>> Okay. Um thanks. >> I have a question. What is the per pupil cost of the Clifton student? What do we spend every year on our students? I wish I had the exact number. It's about 1920,000. >> And historically, we have always been less than most of the Yes. municipalities in in Pay County. >> Yes. >> And we deliver a very good product for what we spend because we've been fiscally responsible. >> Okay. Thank you. I'm going to go back around the room. Uh Mr. Gr, >> I'm just going to concur what what Commissioner Ciano said. We we had several um committee meetings in finance. Our most recent one will be reading the minutes shortly. The majority of the committee was was on board for the 6%. Unfortunately, I am not. I'm still asking administration to do a little bit more with a little bit less, but I would be receptive to a three or 4% increase.
And what is interesting to me and you Leslie can probably speak on it um more than I can. A lot of the um sixth grade teachers say that it's standards they've already taught in the past and when the standards changed some of those standards were taken off. I don't know if you want to add anything to that, Leslie. >> I mean, yeah. I mean, there's it's just a handful of standards. I think sixth grade it's about at sixth grade there's about seven seventh grade standards and they are a lot of things that kind of lead into what we're already working on. So nothing not a huge pivot point just kind of adding to you know Pat for example you know we're doing integers but sixth graders don't do any operations with integers they've added those four standards so it's just that kind of continuation and I was going to say that I ready that we have the digital component of I ready all students can get to the sixth grade seventh grade or eighth grade part so they can access that online as well so >> anybody else questions for that section.
The work begins with our counselors identifying our students, having those conversations, creating a plan, and processing requests so students are ready to go when summer hits. Additionally, many of our counselors will continue that work into the summer, supporting students in these summer school programs to ensure that they stay on pace, recover their credits, and enter the 2627 school year on track for graduation. On a professional development level, counselors ended their monthly PD on a high note at CBA. We had the opportunity to tour the CBA buildings in a way only Hilda Vasquez could organize through a scavenger hunt style icebreaker led by CVA staff. It was fun. and it was interacting and if you know our counselors we kind of like lay low at all times and fly under the radar bun is not always in our vocabulary when it comes to us having to do it.
Were about kindness or friend to the end. Uh so it was really sweet. We also had some um multicultural bookmarks and um that just really stressed the importance of diversity. Um it seemed to be a hit as well as all the snacks. Um but it was definitely a hit. We had a cute little boy come over with his face painted by someone from High Desert Premier and he was a lion and he was like, "Roar." It was adorable. Um and then we also, because we were there early to set up, we got to go out and see the Blackhawk helicopter, which was fantastic and we got to climb in and sit in it. But the best part was the pilot was actually a graduate of Apple Valley High School and he said he was a student here when it was the junior high. And so we, Maria and I both got a picture with him because we thought that was pretty cool that the pilot that brought it in was a graduate of Apple Valley.
I I know a 2% is unacceptable at this time and it's just it's rough out there for everybody and I greatly appreciate my colleagues especially Commissioner Paris with all the research that he did does. It's absolutely exceptional. But um um my constituents, they they they're very concerned about these re-evaluations and rightfully so. And I'm expecting by Q1 2027 that the reavals will be here. So, I'm very intrigued to see what the revenue would be to the districts, but unfortunately, these are the unknowns that we don't have at this time. There's absolutely no way, I believe, that we're going to have a reduction in the tax levy based on these re-evaluations. Unfortunately, we get a lot of double talk from from some of them across the street and um these are the concerns that go through my head. Thank you, President Bassford. >> Thank you, uh, Commissioner Brun, Commissioner Paris.
All right, rolling right along. Next up, we have Molly Von and Felicia Hill who are going to talk to us about the third action area, which is operational effectiveness. So again, as we're looking at these hundred pages of data, this was another area that bubbled up as a focus for the future and feeling left out. All right. So, the next action area we're going to look at is operational effectiveness. And some of the data and insights that we're going to look at have to do with staff training participation, instructional practices, student achievement and growth, and staff retention. And these indicators are going to help us evaluate how effectively our system supports both educators and students. So, our goal is to highlight strengths, identify challenges, and outline strategic steps for us to improve across the board. >> Yes. So inside the operational effectiveness, we have seven pillars that we're looking at.
So this was a big big step for our counselors. Um but it was a really great example of relationship building and we can see that happens at CADA on a regular basis. So we want to just thank um thank Hilda and the CBA staff for going above and beyond with their time, energy and hospitality. Our counselors walked away with a much stronger understanding of how CVA operates daily and why we send our students there and why students want to go there. As our counselors close out this school year, we are simultaneously building the foundation for the next. The work happening right now directly impacts our students who will enter the 2627 school year. Whether that is on track for graduation, connected to pro pathways and programs, or simply feeling supported and prepared for what comes next, it reflects the continued commitment of AHSC counselors to ensuring every student has the access, opportunity, and guidance as they continue their path through AUHSD.
Uh and then finally, um yes, so we did have Coast to Coast. And I did um we, I think we got the original email on October 7th. I was trying to find it. Um and I did send an email saying, "Hey, if funds permit, this is something I'd be interested in." And um we were, I was booked probably about January or February, we had a meeting and I did meet with the superintendent to find out whether or not I should like not go and we decided that we would lose too much if I did not attend. Um and then was speaking with another member of the board, it was agreed that because I am a delegate for CSBA as well as the board president that I was the right person to represent us. Um we had some new federal priorities that we were able to address while we were there.
Yeah, just uh a comment on the reevaluation and the impact on school funding. Um part of the formula is the value the real estate value of every your district. Um if that real estate value goes up um the assumption is you're a wealthier district. It affects the formula not in a positive way. And what it the way it works right now is they're taking a three-year average of your appraisals. So we won't see it as much year one. We'll we'll see probably a reduction in our state funding because of that appraisal in year one and it will only get increasingly larger in years two and three as that averages out into our actual um appraised amounts. So there is a risk that this appraisal will impact the amount of money we get from the state in a negative way. So, a lot of what we're looking at here today is is really for the future as well.
And so what we wanted to do is just kind of introduce those pillars and go through each of those with some data. So you've heard it's going to be like we're kind of repeating ourselves. We're going to talk about the elementary to middle school transition. When you look at that data you just saw, there's a huge drop in scores. And so we want to figure out why. Um we also want to look at um special ed licensing and training um because that is an area we struggle in. We want to talk about staff training focus and leadership development which we're getting ready to have a new opportunity for. Um online programming for students um staff compensation and benefits and in marketing. And so um the first area that we're really worried about is that middle school transition from elementary. And if you look on here and you see just looking at the sixth grade scores and then looking to seventh grade, there is a significant drop.
And then just on a note for APJ specifically, just as ASA does, APJ also um awards scholarships to our high school student, our high school seniors. Um we will be re uh rewarding $400. We are a much smaller unit than ASA, but $400 to each comprehensive school site along with our ILC and alternative programs. So that way our students will our seniors graduating will have some kind of token of their work ethic and what they've um achieved while they're here at AUHSD. So thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. Next we'll have Jennifer Sai with Alta. Good evening, Madame President Guerrero, members of the board of trustees, Superintendent Freed, students, families, and members are of our Anaheim Union community. It is a pleasure to share with you several district highlights from across our district this evening. As we celebrate teacher appreciation and nurses week, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to the heartbeat of our district, our staff.
Um, as always we requested, I know you'll appreciate fully funding IDEA, um, which our congressman is in favor of but he also understands that what's going to get cut and so that's kind of always been a sticking point. Um, I spoke to him a lot about uh, protecting title one as well as our student support programs and did request that Congress would provide at least 20 billion for title one programs coming up. I know last year we were pushing, um, a lot on E-Rate and I do know that because of our advocacy when we were there, do you remember how much extra? I don't remember. We got a huge amount though extra um, in the E-Rate funding. Um, some new priorities were protecting student online safety. Um, and really trying to protect their data. We also wanted to speak with him and we're lucky in that he does have a background in technology, um, but supporting responsible AI in education.
Um, I just wanted to make one note about for the public on how the school funding formula works a little bit because I think it's important to give you that reference point. The state allows every district to increase taxes locally by 2% without any kind of public referendum. Uh the state's funding formula calculates a district's adequacy budget. That's the amount of money per pupil that the state says is necessary for us to deliver a thorough and efficient education to a student. Within that formula is a local fair share. That calculation represents the amount of funding in the formula that comes locally from our tax base. The state assumes every year that your district takes 2% increase. They don't they automatically make factor that out of their side of the calculation. They're assuming you're getting 2% more from your local taxation. They then calculate based on the adequacy uh budget that they present the amount needed to educate each student.
And that's a concern for us. And so one that we kind of talked about all day in our training was what can we do to fix that? And so, um, when you look at this slide and then the next one, it goes to show we need a stronger alignment in curriculum all the way through, but we also need to make sure kind of our practices are the same and then working together building to building for that transition. Um, and then we just need to continue to look into that and then make sure that we're um being successful. >> Uh, so Dylan kind of touched on this earlier, but uh, our special education percentage in Jennings County is up across the board. Um, we have a lot of students who are qualifying for special educ special education support even with our declining enrollment. Um, so that puts puts pressure on our special education teachers.
Whether in the classroom or in the health office, your dedication to AUHSD's core values and your unwavering support of our students and community define who we are. To our educators and our school nurses, thank you for your tireless work and the care you provide every single day. We be begin tonight with an extraordinary achievement from Oxford Academy. Student Aryan Balani was recently featured on KTLA by Emmy winning reporter Rich Demiro for his invention IVA trademarked developed with the mentorship of teacher Elliot Clay Elliot. This device assists in repairing visual misalignment. Arian's work earned the highest honors at the 71st OCF, including the highest award in biomemed engineering, the Young Investigator in Health Science Special Award from the Association of Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine, a nomination to the Thermal Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge, placing him in the top 10% of students nationally. Aryan has already applied for a trademark of IVA and launched IVA.ai to collaborate with global researchers.
Um, and then we also had, um, a couple members speak about strengthening career technical education. As we've heard multiple times tonight like that is so important and so to make sure that we're still getting that bipartisan support and bringing that funding back, um, to California is definitely, um, going to be helpful as well as securing the rural schools. We just thanked for that one cuz they has been supported. Um, let me make sure. I think that was it on that. I'll save that cuz I was going to do it as an update at the second one but I'll it in there. Um And then yeah, so it's it's May. So, just thank you to all of our our staff as Trustee Tucker was saying, you know, it started with the principals. Um And then of course we have teacher appreciation week followed by our classified appreciation week.
The remainder is then what they will send to us as funding. So, if you don't take that 2% in a given year, you take less than 2% in that given year, um the state doesn't care. The state is not giving you that money. They're not making that up in your budget. So, it just kind of multiplies as time goes on. So, the 2% is really a given that there's really no realistic way year over year that you should not be taking that 2%. you're just going to put handcuffs on your district. And uh I think it's a testimony to Clifton that over the years we have had and for some very good reasons we have not had that 2% increase. Um but that also creates has exacerbated the problem here in the future. Uh so I I look at this 4% not just as a oneshot remedy for this substantial increase in health care costs which is substantial um but it's a way also in the future we would only have to come back to this not only will we cut the services that we have to our kids and affect in our district the most vulnerable population we have there's 24% of our students are special ed students one out of almost one out of every four students have an IEP in this district.
So, one of the areas we look are looking at is making sure that we have high quality special education teachers. Um, if I think it's the next slide. There we go. Um, so we do have uh six alternate special education or teachers that are alternate special education lure. Um, so we're working to get those teachers certified. Um, as well as keep and retain some of our our more um hard to fill positions, our self-contained programming. um we have a hard uh time keeping staff in those programs. So, we're looking at what professional development, what training can we provide for our staff to make sure that they feel comfortable in those programs as well as doing what's best for our students in special education. >> Um yeah, so with that, um pardon me, uh staff training is definitely another key component of uh operational effectiveness. So we're working to ensure that professional development is going to be both um meaningful and aligned to district goals.
Orange View Junior High and Western High School have a vibrant month centered on student voice. They recently concluded their capstone showcase which include milestone senior showcase on April 21st and 23rd. 56 pieces of art were also featured at the AUHSD art color and light show and their eyab was packed with powerful poetry. They also experienced traditional tea ceremony via special grant and they also welcomed the Harlem Wizards to campus for a evening of community energy. orgy Western like to thank their outgoing student ambassador on Irish for her service and warmly welcome Sarai as our new student ambassador at Lera High School. They celebrated Stafulty with their annual salsa fest and taqua provided by the PTSA. Academic excellence was also the spotlight during the department and senior awards. Most notably, the class of 2026 completed their Saxon summit capstone projects. Their reflections on growth and resilience prove they are more than ready for the next chapter of their journeys.
The schools cannot run without any of you. Uh and you are appreciated. Um And I just wanted to say thank you for all that you do. And then that is it for me. So, Superintendent Nelson, you're up. So, I won't go back through all of the things that the board has attended that I have also attended. Um but there's a couple callouts on this. Um the second annual MDC Film Festival um photography best in show. This was the first year that they added photography and Brian McLain Tay um a student from day one in our district as an elementary student all the way up um took best in show. And then competitive capture went to the Granite Hills High School team um having to do with the um construction trades and being out there with all of the other districts that were um filming. So, congratulations to Granite Hills High School on that.