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 liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Wow, >> thank you very much. That was beautiful. We have a uh certificate for you, Mr. Board Clerk Ramos. >> Thank you, Miss Board Vice President.
Was it good? >> Yes. >> All right. Good. It's the second year we've done it. So, I think it sounds like it's it's a good incentive for students. Sports updates. Our girls team basketball went undefeated this season. Our boys soccer placed third in the tournament. and wrestling placed third in the tournament as well. So, our Colts continue to shine and work hard. Student leadership lighthouse team meetings continue. When we meet, we pick um we talk about who deserves the Ben's bell. So, there's a picture of the kids voted for Mrs. Flowers and Mrs. Wade to receive the Ben's bell. So, they come in and we read the kindness notes to them and present them with the bell. So, we will continue our producing our little leaders, the Amado Chili Cookoff. We're proud to announce Miss Michelle Wera, Continental Programmatic Assistant, for her first place award in the Amado Chili Cookoff.
Okay. >> Nice. 26%. >> No, I didn't say that. All right. And I want to say a couple of administrators attended the military ball which was great. Which was great. And I must say I did get on the dance floor ever so slightly, but I did. I touched it. But it was great. Dr. Coglin, Dr. Perkins was there, a couple other administrators were there, principal, but it was great. The food was delicious. necessarily. >> Yeah, usually you my partner in crime there. >> That's all right. We got one more next year. All right. So, that was great. Good job for all who put that together. I think this is it Chief Reed or Officer Reed. >> Poor Reed. Yeah, we had a uh presentation for him since this is his retirement year. So, you presented him with the plaque. >> Yes. Yes, we have um all we have two positions that are already filled.
Any questions on any of those items? >> No questions. All in favor? I >> I uh none opposed. Uh that's uh old business. There is no old business to go over for this uh meeting. So we're right on to new business. Uh got review and approval of official intent to reimburse uh expenditures. Um, and basically what this is is if we spend out if we have a project and we spend out any money before our bonds come in, after our bond comes in, we can use our bond to reimburse. Basically, we'll take out a rainy day to uh pay for I know we're having a facility studies and other things done. So, we can take that out a rainy day right now, pay for it, but then when the bonds come in, we take that money that we pay to reimburse basically reimburse ourselves. So that's what this is.
Oh, I see. The Easter Bunny can nap while you deliver his eggs. That's very thoughtful of you. See, here he is. A picture bunny in the side car. And Cat will help the Easter Bunny deliver all the eggs. Is that a kind friend? Absolutely. Bye. So, off they go. They're finishing doing their delivery all the Easter eggs. So, don't be surprised if you see the Easter Bunny coming up with hat in a motorcycle. You're back. You really are nice to help out the Easter Bunny cat. I'm proud of you. Does Cat look like he's proud of himself? Yeah. Now that you and the Easter Bunny are friends, I guess you don't need to be the Easter cat anymore, right? Hey, where are you going, cat now? What is he up to? Cat, where is he? Oh, good grief cat. What is he thinking now? Now he can be the Santa cat and help Santa out.
A significant cost uh pressure that we face uh is health insurance costs. Um again we have taken steps to manage those. U and when we went to the GIC we saw a significant savings uh below um or we saw a significant savings compared to what we were spending it on at the time with a group called the West Suburban Health Group. But we were also able to keep costs low and the increases relatively low for the first years. But what happened is as more communities started taking our lead and jumping onto the GIC in order to take advantage of the basically the the purchasing power of a larger consortium. What happens is that more employees that were on the insurance started using it. And so what happens is that drives your utilization rate. And what you need to remember is utilization rate, higher utilization uh rates equal higher costs.
We'd be here for for hours and hours and hours. Um, but we are going to give you um the most important slides that we think are important. Um, >> ours. >> Okay, I'm gonna turn now. Before you do, Al, where are the documents online? >> They're on our website. Where are they? They're under the school committee menu. >> Um, yes. >> School committee menu. >> Yes. >> All agendas, right? >> Agendas. Y >> bbbrsd.org. Go to school committee menu. Under all agendas, it's that very top link, P1026, meeting documents. And not only the agendas are in there, but you'll see some additional work that our principles and directors have provided as well too. Some backup for a lack of a better word um to some of the budget requests that are in there. So you can see the reasoning and the rational behind those as well.
>> You're right. Right. >> So that brings me to a huge point and a problem. you submitted to our auditors all these numbers of enrollment going down yet we're hiring more teachers. What's the justification there? One to three first grade to third grade down four students four to six up five 7 to eight down six 9 to 12 down seven 14 students in in all total going down. four minutes. >> And that's how that's how the board works. Cancelled last time. No rescheduling of the workshop.
Certificate reads, Isuza Unified School District Certificate of Recognition is proudly presented to Samantha Madreal for leading the pledge of allegiance at the Isuza Unified School District board meeting March 10th, 2026, signed by our superintendent, Arturo Ortega, and our board president, Sandra Benvidas. Good job and congratulations. >> Will my colleagues come forward to take a photo? Moving on to item 5.0, report actions of close session matters. By the vote of 4 to 0, the board of education approves student discipline case number 24-25-01-04. Now we're moving on to item 6.1, recognition of 202526 Isuzi Unified School District Parent of the Year. What we all been waiting for today, Miss Kamacho, I hand it over to you. Good evening, Vice President Rodriguez Pñena, Board of Education, Superintendent Ortega, Cabinet, and of course, our attendees. It is an honor and a privilege to stand before you tonight as we recognize the Isuza Unified School District Parents of the Year for the 2025 2026 school year.
Um, her chili is amazing. And thank you all who attended, worked, and supported Michelle in this event. Special shout out to Miss Clarissa Molina. Who are you, Clarissa? Good job. Fast worker. We knew we needed to get the chili served because the more chili we served, the more that people could taste it and could vote for us. So, nice job. Um, Jazz in the Desert was sponsored by Vaya Rotary and great job to Mr. Jordan Figureroa and our jazz students for a job well done. They performed during the matinea on Saturday as well. So, we were running from event to event. Our A+ celebration, as you know, it's official. So there's some pictures of our celebration and when we shared with the students about the A+ award. So please mark your calendars. Friday, April 24th from 9 to 10:30. Please come. We'll be getting more information out to you.
So, we're going to continue moving on and it's continuing to be successful. >> Okay, great. All right, moving on. Have administrative updates. Dr. Cogen is on you. >> All right. I just have two items. Uh today, next Tuesday, I've got a couple short videos to show to highlight, but I'll leave those for next week. But next t Monday. Yes, Monday. Um, so we do have our smart lab ribbon cutting. It's on March 19th at the Cree um, Creek and Mon Elementary School. So, we're really excited about that. Um, and then also on Saturday, it was a busy day. I was able to participate in the University Park Village. They invited me to come in and be on a panel with five other um, amazing women for the women's leadership conference. And that was at the um the golf course over there. And like I said, they uh they did a magnificent job.
This is basically just a a approval to reimburse ourselves out of out of those bonds into our rainy day. So uh I need a motion and a second uh to approve the intent to reimburse expenditures. >> I'll make a motion to reimburse the expenditures. >> I'll second. Have a motion second.
Isn't he a silly cat? That was just a kind of a fun story about the Easter Bunny and the Easter cat helping each other out. I hope you enjoyed that little story. I have another Easter story called Happy Easter. And I don't know if you can see see all these little green circles there. Peas. You know the vegetable the pee that we eat. And this is a story about hat peas and what they do for Easter. Aren't they cute? They all have wear different hats or their hair is a different way or they might have a bow in their head. And this is by Keith Baker. And he also has a lot of books about the peas. There's happy and they have happy all the different happy happy Halloween, happy Thanksgiving, but this one's called Happy Easter by Keith Baker. Happy Easter. Happy spring. What surprises will they bring?
And it doesn't necessarily mean that our employees are utilizing it more than what they used to. It just means that people in the pool, the large pool statewide are using it more than they used to. And so that is driving up uh GIC cost significantly. Um, in fact, if you look at that 2.5% compounded growth trajectory, um, we're actually exceeding those costs just looking at FY25. That's not even looking at 26 or 27 yet. As I mentioned before, we've used onetime revenue um just for last year's budget and this year's budget alone, we've utilized over $7 million. Um in FY25, um a lot of that came through unspent ARPA funds, which eventually helped fund capital needs and then also flowed to free cash. Um and that way we didn't lose it. And then we also spent a significant amount of onetime funds uh for our current year FY26 um almost $2.7 million.
>> Should we move out of the way of the screen? >> Sure. >> Okay. So uh as before um this budget will be broken into three sections. We have operating, we have prospective investments that we're going to ask for some school committee feedback on as we go through >> and then we will have capital. Uh I want to let you know that we get to capital for the school committee and the people in the audience. Uh there's a bit of a curveball and that's based on uh feedback we've received from the fincoms of both towns um as well as um sort of utilizing our funds in a responsible way. So, we'll have that conversation. Um, I'm also preparing a presentation for next school committee meeting that will explain how I'm utilizing those budgets in a little more detail, those buckets. So, the money is there.
And now you're pinning me, one of four people of taxpayers to three minutes. Totally unfair. That's how you shut the public up. And it's ridiculous. >> And and I'm going to say one last comment. Last year's budget packet, you said no new hires. Mr. Grossman personally you said no new hires one month after we hired an IQ guy that's in the >> Okay, moving on. Anybody else for public comment? I don't see anybody audience. We'll move online. >> Sure. >> Anyone online that have public comments? >> Yep. I have a raised hand from um Aaron. I'm going to allow Aaron to talk. >> Hi Erin. Just uh for the record, please just state name and address again for us, please. >> Sure. Of course. Hi, good evening. >> Uh my name is Aaron Wincent and I'm a Canton resident residing at 30 South Street. I want to start by thanking uh the board for your service to the community.
Our schools don't just run on curriculum and bells. They thrive on the heart, the passion, and the unwavering commitment of parents and families like those we are celebrating this evening. These outstanding individuals haven't just cleared a path for their own children. They have built bridges for our entire school community, leaving an impact that will be felt for generations. Whether they are leading the charge in volunteer efforts, advocating tirelessly for our student needs, or simply being the steady guiding light in the hallways and at school events. Their service represents the very best of what it means to be a community. They are our role models of selflessness, proving every day that when we show up with a shared purpose, we create limitless opportunities for every student to succeed. The stories of this year's honores aren't just inspiring. They are a call to action. They remind us that there is no such thing as a small act of kindness.
But we will have people here from P County Superintendent Office, a lot of um principles and people who have supported us along the way. So please mark your calendars for that. Our school facilities board project updates. The roofing project is underway. All the buildings have had any electrical issues taken care of. The wiring has been inspected, replaced, and has the new whip. All buildings have been pressure washed and new clothing is going down. Over spring break, they will be working at relocating the roof drains that currently go between the walls of the gym. And the project is currently ahead of schedule, which is um exciting because we're usually reporting that we're behind um with an estimated completion date in May instead of July. Greenhouse update. 11 planning beds have been ordered and received. Um our Rotarians from Green Valley Rotary and VA Rotary will be coming on March 11th to assemble them and place them in the greenhouse.
Kevin Battles kind of organized that. So um the golf course, they've done a really good job. They've got a new chef over there now. The food was amazing. So I certainly give a shout out to them and all their good work. Um so we're going to see if we could organize an event there at some point in the near future to help support our village and that good work. But anyway, that was an exciting day uh to do that. And uh we'll have a video of that day as well to share with you. That's all I've got. >> Okay. Thank you. So the salad the salad was good. That's pretty much all you eat. >> No, I I >> You cheated. You cheated a little bit. Okay. All righty. Okay. Business. We got Jason up. >> What's his show today? Get those expectations. >> Good evening, President Brown, distinguished members of the board of education, Dr.
Any questions on that? >> No questions. All in favor? I I >> none opposed. Up next, the review and approval of resolution regarding Southwest Park School's due process complaint matter and related issues. You want to tell us a little bit about >> I'll tell you what I can. Um, so Southwest Park is currently um dealing with a due process hearing for a special needs student and right now their insurance they're ready to settle and their insurance company has stated that they will pay for 50% of the fees of the attorneys and costs that have been decided necessary. Their insurance company is saying that the co-op, the special ed co-op's insurance should pay the other 50%. And the special ed co-op's insurance is saying we are not paying anything because they're not we're not directly mentioned in the suit. So now they're saying Cington because we're the LEA of the special ed co-op that we need to pay the 50% of the cost for the Southwest part student that their insurance isn't paying.