Here to answer any questions and obviously we'll get into the meat of these at subsequent hearings as you noted the contamination at the next one, storm water. This will give us some time to flesh out some of the details on the flood plan for that third hearing. Um and I would still request I think I still think we could do flood plan and riverfront in the same hearing, but um just because I I don't think there's a lot to the riverfront here. Um it's pretty straightforward whereas the flood plan's a little more convoluted. This isn't a typical This isn't a standard flood plane case. Thank you. I have a couple of questions. >> Go ahead, Carl. >> Before we get into the minutia, which we will in subsequent hearings, I imagine um we sent a sevenpage document with our comments on it. Um we didn't hear anything back.
And generic trainings do not produce people who are competent to interpret and translate. You generally need language-specific trainings, and the University of Hawaii's system does not have the people on board to do this right now. Plain and simple. So, I also would like to point out that I think the Seal of Biliteracy Program is a wonderful thing, and it has my wholehearted support. But, it is a far, far away from being the only way in which people become a bilingual. I, for example, grew up speaking both Spanish and English. I passed out of my high school requirement on foreign languages by taking a test. I did the same thing again at university, and that freed me to take upper-level division courses in Spanish, which I enjoyed very much. And like most interpreters, I fell into interpreting. It wasn't something I had planned on. So, I would also like to point out to you that these people who are coming up through this system, who are bilingual, have the same right to dream of other careers, careers where they could actually make a living.
There are lots better career opportunities even in our community. Um and we need to help coach kids onto those pathways. So if I transition that like the next layer, this is kind of like why from our students but from their voices more so um indirectly. This is a survey data that comes out of U science and U science is one of the vendors um that does a lot of career exploration and surveys and programming to help students figure out what are your strengths, what are your areas that you're most interested, what seems to be like the pathways or clusters that best fit your personality. Um you can see this is what students are telling us. Um, and it's pretty clear and pretty charging to us what we need to kind of address and fix for them. Um, and we believe Betavia students really aren't that different from the national data set in terms of those the needs and what they're telling us.
Get past permit. So, that's all I should be. Yep. Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Kelly. Yeah. You might tell me. Oh. There you go. Oh. Oh, no, it's it's on. Sorry. Uh and real quick, the I dot project is occurring here? Yeah. That's for the company needs, but we also don't mind the distraction that it's giving to everybody that drives by north that they don't see the what we're up to there. It's a major project that's up there. And it's multi-year, so they will not finish this autumn. They will be doing it basically starting now. Um and they will work on it till the weather gets cold. Uh and then they will work on it next year, too. So, it's uh it's supposed to be an improvement, uh but we're wait we're waiting to see what the end result is. They They talked about this a couple years ago.
Motion carries and for the members of the public, the board will be taking action on the item noted in the agenda when it comes out of closed session. Let's take a short break and we'll reconvene
The other thing that you I would encourage you to consider is IASB You're allowed to do a um a closed meeting with an IASB director. Do you probably have done them before, maybe? Um but they come here and it's basically uh you all get together, you talk about sort of procedures, policies, how you're going to work together, and some different things like that. And again, having a new superintendent here, um it and actually many new board members over the course of the year, right? That's a beneficial thing to to consider as well. They book up. There's two about two people that are available. They book up really, really quickly, so you just need to get a find a date that works um and get something on the calendar. And it's March, so you could probably still get a date in the summer if you could find a date that you could all work.
>> Put on that mailer. >> [laughter] >> What do you Not many but some do. >> It's just public meeting. It's public meeting. It's public meeting. >> Um, did you want to go ahead and schedule an additional special session following that then or were you going to wait until the April meeting? >> I think we wait till that night because this is is that that's not considered action for us to schedule. >> Correct. >> So we can schedule it that night if we feel like we have enough information. >> Okay. >> Is that are you guys in agreement with that or >> Yes. >> I mean I suppose the other option is scheduling games in between. We can do that too. >> That's more difficult to schedule than that. >> Okay. >> Sorry Jim. >> No, thank you. I I do appreciate the board's willingness to at least have these discussions and hear me out and know that the none of this is going to be none of this is easy.
Any opposed? All right. The custodial services RFP has been approved. Now, we will move to 4.6, approval of the request for RFP for the security services. Dr. Nesbitt. Thank you again, Madam President. Again, request the board's approval to publish an RFP for security services. I'll entertain a motion for approval. So moved. Second. Properly moved, Ms. Dunn, and seconded, Ms. Puckett. Any other questions or comments? All right. All in favor of the approval for the RFP of security services, say I. I. >> I.
Why did you think that that was uh adequate response? We sent that last week >> because if if we have fundamental differences of opinion on these things, we can't start a discussion on it if we're if we're speaking from different pallets. I we we acknowledge receipt of that. Um it was it was a lengthy document. Um as I stated tonight, we fully intend to address those comments. Um I understood tonight was not going to be a detailed analysis of that type of work and we would present that material in more detail at future hands. >> Well, an email to us explaining that would have been adequate. Um subsequent to that you also uh we asked for a RAM report. Your RAM report has been expired for three years and it's for a previous project. Why do you feel that that was adequate to send to us?
Which is >> Marcella, I'm going to have to ask you to summarize. Thank you. So, my my My comments on this bill are targeted at the issue of generic trainings. We need language-specific training if you're going to produce competent interpreters and translators. Okay. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Uh let's see. We have 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 others that have um sent in testimonies of support and one um it comments, anyone else wishing to testify on this measure?
My transition from this is like when you take all that background and rationale, we're going to now kind of back out a little bit here. I'm going to hand it off to Austin. Like this is kind of like the why we're here tonight. We need to unpack a little bit of about work-based learning for you and then we'll tie it back to pathways here in a minute. >> Thank you. Can I walk and talk? Will you hear me if I walk up there? >> I'm walk. >> I think I should ask before I start going. Hello. All right. So, this graphic might be very new to everybody. There's kind of two up there. The first one, the taller one, the workbased learning continuum. um that's the one that the state sent out and then we kind of broke it down for the high school level.
They're widening And they Well, they raised it up and whatnot, and it wasn't really conducive to that entrance and exit. So, we want to see what we end up with when they're really done cuz I know they changed the original plans. Uh and at that point we can consult with them whenever we need, and [snorts] and that's nice to have with Catholic property, and it does afford us uh options if we need to change something or or have an entrance that's at a different location. We were really dead in the water without it. >> [snorts] >> All right. Next up? Yeah, I'm going to go out of order. >> I want to give a quick update on the Cook County Treasurer. Um if you'll recall when I stood up here last month, I said, "Well, at the end of January, the city will get all of our money by >> [snorts] >> February 4th, which was a Thursday." Uh well, we did receive this morning uh well over $264,000 for last year, um and they currently owe us just a little under $3 million for last year.
Usually that's about 2 hours. Um 2 and 1/2 hours using 2 hours is good with that. And Jeff, I don't know how long you were morning if you remember how long you guys have taken. It's been about 2 to 3 hours probably. >> Yeah, maybe no more than 3. A little bit longer, yeah. Okay. Any other items? Oh, possible subject. I heard a rumor of high school starting later next year. So, if that's true, Mhm. then I'll put that on. It's not It It may be like a 3 or 5 minute start late, yeah. 6 to 7 to 8. Like item 5. We're still working on how it fits into the middle school schedule. Right. So, yeah. So, maybe discuss that. Just let us know because to me that's contractual in a way depending upon how it's structured. You know. I [clears throat] mean like where are all the kids going to go?
>> But it's going to have to be a team effort to figure out how to save that money dollars if you can't meet. I don't feel it's fair to anybody. >> No. No. >> Anything else? >> No, I think it's about enough for me. Thanks. >> [laughter] >> Our meetings got longer with Barry. >> I know.
Any opposed? All right. The RFP for security services is approved. Thank you, Dr. Nesbitt. 4.7, approval of board minutes. Dr. Mulholland. Thank you, Madam President. I present to the board for approval the monthly board minutes for February 23rd, 2026, and the executive session meeting minutes for February 27th, 2026. Okay. So moved. Second. Properly moved, Ms. Puckett, and seconded, Ms. Lawrence. Any final questions or comments on the previous board minutes? All right. All in favor of the approval of the board minutes from February 9th, or sorry, this one's off. From the previous month, say I. I. I. I.
Sure. Why don't you step up to the mic and introduce yourself? >> Yeah. >> Good evening. Um, my name is George Campbell, Campbell Environmental, and uh, I think the permitting here has taken a lot longer, uh, than, uh, the client expected. So, that's, uh, an explanation of so much time has taken place since the original grant plan. Um it's been updated. Uh the client's done quite a bit of work uh during that time. Uh continued to sample groundwater. Um also sample soil, sampled soil gas. So there's been quite a bit of work that has happened during that time period. Um but as was previously mentioned um you know as we get closer we're going to resubmit the ramp plan because obviously permitting isn't completed and and I understand there's issues uh that need to be resolved. So certainly understand that. Um but that's that's an explanation.
Hearing none questions members, any questions hearing no questions. I assume Senator Hashimoto has no questions on this bill. Okay, thank you. We are moving on to Senate bill 2139 House draft one. Invasive species appropriate funds University of Hawaii to conduct a study on effective treatment methods to reduce population of the Queensland longhorn beetle. First up is Patrick Chee from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Aloha chair, vice chair, Senator DeCoite. I'm My name is Patrick Chee. I'm from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Hawaiian Invasive Species Council. We are in strong support of this bill. The Queensland longhorn beetle is a significant threat. It is known to bore into and at sometimes possibly kill a number of species, many of them important to agriculture, our culture, and it has been found in our our native plant ohia. So, we really do feel that it's important for there to be further research into the life cycle of this this beetle and to find out that if there are any other techniques and control efforts that we can do in order to make sure that the Queensland longhorn beetle is controlled and contained.
So what we're here to talk about is the workbased learning continuum. When we started this work three years ago, we thought that workbased learning was the capstone class. It's not. Work-based learning is really this continuum K through 12. So if your kids went through BPS 101, you might have had that first career awareness and your students went to the public works and you went on a field trip. Might have been your first time first career exploration type of awareness pieces. So when we're looking at that first green box, um that's K12, that awareness piece. We're doing lots of awareness at the elementary and middle and high school. We're more focused on the middle and high school right now when talking about our work-based learning continuum and that transition to field experience. So our career awareness um and career exploration, those are like those earlier stages, the very beginning of the workbased learning continuum.
So, they have not given us all of our money. We're about 97% received. And we haven't received any money for this year. So, property tax bills arrived in my mailbox I know the last day of February, uh and it's now March 16th, and I know some people have been paying their bills, and they usually they usually batch it, so every week or 10 days or something money's sent out. So, we haven't gotten any money for this year, and we're still not really getting a register what the money's for. It just sort of hits our account. So, we've been told by we've been told by the Treasurer that what we've received so far is from last year. But I I am still deeply concerned about the money commingling, and we need to know what belongs in what year. Otherwise, it's going to be a big mess with our accountant this summer trying to figure it out.
What are they going to do? Unless they middle school also, so then the bussing would be whatever, later. Yeah, so it's aligned, right? We can talk about that in April. But just to to know that we're basically looking at the two schedules and aligning them so that it's similar to what it is now, right? So, that it's just There was some earlier conversations where the middle school was going to start like at 7:15. That doesn't exist anymore. So, really they're more aligned with the current contractual times. And in the same way that the students would be getting on or off the buses in a similar manner. So, that'd be a good topic for next month. >> So, talk about that. The information about the middle school, high school, and how that starts, yeah. Yeah, that'd be good. Perfect. I also have a whole list in my office of things that'll be on there that are not as exciting as all these things, but we'll get them on there, too.