SCSD Regular Board Meeting 4-22-2021

001and we're recording. Thanks, Ronika. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the April 22nd, 2021. We're gonna be scheduled San Carlos School Board meeting. I apologize for a little bit of delay. We had some technical problems with the live stream. So, but thanks for your patience. And I will call this meeting to order. As a reminder, anyone in the chat, Sarah has put in the link for anyone seeking public comment. So in case you're new to the meeting, that would be your where to click on to find public comment. So do you need to make a couple changes to the agenda to start trustees? We need to pull 3D and 5A. So if I need to pull those from the agenda, if we can pull those from agendas, there are motion to approve the agenda with

002those two changes. I move the agenda with the changes you. Thank you, Carol. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Sarah. All in favor, please state by saying aye. Aye. Aye. And that motion carried five zero, hearing no opposition. We will move then to the consent agenda. As a reminder, these are items that we feel are routine in nature or don't require lots of debate as a board. So therefore is there a motion to approve the consent agenda A, B, D, and E, or A, B, C, and E, because we made the change from D. I move to approve the consent agenda 3A, B, C, and E. Thank you, Wendy. Second. Thank you, Irene. All in favor, please state by saying aye. Aye. And not hearing any opposition. All right, that will carry five zero.

003We'll move on then to our discussion action items. First, 4A, Michelle, this is to you for our consistent back return in-person learning update. All right, good evening, trustees. I'll just talk about some key issues that we're working on right now as we prepare to return fully in the fall. And I think it's important to say over and over in as many different ways as we can. We're confident now that we are able to return fully in the fall. And fully means five days a week with our Wednesday early release, just like we've had before with our kids on campus for the full schedule. I think that's the key question people are asking is, are we going to be back full-time in the fall? So full-time right now means yes, during the week, our regular instructional

004schedules, we're planning to be back. What may be a little bit of adjustment or some changes in programming or scheduling during the day, those details will change. We're still going to be dealing with some of the mitigation factors of the virus. We're going to have some spacing requirements that we have to follow, masking, not having gatherings, and we're going to still need to have stable cohort groups. So we're not finished with dealing with the impacts of the pandemic. But I think what we need to do is give our community confidence now that we are coming back fully and we have plans to come back. These are some of the things that we know we have to work on and we are diligently working on them now in order for us to be successful in our

005return. So I just wanted to talk about a couple of those key areas now. First of all is furniture. Our elementary schools particularly identified one of the challenges is having double desks where children sit shoulder to shoulder. And of course, that's kind of the movement that we've made to promote 21st century and collaboration and some flexibilities in the classrooms over the past several years as we've been updating furniture. So our middle schools seem to be pretty good. They have newer furniture and they're going to be able to manage with what they have, but the elementaries need single desks. So you'll see a future agenda item here later on tonight. We're going to ask you to approve that purchase that we had direction to move forward with last meeting. So what we did is went with

006the same furniture group that has been helping us modernize our school furnitures. Using the same kinds of desks that were ordered for TL for example. So we're still moving forward with 21st century mindset of furniture. There are single desks with locking casters and then new chairs. And our little elementary schools have furniture that's probably 20 to 30 years old already at this time and really was in need of updating and would have been a priority when we started improving or modernizing our elementary. So I think this is a good opportunity. We have one-time funds that we can use this for. We can also look at how we might be able to use some of our bond reimbursement funds to help with this as well. Christine is still looking into that. So we feel like this

007has resolved our spacing issue and we are looking at with our teachers. We don't know exactly how many people are going to fit comfortably into the room and to start really setting things up, but we know we're gonna be fine in our K-3 classrooms. Instead of filling them up to the maximum 25, we wanna try to bring that down by a few kids so that we have a little more breathing room and we also intentionally wanna have little smaller classes so each child can have more individualized attention by the teacher. Having little smaller class sizes, teachers can differentiate and provide that learning recovery or intervention approach a little better. So we do wanna try to not overpack our elementary classrooms. We really wanna keep them on the lower end of how we would normally staff.

008So just not the higher end. So we are looking at using some of our one-time money to help with easing our class sizes a little bit. Middle school especially in the fourth through eighth, we do need to reduce the class size absolutely to make sure that we have enough space so we can follow the three foot spacing. So we'll be adding a little bit more staff there. The challenge that we may have is there's just not a lot of teachers out there right now looking for jobs. So we began our posting of positions several weeks ago in anticipation of filling normal vacancies. So we've had pools opened and our principals have been screening. They're already beginning the interview process and we're excited that we're already where we are in April with starting to interview and

009select teachers. So we'll keep you up to date if we run into any challenges with staffing. But I think because we started early, I think we'll have an opportunity to fill the positions. Elementary of course much easier. Middle school positions are traditionally very difficult especially in math and science positions. And we have several openings in science right now that have been plaguing us since I've been here for the past few years. So we definitely want to try to recruit and nurture and grow science teachers. So we are definitely going to be looking at our staff that we currently have and how we might transition people into getting science credentials and then also recruiting science teachers. We also need to look at hiring paraprofessionals. It's required in the learning recovery grant or the learning opportunity grant.

010It has several names. I think they finally landed on learning opportunity grant where we do need to use at least 10% of those funds to hire additional paraprofessionals so that we can help students with learning recovery and learning loss. So we know that part of that grant will be set aside. So we need to start that process of hiring paraeducators as well. Substitutes are continuing to be a challenge for us. Again, we just don't have a strong labor market right now where there are people looking for this kind of work. So we'll be continuing to do active recruiting. Our parents have really stepped up and started doing the work necessary to get a credential to become a substitute teacher. And we're just hoping those who are pursuing that right now will also be available to

011support next year as we need more substitutes, not just this year, but also for next year. And another piece is middle school classroom spaces. Our middle school teachers are just back in hybrid and getting that program running. So that was a big lift just to, again, change the entire master schedule, all of the schedules that connect to a student schedule and a teacher schedule, busing and everything else that gets tied into those schedules. So our hybrid is now operating very successfully at our middle schools. Thank you to Tom and Kristen and Megan, our middle school administrators for all the work that that took. Now what they'll be able to do is step back with their teachers and look at spacing and make sure that we have enough classroom space. And that will be an ongoing

012just planning process through the end of the school year. Because we'll have to look at how we're using classrooms. And if we're running low on classroom space, how might we share some space or look at using some other space creatively that we normally isn't a classroom space. So we know there are solutions. We just have work to do to get that plan in place before school starts. I think one of the things now that we've kind of got the hybrid started and now we can start looking at next year and the principals can start to engage their staff in master schedule planning is how well we look at electives and PE for next year. We know our priority next year is going to be core subjects and having our kids on campus full-time. That's absolutely

013essential. We're still gonna be managing this pandemic next year. So it's not over. So how can we best look at electives and PE? We had some great opportunities with having virtual classes especially in some of these elective areas. Maybe there's an opportunity to continue doing some virtual programming instead of eliminating it for next year. So I think there's opportunities for being innovative and creative and trying some new things when it comes to our elective program for next year especially if we're going to have space challenges. So those are some of the key planning areas that we're working on now to be ready for next year. Our elementary principals are already looking at draft schedules and how they can stagger recesses and lunches and those kinds of things. I mentioned that last time a little bit

014in our meeting but they're continuing to look at scheduling and just managing the operations of a day with students outside at all parts of the day. And just another big thank you to our parent community who has stepped up to serve in the role of campus supervisors because that's the only way our hybrid is running right now. We now have almost 100 new employees in our district of only 350 employees. So a hundred more and those are all part-time parents who are stepping up to work as campus supervisors. It might be just two hours a week. It might be 12 hours a week. There's a lot of flexibility and variability but that's why we can successfully run our hybrid and we're going to need that same kind of support next year and running our programs

015just because you can't have all your kids out at recess at the same time or lunch at the same time. Arrival and dismissal also will likely be staggered. So it really has created some operational challenges and needing just adult supervision and support during the day. So thank you again to our parents and our principals who have been spending a lot of time of onboarding, training and scheduling a whole new crew for their site. The next items I just wanted to touch on again is just a reminder. We have three one-time sources of funding that will help support our return to in-person learning and then help support our students next year with expanded learning opportunities. So I just want to briefly review those again as a reminder and surface any questions or thoughts you have about

016these because on May 6th, we're going to be bringing back some information about how we've been engaging our community, our teachers, our parents, our staff on what are the needs, what needs have surfaced of our students so that we can best support them next year. So, well, that'll be on May 6th. So I just want to remind you and our watchers about those three different grants. AB 86 is coming from the state. It's expanded learning opportunities. Our district will receive about $1.7 million in one-time monies. And the idea is to accelerate learning or support learning recovery. We can use it for anything academic related, social-emotional learning, mental health, traditional staffing and other needs that are identified through our engagement process with our teachers and staff and principals over the next two months. So again, we

017are engaging and getting input. We have parent surveys, staff surveys and student surveys going out for our older kids to ask all of their input. And we're compiling all of this information. We've already had two planning sessions with our principals to start asking them very clearly what are the needs? What do you feel these funds will best be used for to support our students and our staff for next year? So it's a very robust engagement process. A lot of great work is being done. Lisa Cesario is helping us with this process and assisting Hans and me. Hans is ready to start integrating back into a more full-time schedule as he's starting to recover and repair from his procedure. So she's leading this, but May 6th, Hans will be leading the conversation with Lisa's support to

018talk about the engagement process, items that are surfacing and themes that are surfacing and some tentative plans on how to use these funds so that the board can also weigh in, give some input, ask questions, maybe provide more direction. And then we'll have a couple more weeks to work on that plan and then bring it back to you on May 20th for approval. So that is the plan that has to be approved before June 1st and submitted to our county office. And the idea, again, for these money is to really help with student learning. So we are planning summer school this year, help during the school year next year, maybe including afterschool programs and support during the school day, and summer school next summer. That's our big grant. That's the one that is really going

019to really support making next year the best year possible by adding more supports all around. Then we have two other grants. The other one is the in-person grant. That's also from the state. It's about $800,000 of one-time funds, and that helps support the return to in-person learning. So we can do additional staffing, our transportation, furniture, personal protective equipment, and any other expenditures related to coming back to in-person. And we are able to expend those funds this year if we needed to, but we're looking, we still have funds that we're using right now that we'll take care of this year. We're looking at using that primarily for next year. The furniture could be in there, but again, we might be able to move that furniture expenditure into a different account if we can use our bond

020funds. Then the last grant, again, is the ESSER grant really the COVID or CARE Act or American Recovery Plan. It's the federal money. And our federal money is very limited. We're only going to get about $300,000 from the American Recovery Plan, because this was directly tied to Title I populations and funding. And as you know, we don't have a large portion of the San Carlos community that meets the income requirements for Title I. That's essentially to support students in poverty. So we have a low poverty population, so therefore we're getting a low allotment. And this varies from school district to school district. So some schools districts are getting $10 million for their ESSER funds, and districts like ours are getting $300,000. So we're really appreciative to have it, and it will be targeted to support

021students who need it most. And that will be kind of integrated into our overall plan based on the engagement that we're getting right now as far as input. So those are the tasks and activities we're working on, and those are the funds that we are engaging our community about. So what questions or thoughts might the board have? So there's one procedural question just to make sure everyone understands is we need to submit another plan to the county for these funds by June 1. That's correct. Yeah, these one-time funds, we need to submit a plan to the county by June 1st. That's why May 20th, we're gonna ask you to approve the plan as a board. It's only the learning opportunity grant that has to be approved, but we're integrating how we're using the in-person grant

022and also our federal money kind of all together. So we have a cohesive plan. We're not just working on one and figuring out what to do with the others. We're really integrating all of these things into our plan and really taking this into consideration as we complete our LCAP and our three-year goals. So one of our goals, for example, is going to be kind of a recovery goal, which is our goal for next year so that we can address all of those three one-time funds holistically together so that our LCAP is really describing all of the goals and efforts related to those one-time funds as well as our regular budget. And just one more procedural question just for everyone is do these plans need to show where we're gonna spend the money, like line item,

023as in this will cost us X, where is this? We just need the plan to identify these areas, but if something else comes up over the summer, then we can add additional costs for the money. Just trying to understand that part. Yeah, we don't have to encumber the money and have bids and price tags and everything else. We have to have a plan on how we want to use the money and then the county will approve that. If we're going to make adjustments to the plan, I don't know if we're gonna have to get approval for that, but there are clearly seven categories under the plan that we can spend the money on as long as they're in those areas. So I'm sure that there's flexibility to make adjustments as needs emerge, but I don't

024know exactly what that revision would look like. I'm sure that Christine would probably just need to run something by the county office to say, hey, we're shifting now. Instead of this, we're planning on doing this, just to confirm that the money's being spent the way it's supposed to be spent. Before I have trustees kind of weigh in a little bit more, Wendy, is there any public comment on this section? Just on 4B, so not on 4A. Okay, thanks. Trustees, questions in regards to the process that Dr. Homare laid out for return to campus? I have a couple of questions. One, Michelle, the funds that we're receiving, I assume they can be spent this school year or next school year. What's the timeframe that we can spend them? Well, Christine is here and maybe can answer

025that, but my understanding was they're bringing the first apportionment, I think, in May. So we are able to start spending those funds right away. The in-person grant, I know for sure, we can just start spending, and they're anticipating us using these funds for summer school. So it's been assured that we should go ahead and start moving forward. So we're not hesitating. We are already moving forward, putting in our purchase orders and planning. So Christine, is there anything else you can add? We can start spending the funds that we have until August of 2022 to finish spending it. Okay. Thank you, Christine. I was curious if there's any unmet needs this year that we're seeing on campuses now that we have our students back in hybrid. Are there additional mental health supports, social-emotional supports? What are

026we seeing now that the kids are back on campus as what their needs are? Are there investments that we can make this spring, particularly since we're staying in the hybrid mode? We still have funds right now that we are using. So if needs are emerging, principals wouldn't have to let us know if they need something in addition. The greatest expansion of meeting needs has been campus supervision. And so we're spending funds on that right now. And we're also just getting additional support for administrators so we can do more planning and support for them so that they can plan for next year. So we have funds for this year for right now. I feel good that we're not in need of something that we're not able to fund at this time. Okay, so there's not any,

027we don't need additional mental health supports this year to meet the demand is what you're saying. No, in fact, the principals are telling me, we did add a lot more additional mental health support and there are slots that are still open. There's still openings that are not being used right now. So we feel like we have adequate mental health support for right now. And then my other question in terms of the return to in-person learning is the expectation that all students will be on campus next fall or are you in the planning process for a remote option like a connections program? We are just sent a survey out to our current connections families to get some information back from them. So we don't have that yet. We do wanna find out what kind of need

028there might be out there. So we sent a survey and asking if there's interest, then for what reason? Is it for medical and health reasons? Is it a preferred learning mode? So we're kind of looking at what the need is and then we'll evaluate that need and bring that back to the board with the recommendation. Thank you. Carol and Dr. Hammer, just to piggyback on Carol's question about mental health or other needs. I just encourage the principals, site staff and Dr. Hammer to express what your needs are for next fall. Wendy and I are meeting with the principals and Dr. Hammer every Thursday. And we got to meet with two of the principals today. And I know that they just encouraged us to the board members to think deeply about counselor support in the fall

029and to maintain at least kind of our existing levels of education specialists. We heard that how important it can be to have paraprofessionals in the classroom, which allows kind of the classroom teacher to really, really focus his or her attention on students with additional needs. So I just wanna thank the principals for their time on that. They expressed just a huge gratitude to all the parents stepping up to be campus supervisors, needing a huge, huge need and we'll need that for the fall. And I think what I might make big takeaways is the bullet points that Dr. Hammer, you just went over so helpful about kind of like the basic categories and infrastructure, but our principals are really thinking about the kids, their needs, they're observing trends, they're observing levels of independence. They're very cognizant

030that like our kindergartners and first graders next year, a lot of them will be for them. Like the next year will be, we're all learning to adapt of like how to be on campus five days a week and they're thinking ahead to that. So please continue to share out how we can support that transition next fall. Wendy, I thought, do you wanna share out the question you had because I thought I think it's such a good one that you're posing to us. Yeah, I mean, I think as we think about reopening fully in the fall, I mean, I think it's helpful for us to reflect on what do we wanna take, carry forward with us that we adapted to learn from, did differently that we'd like to continue to do next year. That can be

031related to technology, it could be related to the way teachers had to, the way they collaborated differently this year to really learn from each other in new ways that they hadn't before. We heard a few things like, if you think about in the K through three environment, I know my third grader was exposed to Google classrooms and started doing reports in Google classrooms in third grade, but with technology, in the hands of all of our kids this year, second graders started getting exposed to some of these things a lot sooner, and it sort of started getting pushed down in terms of the integration of technology into teaching and learning. So that's just one example maybe, but I think we're eager to hear from staff and from principals on what worked really well this year, how

032did we pivot, how do we adapt and how do we want to really see that as a new asset, a strength that we talked about building those muscles, strengthening those muscles this year. So I know that everyone developed a lot of new, even form new synapses and things that we didn't know we had. So anyways, yeah, so just some good reflection and hopefully, yeah, some of the, either professional development time or planning time that the teachers will have, will allow you all to reflect in those ways. I'll stop there. Irene, I don't know if there's anything else from our conversation with principals, but thank you, Dr. Harmeier. Yes, I think Irene and I just, because we were on that reopening committee, I think it's just helpful for us to kind of get this kind of

033input right now and really hear directly from our site leaders. And so it's been really helpful. I'll just throw out one thing while I'm on the mic. Just curious, Dr. Harmeier, I know one of the, you know, we talked a lot about health and safety. And now that we've got, you know, not all families have returned, but as far as the numbers of kids on campus and sort of handling the Fever Free app and just all the protocols, I wondered, have there been any glitches? It sounds like the campus supervisors are really being helpful to maybe address some problems. But my other question was around, I remember at one point we said, well, we might need more nurses or health assistants on sites. So can you just address any of those issues for us? Well,

034the Fever Free app, even though it's a great tool and we don't know how we would do without it, because we have to do screening, but it is a real challenge, I think, for everyone to keep up with that. We really need our parents to do that screening every day. And sometimes I think what we're running into challenges is not all parents do it, then the child comes to school, they haven't been screened, and now the secretary and the principal are involved and they have to do a screening or they have to send the child home. So there's a lot of work just in the health screening process that our bus drivers are involved in, our secretaries, our principals. And then with our nurses, we think there will be increased demands and we're kind of

035experiencing a little bit of what that is like now. So we are looking at through this engagement process, what are the needs? We're asking our secretary group, what do you need next year? What in the office? What supports? And so we will continue to engage. That's part of our engagement process. So we'll see what surfaces and then we'll look at prioritizing those things for next year. But absolutely we have a need for some increased nursing support. Do you have something else? Sarah, anything? I think Dr. Harmer, the one thing from myself going forward is, I'm always a big fan of looking back on lessons learned. In this plan, when it comes to us, what I'd like to see you work with your site leaders and their staff on is there is one-time money for kind

036of additional days of work. Last time we did this, we came up with a plan and then everyone takes off in July or after the school year is done. That wasn't the best of, I think if we have time to pay people so that they can really lock in the plans to make sure everyone's on board, then I think we should do that and that should be something that's there. So I would encourage you with your site leaders to identify if they need more days once this plan is just on paper, but to really make it something concrete as it comes to the fall. Because the board has been, I think, pretty clear in the sense of, we want to identify everything we need to do now to make sure the fall, there's no hurdles.

037And that's where our kind of our line is drawn is that we don't want any hurdles for the fall. So I hope whatever money needs to be spent in order to have staff, your teachers and principals work together, then I think the board should definitely be willing to consider that and spend it. The second thing would be as a lot of this stuff comes in, also I've learned that practice makes perfect. So if there's a way for us to implement some of these things now, then let's do them now just so we understand the mechanics of what the fall may look like. Obviously everything could change tomorrow. That just seems to be the way everything works. But if there are opportunities, I just think we should take them. So whatever we can do in your

038plans to identify those going forward would be something I'd like to look at when it starts to come back to the board. Okay, go ahead, Irene. Yeah, two things, Dr. Harmar. Looking to the fall and next year, if our kids need additional support that maybe some of our partners and community can provide, whether it is tutoring or other types of, let's kind of think about what needs we might have. You may already be in conversation with them, but maybe if you wanna be in conversation, let's get that started so that they can kind of plan ahead. And then the second thing is, I just wanted to say, I really like the repetition of your very clear message for the fall because I think different community members tune in at different times, so it's good for

039them to hear. And I'd be happy if you wanna hold an office hours even for 30 minutes so people can just ask questions interactively. I'd be all up for that. Yeah, that's another good reminder. We are sending Amber, Farina, and Alejandro, we've been working with our Power School student database and adding another component to it. And that is kind of this intent to return survey that we used to do a little bit more informally with a Google form. We're now embedding that into our Power School program. So within the next few weeks, we will send this out to all of our families and ask them to complete this. Whether they're leaving or staying, we need them to complete this because it will, first of all, confirm who's going to be here next year. And then

040if someone is leaving, it'll give us a sense of where they're going and why, because we like to collect that data as well. And we're also starting in our newsletters to ask people, if you are not going to be next year, please let your secretary know so that our enrollment numbers can be accurate. So that's one component. And in that message, when we email this out, it's a very clear message, we are returning fully in the fall, five days a week. We'll have our early release on Wednesday like normal for professional planning time. But that message will be very clear in that email as well. So please give me other feedback if there's other ways that we can reassure our community that we're having a full return in the fall, other than just the messages

041we're sending out. If there's other suggestions, we'd like to hear that. Thank you, Dr. Harmar for that. I will move us on then to 4B, board member appointment process. Just so as a reminder, we have to, the decision in front of us tonight is what we do as Carol is leaving the board on May 6th, we'll be here last meeting. And then how do we replace her kind of going forward? So I know Dr. Harmar had done a little bit of work and not long ago, we did this prior. So I'll have you kind of lay it out and then we'll take public comment and then we'll have a discussion. Okay, thank you, Neil. As we learned and last year, we've had two appointments recently for different reasons. The first time we went through an

042appointment, we held an election, we were ready to go, but nobody ran. So we learned that. So as a result of that, then we had to do a provisional appointment and that's how Wendy joined our board. Then we had a resignation from another board member and that's how Sarah joined us. So we've learned a lot, one in setting up an election and being ready to have an election and then having nobody run for election and then having to do a provisional appointment. So what we have here is really kind of the same situation that we had when Sarah was appointed. Once Carol's letter came to me in the county, then we have 60 days to make a decision. And you either appoint somebody within those 60 days and using a provisional appointment process or you

043commit to and plan for being part of an election within those 60 days that then may take place later than those 60 days. You don't have to hold an election within the 60 days. So that's my understanding how this works. When we again contacted the county to ask how much would an election cost at this time if we were to run this, the estimate was between five and $600,000, which is an enormous amount of money. But when you're running an election by yourself without other people in it, that's the estimate that they gave us. We kind of looked at what the timing might be for someone to commit and then run a campaign and then run for election. So we kind of looked at the November of 21 as a possible target. And then that

044person would, if they were elected, they would be up for reelection a year later because this seat that's being vacated by Carol is up in 22. So we can move forward with an election and understanding there would be a significant cost to us. And then we have three board members whose seats are up in 22 and we're gonna have to have another election already at that time. So the alternative is to go through the provisional appointment process again. And if so, I provided a draft tentative timeline that we would need to follow if we were going to go through that process. All right, thanks everyone. Wendy, public comments. Yeah, there was one person who would like to speak and that is Mark Olbert. So Veronica can unmute him, that would be great. Can you hear

045me? Yeah, welcome. Thank you. And should I turn off the audio on my computer so I don't get feedback for you guys? You're doing fine, Mark, keep going. Okay, all right, thank you. Thank you, President Layton and the entire board. I appreciate you and all the trustees giving me a few moments to address you. I strongly encourage you to find a way to hold an election to fill the seats that's gonna be vacated shortly by Carol's retirement. And by the way, Carol, thank you too for all the work you've done on behalf of our community, both here on the board and also in your many other civic roles. Elections are essential. They allow the community, whom you represent, a chance to decide who they want to make decisions on their behalf. They're also important because

046they validate and help evolve the views of all the candidates who run. When you've been through the middle of an election, you will not have any doubt you are empowered to act on the community's behalf. Should you fill Carol's seat by appointment, a majority of the board, as Dr. Harmeier just mentioned, will not in fact have been elected, meaning no disrespect in any way to the appointed trustees. That is not a desirable situation. It doesn't walk the talk of representative democracy and it doesn't model the civics lessons we try to teach our children. It's true elections cost money, but it's an essential cost, in some ways even more essential than the traditional tools of education. Because without them, the community will begin to believe their government is disengaged from them. The recent history of our

047nation shows where that ends up, in my opinion. Not holding elections can also feed the belief a board or other body is seeking to perpetuate itself as a club of insiders. While I know that's not true in San Carlos, it has been true, sadly, in other places in San Mateo County and it did not end well. Granted, as Dr. Harmeier pointed out, elections cost money, lots of money when they are special ones. And I know the district is extremely short of funds, but other public agencies have more resources. If money is a barrier, I strongly encourage you to reach out to the city, the county, and the state for financial support. And not please by contacting staff, contact the elected decision-makers directly. They are the only ones who can make the call on whether or

048not to assist you. In closing, let me just say this. I don't see how it's possible to have the kind of high-functioning representative democracy we all want without elections. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me and good luck with what is admittedly a very difficult decision. Thank you, Mark. Wendy, was there any more public comment on this item? No, I just refreshed some more. All right. Trustees, we have a, obviously, discussion and a decision to make. It's, you know, there's something about rocks and hard sparts that were in between, but I don't know if Wendy, Sarah, you know you were the last to go through it. If you can talk mainly briefly to your experience with the process on how it went, things you may change, compared that to your thought and

049if you were asked to do an election, and then we can kind of maybe go from there if that's possible. Wendy and Sarah, would you like to start or would you like me to start since because I've actually been through an election and have been on this side of the appointment process. Let me know. That's fine. Yeah, thanks. I also just wanted to give you like more time to think too. So, I want to first, you know, thank Mark who was also a former trustee and has spent so many, probably 19 years altogether in public service for San Carlos joining us this evening. And Mark and to our community, I am pro-election. And as Mark said, it's really awkward. For me, it's awkward and very uncomfortable to have to be put into a position of

050appointing because I believe that you want your representatives to be elected. Neil and I and Michelle Mayfack all kind of ran in 2015 and Neil again ran in 2017. Here's what's on my mind as I kind of grapple with this decision. We are all here to do what is right by our kids and our students and to wisely spend our time and resources and money and our community's time and resources to do what's right by kids. And I think if this term was to end later, like in 2024, I'd be very, very uncomfortable maybe going with an appointment process. But I think ultimately we want, like we want the community to say, hey, these people here are the board. They're not doing their job. We want the opportunity to vote them out. And that's actually

051coming pretty soon because we're gonna have three seats up for election in 2022. And we're definitely gonna hold that election. I also have this. So one is we're gonna hold an election in 2022. Three seats are gonna be up. So the majority of the board can be overturned very soon. The last time we had an election, there were two seats open and only one person ran. That was me. And so only one person showed up. In contrast, I've noticed that the last two times that we've held appointments, we've actually had a plethora, like over a dozen sometimes, sometimes like between eight and 13, highly qualified people showed up, which made the decision really hard. So if we're trying to get a really like well-qualified person to serve on the board for like 16 months, 18

052months before the next election, if we have a responsibility to steward our money as well and like we're short of librarians and assistant principal, we want more like mental health counselors for like next year. These are all the factors that I kind of grapple with. And the $500,000, even if it was like $200,000, that price tag is just very, very tough to swallow. So that's what's on my mind. Thanks, Irene. And just to clarify, this seat as I'm looking at the notes here, again, it's provisional until when Carol's term would have ended, which is December, 2022, right? So if we go through this appointment process, that person has a provisional appointment through the end of 2022, right? And then at that point, we would decide if we would hold an election is like, I'm just

053asking process. Yeah, you're gonna have the election in 2022 for the three seats. This person will serve out the term similar to Sarah serving out Kathleen's term to the end of 2022, the person's gonna serve out the term until 2022 when the natural election of things is gonna happen. So Wendy, we're definitely having the election in November, 2022. Typically people will announce in the spring ahead of time around March or April, Neil, I think you're one of those people, you. You're one of those people. You would kind of announce like an attempt to kind of like run again or not. And all of that happens. And usually the papers, people usually make a decision to file, I mean, to run by that summer, right? And then the running, the election campaign process happens at summer

054and fall. Yeah, just to clarify that point, Irene, is we've tried as a board, because often people don't wanna run against incumbents. We tried as a board to communicate that our intentions earlier on before the filing period kind of really starts. So people who are interested can do it. So that's usually been April, March, end of March, April, your election year, just so if people are interested, they can gear up because in running two campaigns, it takes a long time, they're expensive. And sometimes you do have to kind of get your allies together to work yourself up to get there sometimes. And everything has some kind of a cost, time and or money. So let me just understand, do we have an idea for November? Like if there's three people that are gonna be on

055a ballot, three slots, sorry. What's the cost of that kind of an election? I mean, we're already looking at, we know we're gonna be spending money next year for this. Do we have any idea of what that is gonna cost? It's probably similar. Each time that we have a question, you have to ask the county to give you an estimate, because it all depends on how many different items are going to be on the ballot, how many different issues will share the cost of that election. So I think they can't really project out two years from now, but if we were gonna do it in November of 21, the estimate was five to 600,000. Because again, it's an odd year. There's not a lot of things on the ballot this coming November. So that's why

056it would be very expensive. It's probably gonna be anywhere from 300 to 600,000, I'm guessing for the following year. I don't know though. So I have no way of guessing. I just know that it's never cheap. And it's probably, we probably have to budget 200,000 minimum or more for these elections and we have to kind of save up for it starting a year ahead of time. Thanks. Sarah, do you wanna say anything about the appointment process? Yeah, I don't know. I'm just thinking through this a little bit. I mean, I see obviously the downside of waiting is then we operate as a board of, we would operate as a board of four and then a majority would, or no, Irene's shaking her head. That's what I'm saying. Keep going, keep going. But I mean, if

057you don't run an election, we have to do an appointment. Okay, got it. No, I mean, sorry. If we ran an election between now and the election, right? Because you're saying if we ran an election, that would be in November. You would be a board of four until someone's elected. Yeah. Okay, just making sure I understood that. I mean, I think there are pluses and minuses. I certainly see Mark's point and Irene, what you're saying about where we're meant to be a board that represents our community and is chosen by our community. I think with the appointment process, it doesn't give you a whole lot of time to decide if you're going to apply just the nature of, it's a short calendar and with the election, it gives the people interested a little more time

058to think it through and learn what it involves. I certainly think if we do an appointment, the info sessions are essential because people need a way to ask their questions and understand what the job is like. And then it takes a lot of time to get up to speed. So if we do wait until November, then that, it's several months before, I mean, I still feel very new. So I'm not really talking in any one direction. Those are just the thoughts in my mind. I think for many people, I mean, certainly the thought of applying to something where you have to interview publicly is nerve wracking, but the thought of running a campaign is also very intimidating. And I think, I mean, just, everyone's tired right now at the end of the school year, after

059the year that we've all been through. So it's possible that with some time to think and re-energize that in November, there would be more people interested in running, I don't know. I guess my overall thought on it is, coming from someone that ran twice and lost once was, I don't think, I think there would be nothing more than I'd want to call for an election. Mainly for the reasons that I learned from doing it is you hone your message better. You get to know every angle of the district quicker, right? So you can come up to speed quicker. You get to know the constituents, right? Like the people who are very involved quickly and all those things. The runway to get up to speed is not as long as it is elsewhere. With that being

060said though, when you look at a potentially large bill, I don't look at it necessarily in dollar signs as much as I'm looking at this as people. After Dr. Harmeier discussed what we need next year to return fully, we need people. And any dollars spent on anything besides people next year is really, really difficult for me to swallow. It also leads me to the fact that I can't believe we still have to pay for it, right? Like I remember when I ran in 2017, there was a decent chunk of things on the ballot, but that still cost us 110 or $115,000 at that time. It only goes up with increased voter amount, which has gone up since 2017. So there'd be nothing more I want, but the weight is between an election where last time

061we had it, no one ran compared to your credit, Sarah and Lydia, I think you guys are very, very good board members. So I think our appointment process is good. It's not like we're, I think ruined ourselves because of it. So I look at that as weighing into a factor, but with all those things involved, given what our role is in the stewardship of the district and knowing what we have coming in this year, I think the biggest thing that weighs to me is, the other thing Dr. Hamar said, we have important decisions that have to be made between now and the end of the school year. We're gonna have to onboard a new superintendent at some point in time in July and to just operate one down with all those factors going forward. I

062don't think that maybe the general public doesn't get it, but that's incredibly hard if we have disagreements or it also gives another voice, I like to think. So what I've appreciated about Sarah and Wendy is they have very different perspectives and how they come to their conclusions and what they want. And to add that extra voice helps a board. It just really does. So that's just where I come from. I would love an election. I would love to ask why the local districts are stuck paying for this when these things happen. And that's advocacy and things for another time. And obviously we've been through it now and understand that, but at the end of the day, just given the timeframe of it and where we're at, it would be, I can't support an election at

063this point in time, although I think it's better for the candidate themselves, for the district at this stage where we're at and what it comes down to, it would be difficult for me to support election. Any other? I feel more, I mean, the fact that we have to have an election in 2022 and pay for that then, I liked Irene's point out of the gate, just saying that that will allow for representation at the ballot box. And I think the appointment process has been, it was thorough. As Irene mentioned, in both cases, there was a good number of applicants. There was a good number of people that turned out for the info sessions. I think it does help in a way to generate interest in our district. I think that's one benefit and people get

064to learn a little bit more about the role. And then maybe they would consider running in the following year. It could generate more interest by doing an appointment process and having candidates actually get to know the board. I mean, it's sort of a Q and A, but they get to sense like what is important to the board and by the questions they ask and everything. So I found it to be actually a, I mean, I know it's not the plan A normally, but since you didn't have anyone enter the election, you had to do it that way. And all I'm saying is I think it's a very good alternative. So I would say because this is like a short-term solution that I would like to move forward with an appointment process. And I also second

065what Neil's saying is about, it's a very heavy lift for the board and to have that additional voice and support for the transition with the new superintendent will be incredibly helpful. One thing Dr. Hummer just forward, let me hear you. It sounds like we are all reluctantly heading toward a appointment process, but that's what I'm hearing, correct? But part of what I'd like to do is what we did last time. We appointed a subcommittee to work on this, basically to kind of hand out and bring it back to the board. I'm more than, just because I have all the information from last time from Sarah, I'm more than happy to volunteer my time and do it just because that's probably easier than everyone collecting all the information in the process from me again. So I'm

066more than happy to do it, but I probably need someone to join me if that's the way we go. Staring at one of the two who also did it so you could give me feedback on whether or not it was good or bad. I mean, I'm happy to help with that, Neil, since I was the most recent. Okay. Thank you, Sarah. You're welcome. You beat me to the mic. So what I'll do then is I'll call for a motion at this time to have an appointment process. That's what everyone wants with Sarah and myself being on the subcommittee. And then we'll bring it back at the next meeting on May 6th with basically a timeline of what we think we can do realistically. To be honest with the community, I think we gotta be realistic

067and try to get this person on board. I think that's probably by the end of May, beginning of June. So that's just kind of the speedy timeline we're looking on to. And that's not because I'm trying to rush the process, but that's because there are a lot of meaty decisions that we need people for. So as it's also, anyone listening too is, if you dislike what I've done or anything else, now's your chance to come on board and help us get through this. So we're a pretty good team and we pride ourselves on that. So we look forward to you trying to join us. But if that's the case, then I'll ask for a motion of approval with the subcommittee. I move that we go forward with the subcommittee, Neil Layton and Sarah Casanigo. Great,

068and also as part of that, Irene also has a motion for an appointment process. I move we go forward with an appointment process. Right, thank you. And is there a second? A second. Thank you, Wendy. Carol, just a question. Are you gonna vote or, okay. I think I have to abstain. I think you can vote, if I remember correctly, if you want to, it's up to you, but an abstention will be fine as well. So, okay, all in favor, please state by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed or abstention? I didn't say aye. Carol. That'll carry four zero with one abstention being Trustee Elliott. So I look forward to getting, working through the process again, but as anyone out there, I hope that they apply, especially to be a part of this. So with that, I'll

069move us on to four C. I think this is you again, Michelle, right? Let me take a look. Yes, earlier we talked about the need to make a purchase for furniture. The board gave me direction to go ahead and move forward last meeting, which is essentially approval to get to this point. We needed to hire a project manager who does this for districts. They actually work with districts on all phases of ordering, delivering, installing, and moving out and surplusing the old furniture. So Visions Management is the consultant that we've selected to use, and we've already begun working with her. And she's been amazing. She's already at the point where she has delivery dates tentatively set up and ready to go and having furniture delivered by end of May, beginning of June. So I'd like to

070approve this contract with Visions Management to handle the furniture project. Trustees, any questions about the Visions Management contract? All right, is there a motion to approve the Visions Management contract for our project management of furniture? Carol, is there a second? Second. Thank you, Sarah. All in favor, please state by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, that will carry 5-0. I believe the next one, Michelle, is connected to this, 4-D. Yes, this is the actual contract with One Workplace Furniture. So this is the group that won our bid, essentially. We don't have to do an RFP for this purchase because One Workplace, along with several other vendors, already have piggyback bids available for us. So several of us in the region are relying on these bids to move forward very quickly. So we're looking at

071all four of the elementary schools, all having new desks and chairs. We kind of have a quick calculation, 25 desks per room, about 16 rooms per school. So it's over 1,600 desks and chairs, additional chairs for small group tables. So this covers the four elementary schools. So we'd like to move this forward, and this is within the range that I had anticipated. The second order is going to be the two upper elementary schools, Mariposa and Royal, and we'll be bringing that contract to you at the next meeting, because they too have decided to go from the tables back to desks. And so their order is being compiled right now, and it'll probably be around two to $300,000, but that bid is still being worked out. So I haven't seen it yet. It's still in process.

072So I request the approval of the One Workplace furniture contract. Trustees, any questions about the furniture contract? One question, Michelle, just what do we do with the old stuff? There's a couple opportunities we have. Some things that the teachers and principals just want to store, especially tables that they like using, they would like to store them for next year, because when COVID is not restricting us, they want to bring some of those tables back in, work tables, group tables, project tables, that there's just not going to be room for them. So those kinds of things we will store. The old desks and the old double desks that students are sitting in that we know we no longer want, we will surplus. So we'll bring an inventory to the board. The board will need to approve

073a surplus. And then Visions Management helps us with getting rid of those things through different means. We can donate them, we can sell them, we can recycle them. There's a lot of different things. And so that's where Amy Garber of Visions will help us on the surplusing process. Michelle, is that, I thought I saw that as part of the contract that they would handle that. So it's not going to cost us more to dispose of them. The contract manages the surplusing process. So it's likely not going to be a big cost for us, because there's people who want these things. So I'm not anticipating a large cost. We will have some moving costs. We're hiring the movers, for example, to take our furniture that we want to store. So the moving part is a separate

074contract that's not in here. But so there's a little bit of another cost. So we'll bring a couple more contracts to you. But the Visions Management will manage the surplus process. And there won't be a large cost associated with that. Okay. Trustee, is there a motion to approve this contract? I move approval of this contract. Thank you, is there a second? Second. Thank you, Sarah. In favor of 4D, approval of the one workplace contract for student furniture, please state by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, that will carry, oops, five, zero. All right, we will go on to 4E then. I believe this goes to Christine. Okay, good evening. At the February 25th board meeting, staff gave an update on the district technology and infrastructure replacement and maintenance plan. One of the update was

075the immediate need to replace 15 to 20 year old cables at Terra Linda and Mariposa campus and upgrading the district firewall. The board approved our fee process and we received proposals for upgrading the cabling and the upgrade of our firewalls from four to 10 gigabytes. The contract was awarded to ms.net for the cabling at Terra Linda and Mariposa and candidates for the district firewall. This work will commence upon completion of the E-rate process or the application. So most likely starting the work in next year. The quotes that were submitted was before the 40% discount. The discount will apply after our E-rate application for 2021-22 has been approved. So staff is recommending the board to approve the wiring and firewall contracts. And thanks for sharing. Just double check, is this coming out of the bond funds

076with some of the reimbursement? Yes. It is, okay. Trustee's questions. I don't think I, sorry, a quick question. What is the term of the contract? How many years or how long are we locked in or? This is the cost of the project. So depending how long, it's like one year. It's a capital improvement. So it's a one and done. So they will come in, do all the work and then be out. There's no maintenance. There's no, okay, great. Okay, thanks. Any other questions? Well, in that case, I will ask if there's approval of 4E of the E-rate agreement for wiring and firewall upgrades. I move to approve 4E, E-rate agreement. I second. Carol, did you try the second there? Sorry, just maybe I had a chance. Sorry, my computer doesn't always pick up my audio.

077Yes, but go ahead, it can be Irene. Irene, I'm gonna give that one to Carol because I saw her first. So thank you. All in favor, please state by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, that will carry five, zero. So then we'll move on to 4F with Amber and our quarterly enterprise report. Good evening, everyone. Let me share my screen. Can you see the green, the green infrastructure? Okay, I always have issues with that. So I wanna make sure you can see it. Okay, let me. All right, so good evening. I'm here tonight to provide you with an update on our enterprise programs, which include our fee-based preschool program and our SMARTy program. So some of our program accomplishments include increased enrollment in both programs for this quarter. We attribute that to the increase,

078we attribute our increase to the improvement in the COVID conditions and families feeling safer to return to school and school campuses. San Carlos K-8 students actually returned to school before most districts in the county. And I believe that's one of the reasons why our enrollment has gone up. As of this month, we have 135 students enrolled in our preschool programs and 102 students enrolled in our SMARTy programs. Both programs have continued to operate for almost a year safely and following all protocols. Preschool started in-person program last May, which is amazing. It's been running since May, which is unheard of. And our SMARTy program has been serving students in-person since August. So these programs have been on campus and serving kids and thriving for months. Both are running efficiently and are now operating with a positive

079fund balance for the school year. And combined, we're projected to net approximately $274,000 by June, which is great news. And different news than what it was a couple quarters ago, so we're happy to report that. We do know there's a large demand for childcare and preschool services in our community. And we are very happy that we've been able to provide the support to our staff members and our teachers, to our urgent learners who needed to be on campus and to our essential care workers in our community by keeping these programs open all year. So those are some of our accomplishments for the year. Right here, you can see a comparison of the second quarter to the third quarter of the year. You can see that staffing for both programs stayed the same. Our staffing levels

080are adequate for this year and we've used subs if needed due to increased enrollment. In our Q3, average enrollment went up in both programs from 101 to 114 in preschool and from 69 to 78 students in SMARTy. These enrollment increases now have us projected to bring in, like we said, at approximately $200,000 this year in revenue for both. Oh, sorry, 200,000 for preschool and 72,000 for SMARTy. We'll go over that a little bit more next. So this is our preschool forecast. You'll see in the enrollment and income section down here in the bottom left that the average revenue per student has plateaued at approximately $167,000 with enrollment increases. And based on our March actuals, we're now forecasting a larger gain for the year of a $201,898 for the year. And then if you look under

081the expenses section right here, you can see that our preschool instituted the staffing reductions in October, so you can see the change right there. And that prevented losses and stabilized our budget. So preschool staff have continued this year with a 30 minute per day reduction in work hours. And that's still ongoing for this year. We will have an increase in expenditures over the next few months, needing to bring in a couple of substitutes to increase and support our enrollment. Okay, so this slide shows you our preschool enrollment on the left side over here. As conditions improve, we added an additional 17 students to the program this quarter, bringing the average up to 118 in March. Currently we have 133 students enrolled as of the last few weeks, so that's been great. You can see our

082net income chart here on the right side that we started to see stabilization in October. So right here, we started to stabilize, and then we had a net gain beginning in December. So right here, we're now projecting to end the year with a total gain of about $200,000. This is our current Smartie forecast for the year. This is a vast improvement from what it was the last time, last two times we came to see you. Down here, same place, enrollment income, you can see that our average per student amount has plateaued at about $850 per student, or 868-ish enrollment increases are driving additional income for the final quarter of the year. We're now forecasting a larger net gain of about $72,000, despite losses in quarter one. And if you look in the expenses section, just

083like our preschool, our Smartie staff instituted staff reductions in October that resulted in profitable operations in December, and all Smartie staff have also taken a 30-minute-per-day reduction in work hours to stabilize our revenue. So good news, we are not in the hole. Without reducing costs, as you know, we would have been a loss. We projected about $76,000 for the year, and now we're projecting a gain of $72,000. Not a huge amount, but it does include that $50,000 contribution from the learning loss mitigation funds to support our urgent learners. So remember that that $72,000, $50,000 of that was part of our contribution from the learning loss funds. And I wanna make sure that we're aware of that. Okay, so for Smartie, you can see that the, as conditions improved, just like preschool right here, we've added

084an additional 29 students to our program, bringing the enrollment up to 98 for the quarter, and we currently have 102 students enrolled as of April, and it keeps going up. I think we added two more yesterday. So you can see in our net income chart, it has definitely improved since October. We had a stabilization in December right here, and we were profitable in January. So now we're seeing a continual profit from December through May, and we're projected to end the year at about $72,000 net gain. So we ended last year with a fund balance of $894,000 right here. So the end of fund balance as of June was that amount. And because of the adjustments we made, programs now look to end with a positive fund balance, not a breakeven balance that we had anticipated,

085and they're now projected to net approximately 274,000 combined. So 200,000 for preschool right here, Smartie 72 for about 274. Based on current revenue projections, the total fund balance for the end of the year, including the roll forward balance from last year is about $1.1 million in the ending fund balance right here. We do have an anticipated need for about $150,000 in facility improvements, so we wanna make you aware of that. We do need some bathrooms at BA and some carpet and flooring replacement in some of our classrooms, but we are recommending to contribute about $400,000 to the general fund for this year. This will maintain an operating reserve for future economic uncertainties in fund 63. We will bring another update back to you in Q4. So in August, we'll do an end of year summary

086and an update. So these numbers could change. I think this is probably a stable it's gonna get. I don't think we'll have a lot more enrollment increasing in the next month since we've only got a few more weeks of school left. Okay, so for next year for preschool, we are planning to have 12 classrooms open just like now with 29 staff members. We've enrolled 202 students already and anticipate needing to bring our staffing levels back up to what they were last year or almost what they were last year. They were at 38 last year before we made reductions, but we only need 29 this year. We're gonna have some shared floating aids, so we don't need as much staffing. So that will help with our expenditures. Our anticipated capacity over here on the side is

087based on our county childcare licensing guidelines. We're currently allowed to have 14 students in a group and are anticipating that new guidance will allow up to about 18 to 20 students. So we've allowed for additional students to be entered now knowing that that will probably increase. And we didn't wanna turn any families away that wanted to come to our preschool and we think we'll be fine with the new adjustments in spacing guidelines. So this allow our programs to expand in enrollment, but not to the pre-COVID levels that they were before. So we'll continue to manage that based on the county guidance and enroll students as much as we can until then. So we are at about 202 students enrolled and we can still take up to 216 as a conservative estimate or 240 if we

088can go up to 20 students per classroom. So we'll have to just wait and see. Okay, so for Smartie, oops, let me go back. For Smartie, we are anticipating going back to six classrooms. So two at Arendal-Britton Acres, one at Heather and one at White Oaks. Heather had two classrooms open right now because they were able to give us an additional space, but they need to take that classroom back next year so that they can expand, I think it's their kindergarten classes. So we're gonna go back to one classroom at Heather for next year. We are planning to enroll about 132 students. Well, actually we've pre-enrolled 130 students right now and we have the capacity to take about 156 based on current county guidelines. We do need to look at this Heather number right here

089because we have 34 pre-enrolled students and now that we only have one classroom, we can only take about 26. So we will need to look at doing some shared outdoor space which we've been really able to balance indoor and outdoor activities so not everyone is in the same area at the same time. So if we can't do that, then we'll have to look at priority in terms of Heather and which students get to be in the program next year. So Smartie follows the K to 12 San Mateo County Office of the End Pandemic Recovery Framework Guidance on spacing capacity. So with the spacing between students moving to three feet, we can fit approximately 26 students in each of our classrooms. And so we do have some openings available at this point. Not many, but we

090do have some which is good because we've just now started getting our new families on board. So that'll be great. There'll be some spaces for them. Okay, so our go forward plan for enterprise programs. Our recommendation would be to continue offering both programs for the 21-22 school year. Increase enrollment, we'll bring up our staffing needs for next year. So we do recommend reinstating all staff back to the eight hours per day that they were at previously, as well as reinstating the preschool assistant director and bringing the admin assistant backup to a 30 hour position per week. For summer, we are going to be offering a preschool summer program that will operate on all four sites with a capital of 14 students per classroom. And Smartie staff will be available to assist with our new summer

091school program up at Heather. We do have a need to improve some of our facilities like we mentioned, bathrooms and preschool flooring in some of the classrooms. We will continue to update the board quarterly and I'll be back in August with an annual report and a budget plan for next year based on enrollment and staffing. And after that, we'll continue to bring quarterly reports given to the board in October, January, and April of next year. And that is it. Discussion. All right, let me just go quick. Wendy, are there any other public comment on this? I didn't see anybody, just want to make sure I'm not missing anything now, or previously. We are good, Neil. There's no more that have come in. Great. Trustees, questions for Amber. I'll start. Amber, I just want to say

092thank you. Really great job managing this. I know, boy, it's been quite the roller coaster year, but it's really great to see such wonderful numbers, really, and that we're not going to be dipping into our reserves in any way for these programs and that you've been able to provide this really vital service to our families and our community. So I just want to start out by saying thank you. And my question is, our current preschool, is there a wait list because we're limited with how many students we can have in ratio due to licensing, or do we have room right now? I'm just curious about the plan to ramp up and what is looking like the demand is there. So right now, because we can take 14 students, we are able to enroll all of

093those 202 that have put their applications in. And we do want to keep them. We don't want them to go somewhere else. And we really do think licensing is a little bit slower than our county guidance and our framework, but we do think they'll go up to at least 18 students per classroom. So we will be fine. We just didn't want to lose those families. But if we had to, we could make an adjustment and ask some of them to go part-time and kind of move things around a little bit or shift them to another school site. So we are able to take everyone that has enrolled so far. Amber, do you think that the investment in our facilities, the bathrooms and the flooring, is it kind of spikier this year versus like the next

094couple of years? Do you think that the costs will be lower in future years or is it hard to tell? No, I think it goes up every year. You can ask Christine that question, but no, every time we get a new bed, it increases. And so it's better if we can get it done sooner rather than later. Oh, I didn't, sorry, I didn't want to put off the, I meant once we pay the $150,000 in facilities next year, are there more, is there more work to be done? No, the bathrooms will be permanent. So those won't need to be done again. And the flooring is, it's kind of ongoing need. It's a Rundle that really needs the flooring. So that once they do the bathrooms, they're gonna have to fix the flooring because they're gonna

095be pulling things up at the preschool. But a Rundle Smarty really has some old icky carpet in those portables. And so we just need to get those replaced. The other sites have been okay. They've been managed all right. So it's just a couple of different places we need to improve. No further questions, but a lot of thanks. This is that creative out of the box thinking that San Carlos started 10 years ago, win, win, win. And with so many preschools closing due to COVID, I'm glad that we can keep the spots open for our community. And kudos to Sue and her staff for preschool. Sue is not feeling well tonight, so she's home. She can't be here tonight. But they've really done a fantastic job as have our Smarty staff. I mean, I've been just

096amazed at how committed and they feel really important that they're there and they're providing those services to our families. And that's made a huge difference. And it's been so great to have them and have these programs operating. I think everyone's a little tired this year, but I think you could say that across the board. But I think they're happy to go back. At least the Smarty staff will be happy to kind of go back to the fun and not be so stressed out about getting kids on headphones and making sure their Zoom is working and all of that. I think they do miss the fun components, but they do show up at the end of the day. So they're excited to go back and have it happen again. Wendy, did you have something? Just to

097say thanks, Amber, for keeping such a close eye on this and responding to our questions and always coming back with more detailed information. And I think also just, yeah, thanks for pivoting and adapting. Also working with the families, because as the phase has changed, you all, I guess, I don't know exactly how all the pricing changed, but it did change for the families as well. Their needs changed. And so thank you all for finding creative solutions and adapting through each phase. Yeah, we just have a couple of questions. So next year, it'll be an increase in numbers with that. Are you, and you don't have to have this answer now, but if you don't, if you don't bring it back next time, is that a forecasting of more profitability at both levels, as Marty and

098the preschool, or is it gonna stay kind of flat? I think it'll go up based on enrollment increasing because we'll have more students. And so they won't just increase this and that increases the profits. But it will really depend on COVID. Again, we could have another outbreak. We could have, things have to slow down again. We could have, if any of the guidance changes in terms of how many kids we can take in a classroom, we'll have to adjust all of that. But I think we really have, even this year with COVID full blown, we were able to operate with programs running. And so we will just adjust like we did this year. If that happens and we have a drop in enrollment, then we'll drop in our staffing and we will adjust just like

099we had to this year. And we just needed to keep a really close eye on it. And that hadn't really needed to be done before because everything was just flowers and roses. But this year it was like, we really had to keep a tight watch and a good eye on everything, every single thing. We didn't spend a lot of money outside of just necessities. And we really kept everything very tight. So we'll just continue to do that until we have a greater sense of not needing to be so strict with everything. But this year we really did implement those changes and it made a big difference. But I do think that as students come back on campus and they're comfortable, we'll have increases in our enrollment. And we usually are over enrolled, they're over when

100we have wait lists of students. So we don't quite have that yet, but I do think that's partly because parents are still trying to figure out what's gonna happen next year. So once that's loud and clear that we're coming back, which is we are coming back, then I think we'll have more enrollment go up as well. My second question is a lot of the past, we've used some of the smartie afterschool care to assist with on campus. So are we still gonna be able to utilize that given the factors that now we're probably, it's gonna be a more normal school year and we'll be obviously in need of that help as well? We are, that is the plan. And Michelle can speak a little bit more to that, but we are planning to have our

101supervisors on campus to help with lunches, to help with movement of students, to help with checking in and out, anything they need during the day. And then our programs will begin, and this is for smartie obviously, programs begin as soon as TK is out and our K-Bunch is out and around two o'clock, 2.30 for everyone else. So yes, we are gonna be able to continue to provide that service, which is huge because we definitely need to have as many people on campus helping with all of these ins and outs and extra lunch periods and recesses, so yes. And one of the, I think my last request would be for, as you are requesting a increase in staffing back to kind of normal levels, I felt it's not the best way to do business, but it's

102kind of the only way we can do business these days is obviously given the rules of the 60 day period that people have to give notice before layoffs. I'd just like to know what that 60 day cost is. And the reason for that is, if we're gonna assign any money out of the funds, we're gonna need to know how much money needs to be in that fund to maintain that it's not gonna dip into the general fund from there. So I'd just like to know what that 60 day cost is. Or on the flip side of that, is if you are gonna suggest a different practice for emergencies and what we've learned from COVID to bring that back then at the end of the year. So we can analyze that as we budget. I can

103get that amount for you, how much would it cost to maintain the programs, both of them for 60 days. And then I would say that we are, we're not actually bringing preschool back to the levels we've had before. We really did realize that it's nice to have a preschool aid dedicated to every classroom, but we can actually use one to float. And so we are able to kind of trim that a little bit more for them. Smarty is on a various agency here. We're gonna go from, it was 38, I think, staff members. And we went, we're gonna go to 29 next year for about the same amount of kids. But for Smarty, 13 staff is like a very thin line of staff. So they don't have, we have no aides. We just have staff

104members in the classroom. So I can definitely give you, I'll put that in. I'll give it to Michelle for the board memo. So you have an idea of how much that would cost. And that's part of what that reserve would be held for to have with us if we needed to. Great, and I think my last request would be as kind of a, it's not a quick request or anything like that, but it would be, I believe that a lot of these staff members are our next teachers, our next helpers in the district at whatever level they wanna be in. I'd love to see if you were able to gauge that, right? Like I know Mr. Mazzoni came from Smarty and was part of our class this year. So I believe that's something we need

105to start to foster and work through. So I don't know what those opportunities are, but I'd love to have you analyze them and help us out with those. Okay, I can do that. We do have him going in. He's been a great find. So, and I will have to say, I think that because we kind of changed how much per hour we're offering our assistant coordinators, we get higher level candidates. And we are getting students that are coming out of college that are looking for their first job. And Matt, for example, was looking for a teaching job. And so he came in, it's a perfect fit for someone that wants to kind of get their feet wet and do their internships for the year. And then we can grow them, kind of grow our own.

106So yeah, I think that's been great. And it's definitely something, maybe I can work with Jen. Michelle, I can work with Jen. I'm kind of getting those, you know, our feelers out there for, to the colleges. So they know that we've got programs that we've got to hire them for. Yeah, and I think what you're saying, Neil, is important because there have been some state sponsored pipeline programs to help your classified people move into a teacher job by helping financially to get their credentials. So some districts do that. They set up a fund to help support their own employees to move up and into different positions. So that's definitely something that we can do as a district and hopefully grow our own and encourage our local community members to stay in the district and elevate

107to different positions. Well, Amber, trustees, any other questions before we give lots of thanks to Amber and move on? Neil, I did just wanna give a quick thanks to Amber and to all of the preschool staff. As a parent, I've had personal experience with how amazing the program is, and it has a fantastic reputation in the community. And so as a trustee, I really appreciate that we've made it possible to run these programs successfully and to continue to do so because it's a really big service to our community and the teachers and the staff are just wonderful. Thank you. All right, and thank you to you all really for your support in that and really trusting that we could make this work this year. So we really appreciate that. It's been a great program this

108year. It's been hard, but it's been rewarding and very much needed for our community. All right, so I think thank you so much, Amber. And I do wanna compliment Amber. When we brought her on, one of our questions was, we really want a business plan. We really wanna know financially where we are. And COVID kind of created a more urgency than ever on how to set up a business plan, so to speak, and a really financial analysis process that we didn't have in place before because we don't have the kind of staff in our business department that can run this business and run our school district. So thank you, Amber, for growing in this area, reaching out and using our community resources. Susan Raymond has been a rockstar parent volunteer who has really helped us

109put our systems of analysis in place and now we'll be able to consistently really be able to do a much better job of monitoring this business. So thank you, Amber. You've just done an amazing job. And I'm really proud of you and Sue Dolly and all the work that you guys have done this year. Thanks. Thanks very much. Thank you, Amber, all of your hard work on this one. And we'll move on to 5B. We removed 5A, 5B, approval of the e-rate agreement. Christine, back to you. So every year the district participates in the e-rate program, which provides discount on our internet and our land services, the wide area network services. So for 21-22, the contract is awarded to WAVE, which is replacing Comcast for the internet services. The monthly service charge will be 2,550

110compared to Comcast, which was 6,550. AT&T will continue to be the provider for our land services. However, the monthly service will be 655 compared to 2005. Again, the e-rate discounts will be applied after our application has been approved. The staff is recommending the board to approve the contracts for our internet and land services. Question for you, Christine. It's a fairly drastic difference in rates. Is it just a company thing or is it something else that makes it change? I would have to get that information from you, for you. Okay, Christine, any questions about the contract? Go ahead, Wendy, or no? Thanks for saving us money, I guess. I don't know who we thank, but it sounds great. Is there a motion to approve 5B, the contract of the e-rate agreement for internet and land service?

111Well, of the e-rate agreement. Thank you, Carol. Is there a second? I second. Thank you, Wendy. All in favor, please state by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, that will carry 5-0. Thank you, Christine, for doing the work on that agreement. Great, trustees, future agenda items identified. Obviously we'll come back, hopefully May 6th. We'll be more identifying of the reopening requirements. We'll come back for more of the approval appointment process. Is there anything else that you would like to bring back or we've missed that maybe I did not take proper notes on? I think we discussed last time we can do a DEI update. Carol, anything for your last meeting? I mean, now's your chance. Let's keep it a short one. Okay, well, in that case, I think we got everything we need to

112come back for the 6th. So then we will move on to our communication section, 7A. Wendy, are there anything non-agendaized items for 7A? No, no more public comment. All right, to Dan. Okay, we've got to unmute you. You're ready, Dan. Good evening. On its Earth Day and teachers all over the district, K-8 have been teaching their kids about the importance of caring for our environment and protecting it for human beings and all the Earth's animals and keeping our oceans clean. And so I hope that we as a district can continue to think about ways that we can continue to educate kids about caring for the Earth. And I think there's nothing more important that we could be focusing on. So thank you. Thank you, Dan. Lisa, any comment? Go ahead, Lisa. Hi, thanks. I just

113wanted to thank the board for including CSEA in the interview process this past weekend. I am very excited to see who the board has selected. I also wanted to acknowledge the hard work of Alejandro and Veronica in this weekend's interviews. I know they worked really hard. And as far as I'm concerned, everything went super smooth. So cheers to them. Thank you very much. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you, Dan. Dan also as well, for anyone who doesn't know, Dan has one of his old chairs in his room. So as we redo the furniture, I hope you keep one more for your history museum there, Dan. So board comments. Hi, I just wanted to thank everybody, all the kind of like the principals, the teachers, the parents that participated in the stakeholder panel this weekend. I think,

114I hope you feel that this board pushed the boundaries as hard as we could to feel that everybody could really be involved in a meaningful way. On the topic of our appointment process, we've had a lot of great people apply in the past. I encourage that if you are interested in then, and if you wanna reapply, please consider doing so. I think Neil really hung in there, and I'm so glad you did, Neil, to come onto the board with your second go round. And if you weren't selected the previous round, it was just because we only had one opening and we really do seek the dedication and the talent that we saw. If you didn't apply, please consider it. We have information nights coming up. This is a very special district. You get to support

115our really fine teachers and principals and educators. It's a small enough district that you can get your arms around it. We grapple with all the important issues facing public education systems. We're at a really interesting time in public education, moving out of this horrible pandemic and recovering together, and we need everybody's sharpest minds. This is not a clubby board. Many of us are in the process of getting to know each other, and we are welcoming people who can kind of challenge our thinking so we can get to good decisions. There, Wendy, Carol. Plus to everything Irene said, could not have said it better, Irene. Much gratitude to the members of the stakeholder panel and also our staff, Alejandra and Veronica, who really put in a lot of time this weekend to support an inclusive process

116for selecting our next leader for the district. So much gratitude for that. And I would also encourage folks to apply for the appointment process. It's really a phenomenal experience to be able to serve in a district like this. And I would say that the caliber of trustees is just really outstanding, and you're gonna have an amazing experience working with them and governing as community members. It's a really special experience. So anybody that wants to know what it's like, I'm happy to have a virtual coffee, too. So pick my brain. I will second all of that and just add that in my experience on the board so far, this is a really fantastic, dedicated, caring group of people who works really well together. And as we have all seen in the news in recent months, that

117is not the case for every school board. And so I think we are very fortunate to be working together. So I would encourage as well you to think about joining us. I will just add a few thoughts. I wanna add my gratitude to the stakeholder panel, all of the participants. It was a big time commitment and they invested even more time and deliberation than they probably anticipated. Our consultants gave us really detailed feedback, obviously, and it really weighed in to our decision. It was a very hard decision. We had excellent candidates, but we couldn't have really done it, I feel like, without that stakeholder panel input. So thank you to everyone. Some of those people are on this call, some staff people. So thank you again. And wow, there's things to celebrate like Earth Day,

118which is uplifting in some ways to see youth activism and our students and teachers who are focused on those topics. So thank you, Dan, for raising that. And I also just wanted to acknowledge that this has been a very trying week as well with the verdict of Derek Chauvin and his conviction. And I know it's been painful for a lot of communities. I just wanted to show gratitude to our principals who send out messages to our community and also to Dr. Harmeier to just reinforce that we want to be a welcoming district, a welcoming environment in our schools. And just really appreciate that our principals continue to share resources that parents can access to help discuss these really challenging issues. And again, I'm just encouraged that we have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Steering Committee,

119and we're gonna be working together next week. I imagine that some of these topics will be addressed in those conversations that we're having. And just wanted to reinforce my commitment to the process and that just want to remember that, well, I will speak for myself, but that I come from a place of privilege and I wanna seek to learn from our community members and those who are on that Steering Committee and be a good listener and work together for change. All right, thank you everyone. I know I'll just finish with agreeing with everyone, but as we kind of go forward, I'd like to publicly thank all my fellow trustees for the hard work they put in this weekend and in the week going through the superintendent process that's obviously still ongoing that requires still more

120work. But I mentioned that to say that, for anyone thinking about being part of this board, we all come at it from different angles and different backgrounds, but at the end of the day, every perspective is listened to and weighed and thoughts and experience for everyone who's on this board. And at the end of the day, we're all, as Irene says, part of Team KID and wanna do the best that's for our kids going forward. And as long as you have that attitude of Team KID, no matter what your background experiences are, you'll get along fine with us. So we appreciate everyone who's part of the process. We appreciate just kind of everyone in this district for all the hard work they've had this year. We look forward to the future with you again. So

121Dr. Harmar, you with the last word. Yeah, just briefly, we are in the process of hiring a new principal for Mariposa. So we had a chance to talk with staff today at Mariposa and about getting their input about what they would like in their next leader as we say goodbye to Alex Friel, who's really relocating to Santa Cruz area and has been named the Director of Curriculum in Scotts Valley. So we're very excited for Alex and her movement into a new role, but she's gonna be hard to replace. So it was nice to talk with Mariposa staff today. I'll be talking to parents Monday evening and we're going through the interview process next week. So we're excited about bringing in a new leader as well. So that's it for tonight. Thank you. Winnie, any public

122comment before I adjourn us to closed session? Sorry, it always takes me a second to refresh, but no, there is none. Great, thanks at this time. Thanks everyone for tuning in and we're gonna adjourn to closed session and then I'll come back if we have anything to report out. Thanks again and have a good evening. We are recording. Thank you. We're back from, I will return us back from closed session. There's nothing to report out of closed session at this time. Therefore I will adjourn the meeting and we will return on May 6th. Thank you everybody. Thanks, Veronica. Thanks, Alejandro. Thank you everybody.