Thank you. >> So, uh, this deficit wasn't caused by administrative and board level decisions, not classified staff. I urge the board to reconsider the scope of these layoffs and align reductions with the actual causes of the deficit, not convenient narrative. Before I leave, I respectfully ask that when you return from close session, you report out a specific number of layoffs. Even partial clarity tonight would provide relief to employees facing enormous uncertainty. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, we will have JC Scott, then Jessica Padilla, and then Jennifer Klene. JC Scott, Jessica Padilla, Jennifer Klene. Good evening, Superintendent Nilson, members of the cabinet, trustees, President Sabers and her Avuda members, members of the community, and my brothers and sisters of the California School Employees Association. My name is JC Scott and I proudly serve as the chapter president of CSA Apple Valley 828 and regional representative for this area for the classified professionals who keep this district running every single day.
So just a matter of just reclassifying something from an incumbrance to an accounts payable. So I mean the recommendations that we have here like I said are material in nature. So we don't feel that um you know nothing material to make decisions. >> Thank you. I just wanted you to repeat that for sure. I appreciate >> Mrs. Bassford. If Alex is done I'd like to give a little state of the district myself. >> Sure. Um for for the Yes. Dr. >> Um so so I did have another question. Um last year they had similar like like small ancillary things. We don't have those again, right? Like we looked at it and and now we don't have I think one was like if we could have checked to a vendor and they never cashed it like we had we were supposed to go back to them and pull it from them or something.
[clears throat] Why were consultants of the same ilk paid large salaries to guide this administration? Why did professional development stop focusing on best practices to meet the needs of deaf and blind students? Who profited from programs and resources such as beyond textbooks that were brought in and implemented? At what point did ASDB abandon higher standards of proper certification for teachers of the deaf and blind? Will you be looking into these along other issues that are brought before you tonight or are you just going to be civil and follow board policies and procedures with no intention of taking any action other than what has been implemented or predetermined? Many staff members expressed concerns over the years only to be told there's the door. Those of you that have lined your pockets with state funds as they played their role in the downfall of ASDB are corrupt and heartless.
For now, let's put aside the fact that I myself agree with what they are protesting. Their actions show that they are committed to civic participation and this is behavior we should be encouraging in young people, not shunning. Civil disobedience is something that most adults are not brave enough to do. I also don't believe that whether they had parental permission should in fact make a difference. In fact, if they didn't have it, it means that in all likelihood, they are doing this because they have different beliefs and values than their parents. And schools should be encouraging young people to think for themselves. Please do not punish these kids. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, [applause] Amin Abdul Jawad. I would first like to say that I understand how difficult it is as an administrator in a school to um deal with a walk out from students, but I do feel like that um we were punished too harshly for doing so.
So, >> it's been pretty smooth. >> Good. Good. Uh, have you gotten to know some of the other volunteers that you work with in this past year? >> Yes. >> And what has that been like for you? >> It's been very good. I um I call Doc the Ashland celebrity because I he always pops up at different things. We're at um the the poor chetta dinner that the Lions had last year, >> he was there. We saw each other from a couple tables over but didn't come say hi. >> Uh but you know, you start to see people around town. I see Yushi every once in a while at restaurants and stuff, too. >> Nice. Nice. What's your favorite thing about working in vol well in about volunteering for the food pantry? Like I said, you know, after four decades in corporate world, uh doing something that's good for people instead of somebody's bottom line, that Yeah, that's what I like.
The annual financial report shall specifically include fund revenues, fund receipts, the amount of grants made from the fund, the specific amounts of loans made from the fund, and to whom the loans were made, the balance of money in the fund at the end of each fiscal year. So, have you seen that? >> No. And I asked for it. I have been asking for it for I want to say three years. I asked for it uh once I once I realized I didn't honestly I didn't have the uh the bill. It was sent to me by by our liaison in the house and I read it and I got to the end and I'm like so I started asking for it and at first I was told even by staff I don't know what you're talking about and you know I would refer people to it and then I started asking the select board I didn't get a response I gave them all I wouldn't mind but I gave people all the information it wasn't like they had to go looking for it.
Um only about 5.3 million in the grant for next year will be allocated to supplies, professional development um and some other operational items that that we use. Um, so that that is a large significant portion of the grant is salaries and benefits. I just wanted to get a sense of how that grant is used. Um, in terms of our federal grants, you can see the myriad of uh, entitlement grants that we have, title one, title two, three, five, um, idea, title four, and so on. um some of the grants that we were a little concerned about that we mentioned in previous meetings um on the titles of anything that's really uh formula based but also um things that have been uh talked about in the news as possibly being in jeopardy like title one, title two, title three. We had heard that title two was going away.
I'm here tonight to urge you clearly and without hesitation to vote no on the proposed reduction in force of 241 classified employees. This this fiscal crisis was not caused by classified staff. It was not caused by custodians, pareducators, campus security assistants, office clerks, ASB bookkeepers, or family center coordinators. These employees showed up every single day, did their jobs, and serve the students faithfully, often understaffed, underpaid, and overlooked. What we are facing is a result of fiscal mismanagement and failed planning. And it is unjust and unacceptable to balance the budget of the backs of the lowest paid employees in the district. Asking for accountability is not a personal attack. It is responsible governance. When CSEA raises concerns, we are not pointing fingers. We are asking the question any responsible employer should be asking. How did we get here? What warning signs were missed? And why the proposed solution is so one-sided.
>> Yeah. The recommendations that were in 2024 were corrected. The three this year were not repeat. No. Okay. That's what I want to Okay. >> Yeah. >> Anyone else? >> Or an asterct. >> Has an aster. >> Commissioner Axel, did you have >> No, I was just putting up. >> Does anyone else have any other questions? Do you want uh the representative to stay during your >> uh not necessarily. Thank you, sir, very very much. I appreciate your time. Thank you for your efforts. >> Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. >> Um for my fellow commissioners, the recommendations on the last page of the small booklet, so you can look. Um, with that being said, uh, Dr. Robotazi is going to give us a state of the district for everyone out there because there's been a lot of, uh, communications from other districts and, uh, we were all concerned about where we are financially.
Thank [applause] you. [applause] The next comment is also for Trish Ross. This is me, Trish Ross, talking. Um, members of the board, administrators and colleagues, I contemplated not using this opportunity to speak because it doesn't seem to impact any outcomes. We, the teachers and staff at the agency, the people who actually do the work with the students, have not had a voice. We no longer have a steering committee where people represent me. For some reason that I don't understand, the administration and the board were against creating an H policy so that the union could represent teachers and staff. The new administrative structure that we were presented with has promoted three people without allowing others to apply for the job. Also, I want to note that the three people that were promoted are all hearing. You've also created two more administrative positions, special ed supervisors. What did you do at the bottom?
So, I attend Mountain View High School and we um attempted to orchestrate a walk out, right? And days before the walk out, we were um actually the day of the walk out, we were notified that we would face suspension if we participated in the walk out. That suspension does not correlate with the usual punishment we have for ditching. Usually, if you ditch, you get maybe lunch detention, maybe you get um inschool suspension, but an out of school suspension goes on your permanent record. For seniors like me who possibly are going to prestigious universities, an out of school suspension could change our our life. It could change where we end up. And I feel like that punishment does not fit the crime of missing one or two classes. And it feels like we were unfairly punished just for protesting, not just for missing class, which goes against Tinkerv De Moan, which claimed that we would should not be allowed to be punished just for protesting.
>> That's great. Well, Bob, thank you so much for taking a few minutes to chat with us and we'll let you go stock some more shelves. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. >> We're going to close out this segment by speaking with Katherine Bird. Katherine, thanks for chatting with us. Katherine is one of our two assistant town managers. Katherine, what's your official assistant town manager title? >> Yes. So, the full title is assistant town manager for administration and operations. >> Okay, so operations, we are in the temporary food pantry. Tell us a little bit about how this came about. So, when Beth and I first started back in May of 2025, uh we spent a little bit more time at the community center just in our new roles and capacity. spent a lot of time with the team, heard from residents, volunteers, and sort of started to see that maybe you we didn't have enough space, the space wasn't used as efficiently as it could be.
Uh then I started doing a subset of the select board. I think I did it most recently two or three months ago and we should have I think this came out in 2020. So even being generous uh 21 22 23 24 25. We should have at a minimum five reports and maybe even the one from 220. And I I'll be honest, I don't get it. I I I've even CCd the our liaison at the house thinking well maybe that would do something. >> So >> can I can I just in response to that we have another quote on transparency. >> Government ought to be all outside and no inside. Everybody knows that corruption thrives in secret places and avoids public places and we believe it is a fair presumption that secrecy means impropriy. Woodro Wilson. So I am not accusing any improprietary but these are these are the perceptions.
We recently got a notice that um that that things were kind of had flatlined and they're not going to be touched next year. So we're continuing to monitor what that looks like. But where we could have some issues is um with our second language learner population dropping and a high needs population dropping and those being a large part of our formulas for titles. Um we could see a dip off in some of the grants next year and we won't really know that until until those grants open back up. But we have accounted for that in this budget and I will I'll get to that in a moment. And again, here's a list of our largest state grants that we have about 45 million um outside. So, family resource, school readiness, um school readiness is like a is a pass through grant. So, we're the fiduciary, but we don't actually operationalize those staff.
If 241 classified employees are being asked to sacrifice their livelihoods, health care and family stability, then this board must also ask where is the shared sacrifice? Where are the proportional reductions at the top? Where is the demonstrated accountability for those earning six figure salaries as presented? This proposal does not reflect shared sacrifice. It reflects a shifting of responsibility. Once these jobs are gone, the experience, relationships, the stability they provide will not be easily replaced. This board has a choice tonight. Pursue balance, accountable solutions, or permanently damage trust with the workforce and the community they serve. On behalf of the 241 families affected and the students who depend on them, I respectfully urge you to vote no on this proposal. Thank you. JC Scott, California School Employees Association, Chapter 828. >> Thank you. Next will be Jessica Padilla, then Jennifer Klene, and then Amy Carter. Yes, >> my name is Jessica Padilla.
So, we want to hear the state of the district. So, we want him to give that to you tonight. >> Thank you, uh, Madame President. Good evening, members of the board and community. First, I want to, uh, congratulate, uh, Mr. Shahada, the entire business office on an outstanding audit. Um, three recommendations, no substantial issues, obviously. No fraud, no theft. These are all things that we want to hear every year, but um, it because of the way it's managed. It's because of the oversight, and I just want to commend Mr. Shada and the entire business department for all that they do. Great job. >> Thank you. So, we've just heard from the auditor who is an outside independent firm that works directly for the board, not for the administration. And half of what he said went over my head. So, I would imagine there might be people out there who would like a little breakdown of how are we doing fiscally?
The teachers, the staff that keep the school running. Cut, cut, cut. There are consultants that the superintendent told us last year earned $300,000. Were there any cuts there? Moving to a new building, sending blind students and dorm students back to their districts, even if it is in clusters, seems to be doing the very thing that you said is a major cause of our funding problem, declining enrollment. The new building does not have athletic facilities, so we we will lose students for whom athletics is important. As the numbers continue to drop, I see the future, the end of ASDB. I know the cuts need to be made, but it seems you left the people out of the conversation that actually do the work. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Next is Carrie Hodkinson. Thank you members of the board for giving me a gracious two minutes to speak tonight.
Um I also feel like our school as a general does not adequate adequately handle um politics on campus. We are currently running a mock election in our government class where we use real politics to gauge kind of how our classmates feel about real world real world policies. And at every turn, it feels like we are being hampered by our administration and they're trying to end this program. I feel like that civil knowledge and civil engagement should be really pushed by administration to get our classmates to um engage more and go to these council meetings and like participate more in our own community. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Superintendent comments. >> Yep. All our speakers, >> right? [clears throat] President Mcronis, governing board members, members of the audience, it's been a busy month uh since we last met. We had an early meeting in January uh and and really coming back from the holidays, kind of a a full slate.
Um, and so that's how this idea came about. So, um, part of that is moving the food pantry here temporarily so that we can sort of reorganize, refresh that space, uh, make it a little bit more efficient. Um, and so yeah, so that's how that's how it came about. >> Great. And how has the move gone? I mean, you're set you're in day two, I believe. >> Yes. Yes. Actually, the volunteers are amazing. We have the greatest group of volunteers here in Ashland. Um, they actually started a week or so ago, uh, packing everything up, making sure that, you know, all the food was labeled according to expiration date. Um, and then yesterday movers came, put everything in here, and then today people showed up and within two hours we were pretty much unpacked because of the amazing help of the volunteers and staff. That's great.
This is this is a president of the United States right >> saying like asking the government to be transparent. And I think that's I think that's super frustrating that that's called a home rule petition right to get that special fund. >> Yeah. Absolutely. >> So I'm not sure why these things wouldn't be honored. They're public agreements not honored. >> Yeah. I and I think, you know, we have a right to know where the money's going, where it's being spent. And I I it's it's truly um concerning to me that I keep asking for it and I don't even get I I don't get any response. Like so anyways that that's problem at in another meeting we're going to talk about economic development but today we're just talking about the report. The next one is public records. I think Kate and I have you've done public records requests.