting video which we sent out um to all people who hold the administrative certification and uh the video has had over 900 views on our YouTube channel um so the position will be posted in January for people to be able to apply uh and um it's already available internally and we'll have an external post and work through the process our plan is to appoint that person for a July 1 start date but um you know if they happen to be available sooner that'd be great but uh not necessarily part of the plan or a requirement uh wanted to report that we had 25 visitors from uh China last week it was really a unique experience uh I want to thank all of our students who speak Mandarin and cantones at at the high school for helping facilitate that um they were here to uh the the visitors were here they're all Educators from from China at various levels and they were interested in um how to infuse more fun into education uh I tried to convince Vin to dress up as Tin Man again but um I guess we weren't that fun um so that didn't work out but uh they did learn a few things and uh it was a great experience to have lunch with them and our kids to have lunch with them it was it was fun um we celebrated our groundbreaking on our two brand new schools this week uh Monday uh just again want to thank the community and you know the countless people who uh have played a significant role in getting us to this place where we are uh improving our community and improving our school system improving opportunities for kids uh through the construction of these allowing us to um best meet their needs not just you know academically but you know with the community needs and Recreation I gave everybody a packet that is the itinerary for the groundbreaking and the uh acknowledgments on the back but I also in that packet have included a couple of items that I'm assuming the um the nextg school building committee uh um approved this evening uh they had been reviewed by the Town Council um these are notifications that are going to people who live in the neighborhood around the two schools uh that include a uh timeline of construction it includes uh in one case the uh on the Norton uh drawing it's got uh it shows where the fence will be for the construction zone and things like that so it's pretty informative uh and I just wanted you to have this in case you do get questions from Neighbors uh or have questions yourselves uh about uh construction there are contacts here uh that can help their their onsite to be able to guide people through any questions that they may have so it's a great resource that resource is also available on our Chester Public Schools website under school modernization you can check that out uh lower leftand corner School modernization and and those resources are there um in there the documents you you will see that uh we held the gr groundbreaking this Monday but the actual construction itself won't begin until January 10th at both sites so we're really excited about that you know that that it's the day is is really pretty close to here um of course the closer we get to that that point of opening our buildings uh the closer we are to red districting our schools uh to uh best me our our needs and balance our our uh buildings so that will uh be initiated this spring and when I say initiated I mean starting to work with uh vendor on um pulling together the the enrollment data uh so that we can start this process so that by next Fall by the time that we're engaging in the budget process we have a sense of how many people do we expect at each building and making sure that um working into that next year that subsequent Year's budget that we're all in a place to be able to make good decisions about uh what sort of resources are necessary in those places so uh that's the plan with our our school construction stuff uh finally I want to just acknowledge um one of our members of the audience this evening suu Yang uh Mr Yang has been been visiting us from gangan do province and um South Korea all semester when I tell you this man is um the consumate professional uh he's just such an impressive educator uh his character and his commitment are incredible uh he has a massive fan club at Highland School and will be desperately Miss uh when he returns home uh for the holidays uh this will conclude his program here in uh United States and we just want I just want to say thank you so much for uh everything you've done for our kids and our community uh not just academically but the cultural component has been awesome so thank you very much suo thank you uh and finally uh I'm I'm assuming I'm not entirely sure why our other student rep Malachi baa wasn't here today but my guess is he's resting his face because uh two days ago he found out that he was accepted to MIT and I haven't seen him stop like grinning ever since that an incredible accomplishment so um just want to give a shout out and congratulate Malachi I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to do so next month but I wanted to share that great news with you that concludes my report thank you any questions comments for the superintendent Mr Gribble uh just a question on the uh po the student population study the redistricting redistricting study yeah um I know um most of us were I think all of us we're we at the uh the reception uh over at Byron's uh what was that couple was that last night couple night last night yeah last night and it's certainly a topic of discussion was all the new development going on in town uh good or bad depending on who you talk to but um is there I'm assuming all of that development had been sort of taken into account when we we calculated the size of these schools because when I drive by the North End and I'm like gee those are some big condos over there like that can hold a lot of people like so was that sort of like already taken into account when we when we sized everything or sure great question yeah so we worked with de demographers pretty closely in that process when we initially designed the schools if you remember but then um you know that was a couple of years ago right and so things have been approved since then and things have evolved a little bit but one of the elements that we built into the design at each building was a space to make additions if necessary and that could still be integrated into um the build if necessary so I think we'll be paying very close attention to that the the great news is that we've gone through a lot of the bidding process at both building so far and we're um pretty well under the budget at this point um and so there is room to be nimble to a degree uh if that need need is is um you know comes up through this process uh so I know that this updated review will include everything that's not not only stuff that's that's built but also approved um because there are calculations for you know how many uh occupants you can expect at certain size dwellings and stuff like that that you know we'll spend I'm sure Vin and I will spend a lot of time with the demographers and our planner and other relevant Town officials to make sure that we are capturing everything that's you know available to us all the everything that we possibly can when we do the redistricting but it'll also like you know I said inform the build if necessary thank you Dr Solen I just have one question do we have kind of a process for the uh princi ipal search as far as in phases uh how many interview cycles and so on before it gets to the board um we don't yet I mean generally speaking um we plan on uh like I said kind of casting a a wide net uh there's been good interest so far uh we will U try and what we try and do is bring in as many candidates as we possibly can for an initial screening uh just to make sure that the resume and the individual kind of aign uh are they articulate uh do they um we've already engaged in some solicitation of of feedback from the stakeholders at the high school level about the things that they're looking for in a new principal uh from parents staff uh students and we've actually been interviewing um staff so uh that we'll kind of gauge these people against that criteria and then we'll um engage broader stakeholders after we weed out folks that clearly don't meet that criteria but it was difficult to tell on paper um so that that'll probably be uh toward the end of February uh we kind of knew that the budget season in January would be pretty consuming so that's really when people will be applying at the end of that we'll start screening so I we'll get through that process and then move to stakeholders including the board right thank you I know haven't gone through the Norton process it was yeah pretty rigorous um so thank you um there is no old business so we move on to new business um I do have a few items just to kind of reiterate um already with what the superintendent had already said the first is the the I have groundbreaking news on the groundbreaking so anyway um for those at home and those who weren't able to join us on Monday we laid the foundation for our children's future with two incredible new schools so for me I felt like it was really an inspiring month for our school district and um celebrating the groundbreaking of the new North school and Norton Elementary Schools um and I truly believe like these events are a testament to the our collaborative spirit and our dedication to the community so um I just want to extend you know our thanks to everyone who played a role as the superintendent stated um our current and former Board of Education members Our Town leaders and just overall the supportive community so and and thank you again for investing in the future of of Education in Cheshire in addition to that um again the school naming process for the North End School has officially begun I believe um there was I think the solicitation of naming proposals was published in the paper already V not yet okay so but I encourage the public to participate share the recommendations based on the criteria that is uh or will be outlined um because I feel as though it's a unique opportunity to leave a lasting mark on our district so um your input is invaluable so thank you for your continued support as we embark on the these transformative projects um the next item I do want to address is um recent events such as the tragic school shooting in Madison Wisconsin um I feel that it reminds us of the critical importance of maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students and staff and I want to assure our community that the safety of our schools remains our highest priority um I do want to thank um take a moment thank Dr Solen our school administration and local law enforcement for their ongoing efforts to keep our schools safe um in their proactive measures in planning and and the dedication provided providing us a sense of security um that allows our kids to learn and grow um lastly as we approach the holiday season and the end of the year i' take a moment to extend my warmest wishes to our community this time of year reminds us to reflect on the progress we made the challenges we face and the strength of our Collective efforts so I hope everyone enjoyed is a restful and joyful holiday season filled with family and friends and the like so I look forward to all that we um achieve next year together in the new year so let us continue to work together for the betterment of our students families and community and that concludes my report so thank you everybody happy holidays thank you to the four that are here with us and the next item is adjournment we will yes sir I hear you I I just wanted to ask a question before um move to tournament um I'll say I'll ask this very delicately of Dr Solen has the Staffing challenges that we had at the beginning of the year um are they on schedule to be um uh reestablished by January if that riddle makes any sense to you you know I'm pretty fatigued um I don't want to draw the eye of uh others not not sitting here know what you're talking about yes so um I I would say uh halfway yeah I think yeah we're we're getting there we're we're getting there yeah that's uh still being resolved um all right contractually or or just contractually okay yeah got got you all right thank you thank you Mr gr before we adjourn I do want to acknowledge the upcoming meetings that we have um so on Monday January 6 7 pm.

Mr Bautista uh an email is going to be going out to our community with um a a general statement about what I just shared but then a link to all of the resources in different languages so families can readily access what I just shared with you and all the town halls and all the other links to Services um yeah ear as tomorrow so so we're excited about a lot of the work that we've been doing but we know that we have more work to do I do want to give a shout out I know Carlos is here but also osel Chavez who I know is not here but she may be watching but uh she's done tremendous work in this area as well so just thank you guys for your for your efforts thank you thank you yes uh to piggy back on that um we're grateful for our community schools infrastructure at this critical juncture for the district and for State of California uh there is a lot of anxiety out there with parents and students we do not know the response from the federal government but we are anticipating uh different scenarios I uh do also want to um thank uh Loa mels of Orange County and uh Dr Jose uh Marino who's a demographer at Kel State Long Beach and tonell studies and he shared some important data this orange countywide data and out of that data we were able to extrapolate give an approximate number of uh you know potential undocumented students we believe it's could be as high as 1,000 uh of our students um and the other piece too that uh Dr Marino pointed out is that there are a number of students who were born here so hence their citizens but whose parents one are maybe both are undocumented as well so all of these layers um that we are concerned about we're very fortunate at this point to have Community Schools infrastructure uh to reach out to all of our partners including our uh um Partners in the U faith based communities whether it's Catholic churches or Protestant or the mosques out there uh to reach out to them as well because as uh Dr freed pointed out it's a matter many of our undocumented parents and students uh through fear will uh be less likely to be involved in school activities they will be less likely to maybe even uh fill out FSA forms you know anything having to do with the government so the churches are really really going to be important important as we go forward together and this um uh uh resolution really affirms the districts and the board's uh commitment to all of our communities um and as a student um so eloquently Ju Just explain that schools should be a place of love and compassion for all students thank you very much if I may um share thank you for sharing the resource uh Dr fre thank you for sharing the resources and the town halls available for students and I just wanted to quickly highlight the um the resolution we're passing tonight uh part of it is um the Anaheim Union High School District border chies directs the superintendent to promote a safe School District consistent with policy 81453 um including access to education safeguarding confidential information and restricting access to students or school grounds for purposes of immigration enforcement um so I just wanted to highlight that part of this resolution um and thank you to all the students that spoke tonight on this resolution right thank you anything else okay seeing none this is a resolution so it's roll call Mr hosi I Mr Guerrero I Treo and I always will vote I on things like this v i that's four Z thank you next is 15.4 uh revised board policy multiple policies first reading information only next 155 agreement Jeffrey Pope so move second motion second any discussion seeing none all in favor say i i i oppos Z 15.6 agreement Matt Hazard so move second we have a motion in a second any discussion seeing thatone all in favor say I I I opposed that's 4 z uh 15.7 has been pulled prior to adoption of the agenda 15.8 memorandum of understanding mou Orange County Department of Education the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation so move second have a motion in a second any discussion seeing none all in favor say I I iOS no one's opposed uh pres uh president uh O'Neal 15.7 uh remains as an active item for consideration yes okay we'll come back to that so 15.8 all all in favor say I I I okay 4 Z go back to 15 we didn't pull that one okay that was my error 15.7 is agreement Mark Gunderson slow moved second any second we have a motion a second any discussion I just want to say I've I've known of these names of all of these professional people and they are our district is very lucky and fortunate to have really distinguished musicians working with our students so I I'm very impressed with the quality that we're getting in here to work with our kids thank you anything else all in favor say I I opposed that's 4 Zer 15.9 service agreement Orange County Department of Education action item California math science computer science Cal mscs so moved second motion a second any discussion see none all in favor say I I I opposed that's 4 z um 1510 agreement Dr Megan Stone so move second motion second discussion see none all in favor say i i i oppos 4 Z 15.11 contract independent vision therapy evaluation Dr Douglas Stephy second motion a second discussion seeing none all in favor say I I opposed that's 4 Z 1512 initial contract proposal Au uhsd to CSA information 15.13 public hearing initial contract proposal auhsd to cssea open the public hearing anybody wishing to speak no see none close the public hearing 15.14 initial contract proposal CSA to ahsd information item 1515 public heing initial contract proposal CA to ahsd open the public hearing anybody wishing to speak seeing none close the public hearing 1516 initial contract proposal auhsd to apga information item 15.17 public hearing initial contract proposal ahsd to apga public hearing open the public hearing anybody wishing to speak seeing none close the public hearing [Music] 158 initial contract proposal apga to auhsd information only 15.9 public hearing initial contract proposal apga to AHS D open the public hearing anybody wishing to speak seeing none we close the public hearing 15.20 proposed 2025 26 student teacher calendar slow moved second we have a motion a second any discussion just one uh quick question um if you can Brad if you can speak to how we're trying to best our line to our feeder districts uh sure so as you know we have um we have several uh districts in our in our feeder pattern so our our calendars in many regards are are largely aligned but there are some areas just due to local needs and what's been locally kind of agreed to um you know with local unions um are a bit different uh you know as an example uh Elementary uh Anaheim elementary um has a three-week winter break we have a two-week winter break uh so uh uh you know each year we actually do um uh you know take a look at the calendar we do take a look at other calendars uh we actually have a committee that's going to be uh be forming uh and we're going to be taking a look at um all of the local calendars and if we want to make any proposed uh recommendations for upcoming school years okay thank you for sharing so quick question on that um so how how long have they've been having three- week breaks like our feeder districts is this new no no I I will defer to someone who works in the district okay it's been a long time oh so does that affect our Ada then as far as our attendance for kids can can yeah yeah so we see a little we do see the impact on that we have we have um reviewed those data and so there is an impact and so um we've been working as you know you know I'm part also the negotiations team for ASA as well and so you know sharing that information with camman and then the board um there is some impact and so we would like to see if we can I mean better our our attendance and for that week so we have to look at that ready and there are also some of our feeder districts that are still on that traditional um traditional traditional track that begins after Labor Day and we um could you speak jiren to why we changed that in our district to um align with um yeah so I was a principal back then when it was changed but um the reason why it was changed um there's a few reasons one uh as a secondary District right who serves students in junior high Senior High um this the counter was more aligned to the the system at serving high school students and their preparation for higher education uh so there was great alignment where you often see challenges are the unified school districts K K12 uh typically you see the elementary school folks struggling with that shift but it's the secondary folks that usually want that kind of a shift um there was also concerns around um uh families who were their vacation time so by shifting and having the earlier start ending at winter break like we do tomorrow the semester is over so we had before then a lot of students who during the winter break were having to study and make up work because when they came back from winter break they had three or four more weeks of school before finals began and so this is a clean break where they leave at the semester and they come back in January it's a brand new semester so those are a few of the key reasons though I know they made the shift and we did at that time it was Russell Lee who was the assistant who of HR and I remember there was a big study group that did the same thing when they made that shift um I do think Cypress Elementary I could be wrong I think they just recently shifted to a 3E um also holiday break so I don't think they're all on the twoe break I think some of actually shifted I think Magnolia is still on a two but yeah just cypon that's why they made the shift my daughter was just remembering all the homework that she had to do during the holidays so she never finished also too I mean East Coast Schools had an advantage for kids that me being at Oxford I mean the the AP test they had like two we advantages of additional time to study reason so that was yeah I think also starting in the summer uh in the east coast if students were going traveling to another to the east coast they couldn't start uh summer uh school or summer college so thank you for explaining that okay all in favor to say I I opposed that's 4 Z consent calendar anybody wishing to pull I'm going to PLL 169 and 16 point 10 uh 163 for me 163 motion for the balance second okay all in favor say I I opposed okay 16.3 so move second Motion in a second discussion I just want to again um thank Nancy and the finance department for um allowing our uh classified employees to have this um program uh not many school districts opted into this um mine being one of them but I have heard over and over um how valuable uh this program is it costs the district money to um to implement it um but I think uh it's Priceless in the value um that our employees receive from this um it allows them to have a get a little nest St get through the summer which it was originally intended um but also I heard during the really hard times during Co um having this extra funds um in the bank really helped our families um our employees and their families so um really appreciate um that we all decided to do this as a board as a school district I'm very very proud of this thank you anything else saying none uh all in favor say I I opposed okay 16.9 1610 so move second all in favor say I I opposed abstain I that's 301 moving on to uh 17 Board of Trustees report Mr hosi oh well um starting at the beginning of the month um gosh it was a a big campaign season and I so I took a little break to Hawaii then I came back and uh was raring to go so first thing I started at was the discipline task force and I I really do like serving on that and listening to uh some some issues that we're addressing um Oxford Cypress catella and Anaheim uh did a districtwide nutcracker performance and I thought it was really uh nice to see the collaboration Oxford's Orchestra dancers actors that collaboration was great uh we all went to the um csba uh conference and um I was fortunate to attend the new board member orientation and um all the things that I didn't know you know we always go through this thing well you know um you don't know what you don't know and I just realized even after being in education for 40 years I don't know a lot still and but uh one of the things that was very inspiring was really a lot of the presentations of AI and how it's going to to affect so many different things I mean like kids are going into college and by the time they graduate graduate that degree becomes obsolete because things are being changed so quickly so I think we have to think of new ways and new ways to like approach Ai and give um our kids a tool set that they're they're ready uh for the future um came back and after after the um um the board uh after going to the conference I went to the Kennedy singers uh their um choir performance and then started last week on going to a concert every night Monday night Savannah band to Tuesday night ball choir and their ukulele group and I loved just coming back from Hawaii hearing meliki Maka and Cypress choir show um after the board meeting last Thursday orang view music department and uh I just really put me in the Christmas spirit and again we all went to the Gear Up um conference I've never been to anything associated with girp so it was really nice to me meet people and all the support we get from gearup and I do want to give kudos like uh Rand M Rand tro said to our very own Jessica Guerrero who was our keynote speaker and she did a phenomenal job so thank you so much for representing Anaheim thank you Mr yes um um I also had the opportunity to attend the Nutcracker performance which included um students from various of our schools uh Oxford Cypress High School Western High School catella and Anaheim uh like trusty hosi said uh we all attended the csba conference I know ahc had a few presentations so thank you uh to the team for presenting and uh Mr Rand tro for representing the board um also shout out to anim High School who um opened the conference with their n jr2 njrotc team um and also their Simon Builders program was showcased throughout the conference for the tiny home that uh they just completed and it's just if you ever get a chance to see it I highly recommend all the work that the students and the assignment Builders program had done for our school um and I know we we actually just passed um on the consent calendar an agreement with them to work for Anaheim and Western High School next year so excited for that to come um I also attended the insurance committee meeting um and then attended the caly potin gab 25th Year celebration I'm a proud of alumni of Europe up uh they did a um they're an amazing program that's helped me as a first generation student um and I was honored to be their keynote speaker uh to celebrate their 25th um anniversary um I attended um in my capacity with supervisor Cha's office he hosted a toy distrib distribution at laera high school where we distributed 3,000 toys to the community and I just want to thank the Lura High School classified staff and Community Schools team that just really helped in making that event success and spreading that thank you and uh spreading the flyer out to our community um yeah 3,000 those our biggest event um so thank you to Laura High School um and then I attended the Ed prange dedication at Lura High School who was our um late basketball coach thank you thank you Miss Rand Freo thank you I was uh also at the uh dedication at Lera um that was a really nice um event and we actually got to see um basketball too yeah um as uh my colleague mentioned um I uh represent uh csca csba that too csba uh delegate um and uh um where um we create some policy and initiatives uh to our legislators and I think the um overarching message is that um we don't we don't panic and that we um we will work with the folks that we have um the interesting thing about our new California uh legislation legislators is that they said that 70% are um have less than two years experience so it's an opportunity for all of us in this room to get to know our representatives and speak to them uh make your appointments with them early and talk to them uh about the issues that you brought up uh about the issues that of education and how important public education is um they don't know what they don't know as our colleague said so uh this is an opportunity right um to really educate them and uh let them know uh What uh what it means to you know to to to live and work uh within a school district that does so much for so many and you all know we're doing much more than um book learning in um in this District so um get out there and talk to them and uh appeal to them and really um give them uh invitations to your sports events and and your holiday events your your uh the things that are going on invite them to your classrooms uh so that they can see the work that we're doing here um as we attend that convention um we all uh uh grow a great respect for this District because it's very hard for all of us to find workshops that we we can actually um learn uh more about because we are doing so much in this District um I'll have but we did find some good ones this year um uh they Candi did a really great job uh this year um and I was honored to uh be alongside Dr Fred Dr sadu and uh superintendent mattsuda in presenting uh what we do with AI and with student voice um I also Al attended the Esports as along along with um uh some other folks here and I just think that's just a wonderful example of how we are as a district reaching out to students who wouldn't normally uh you know uh attend a club or or something of that nature and I actually ran into a former student um uh in elementary and had been thinking about him and wondering how he was getting along in in uh junor high and he was at that Esports event so um we're doing things right here in in our district um and uh attended my uh Roop meeting thank you Mr hosi for allowing me to serve again on that um uh board and also my Gela board and I want to wish everyone the happiest holidays um as we know we all cons are concerned about like the big ones you know Hanukkah and um Christmas um but there are probably over hundreds of other holidays that are that are celebrated uh during these months so um I think that's a challenge to all of you we are a diverse um District so um learn what's out there and and what other people are doing because we all we all um want kindness and respect in this in this world so um I wish that all for you thank you thank you I had the pleasure of attending a murder mystery at Kennedy and it was called Much Ado About murder and they've been doing this these it was just in one room uh so you were sitting at tables you could you could purchase dinner and the the actors were around you so it was it was very it was fun it it was really cool and I was told that they've been doing this for years but this is the first time I had ever heard about it so he said I'll make sure that the board's invited from uh in the future um we attended uh the Palama City meeting between the district and the the city which we try to do in all of our cities we tried about at least U once a year twice a year sometimes four times a year um depending upon the availability of of the city and the district uh I also attended the csba conference and they mentioned about some programs so just here are some some uh topics uh there was one called the Meyer medical Innovative research entrepreneur ship put on by North Orange County Ro and uh Coastline Roop uh school closures improving attendance mental health more School attendance customer service those are just some of the ones that I was involved in and I know they were involved in in other ones so it was uh I would think that I would have to say that this is probably one of the better uh uh conferences that I've attended with the opportunities that we had to go and and participate in in uh training uh I also attended the jrtc annual military ball where I was the invited guest speaker which which was fun enjoy that evening um it was mentioned about the Esports winner tournament we had here it was so exciting in that room I could hardly hear I mean I somebody standing next to me trying to talk to me I yeah right it was just lights flashing and it was really exciting and this and the kids were having a great time uh Miss rold TR on I uh attended the latest Roop board meeting last week where she was mentioned before that she was elected as president of the board for this next year so congratulations in that respect I attended a a walker Kennedy uh band concert what they just did a phenomenal job and also attended with Oxford Academy and they they just our bands are doing a great job and and you know our vapa program and the proposition 28 we're so fortunate to have that uh where we're able to to take care of so many kids out there that are in interest in this path and it's so important in their in in the developmental stage um also attended hope school on Broadway performance it was so cute I unfortunately I was the only one there from the board but it was um um every every Christmas they put on a program and this was this is very well done I I videoed a number of of of uh uh their segments just if anybody wanted to see it to see how how how great they did um I attended uh a staff lunch uh at Kennedy and that was uh paid for by Nesh Patel who who swore me in tonight his his um each1 teach one organization they they funded that and he's done that at Oxford he's done at that Kennedy he's he's worked with the boys and girls club he's uh done a lot of things for the community and then yesterday I attended uh the first graduation meeting I think it was the first yeah first graduation meeting of the year in anticipation of next May so that's off and running and uh that's wraps that up um I'm really looking forward to the next four years my next four years on the board it's uh we have a lot going we you know we just passed a bond that's with the state we're probably going to have over $600 million in funding to to improve our schools so I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do in the next four years with that and with that said happy holidays be safe out there enjoy the family your friends and your time away from work if you're an educator if you're not an educator and you have to continue working enjoy your time there also so happy holidays everyone number 18 Advanced planning any future meeting a future meeting date you see there as the next one is January 19th any agenda items we need yes I like um to have a vaa report thata report is that uh a board report or something in a Friday report no I like what's more yeah we could do a series of Friday letters so it's not all lengthly or we could do a a a board presentation a board presentation I'd like can I get a second on I'll second that and what would you like in that presentation just an idea um just the programs that we're offering how many students are involved what we're doing to support teachers I think it's an opportunity to um highlight the new report on the sort of the vapa Strategic plan that's yes yeah yeah we can do that we January or February is okay it'll take time to to put it together February when you guys we come back from winter break and then then board means like in a week and a half later so just make sure is that okay all right perfect thank you anything else okay seeing will I entertain number 19 yes I'd just like to um say that I'm wearing red in remembrance of our poor chuste Anna piery who always wore red this time of the year about her okay do I have a motion yes do I have a second second thank you all in favor say I I thank you everyone be safe

educational support center conference room with a new president and a new Clerk there being no further business to come before the Board of Trustees it is recommended that the meeting be adjourned I need a motion I'm a second all in favor I I