We need to deal with facts. We don't need to deal with gossip. We don't need to deal with accusations. We need to deal with reality. And the fact is that I've asked these questions to be answered. They're not closed session items. I wouldn't have put close session items out into the public. I'm handing them to board members right now. Um, and they're not close session items, but they've been accused of being close session items. So, that's why I wanted to give them to you so you can make that determination for yourself. Please keep in mind that close session items are anything protecting the privacy of staff members names, individual staff member names, individual student names, individual cases that are going up. This is those are close session items. When I'm asking about finances, that is actually an open session item. It is taxpayer funds. This is things that need to be talked about in the open.
These are things that need to be addressed. These are things that as board members, we need to be informed. And I'm not sure why there's such a push back against this. But asking questions is where we start. That's not even the endgame. And it shouldn't be seen as an assault. It should be seen and taken for what it is, which is a genuine inquiry so that we can be informed and make informed decisions. Okay. So, Maria, I'm hearing you do not support this being an agenda item. Is that correct? >> It shouldn't it really should not be an agenda item. It should be you know as when she asked this question of the superintendent you know uh if it is something the superintendent can give an answer to she'll give an answer you know I don't know you know you can't force people to answer your question this is not you know I don't know how the society out here works but you can't force people to talk to you you know so the superintendent will give you the answer because you're asking these things in writing and she's going to give it to you in writing so there will be a paper trail that's what you're looking for, right?
>> No, I'm just looking for answers and I was told I couldn't get answers unless this board gives directive for me to get answers. >> Per our governance handbook, individual board member requests for information. When an individual board member requests information, it will be provided to all board members. An individual board member will in so far as possible work to let the superintendent and staff know ahead of time when a custo will be made in public.
This will allow the staff member to be prepared to answer any questions or to prepare material. We will self-monitor our own requests to ensure that one member's request will not divert an inappropriate amount of time from staff efforts to achieve district goals. We recognize the concept of nice to know versus need to know information and will seek information only as needed for effective decisionmaking. Any individual board member who desires a copy of an existing written report or survey will make such a request to the superintendent. A copy of the material may also be made available to each member of the board. I take the superintendent takes direction from the board as a whole. Therefore, requests for the generation of reports or information must be placed on a meeting agenda for board consideration and approval. Because the board also believes in no surprises, board members agree to notify the superintendent of information request discussions prior to the meeting.
The board member questions concerning material in the board packet should be referred to the superintendent in a timely manner to afford staff the opportunity to prepare a response during the meeting. If the information requested requires an inordinate amount of staff time to generate, the superintendent will place a request on the next board meeting agenda for discussion. District staff is not expected to respond to direction or requests from individual board members. I am only following the governance handbook that is produced along with our board policies and board bylaws. Um if I could answer that reading. I'm very familiar with our governance handbook. In fact, I'm quite a rule follower and um I brought it to CSBA um California School Boards Association which is the authority uh that we rely on to direct us and give us direction. I asked them about this particular idea that my questions asking questions was being related to the need for hours of staff support, the need for a generation of reports and needing board directive to get that and quite honestly they were shocked.
Uh, I spoke to several people in CSBA about this and they said that was never the intent of that idea to stop board members from getting answers to their questions. So, I'm not sure where we need to go if we're not going to agendaize it. These questions do need to get answered. Like I've said, I don't give a timeline. I understand our staff has great jobs serving our students. I don't want to interrupt that, but it's I have a job too and it's important for me to be informed and it's important for my fellow board members to be informed and that means that when we have questions that they can be answered. Um, so I'm not sure what to do at this point. Uh, is this board willing to give directive uh for my questions to be answered? Rick, how do you feel? >> No, I don't.
It's based attorney. >> Okay. Anita, how do you feel? >> I I believe in answering questions if they can be answered. >> Okay. Maria, >> like I said, the superintendent will have to answer the she questions that she must answer. >> Okay. And I don't support it either, so we'll not put that on the next agenda. Wait, did we I thought we were just supporting whether they were going to get answered and I thought I >> she supported it answered and Anita supported it answered. >> She said she >> supports the superintendent answering the ones she can which she did and sent to all of us. >> We just hand our governance book is what we're following. We can't we can't deviate from that. And if we're going to deviate from that, then we need to have CSBA that give us the boil boiler plate to tell us why are they now changing the story.
And if they're changing the story, we need to know which of the CSV member told you that so we can have a real uh decent conversation with the person. >> Trusty circles, >> are you you said you're okay with me getting answers to these questions as the superintendent can get answers to these questions. >> Trusty Tucker said the same thing. She would like answers to these questions. I said I would like answers to these questions. That's the majority of the board necessary to give direction for the superintendent to answer my questions. Can we agree as a body that that is just what happened here? Well, let me be clear of what I've said because I don't want words to be changed when I've said something. My words are very clear. We follow what our uh governance handbook has said and if the superintendent gets a question that she can answer, she will answer it.
>> That's it. >> Thank you. So, I will look forward to my answered questions and when >> May I also make a request? >> During a public session meeting, Trustee Longore indicated that numbers were inaccurate on the AB1200 and on the um second interim report. I have requested what those inaccuracies were and I will um continue to request those because that's an allegation that we have either um not done our jobs appropriately or have some malfeence. I take that signature on those documents very seriously. they are under penalty of perjury and to not be given the actual areas where there are um discovered inaccuracies that were stated publicly means that I can't go back into the documents and find why there is a belief there is an inaccuracy and clear that up. >> Thank you, Superintendent Nelson. Uh I believe you did uh I would like to confirm that you did reach out to me and ask for detailed line items of to support my statement of that it was inaccurate and that is why I was voting no.
In turn, I've provided a spreadsheet um outlining the inaccuracies that I have noted. Um, if you have any additional questions past this, I think it might be important to maybe check those numbers, check the records because I did pull as noted. Uh, I pulled from several reports. Uh, you could see I pulled from AB1200 2526. You could see that I pulled from fick uh not fick not sorry factf finding uh the numbers at the top left hand side where it gives a rough 1% raise for csea our management and a vooda that was provided by our business office uh that was in fact finding it's also noted at the bottom u specific things like figures provided by ABSC in fact finding rounded to the nearest 10th as of January 2026. Uh, regarding a a VUDA organized and AUSD data. Then if you turn it over, I also reference AB1200 again 2526.
I reference unodudited actuals 2425 as compared to 2526 second interim report. I reference AB1200. So I am referencing the documents and the numbers are within our documents. and everything is duly noted there. If you need any clarification on what I've provided as an answer to your questions, please feel free to let me know. I am definitely an advocate for answering questions. I think it would be appropriate for the board to bring in a fiscal es expert from outside to clarify these things because there continues to be documents provided that have um inaccurate information and we're never going to get past the calling out of the budget, the different reports without having an outside agency come in and take all of the documents, everything that Miss Longshore is produced and providing to the public that is creating distrust and and um a lack of trust in what is being provided um in this district.
And so I feel that um without doing that, we will continue to have these um beliefs that there is something wrong going on in this district. >> How soon can we get an outside person to come and look at this? Because it's it's it's overdue. Okay. >> I think we need to get somebody quickly and even if we have to set up a room with tables and just put all the papers accordingly out here so that we can all have they can have the opportunity. I'm not an accountant. I've never been an accountant. I've never I'll never parade as one. Um but people who are qualified who have a degree and licenses they should if we can get them let's let's get it out here so that we can clear the clear. I do have a quick question. California School Boards Association has recommended that school services of California come in alongside Cal um the California School Boards Association.
California Schoolboards Association can work on the governance side and um maybe answer the questions about why California School Boards Association helped us with our governance handbook that is adopted but gave Miss Longore a different answer. Um and they indicated that school services would be the person the group to bring in if we're going to do that. Um I am more than happy to reach out or have Kylie do that or Matt or um Dustin and get them um scheduled. It would be a ratification. Um but we what what you will need is every document that has been produced that was not produced by district staff. So, um, all of those documents would have to be front-loaded to, um, the other, um, agency and allow them the time to go through them before they set up a time to come in and try to schedule and and train.
>> Um, >> do we have to vote on that quickly? So, >> I just quickly discuss, correct? >> You you are you already have given D that it's okay to do that, but >> to do what? to get these two agencies in. >> We gave direction as a board for that >> because I don't recall >> it was about CSBA coming in and doing governance. And tonight you've already approved a um resolution that a TA that um took place for the certificated um bargaining unit that indicated that there were things that were not part of the contract that would still be supported. Budget was one of them. And during that conversation, I had indicated that budget um and California schoolboards or um school services of California would be the appropriate entity to come in on the budget and we have had that discussion. So >> Anita, >> would this how would this be different than the FITMAT?
Because the Fitmat came in and gave us a health risk analysis and did a fairly thorough thing, haven't we? >> No. A health risk analysis takes into consideration the policies and procedures that are within a a school district. Um, a budgetary analysis means we're bringing somebody else in to try to bring us together on what the actual numbers are because where we're at is we have these spreadsheets that are passed out with a um accusation that we've lost money or moved money or whatever. But I think it's going to take an outside agency that does this day in and day out. And that's their focus. You know, people that work in school services of California that they are the the group that you bring in you. Fickmat comes in when you have insolveny. We brought Fikmat in. And while there has been a lot of statements about what FickMat said to the district, those are parts and pieces, they are not the full story of what occurred.
Um, remember they put us in the red because we didn't have a um they put us in high-risisk >> because we did not have a expenditure reduction plan. We now have an expenditure reduction plan. That will remove that piece. um we didn't have an internal audit system. We actually have internal audit systems, but we didn't say that the county office is our part of our internal audit system because we had never heard it referred to in that way. Um the comment that um that I said as a um to board members that we were not responsible for the Lewis Center AE if they went under financially is accurate. I did say that they are an independent charter and within our charter we are indemnified. Now, if we don't do our fiscal responsibility with them or don't look into how they're doing um their sec first interim, second interim budget, all of those things, then we would take potentially some financial um responsibility.
But because Fikmat deals with school districts across the state, indemn they didn't read the charter. That was not part of their review. And so if you ask them a question about does a district take responsibility for it, the answer is yes because in most cases that is correct. But we have a written indemnification right within the charter. So I I think that what has occurred is little pieces of information that seem very important have been taken out of um some context, not always, and made into these big accusations. Um, I I take issue with us continuing to have the conversation about where the money is or the money isn't publicly and for transparency. This is not healthy for the district to pre present a budget and send it to the county and have it approved and then for a a trustee to pass something out saying that's not accurate.
That's not healthy in a system. And so we either commit to move forward and bring people in. And then if if if people want to continue to do that, that's their business. But at least we've I as the superintendent, I've recommended exhausting every avenue we can to try to get past whatever this issue is. And if the issue is you want me gone, that's a whole different conversation. And it's not about doing it this way. But I am I it is exhausting to keep getting questions about things that the board has taken action on that the board dealt with and now I have questions about how many people were replaced under PARs and I I don't know what that does to change the trajectory of what we're doing. It takes us back to something we've already done. >> Um if I could This is so rapid fire all over the place.
I just want to make sure um that we address a few things. Uh one in October I asked for us to go over and come together and discuss budget and finances. President Raleigh at that time I had spoken to you about it. I had requested as a board. I have nothing against someone coming in and discussing budget and finances for us. Uh Fikmatt actually said that was important to do which is uh was only reaffirming my request uh to do that. So, I'm fully in favor of somebody coming in and facilitating a discussion on budget and finances. I have never accused anybody of losing money. Uh, but I have pointed out how money's been moved around. Uh, because when we as a board go to approve a report, we have to understand how money got moved around. uh money in books and supplies, there was 33 million and then all of a sudden it got moved and you saw it in our budget report.
And so just pointing that out is not a bad thing. That's an informative thing to tell people where money is going and so that we as a board can consider whether we need the money in those areas and whether the history of spending supports that amount of money in those areas. Uh, I want you to know, Superintendent Nelson, for me, this has never been personal at all. This is we're a board. This is governance. These are these are facts that I'm giving on spreadsheets. Any of my board members, any member of the public could go to the reports and check my facts against the reports. Has has anybody done that and found errors? That's what we need to consider. Not that I've taken the facts from our a lot of different reports and compiled them on a spreadsheet. What should be considered is is out of all the spreadsheets I've created, out of all the information I've gone over, out of all the reports I've summed up, is it incorrect?