So, in conversations with Aaron, we're like, "No, let's not let's not add four seats to next year's eighth grade level. We're at 233 because we had students enroll." Uh, similarly in uh grade five and grade six, so the fourth grade class had an increase of students that we didn't anticipate in the fifth grade class as well. Right. So, so we did not feel comfortable adding to those spots. So, so we're looking at adding 46 um total seats um in next year's um because there's 10 at the kindergarten level, right? So, uh it would be 36 really remaining of of the 75. So, it's nine less than we had last year um that we had approved. And Jim, I think we know this, but uh we're going to have a budget conversation later. >> So, we're opening up school choice seats. We're >> going to reduce staff.
Um, this year we have three school improvement goals. Um the first one uh revolves around standards. Um our teachers becoming more familiar with the prek standards and really internalizing those and how they play out in our lesson planning and class activities. Um this year also focusing intensely on literacy. Our second goal is around universal design for learning um which I'll talk about a little bit more later. But um because our classrooms are um in you know inclusive, we are trying to learn more about how to anticipate issues that students may have and build in accommodations for all students to remove barriers um so that everyone can access the content and learning going on. And then uh the third one is around our data collection and progress monitoring. Um we we take data usually around IEP goals and that kind of thing. But also um which I'll also talk about in a little bit.
Um the first one uh revolves around standards. Um our teachers becoming more familiar with the prek standards and really internalizing those and how they play out in our lesson planning and class activities. Um this year also focusing intensely on literacy. Our second goal is around universal design for learning um which I'll talk about a little bit more later. But um because our classrooms are um in you know inclusive, we are trying to learn more about how to anticipate issues that students may have and build in accommodations for all students to remove barriers um so that everyone can access the content and learning going on. And then uh the third one is around our data collection and progress monitoring. Um we we take data usually around IEP goals and that kind of thing. But also um which I'll also talk about in a little bit. We are looking for a curriculum so that we can begin to take better data around um literacy, foundational literacy, that kind of thing.
If we want to partner more with a junior attorney who would need guidance from a senior attorney at times because the efficiency wouldn't be there. Um the junior attorney is between seven uh 270 and 290 an hour. So the rate does go down. Um however, they would have to rely on uh the advice sometimes of a senior attorney, which then would we'd get charged for that, too. So I don't know what the change would be. They were highly receptive and thankful that we um that I I and and as us as we, you know, gave them a call and at least asked about it um because they really do want to um as much as they can keep our um kind of board uh firm partnership, uh and they are willing to work with us in whatever way we need. So they would even be willing to come here and re-meet with the board, should you wish.
Okay. >> So, perhaps that's the February bill or it could have been the end of January to the end of February cuz Mindy she had labeled it with the the date on the bill. But I'd have to double I can double check that and follow up with you. Okay. Those are our last two months' bills. Okay, yeah. And those those are really high and I um I have I bring [clears throat] up already just that we're paying I have just in this on these warrants alone from what I can tell from what's labeled 13,868 on special ed. And so I'm just I've been raising concerns about the level of special ed cases and questions that we have to ask regarding special ed considering the amount of people that we've been hiring to shore that up. So, just putting it out there on the radar something that I want to keep watching and hoping that these legal fees And I'm glad you're pointing that out because if you recall on the previous bills I was highlighting the due process.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you, Chair. Also to you for HSTA, Milly. Good afternoon, Chair and Vice Chair. Sarah Milly on the line on behalf of Osa Tui and HSTA. Uh this resolution is really exciting to see. Um thank you, Senator DeCadena. In 2022, you were pivotal in getting Act 113 passed to make sure we had free period products in all of our public schools. The cool thing about this reso is this was brought forward by the students who were benefited by that program. So, one thing my employer encourages me to do as a classroom teacher is elevating student voice. We want to make sure we're hearing our students' voices in the classroom um and reflecting on that. So, the students who've been provided these these materials in their classrooms are now asking for better menstrual education. Um I got to meet with some of these advocates, and what's exciting now is my eighth graders who were in my classroom, I'm not writing their college recommendation letters for college based on the work that they've done for this.
why are they going somewhere else to take classes that we offer? Um, and some of the things that came up were cost, flexibility, they were offering classes that we weren't offering. Um, I shouldn't say that health is a big one that they got outside the district for. So, um, they they were taking health and then we were noticing that, um, when they were doing that and it was transferring in, sometimes they didn't take the right class and so they took an incorrect health class, wanted to transfer it in, and so we had to a challenge test for that student to take the challenge test to see if they could get our credit. So, there were just some inconsistencies. So, based on that, we looked at priorities. What's being taken outside of the district? How can we try to meet that need? Um, and as you can see here that we have a high demand for PE and mouth partly because it is a half credit and they want to get that completed and out of their coursework to open up their schedules going forward because that half credit sometimes messes with it.
I just mumbled. It' be May 17th. Um, the digital text library. So, this is this is the list and you all got this at some point in time, but this is the list of novels that are part of that digital text library. It's approximately 80 novels. Um, and there are about 80 to 90 other um, short stories, other texts that are in there via Lexile levels. Um, as it says on here, they do add from time to time. Ironically, I always use Great Gatsby as an example. That's one that they added between May and now. So, Great Gatsby has been added to this list. Um, what's problematic at the moment is that we do want to support the use of novels in the classroom. this list that was approved by the board is limiting that a little bit and I'm going to give you an example of that.
Happy again to answer any questions you may have. >> All right. So I'm going to ask this question at the beginning this time. Can you walk us through phase three, please? And what what the overall picture of this looks like? Um when we completed phase the initial phase, we master planned the whole campus. Um so the the hope is that we get as much of that master plan as we can afford with the state grant and the bond funds that we have um to include things like an additional classroom building, additional competition gym with some classroom space in that uh in that portion, some athletic spaces as well. Um but we'll see how much we can get. >> And we won't be able to realize that until we all of these three components in place. Correct. >> Yeah. With the grant, we we have to at least build 125,000 square feet of instructional space.
That's kind of cool. Oh, never mind. All right. Uses that fishing rod again. Gets behind Terry. He's using plenty of down tilts. And I guess he he fired off. Oh, he threw it. >> There's that fishing rod again. >> Yeah, fired it off. Jaden loves his fishing rod. All right. >> You think he likes to fish in real life, Jordan? >> I am not sure, actually. I don't I'm pretty sure I asked him once and I don't think and I don't think he said he did. He does love wrestling. He does like his wrestling though. All right. using plenty of uh using plenty of stuff. Oh, does a down smash. All right. Oh, blocks against the uh Buster Wolf. That's Buster Wolf's like one uh one weakness. If you shield against it, he he it leaves him really open. Oh. Oh, and gets him right out of go percentage one more time.
Can Can you just explain to people that adding a student doesn't cost a pupil and why we're doing it, >> right? So, I look at it this way. Let's assume we have 18 students in a class and we open up and we get, you know, the teacher's there with 18 students and we get a school choice student that comes in. So, we add one more student to that roster. Is that significantly changing the dynamic of the class in terms of of um the number of students? The answer is no. If we had 10 go from 18 to 28, we might be having a conversation saying that's really impacting the teacher and the class. So when we look at the numbers themselves, it's saying, okay, how many students really could we bring into the system that's not going to negatively impact class sizes and offerings of students that when I start diving into numbers and I think about school choice and the revenue we bring in at $5,000 a student, and I was doing a little research the other day for a research analyst that um asked the question, you know, what do we get for school choice and how does it compare to say chapter 70?
We are looking for a curriculum so that we can begin to take better data around um literacy, foundational literacy, that kind of thing. So the next um slide shows we have a this is a visual model of our vision at AAL that we have worked on for the last couple of years to develop and refine. Um we serve students ages 3 to five. We're a full inclusion model and we are playbased. um because play is the work of three and four and fivey olds. That's how they learn best. So if you look at this diagram here, um I'm going to explain each little component of it. Um we I guess let's move to the next slide so I can start just talking about the different pieces of it. So everything that we do is um encapsulated in building a culture of care and that we've talked a lot about what that means.
So the next um slide shows we have a this is a visual model of our vision at AAL that we have worked on for the last couple of years to develop and refine. Um we serve students ages 3 to five. We're a full inclusion model and we are playbased. um because play is the work of three and four and 5year-olds. That's how they learn best. So if you look at this diagram here, um I'm going to explain each little component of it. Um we I guess let's move to the next slide so I can start just talking about the different pieces of it. So everything that we do is um encapsulated in building a culture of care and that we've talked a lot about what that means. Um and in that we uh are constantly talking about kindness. Um how we are interdependent on each other.
So they're very open, um but they did share with me some of the different price options. We also have the option of um keeping the current senior attorney we use, or if we don't feel like that is a good fit, um we could ask for a different one. Um and so that's an option, too, and they're open to all of that. They want to We're the client. They want us to be happy uh and feel like we are getting the service that they provide. And they do feel like they provide a very good service. I do, [snorts] too. I've worked with other senior attorneys from the firm. Um and in P2, this isn't anything about who we currently have, but I found uh them to be highly responsive and excellent. Um so maybe we might want to consider a different fit. I don't know. Um but I just wanted to put it out there that I heard, you know, the conversation and reached out, and this is what we have so far.
There was a a due process act from 2019 and the services that finally got settled and you know, it's a couple million dollars total for that all those years. So, just pointing out when we're looking at where our budget is and why is it that there? If you add that up over time, that's how how we got there. So, that's why now we're trying to make sure everything's in compliance so we don't get into another situation like that with a large settlement. It might be helpful Denise and the board if I create some sort of spreadsheet to that shows which of these due process fees are old versus new. Mhm. Right? Mhm. Cuz some of these things that are labeled due process, you know, like Tara explained, we're going to be paying those for quite some time from previous situations. And then of course, there's new things that are coming up that we need to be paying attention to, right?
Um we have engaged activists. You see their testimony. You see it moving forward. You also have the data of the mighty movement. Um the best organization locally that knows what's going on with period poverty and education. And what they say is that students are saying they don't know enough about their own bodies, and they want to fix that, and that's why they came to this body. So, please support. Mahalo. Thank you. Uh Yasmin Chaney? Here. Uh Nikki Ann Yee on Zoom. Aloha, Nikki. Aloha, Chair, Vice chair, members of the committee. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify. I'm Nikki, co-founder of Ma'i Movement Hawai'i, and I stand on my written testimony in strong support. Over the years, we've made incredible progress making period products easier to access in schools, UH, and public buildings, including the capital. Access is key, and today is a continuation of that work.
um social studies, math, and science were consistent areas of credit recovery we're going for. And um we think that those out those outside enrollments were reflecting really a need for the semesterbased structure versus that concurrent enrollment uh greater flexibility in their online free. We did meet with uh registars at the high schools to get their feedback on how this was impacting them and in asking them I want to say on average they were telling us or self-reporting right so it's informal that they were spending upwards of 50 hours at the start of the school year just entering transfer credits so besides sharing ADM with kids going outside in the district for courses and a very small piece of that right we were also taking manpower for that challenge test scoring the challenge test entering into transcripts getting those credits in. So, it became evident that we need to do a better job meeting our needs to get the kids here with us.
So, if we were to look at um the suggested novels and we we talked about those as those um I I refer to them as the in the fence um board member Horn referred to them as those enrichment novels. So, those are the novels that are aligned to grade levels standards. Um they're aligned to the core adoption, but that was not part of what you approved back in May. So, if I look at sixth grade as an example and I put those two lists side by side, um there are approximately 15 to 18 novels that align with the six units in sixth grade. The only novel that appears on that novel list is The Jungle Book, and it occurs in unit six. So, we've run into a little bit of an issue that we've narrowed the scope maybe too much to be able to give options and opportunities for teachers to teach those novels to support the standards because there there are in some grade levels not enough novels on that list if that makes sense.
Um, and we'll work through the minimum standards for for that and see how what value Chase can bring to the project. We have Representative Chase in the in the room as well. Tim and they've >> perfect. Um, if there's no questions, I'll make a motion to approve. >> Thank you. Second >> Lisa. I have a motion and a second. >> Shante Rothschild. >> I >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Patty Catra. >> Hi. >> Discussion and possible approval to award the construction management at risk contract for Desert Sunrise Phase 3. >> Obviously, Chase has knocked it out of the park on several projects uh for us. So, um if there's no discussion, I'll make the motion to approve. Second Lisa I have a motion a second. >> Shante Rothschild >> I. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Patty Catra. >> I discussion and possible approval of the architectural services grace design for desert sunrise phase three.
Heck yeah. So, Jaden's got to take uh four more stocks. So, one for >> two down to four stocks remaining. Jordan. >> Mhm. The Cyber Tigers in range. >> In range. >> We don't want to We don't want to jinx anything. >> Definitely not. We're going to hope We're going to hope we get a gold medal at the end of this. So, down throw into forward air. And forwarder again. Look at that. And another forward air sending him off. And another forward air sending him off. Oh, goes for a down air. Oh, but saves him. He saves him. Oh, no. That would have been Terry's last stock. Oh, now Terry's back on the stage. Let's hope Jaden doesn't regret saving Terry. He m I don't think he w I don't think he would regret it that much. But we we're gonna see. We're gonna see.