Board of Education Regular Meeting, September 30, 2025

001Folks can please take their seats. We will be beginning. All right everybody. I would like to welcome everyone here in the chamber and those watching via live stream and call the September 30th, 2025 regular meeting of the board of education to order with all board members present. It's good to see everyone in the room. It's I knew that our our stunning oratory would eventually draw the crowds and and here we have it. Um I will uh begin now with our flag ceremony. The Crawford High School Army JOTC color guard will present the colors. Please stand for the presentation of the colors. I Are they here? >> Are they here? I don't think they're here. >> I don't think the color is here. >> Oh, okay. >> So, just be the pledge. >> Sorry. We're going

002to Yeah, we're going to do the pledge here. Do we have a flag? We'll set the flag there in the corner. Um, Trusty Hayes, would you like to lead us? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. You may now be seated. we may actually do the color guard a little later when they come. >> They were supposed to be here at 4:30. >> Okay. All right. >> All right. Thank you everybody. We'll now move uh to item A3, our land acknowledgement. The land acknowledgement is a traditional custom that dates back centuries in many native nations and communities. Our land acknowledgement was developed in partnership with local Kumi leaders.

003Students from the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts prepared the following video to show our respect for the Kumi people who are the original stewards of the land our school district occupies. Roll the tape. We respectfully acknowledge that the Kumi people are the original inhabitants and caretakers of these lands now known as San Diego. Despite the attempted genocide and ongoing impacts of colonization, the Kumi spirit remains unbroken and their traditions continue to thrive as they carry the memories of their ancestors who bravely resisted cultural erasure and fought to protect their land and way of life. >> In honoring their legacy, we pledge to uphold their cultural heritage and right to safeguard their sacred connection to the land for future generations. >> With gratitude and strength, we stand with the Kumi, embracing the past

004while forging a brighter tomorrow. All right. Thank you, SDSCPA. Uh we will now move to item B, the adoption of the agenda. We have a very full docket, and I mean that tonight. Um and we'll hear a variety of items, including three public hearings for charter petition renewals. Uh an annual report from our career technical education advisory committee, a student outcomes focused governance progress report on uh student uh on interim goals 4.1 and 4.2, to and consideration of implementation of a 4x4 or block schedule for all comprehensive high schools. I will entertain a motion to adopt today's agenda as published with items H1, H2, and H3, public hearings for charter school petitions renewal to be heard next. Is there a motion, Alina? Uh, Trusty Wen with the motion. Do I have a second? Uh, Trusty

005Bosa with the second. Uh, I have a motion and a second. Uh with that we will move to a vote. Uh student trustees please vote. All other board members please vote. That motion passes unanimously. We have an agenda. Miss, can you uh please provide information for public speakers about today's meeting protocols? >> Yes. Today's meeting of the board of education is a business meeting that is conducted in public and board members will not engage in a dialogue with members of the audience. Board bylaw 1025 sets the time limit for public comment on agenda items at 10 minutes per side pro and con or 20 minutes total. Speakers will be able to provide testimony at the beginning of the appropriate agenda item or at the end of the meeting for non-aggenda comment. Please listen for your

006name to be called. Speakers are listed and called in the order received. When your name is called, please come to the podium to speak. Speakers participating via Zoom will be asked to unmute when their name is called. If you are unable to unmute yourself, we will call the next speaker. Please follow along with the agenda so that you know when your item is coming up for discussion. When you begin speaking, the green light below my name on the dis indicates that the timer has started. When the light turns yellow, you will have one minute remaining. A buzzer will indicate that your time has expired. If you have not yet done so and would like to sign up for in-person public comment, iPads are available in the back of the auditorium and in the lobby. >>

007All right. Thank you, Marty. As many of you now no doubt know, we will now move to items H1 through three uh which are public hearings on charter renewals. Item H1, Innovations Academy Charter Schools Charter Petition renewal will begin uh these three items. I'd like to ask Dedra Walsh, director of the charter schools office to come to the dis and provide information on the item. Hi, good afternoon. Uh, so our first item for tonight is the public hearing to consider renewal of the charter petition for Innovations Academy. This public hearing is to consider the level of support for innovations. Innovations was classified as a high-erforming charter school by the California Department of Education. And based on this performance level, the school may be granted a five, six, or seven-year renewal. Um, in today's item, we've

008summarized in table one, the charter petition and renewals. Table two provides an overview of innovations. Table three lists the district schools with the highest percentage of resident students attending the charter school. Uh, table four summarizes uh, innovations projected enrollment for the next charter term and table five summarizes the current governing board of innovations. District staff is reviewing the charter renewal documents uh, by submitted by innovations and will bring a recommendation to grant or deny the renewal at a subsequent board meeting. Thank you. >> Thank you, Deerra. We will now take up to 10 minutes of public comment on this item. Uh, Miss Soultz, are there any speakers on item H1? >> Yes, we have nine speakers and you will have a total of 10 minutes for the entire group. I'll call your names if you

009please come forward. Christine Kouglan, Alexa Pacheo, Suna Kabad, Iris Bai Batar, sorry, Kelly Anne Forbes, Alice Birmingham, Maya Gutarius Forbes, Caesar Javier, and Emory Morgan. You can start when you're ready. >> Thank you. Esteemed members of the board. My name is Christine Kouglan and I'm the founding director and current director of Innovations Academy. We have proudly collaborated with the San Diego Unified District for the past 17 years to educate and protect the children in our care. I will keep this short so our community can speak for itself. Our community is strong because IIA has done what charters were asked to do to bring new ideas to the playground of education. What have we done from the beginning? 17 years ago, we created and implemented a social emotional program when few people were even talking about

010it. For 17 years, we have implemented a no rewards and no punishments program to help children learn to do the right thing when no one is looking. For 17 years, we have created and implemented curriculum based on child development. So, children are learning in a hands-on interactive exploratory fashion with the arts, nature, and STEM embedded in their daily learning, which is the way that young humans learn best. And we eliminated cell phones on our campus seven years ago. Today, we are petitioning for a seven-year renewal. Charters were never meant to res uh replicate districts, and that is a good thing because families deserve choice in a free country where we all think and believe differently. Out of the 10 criteria set forth by the district, we exceed criteria in eight areas. The remaining two are

011merely demographic. Let's look at them. We have fewer socio-economically disadvantaged students, but those students are performing academically higher than the district and the state. We have fewer English language learner students than the district, but we have one of the highest numbers of EL students compared to district schools in our geographic area. And 100% of our EL students reclassify by 7th grade. And the final difference, I feel balances out the other two. We serve a percentage of special education students at a much higher rate than the district and we do it successfully. So, let's continue to be in this charge together. We have proven our value and we humbly and respectfully request a renewal for seven years. Thank you so much. [Applause] >> Hi, good evening and thank you so much for allowing me to speak

012tonight. My name is Alexa Pacheco and I am proud to be a part of the Innovations Academy community. I began my journey at IIA as a teacher assistant for two years where I didn't know yet that I wanted to be a teacher. But after learning from so many beloved and wonderful teachers, I decided that that was the place for me. And since then, I've been teaching fourth grade for three years. And what I can say about our school is that it's a very special place. I hold it very dear to my heart. What I love the most about IIA is the sense of community. Our students, families, staff, and leadership all come together to create a place where creativity and curiosity thrive. It is an honor to teach here, and I'm excited to continue growing

013with our school. Thank you again for the opportunity to share, and I really hope that we can renew for seven more years. Thank you. [Applause] Hi, I'm Alice Birmingham and I'm so excited to have this opportunity to tell you all about how much Innovations Academy has changed my life. I graduated from the homeschool learning community which is based at Innovations Academy last year. I'm now at Dimensions Academy as a ninth grader. When I started the HLC in fourth grade, I was struggling and behind my grade in math. Now I'm two grades ahead taking honors algebra 2 trig as a ninth grader. I was at third grade level in writing and reading comprehension. Now my reading comprehension is at 12th grade level. We had the choice not to show up to school ever. But I loved

014the HLC so much that I showed up every single day from fourth grade to 8th grade because of its amazing people. Friends that I have kept in touch with even after I've graduated. The HLC has changed my life for the better with amazing teachers, amazing classmates, and engaging learning. For that, I will be forever grateful. Thank you. [Applause] Um, hello everybody. My name is Emry Morgan and I'm a fifth grader at Innovations Academy. I started here in third grade and now I'm in fifth grade and it's been really fun and all the teachers are really nice and there's a lot of really fun classes like ceramics and um nature studies and everybody's really nice and it's a really good community to have. [Applause] Cesar and Purita before we close our eyes we would be happy

015to see progress as far as education is concerned part of that sphere we call society. I cannot pronounce whether I oppose it or support it. I heard the successes of this charter school, public charter school. My only regret is we are beering off deviating from the traditions which we have just spoken to preserve the Ki tradition and public education whether it is charter or whatever you name it. We support it and for justice sake let it be the standard not just the traditional public school but rather name it good better best and so I oppose doing injustice to our system. The traditional public school was set with all this vision, with all this dream. Honey, you'll be happy if there is only one public school. Sir and mom, fellow Sanjans, we are heading to the

016moon. We are heading to Mars and explore the infinite universe. This is the starting point because education will teach us how to make a living not just to live. Sir, mom, thank you. [Applause] >> Say your name. >> Hi everyone. My name is Maya and today I'll be giving a speech. I used to go to to a different school. I never got to do anything fun any fun classes or activities that were fun which is I which is why I love I I and I hope you do too. and thank you for um you guys' time. [Applause] >> Hi, my name is Kelly Forbes. I'm the mom of Maya. Um and I keep sitting here and looking at these values, student wellness, academic excellence, and unlimited opportunity. And I keep thinking about Maya before she

017came to innovation. She was at a neighborhood school and she was so unsafe. We couldn't get to student wellness. So, we couldn't have academic excellence. And there when you walk into Innovations Academy, there is no doubt that there is student wellness. And so, that's why you see the academic excellence. Um, I had a child that would cry and scream and didn't want to go to school and now she's crying and screaming because we have to leave school at the end of the day. I think um, Innovations is life-changing um, for everybody and we're so happy to be a part of it and I hope um, we renew a charter. Thank you. [Applause] >> Hi, my name is Iris. I came to IIA two years ago and I'm in fourth grade now. I really like this

018school because at my I used to be at an old school. It was not really fun. We did everything on paper. We usually stayed in class the whole day and I is really like a change for me and a school that I want to be at my whole life. And and really to be honest, I never wanted to change schools cuz I didn't know what it was going to be like. But now that I'm here, I know that I don't want to change schools from here now. So, just saying I I really love this place and I hope other kids do, too. Hi, thank you very much for your time. I'm Suna Suna, the mother to this little one. I'm the one who moved the child from the private school to this innovations academy with

019a lot of crying and you know and I make this decision two years ago because this school is taking care of the kids as a whole child not only the academics but also the social emotional skills and since we moved to this school Iris has been happiest and the reason I made this move late because I wasn't born and raised raised here. The only option I knew was the district schools and the private schools. Being a Turkish American, I'm so happy with this charter school and I've been telling everybody I met and this is a great opportunity for the kids who are ready to bloom if they are supported in the right way. And yeah, I hope to stay at school as Iris says till the day she graduates. Thank you. Hello, my name is

020Stella Cameron. This is my second year at Innovations Academy. I'm in fourth grade, too. Before I attended public school, I en What I enjoy about IIA is how safe the school is and how nice the teachers are. Please hear my voice and consider Innovations Academy Charter Renewal. so my siblings and I could finish um our schooling in a safe pro I can't read that word environment. Thank you for your time. >> All right. Thank you. Um do any uh trustees have questions or comments um on this item? Okay. Um, seeing no questions, uh, thank you for your comments. We've heard them. Seems like a lot of wonderful things going on on your campus. This item will be brought back, uh, per state law, uh, at a subsequent board meeting for action. Um, the public hearing

021is now closed. Sorry, it's a little anticlimactic, I know, but thank you for coming. We'll hear item H2 next, but I'll give a minute here for folks to exit the auditorium. I mean, can we open that door now? Believe. Oh, but you're saying they're lined up there. >> All right. If we can keep that line moving, we're going to have to continue with our next item here. >> If folks from um H1 from the merge alter school want to move up to this to the next the row here, the first few rows. Our next item will be H2 merge altus ao. You just want to come up here >> to the first few rows. >> There's a bunch of folks outside. Stand. All right, it looks like we're substantially clear here. We're going to continue

022on. All right, if folks want to move quietly, uh we will now conduct a public hearing on item H2, charter petition for Alta Schools Charter School of San Diego and material revision. Please folks, please be silent. >> We're going to move forward now. We will now conduct a public hearing on MH2 charter petition for Alta Schools Charter School of San Diego and material revision to merge Alta Schools ADO into Alta School's Charter School of San Diego. Miss Walsh Walsh, um please provide information on the item. >> Thank you. Uh, as stated, this is the public hearing to consider the renewal of the charter petition for Altus Schools, Charter School of San Diego, and a material revision to merge Altus Schools AO into Charter School of San Diego. The school is seeking renewal of its charter

023for a 5-year term. The public hearing is to consider the level of support for Charter School of San Diego and the merger. Uh, table one provides a summary of the charter petitions and renewals. Table two provides a summary of the ADO um Altus ADO charter petition and renewals. The schools currently operate as non-classroombased programs with charter schools San Diego serving students in grades 6 through 12 and ADO serving students in grades TK through 12. As part of the renewal the material revision and material revision, ADO is seeking to merge into Charter School of San Diego. If approved, this would expand the grade levels uh that Charter School of San Diego serves to K12 beginning July 1, 2026, and ADO would surrender its charter effective June 30, 2026. Um the schools combined currently operate 22 sites

024that are identified in the item for you. Uh tables three and four provide overviews of the two schools. Uh tables five and six list the district schools with the highest percentages of resident students attending the schools. Um both schools operate as dashboard alternative school status or DAS schools meaning their renewal will be based on alternative metrics rather than a performance level determined by the California Department of Education. We've also included the projected enrollment and current governing board roster in this items. And as with the other public hearings, district staff is reviewing the charter documents that were submitted and will bring forward a recommendation to grant or deny the renewal at a subsequent date. >> Thank you, Deardra. Uh, for those of you in the room, you know the drill. We will now take up to

02510 minutes of public comment on this item. Uh, Miss Staltz, I think I know the answer, but are there any speakers on item H2? >> Yes, we have 13 speakers. It looks like they're already lined up. if you would just come to the podium, say your name so I can check you off, and you have 10 minutes total. >> All right. Thank you for opportunity to be here tonight. Uh, Superintendent Beula, Board President Patterson, members of the board, district staff. Thank you for opportunity. Um, 23 years ago, our charter was the first one approved by this district. And since that time, we've been working really hard to make a difference in the lives of kids that need something different. I know that part of today's meeting is to gauge the level of support. Obviously, you

026can see the blue shirts out here. We've got a huge community behind us in terms of uh the work that we do. So, thank you for being here today. They're still filing in quietly. Thank you. Uh during this renewal cycle, we have the opportunity to merge our two schools together to make our work more efficient. So that's as Dedra mentioned uh both our schools are DOS schools uh approved by the California Department of Education uh recognizing a high-risisk population 70% or more um that we serve credit deficiency habitually truent high transiency homeless foster just a few of those categories um when you look at our at the district for our outcomes um and you look at the state's averages for DOS schools were way above uh the norm there I provided a handout that kind

027of speaks to that but I know the staff also So, we'll have that in their review. So, we look forward to continuing our work uh over three decades and got some great students here to hear from. Thank you. [Applause] All righty. Hi, my name is Angel Santos Vida and I am currently a senior at Charter School of San Diego. I spent most of my childhood in Mexico due to my father's deportation. My world was turned upside down in an instant and suddenly I was living in a foreign country. The adjustment was overwhelming. I had to learn a new language, navigate a different educational system and adapt to a different culture and religion belief. Despite my struggles, Altus took me in. And for the first time, I felt like I had a chance to succeed. With

028the help of my amazing teacher, Miss Guerrero, and the supportive environment, I was able to turn my life around. I went from um receiving failing grades to earning A's. I took dual enrollment courses and visited my dad in Mexico on the weekends. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a place where I belonged. I am happy of how far I have come. With the help of this school, I have been able to achieve what I once thought was impossible. Thank you. I respectfully ask that you approve this petition. [Applause] Most schools make you choose between your education and your passions. All to schools doesn't. Hello, I am Ruby Nero and I've been attending all to schools since early June of this year. I'm currently a coach for my family's nonprofit

029Oliver Productions. The flexibility that autist provides allows me to work directly with kids and teens to kickstart their career and boost their confidence. Alt schools has shown me the importance of providing schools with a quiet, safe, clean, and supportive classroom environment. At traditional school, the schedule didn't allow me to attend after school programs on time. I was often rushing to get to coaching and my other dance classes because school had a strict schedule. With Altus, I have more flexibility to get my schoolwork done on time to prepare for my coaching sessions. I'm able to work independently and I can call my teacher and ask for support if needed. This has allowed me to manage my schoolwork and my coaching without having to miss school. I ask that the members of the board approve this petition

030for all to schools charter school San Diego. Thank you. Hello, my name is Caleb Babula. I have been attending the charter school of San Diego since the sixth grade and I am now in my senior year. When I first came to CSSD, I was just starting my middle school journey and the school provided me with a distraction-free environment that allowed me to focus on my assignments. The dedicated staff at the PCO Park Resource Center and the various AVID teachers helped me get where I am today. I'm grateful for AVID and I've been a part of the program for the last four years. I have grown as a person, improved my reading and writing skills and strengthened my sense of responsibility. I am now planning to attend SDSU and to do that I earned college credits

031through our dual enrollment program. Altis and AVID truly helped me manage my time and give me a sense of responsibility. I have accelerated in my schoolwork and significantly improve my grades and standardized test scores. I plan to continue my dual enrollment and earn additional college credits before I graduate this year. I strongly advocate for the renewal of the Charter School of San Diego. so that future students can experience the same opportunities that I have so that they too can become outstanding and productive members of society. Thank you for your time. Hello, my name is Alani and I'm a proud junior at Altist School's Charter School of San Diego. I've been here for two years and in that time I've experienced something truly life-changing. At Altus I found more than just a school. I found a

032community that believes in me. My teachers personalized my learning, helping me explore my passions and prepare me for the future. With their support, I discovered my interest in serving the military. I joined the cadet core program and now serve in the leadership group where I've gained discipline, responsibility, and most importantly, confidence. Autis has given me direction, purpose, and the courage to follow my dream of serving my country. That's why I believe Autis school should be renewed so students like me can continue to grow, succeed, and find their future. Thank you for your time and I ask that you approve the petition for Alta schools. Thank you. >> Hello, my name is Anna Torres, a 10th grader and proud student of Alta schools. I have been here for four years and this school has helped me

033accomplish goals I once thought were out of reach. Before coming to Altus, I struggled with anxiety and felt like I couldn't learn at the same level as my peers. As an English learner, I became frustrated and fell behind in my classes. At Alta's, everything changed. Through individual and group tutorings in math, English, and EOD, I caught up to my peers. And this year, in my NWA MAP test, I scored at grade level in English, math, and improved my OPAC score to a four. These tutoring sessions gave me the confidence to talk to people, and now I am able to speak to you today. Thank you for your time and I respectfully ask you the members of the board to approve this petition for renewal. [Applause] Hello my beautiful people. My name is Fatim Bahadin and

034I'm a student at the chart school San Diego and I have been a part of CSSD for three years. Before I enrolled with CSSD, I felt like a lingering shadow. Although my previous school, Mary Mesa High, was overflow overflowed opportunities, I never felt like my morals aligned with those I was surrounded with. Many like myself were masked to be accepted. It wasn't until I came to CSSD that I f that I found clarity within and the freedom to focus on myself. I realized that what I once thought was my weakness was actually my strength. My true self became the foundation of my growth. Because of CSSD, I can gladly say that I am on track to graduate early and I intend to start my own hind business this summer while preparing for university. CSSD has

035given me the space to believe in my future and the confidence to pursue it. I no longer shrink to fit into rooms. I enter them grounded, determined, and me. I believe CSSD should be renewed. Thank you for your time, and I ask that you approve this petition for the Chart School of San Diego. Hello, my name is Oliver Ralden and I am a senior and proud student of Altis schools. When I first started here at Altis, I was struggling and had a hard time keeping up with my classes. as an I often felt behind. As an ESL student, understanding the material and expressing myself in English was challenging, but I I didn't feel confident and I didn't know how to ask for help. Everything started to change once I became part of the autist community.

036The teachers supported me, encouraged me, and helped me believe in myself. With their with their guidance, I started finishing my classes on time and my English improved so much that I no longer needed ESL support. For the first time, I felt like I was really moving forward. Altis has helped me become the student and person I am today, and I am now preparing to graduate, and I know that everything I've learned here will stay with me beyond high school. Thank you. [Applause] Hello, my name is Anna Vita and I'm a parent of a student at Alta School's Charter School of San Diego. Alt has been a great support in my daughter's academic journey. She transferred to the school from another country and was behind with freshman A throughG classes. I knew if she went to

037a traditional school, catching up on credits would be very hard to achieve. Not only did Altus help her get on track with credits, they also helped her with dual enrollment opportunities. She has taken multiple college courses and could potentially enroll in college as a sophomore. We are very grateful to have such wonderful teachers at the resource center who have helped her achieve her goals and have been there for her every step of the way. I believe CSSD should be renewed because it provides students like my daughter a chance to succeed in ways traditional schools might not. Thank you for your time. I ask that you, the members of the board, approve this petition for Alisa Schools Charter School of San Diego. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Rahma Abdi and I'm proud parent of Alta

038School, Charter School of San Diego. Two of my children graduated here are now attending San Diego State University and University of San Diego thanks to the honor classes, the dual enrollment courses and dedicated teacher who pushed them to support who pushed them and support them. My third child is in 11th grade now and I see the same care and opportunity helping them succeed. This school is more than academic is a community where a student feels encouraged to grow as a leader as an individual. Thank you. And I ask you guys to please support this petition. That's the 10 minutes. >> Thank you so much. U do any trustees have any questions or wish we should have discussed this item? >> All right. Uh once again I know it's anticlimactic but um thank you for your

039comments. Uh we will per state law uh return to this item. It will be brought back at a later date and for a vote. Um and but for the time being this hearing is closed. Thanks for coming. [Applause] You can also come down in the front here as well. We're going to open this door to facilitate your exit. >> You guys can come down here. It's a wider door. Once we clear the room, we will move to item uh H3, which is the renewal of the charter petition for E3 Civic High, but we'll allow the room to clear first. We still got plenty of exit capacity down here. If anybody wants to change grocery lines. All right. Uh, do we have folks to let in from E3? All right. If anybody has hand signs or

040something, we can motion to E3 Civic that the floor is theirs. I don't want to start the item before we have the representatives from E3. Yeah. H3. Yeah. Welcome folks. Make your way in. Find a seat as quickly as possible and then we can If the orderliness and the quietness of your entry is any indicator, you're going to do just fine today. Welcome. Find a seat. In Pointloma, we have the Pointl where we pause as the plane passes, but your entrance is so orderly and respectful that we hardly need to pause at all. We could just keep going. I appreciate that. All right, with that, um, we will now move to item H3. Uh this is a public hearing to consider renewal of the charter petition for E3 Civic High. Miss Walsh, uh please provide

041information on the item. >> Thank you. Yes. So, this is the public hearing to consider the renewal of the charter petition for E3 Civic High. The school is seeking a renewal of its charter for a 5-year term. The public hearing is to consider the level of support for E3. Uh as with previous items, table one summarizes the charter petition and renewals. Table two provides an overview of the school. Table three lists the district schools with the highest percentage of resident students attending the charter school. Table four summarizes E3's projected enrollment for the next charter term. Table five summarizes the current governing board of E3 and district staff is reviewing the charter renewal documents submitted and will bring a recommendation to grant or deny the renewal at a subsequent date. Thank you. Thank you, Deerra. All

042right, we will now take up to 10 minutes of public comment on this item. Miss Stoultz, are there any speakers on item H3? >> Yes, I believe we have six speakers. You have a total of a 10-minute total limit. If you could please come up to the front. Brett Taylor, Hector Lurma, JJ Amante, Sashia Portillio, Misty Jones, and Chesley Shesley Gonzalez. >> Welcome. >> Good evening, board of trustees. I'm Dr. Brett Taylor, the chief engagement officer at E3 Civic High. In 2013, the E3 Civic High School Board sought to rethink what a high school could be. And so they established a mission to engage, educate, and empower our learning community to be caring, passionate, lifelong learners and civic leaders prepared for college, workforce, and life. Over the years, we've been relentless in designing everything we

043can at our school around fulfilling this mission. Our successes include thousands of workforce internships, unique higher education partnerships and programs, specialized civic engagement projects, an innovative wellness program to support the whole scholar, and problem solvers utilizing the process of design thinking. In recent years, we've recognized that we needed to connect our core academics to our mission. So through the process of design thinking, we collectively overhauled our pedigogy as a staff to create the E3 learning model, a framework that ensures our scholars are systemically engaged, educated, and empowered in every learning studio every single day and supports our learning facilitators in connecting state standards to college, workforce, and life outcomes, creating context and meaning in learning. This shift in our instruction has led to increased scholar engagement and improved academic performance. As the board considers our

044case for renewal, we invite you to explore our programs, consider our scholar outcomes, and listen to our stakeholders. Their voices demonstrate our mission in action. >> If we could just turn off the There's a flash on a video. If we could just turn off the flash. It's in one of the trustes eyes here. Continue. Sorry. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Jesse Gonzalez and I am a E3 alum and I graduated the year 2024 and I am currently attending the University of San Diego. When I look back, I realize that everything I've been able to do is because I was taught how to be college and life ready. I was a member of the Guardi Drink team. Through the design thinking process, we invented a watch that allows you to test if your drink has

045been spiked and it sends a notification to your emergency contact. We won several competitions and were selected as an Lemosen MIT design team. I had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco, Boston, and even New York. All due to design thinking. I still talk about dream spiking to anyone I meet. And it taught me that everything, whether it's a challenge, can be solved as long as you think creatively and be pers persistent. When I saw all the opportunities when I was in eighth grade, I chose to go to E3 because I was always told to take advantage of every opportunity I saw. I started college courses early which put me ahead. By my first day of college, I was already standing as a second semester student. I was able to participate participate in the point

046Nazarine University now program. As a junior, I went to PLNU three times a week to study biology and writing. I realized something important. I truly enjoyed biology which led me into wanting to major in biology. But the experience that impacted me the most was interning at UCSD Hillrest in the trauma unit. Being in that environment, seeing the urgency, the teamwork, and the way we our lives can change in a moment made me realize that I become I belong in the medical field. Not as a nurse, but in another role where I can make a difference in people's lives. The journey has been filled with every moment of discovery, growth, and gratitude. And I know I wouldn't be here without the support of everyone who pushed me to dream bigger and believe in myself. And for

047that, I deeply I'm deeply thankful for E3. Thank you. >> Hi, my name is JJ Amate and I am a junior attending E3 Civic High. An aspect of E3 that has felt very special to me is design thinking. A class that uh is a process that endorses critical thinking and innovation. Sorry. Every grade level is presented with a problem in the community that they need to help change. And the way they do this is with an idea that scholars grew up in and develop these ideas throughout the year. And with by the end of the year we present these ideas in a event called exhibition. Over the years the process has helped me grow as a scholar. I am passionate about finding solutions to social problems. I've learned research and public speaking techniques that have

048helped me develop my critical thinking. And these skills have become vital to me in a event called BisCon that had me pitch my idea and awarded me $2,000 for that design thinking idea. Without the care that E3 shows for its students and surrounding community, I would have never been blessed with such a bountiful opportunity and experience that only E3 Civic High could present to me. Again, my name is JJ Mate and I thank you for your time. Hello everybody. My name is Christina Perigrina. I'm a parent um I'm a proud parent of my daughter Clarissa who is currently a junior at E3 Civic High School. I'm here today to show my support for this amazing school that has truly made this a positive positive impact on my life on her life. Since enrolling on at

049E3, Clarissa has grown in so many ways. Uh the staff is not only dedicated but also genuinely caring and the school environment feels safe, welcoming, and like a second home. I'm incredibly grateful for the personal growth that I've seen in my daughter over the past few years, especially in her confidence with public speaking and her passion for everything she takes on from school projects to sports and many many clubs she's involved in. As a member of the Logan Heights community, I am also appreciative that E3 requires uniforms and is located in such a convenient and accessible part of the city. The enrollment lottery has allowed students from different communities to come together, support one another, and work toward the shared goal of college and beyond. It's truly been a wonderful journey so far. E3 E3

050Civic High has provided my daughter with valuable and unique educational opportunities, and I believe it can offer the same to any incoming scholar. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Good evening. Um, I'm Misty Jones. I'm the city librarian and the director for the San Diego Public Library. And it's a privilege for me to be here today to talk about the importance of E3 Civic High and its connection to the San Diego Public Library. By being located inside the library, E3 scholars have access to incredible resources and opportunities. Students have participated in internships that give them real world experiences, partnered with librarians on class projects that bring learning to life, and benefited from guest speakers and mentors who expand their horizons. The library is an extension of their classroom, and learning happens in ways that are

051both practical and inspiring. This model is unique, not just in San Diego, but nationally. No other city that I know of can say they have an they have integrated a public high school into a central library, creating a shared space where education, community, and lifelong learning come together. It demonstrates what can happen when a city invests in young people and when institutions join forces to break down traditional walls between school and community. E3 Civic High and the San Diego Public Library show us the power of innovation. How together we can reimagine education, empower students, and build stronger connections with the community. This is not only important, it's truly transformative. Thank you. >> Good afternoon. Buenoses no. My name is Sassia Portillo and I am honored to serve as the principal here at E3 Civic High.

052For the past 12 years, E3 Civic High has been more than a school. It has been a home of belonging. And since opening our doors, we have proudly served over 4,800 scholars who have found at E3 not just a place to learn, but a place to be known, valued, and empowered. Today, as we seek renewal of our charter, we celebrate this journey and ask for your partnership in continuing the work that has transformed lives and strengthened our community. Our model, take care of you, take care of each other, and take care of you three is deeply connected to the promise of belonging. It is the promise that has shaped our culture and guided our practice. For our scholars, belonging means being part of a community where they are seen for their full potential and encouraged

053to dream beyond limits. E3 has been a safe space where they know their voices matter. For our teachers and staff, belonging means working in a collaborative environment where their gifts are honored, their innovation is encouraged, and their commitment to equity is matched by the collective. Together, we create classrooms and spaces where rigor and care go hand in hand. For our community partners and families, belonging means being welcomed as co-educators and co-dreamers, investing in the success of every scholar and family. From mentorship programs to college access opportunities, our partners have become vital threads in the fabric of E3. This culture of belonging has carried thousands of graduates into college, career, and community with confidence and resilience. It has given San Diego a model of what it is possible when a school becomes a second home. As

054we seek renewal of our charter, we do not we do so not only to continue providing high quality, but to safeguard the sense of belonging. Is that my time? And I need to end with this because it's really important. We respectfully ask for your support in renewing our charter so that E3 Civic High can continue to engage, educate, empower, and above all belong. And as we say at E3, take care of you. >> Take care of each other. >> Take care of E3. Thank you. Much gracias. [Applause] >> Thank you. Uh, do any trustees have any questions or wish to discuss the item? >> I will just say as somebody who went into UCSD Hillrest level four trauma center with a spinal tumor, it was pandemonium and I can only imagine what a internship there

055was like. I it is truly amazing. Um, thank you. Uh, I know this is again anticlimactic but per state law um we will hear this at a subsequent board meeting. We will bring it back um to take action on it. Um, but we appreciate your comments here tonight and uh this item is now closed. [Applause] We will give a minute here for folks to leave. All right. Returning to our published agenda, we will now hear a report from the student advisory board. Trustees Wyn and Ordas, please provide your report. I would like to introduce one of our student advisory board members, Katherine Leang, who also serves as our student engagement intern. Hi, my name is Katherine Leang. I am the student engagement intern for the district and I'm on I'm here on behalf of the

056student advisory board today to give the student advisory board report. Yesterday at our meeting we discussed the cell phone policy and what should happen during an emergency. Because of recent incidents our members believe that having phones during an emergency emergency should be dependent on what type of situation or there should be a certain policy for a certain clear policy for teachers. An issue that could occur if students had phones during an emergency is that students could could text parents to come to school, which could back up emergency services or spread miser information. But there are many benefits for students to have phones during an emergency as well. Students are more at peace with people they know like their parents to calm them down. If they don't have their phones, they might be creating more scenarios

057in their head and generate more panic among themselves and fellow students around them as they are unable to know what is happening. The other topic we talked about last night was the 4x4 block schedule. All students in the room unanimously decided that it was not in the best interest of the students to transition remaining high schools that are not currently on the four by4 schedule to to one. Students would be losing 40 hours of learning and students who are in IB and AP classes would have to remember content from the first half of the school year and take the test at the end of the year without review in the content in the in the class. There might not be enough time to cover everything in the short amount of time. Expecting students to self-study

058in the spring is not reliable because most students are who are in higher level classes tend to have many extracurriculars outside of school. This policy would hurt students who are in a AP/IV classes and would only benefit students who need to have credit recovery. There are already so many options for students who are who need credit recovery like summer school. The situation is different for each school. For schools that already have the 4x4 block schedule, it's what people are used to. And for schools that don't have it, it's going to be a struggle for them to transition. Thank you so much for having me tonight and have a good night. >> Good. All right. Thank you, Alina and Ashley, and thank you to our student representative. Uh we will now consider items C2 and C3.

059Resolutions recognizing October 4th, 2025 as Walter Monk Day and October 13, 2025 as Indigenous People's Day. Is there a motion to approve items C2 and C3? I have a motion from Trusty Boso and a second from Trusty Whitehurst Payne. We have a motion and a second. Miss Staltz, are there any speakers on these items? >> Yes, we have one speaker on each item. On C2, we have Steve Hadley and on C3, we have Nazarine. You each have three minutes. >> Mary Monk is in Chicago tonight at the Marine Technology Society presenting the Walter Monk uh scholar award. I incidentally to one of our PhD candidates at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. So she asked me to come and thank you for this resolution. your public on the record acknowledgement recognition of the work that she and

060the foundation are doing means a lot to her and to us. Thank you so much. This year Saturday on the 4th we celebrate Walter is the father of surf forecasting. Accordingly, we have rented two mechanical surfboards. If you had fun riding a mechanical bull back in college, dust off your skills and try it standing up. this uh Saturday. I think uh President Person's going to try. There's yet to be an overunder set on that, but you're welcome to come out and compete with him. Thank you again for this resolution. >> There's no such thing as try. >> Nazarene on C3. >> Uh good evening. I'm making a comment for Indigenous People's Day Resolution C3. Um, hello board members. I'm here as an anthropologist and community member. Thank you for adopting this Indigenous People's Day resolution.

061Naming colonialism and genocide is vital, but land acknowledgements and recognition must be first steps towards healing in worlds torn apart by colonial violence. Here in San Diego, the Kumay people were displaced, their lands seized, and their agriculture disrupted by missions and settlers. Their deep food ways and ecological knowledge were suppressed as part of an effort to erase their sovereignty. That same pattern continues in Palestine. In August 2025, Israel destroys Palestine's last surviving seed bankank in Hebrron, erasing 70 heirloom seed varieties that carried cultural memory. Soon after in El Moer, the military cut down 10,000 olive trees, some over 100 years old. These weren't just crops. They were lifelines of identity, history, and survival. Whether Kumay food systems here or Palestinian agriculture abroad, the goal is the same. To sever indigenous peoples from their land and

062replace them. If this district is serious about teaching the truth, it must connect these patterns for our students. Recognition must be more than words. It must be a commitment to justice, truth, and solidarity with all indigenous peoples demanding the right to exist. Thank you. [Applause] >> All right. Do any trustees uh have any questions or comments on these items? All right, seeing none, I will just say I'm very excited about this mechanical surfboard. I will definitely be there on Saturday. I'm probably should bring a helmet. Um, is is Dr. Rodriguez Stan Rodriguez going to be at the Tulie Boats? >> I believe so. >> Okay, that's a crowd favorite. Jump in the Tulie boat, take part in that race. Um, it is a true Kumi experience and as one anthropologist to another, thank you for

063coming tonight and speaking. Um with that we will move to a vote on these two items. Um student trustees please vote. All other trustees please vote. Those two items pass unanimously with student trustees concurring. All right. We will now move to item D1. General Council Green. Under item D1. Are there any reportable actions from close session? No, >> sometimes I ask even though I know the answer because I was there. Um, we will now move to item D3. As there are no management appointments to announce under item D2, we will continue. Uh, Dr. Bula, please provide your information report. >> Thank you, Dr. Patterson. Want to begin uh today's uh remarks by honoring Dr. Bertha Pendleton. Dr. Bertha Pendleton spent more than 40 years serving our district. She became the first black person and the

064first woman to lead our district. I am proud that our community and district was able to honor Dr. Pendleton's legacy earlier this year by renaming a school in her honor. On October 15th, the students and faculty at Dr. Bertha Pendleton Elementary will honor her life with a special ceremony. I know Dr. Whitehurst Payne knew her and worked with her and has fond memories. Dr. Pendleton broke down barriers, shattered glass ceilings. Her character, courage, and leadership demonstrated to young women that they too can ascend to great heights in their chosen profession. Dr. Pendleton's legacy will continue through the lessons she taught her students, the mentorship she provided to other educators, and the initiatives she advanced during her tenure as superintendent of San Diego Unified. Dr. Pendleton will be missed by many, but never forgotten. Thank you.

065going to move to student safety and wellness. Um student safety and wellness is a top priority for our district. It is indeed um our number one goal. Um since the start of this school year, there have been some incidences that happened on or near some of our campuses. From ICE detaining parents to an officer involved shooting near one of our schools and I have really appreciated the ways our principles and staff have responded. They have all done the right thing in a very prompt way and they have been doing an outstanding job. Given the number of incidences last uh few weeks in the school year, I felt it was important to meet last week with all of our principles, talk through these moments for lessons learned and revisit the importance of our safety plans and

066protocols. With the current climate in our country, student safety and maintaining safe campuses will continue to be a top priority, and I look forward to further engagement in that discussion. I am also excited to report um that San Diego Unified Community Schools are doing what we'd hoped when we launched the program three years ago. We are doing better at supporting the whole child. Um for those in the audience or watching at home, community schools is a strategy for organizing school and community resources around holistic student success. 35 of our schools are currently community schools. And the beauty of the strategy is that it's truly shaped by the people who design who who the strategy is designed to support. We ask, seek input, and work with the community to deliver the resources needed. Currently, the learning

067policy institute released a report highlighting the success of community schools across the state, including right here in San Diego. The report showed during the first year of implementation of the community schools model model, there were reductions of suspensions, chronic absenteeism, and test scores improved. We also saw significant academic improvements amongst our black students, English language learners, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. I want to thank Jason Babinau, who leads our community school strategy, all of the principles and teachers of these schools for their commitment to model, and the parents, students, and partners who make it a success. Thank you. Going to pivot to a commercial about our choice enrollment window. I want to provide an update about school choice enrollment. But let's start by watching a short video. [Music] We just want to make sure that all

068of our families understand that there's deadlines and they're coming. And so just want to make sure that our priority choice enrollment window is now through November 3rd for the 26 27th school year. The choice program gives families the opportunity to apply to schools outside their neighborhood boundaries from TK through 12th grade including programs with unique themes such as international buckat or steam world languages and visual and performing arts. Uh to help families navigate the process we will have two virtualformational workshops as you can see in the video. Um please sign up, get all of the information you need. I don't want the deadlines to sneak up on anyone. Uh, finally, I want to talk a little bit about the potential government shutdown. There's been a lot of talk about the possibility of a government shutdown,

069and that may leave some to wonder what this will mean for our schools. As you know, Congress must pass either a final budget or a short-term continuing resolution by midnight on Tuesday, September 30th, that's tonight, to avoid a shutdown. The good news is that most K through2 funding would not be immediately impacted in the event of a shutdown. According to the US Department of Education's contingency plan released yesterday, the vast majority of school funding is advanced funded, which means these dollars have already been allocated. That includes our largest federal programs, Title One and Special Education or IDA. These funds will still be made available as scheduled on October 1st. Grant funding is another area the department addressed. While a shutdown would halt new grant-making activities, nearly all awards were determined earlier this summer. The department

070confirmed that states, schools, and other grantees will continue to have access to the billions of dollars that were awarded in recent months. So again, the immediate effect on our schools is expected to be minimal. One area of potential concern is impact aid. Unlike Title One and IDA, impact aid is not forward funded. a government shutdown or even a short-term continuing resolution could delay the first payment which normally goes out in October. As a reminder, last year that initial payment wasn't released until the spring because the government was operating under a continuing resolution through mid-March. We will continue monitoring developments closely and will keep you updated. That concludes my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Bugula. Uh we will now conduct a public hearing and consider approval of item E1 resolution. Oh, I apologize. You

071mentioned that you wanted to say something. Trusty Wersp. >> Thank you. I I want to thank um our superintendent Dr. Bakula about um mentioning Dr. Pendleton and for all your support. She in all the negative discussions now about DEI and so forth, she was one who was wellqualified, in fact, one of the most qualified people we've ever had as superintendent. And um we've learned subsequently not only was she involved in um the schools that you all know about um where we named one school after her, but Chavez, I understand that she negotiated the land that Chavez school now sits on. She was totally involved in uh compensatory education and title one. She ran that as director and she was my boss at one point and uh we all admired her because she was so thorough

072and complete and knew her business and when she sat down she knew what she was talking about before she spoke and um a very focused individual who helped move this district along. So, I just want to say thank you to her, to her family, for all that she's done, and thank you to this board for recognizing her before we knew she was going to pass this year. So, thanks to all of you and the community for supporting someone who gave us service in this district from her heart and did a good job with it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Wyers Payne. Um, all right. Now we will conduct a public hearing and consider approval of item E1 resolution in the matter of certification of sufficient standards alliance textbooks and instructional materials. Um the public

073hearing is now open. U Miss Doulz, are there any speakers on this item? >> Yes, we have one speaker. Nazine, you have three minutes. >> Good evening. Um, my name is Nazarene. Um, and I'm here to speak on the sufficiency of textbooks and instructional materials. The Williams Act requires that every student has access to standards aligned materials that tell the truth about history and reflect the diversity of our world. When it comes to the Middle East, especially Palestine, many of the adopted textbooks erase or distort key parts of history. The Nakba of 1948, where over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced, is often minimized or left out entirely. US foreign policy toward Israel is rarely examined critically, even though it was shaped world. It has shaped world events and continues to shape our domestic politics. If our

074materials ignore Palestine, they are not truly sufficient. Students deserve an education that prepares them to think critically about colonialism, displacement, and human rights everywhere, including Palestine. I urge you to review district approved texts for bias and omission and ensure Palestinian narratives are included. Thank you. [Applause] >> All right. Is there a motion on this item? Uh, Vice President Ber with the motion. Do I have a second? Um, uh, Trustee Ordas with the second. Uh, we have a motion and a second. Do any trustes have any questions or comments on the item? All right. Seeing none, we will move to a vote. Student trustees, please vote. All other trustees, please vote. That motion passes unanimously with student trustees concurring. All right. Uh we will now hear item E2, the annual report from our career technical education

075advisory committee and approval of the 2025 2026 CATAC appointments. Uh Dr. Bula, please introduce the item. >> Yes. Thank you, President Person. While we're encouraged to see an increase in our graduation rate, and we will discuss that further in the next item, we have work to do. Our goal is to have students graduate with a meaningful diploma and to live a choicefilled life. This means not only a strong academic education but also opportunities to explore careers within our CT pathways. Even with an uptick in our A throughG graduation rate, there was a 0.9 decrease in the number of students choosing to complete the career technical education pathway when compared with the class of 2024. As you are aware with CTE, high-risisk students are eight to 10 times less likely to drop out in grades 10

076through 11 if they enroll in a CTE program instead of general program. And research shows that student participation in CTE not only increases the high school graduation rate, but results in more students going to and persisting in college. To share more about the action we're going to make to improve CTE completion outcomes, I'd like to welcome Dr. Dr. Jen Robersonson, our executive director of the office of graduation, Rick Cook, senior director of college career and technical education, Terry Mccernie with our career technical education advisory committee, and two of our spotlight students who are seniors at SDS SCPA, Aliyah Nalon, and Valerie Garcia Bonitz. So, thank you so much team. Thank you. Thank you so much. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Bula. Good evening, trustees and good evening members of our community. I am Dr.

077Cook and I'm really excited tonight to talk to you about the wonderful world of CTE. Alongside me, I have the amazing Terry Mccernie who is a great advocate for our students. He's also the president of our CEK and most importantly, he's a labor partner. So, he speaks from a place of authority. So, we're lucky to have him here with us tonight. We will walk you through a presentation tonight and we will talk to you about interim goal 4.2. Where we are now, where we are going, and how we will get there. Along the way, we will discuss our annual targets. We'll discuss how we monitor our data. We will show you our call to action with our amazing instructional coordinators. And then we will have the highlight of of the evening as we hear from

078Terry Mccernie once again about all the great things we're doing at CTE. All right, so let's go ahead and get into this. Before we start, I think it's really critical we look at a bolded word. uh it says spotlight student and truly we could not have chosen a better or more appropriate word. When we say spotlight, we're really bringing students into visibility and talking about their needs and how we can support them with the resources to be successful. So with that stated, this is what our interim goal reads as. Increase the 10th to 12th grade spotlight student cohort's completion of at least one college career and technical education pathway with a grade of C or higher. Dr. Dr. Bgoula shared with you earlier how critical and how what a great impact CTE can have on

079a student's ability to persevere through not only high school but also in college. Again, to uh complete a pathway with a greater C or higher in the capstone course is measured by the California Department of Education, the CDE from 21.4% in spring of 2023 to 39.4% by spring of 2030. Uh as you see in front of us over that six-year span, this is the um the incremental goals that we hope to obtain. Uh it's our intention to increase by 3% every year of capstone completer. And I'll walk you through what that means momentarily. This is our latest and greatest data of our CTE pathway completion rate. As you can see, in 2024, 34.7% of our students who entered into the pathway were uh completers. And then in 2025, we experienced about a two per percent

080dip in completers going down to 32.4%. Uh and then when we look at our spotlight students, we see there's 21.6 are completing. So there is a discrepancy obviously between all our students and specifically our spotlight students. Um there is a a blank data point that I just want to make sure that everybody understands. In 2024, we included ninth graders into this uh equation. And so to mirror or match our uh our interim goal in 2025, we expanded it to be 10th to 12th. So this space gives us a great opportunity to talk about what we can do to to close that gap. And I was really excited this past week. We worked with our counselors and our instructional coordinators to really look at some plans in which we can help eradicate this gap. and they

081came up with some really awesome ways in which to look at root causes and to come back to their sites and really focus on improving these statistics. Okay, so as I move on, it's really critical once again I I think so much about our spotlight students because they're the students that I think could benefit so greatly from CTE. This is taken from the California Department of Education about the impact of CTE. And I'd like to read to you four of them I think are so critical to our conversation tonight. CTE has been proven to increase engagement in school by involving students as decision makers and owners of their education process. I can't think of anything more powerful for our kids when they get to decide and look at some ways in which their future will

082unfold for them. CTE significantly increases not only the high school graduation rate but also results in a higher percentage of students going to college and persisting through graduation. I was very fortunate enough to be an AVID teacher and an AVID coordinator. And aside from AVID, one of the highest ways we get students to uh metriculate through college is through the CTE. If they achieve CTE uh credentials, they are more than likely to persevere and succeed. The third one is high-risisk students are eight to 10 times less likely to drop out in grades 10 and 11 if they roll in a CTE program instead of a general program. They are truly part of a cohort and they get to know each other and they're supported by amazing, wonderful teachers who step in to really guide them

083on their journey toward their future. And the last one I put a highlight on because it speaks to my heart. We're all here for students. And so when we look at what we are doing for our students, this speaks to my heart. The National Dropout Prevention Center Network states quality CTE and related guidance programs are essential for all students. So that highlighted uh part is really critical to me because as a former high school principal and a former middle school principal, I can tell you that there's definitely some thoughts about there's AP students, AP courses and then the other kids take a CTE course or um these other type of courses. And that couldn't be further from the truth. Students who participate in CTE courses are from all walks of life. students who have an

084IEP, students who are learning a new language, and indeed even our AP and IB students are part of that. So when we say it's essential for all students, we mean all students in San Diego Unified. Again, coupled with other strategies, they have the most impact on the dropout rate. And I just firmly believe that it's our goal, no matter what, no matter what program, that we connect kids with better opportunities. So we have a couple ways in which we're going to impact uh that goal and the first way is we will talk to you briefly tonight about our instructional coordinators. So our instructional coordinators uh came from our golden gen um our golden state pathway program and from that we decided that we were going to distribute um our monies to support our schools. 17

085of our schools chose to participate and each one of them has an instructional coordinator and our instructional coordinators are tasked with these three big levers to improve our outcomes. Uh the first one is people and partners. Uh without a doubt everything we do in CTE is really about preparing students to be college and career ready. So it's really important that they understand how to work with all types of people. Specifically for us, we're trying to give our students the opportunities for uh for internships. And so our IC's, our instructional coordinators spend a significant amount of time trying to improve that opportunity. We also work on pedigogy with our teachers. As you know, if you're a CTE teacher, often you come into the workforce or into the classroom without having a formal teaching um teaching background.

086So for a lot of our our CTE teachers, it's their first time teaching and learning alongside students. And so I'm very impressed with them because they do create opportunities for students to be engaged uh in their classrooms. And so our goal regardless of who comes into a class is to make sure that each and every one of our teachers are highly qualified to stand in front of the students that they are teaching. And the way that we do it is we have our instructional coordinators. They do walkthroughs. They support the teachers. They can do one-on-one coaching. they can relieve the teachers to go see other teachers teach. And that's one way in which we're trying to really improve all of our teachers, but but specifically our CTE teachers. Uh and then another group that's really

087important to us is our counselors. And our counselors will help us specifically in working with the IC's to make sure that all students understand the scope and sequence. So if they take a concentrator class, they know what comes next so they can complete that pathway. And then the last part, the last component, it is our data and program. Our instructional coordinators work to increase our credit by exam. So again, when we say CT is for all students, imagine being able to leave high school having earned multiple credits by completing the pathway. And for our students, that could mean literally thousands of dollars a year saved in tuition. So, we really want to emphasize that it's not just about um addressing the the goal as well as trying to make sure that our students really understand

088what CTE and these these pathways can mean to their future. And then we have a CTE dashboard. Uh I'm really lucky to have worked with Dr. Del Rossario who helped us create a dashboard and that's the key component for us to monitor and make sure we're supporting our kids. Our specific dashboard has two components. One is for our ninth and tth graders to monitor who's in the ninth and tth grade uh CTE courses. And then we have an 11th and 12th grade dashboard to understand why they're not completing and being able to call in students and monitor. And it's amazing. Uh we've already had some discussions with our instructional coordinators about how we can use that data to better inform because sometimes students just don't realize what a capstone was or they take two CTE

089concentrator classes because it's just so much fun to be in these different types of classes. Okay. And the last part is we do have two programs uh for career exploration and readiness skills. For career exploration, we use something called Zello. And for readiness skills, uh we're implementing a new program called impactor, which measures soft skills. All right. And so this is the best part of of what I get to speak about, which is the kids. And the students are everything that we do to make sure that um our jobs are impactful. And so we talk about our stakeholders, and our main stakeholders are teachers, students, and community members. These are pictures I've taken personally in the last three weeks of just visiting all our schools and getting to a sense of what uh our kids

090are doing, our CTE programs. So that first big picture is um our teachers who are getting a professional development and anatomage which is it blows my mind because when I was a uh a youngster like to see the kids learning from a 3D uh program that has human cadaavvers where they're dissecting it's just it's incredible to see where these kids are going and our teachers get trained in this and so that's critical component because the quality of the teacher will definitely impact the quality of the students and their experiences in that classroom. The the next part is in the far right corner we had uh I walked into at Hoover their their business class and these two young ladies asked if they could present to me their their project. Um so I don't know not

091sure what happened but I think I bought a backpack that day. So, um, but you got to see their skill sets and watching them present was so inspiring to me because they didn't even knew who I was when I walked in, but they were so proud of the work they did. Uh, and then this was taken from last week. Our one of our instructional coordinators created adopt a pathway day where they went to their middle school from Canyon Hills to Deporta and they showed all of the different pathways and the students got to experience it. Uh, and again, it truly was inspirational watching the kids be uh, excited about that next path. And middle school is that next frontier we're trying to get to in elementary school to make sure that they also have that

092uh, that experience. Okay. As it comes to our parents, I won't read all of these slides, but we are working with all of our counselors and all of our instructional coordinators to have a united message about teaching our parents about what CTE means to all of them. So, these are just some examples of the slides that we share. I highlighted some key words. You know, when they take a CT path uh pathway, they leave with real world skills. Um when they take a pathway, they earn college credit, which is so critical for us to understand so they can make informed decisions about having a balanced life, maybe between taking an AP class, maybe taking uh some different type of courses and then also taking CTE classes. And I also highlighted industry certifications uh so critical.

093I I watched Claremont do an amazing job of internship preparation and those kids had on their resumes their certificates, you know, things like OSHA, things like CPR and first aid and some of them are working with a um a program we have called Certaport where they can actually earn things like a Microsoft suite um certifi certificate or a Google certificate and there's many more and that's something we need to explore more so our kids are even better prepared. prepared with their resumes. Uh, and last but not least, again, it's college and future opportunities. Uh, we are the only group that calls ourselves CCT. Everybody else refers to themselves as CTE. And it's critical that we do that because we are about college and career tech education because college is just another pathway to a career.

094Okay. And this is our website. Of course, we're not going to look through it, but um there are two things that are really important and critical for our parents as they make decisions for their children alongside with them. One of them is look at all the amazing pathways we have here. The state of California offers 15. We have 12 of the 15 represented with one more coming on board which is uh going to be at Morris High School, our agriculture and science program. And this is the the most important document that we want our parents to fully understand so that can we can truly have students complete the pathways. This is an example of the engineer and architecture path pathway at San Diego High. Go cavers. And if you look up there, you'll see there's

095multiple symbols up there. And uh for example, in a concentrator course, a student can earn credit by exam, meaning they'll get college credit, they'll have a weighted grade, and they'll get a D credit for uh science. So if they're A through G. And that's how we need to sell to our students, to our families, that CTE matters and pathway completion really matters. And that's how we're going to really address uh the gaps that we see from our original presentation. Um so enough about me. Let's hear from the highlights which of course is our students hear about their own experience and then again I can't think of a better way than close with my good friend Terry Mccernie who's going to talk to you about um our partnerships with CIC and in my first meeting with

096Terry Terry definitely had he goes this is what we want to do for our kids and I want to express that I cannot say enough about Terry's impact so let's hear from our kids and then from Terry >> my fun message is to also do the never give up mindset that I feel like it's definitely helped me a lot through like the past years of high school. My name is Jenna Stray. I'm in the graduating class of 2025. Through FirstGen, I did a summer program where I got to learn a lot of the different procedures that it takes to apply for colleges, what colleges that are best fit for me. So, within the club, everything that me and my board members learned through the summer program, we'll be giving back to students that weren't part

097of the program so that they essentially know what we know. I'll be attending SCSU in the fall, majoring in nursing. So, something that San Diego Unified helped with was providing my school with small school pathways. So, I'm specifically in the health sciences pathway. I got to learn skills specific for my major, my major, which is nursing. And I basically got a head start to nursing school. Thanks to San Diego Unified, I'm ready for my future. College ready, career ready, future ready. SD unified grads. [Music] Well, that's a tough act to follow. Well, good evening. I'm Terry Mccernney. I'm not an educator. Uh, I've been involved with the CTAC for for many years. Been been before you before. always always appreciate the chance to come in and talk to you as a member of the community

098and a member of the business community. I run a small business that does defense work. The reason that I'm engaged in the SeaTac and so many others are engaged in the SeaTac as you'll see here is because we as business people, as leaders of the community, we have a vested interest in seeing that the school district produces, as we say, career ready, but I would say job ready uh employees for us. and and and this goes beyond just what you learn in the in the school, what you learn in the books. This is involves soft skills, the things we've we've talked about already. And one of the things I will say as I as we kind of gaze upon who's who else is on the CTAC and my years at the CTAC, one of the

099things that has impressed me the most is the enthusiasm of the kids who are in the CCTE programs particularly those that are really on the pathways uh the pathway to the pathways those kids that are most invested in are getting the sort of certification and credits that uh that Dr. Cook talked about. Now Dr. Cook came in, one of the things we talked about and I'm very pleased that he that he has enlarged and deepened the the sea tax. So the advice that we give is more broad-based. You can see how many people we have here from the local industry and then the other folks that we have. And the one thing I do want to point out, we are interested in more parents being involved in the CTAC and more students as well to

100get that feedback and that understanding and also to be ambassadors for the programs. Uh as Dr. Cook indicated and and I'll uh and I'll second there sometimes is the impression that the U CCTE isn't for the the fasttrack kids isn't for the kids that are going to college. Absolutely not. Not not true. If you and if you want to see what I mean by that, go back to that chart where you see all the different pathways and where they go. We have kids wearing lab coats that are doing tests and in labs working on that. We we we've have kids who trained on the the district's very own fire engine. Uh you saw the the new cadaavver 3D thing. The quality instruction we offer is for kids that are that are going on. And another

101thing that we have done very well in in the last couple of years is worked on that problem of articulation through the community college. As Dr. Cook said, we can put kids through uh through from their first years of college just by th those partnerships. So those are the set of things that that are really important to the CTAC and what we are interested in. Just a few things that I want to emphasize here in in this particular chart. The first two first two bullets again connecting with the local workforce and getting those things that we call workbased uh learning opportunities. That's a that's kind of a fancy term for educators. When you talk to people like me in the industry, what are we interested in? We're interested in trying to provide internships. We're interested

102in kids coming to our uh to our shops and we're interested in going into the classroom and talking to the kids about what we're doing so they have that touch and that richness that comes with understanding what's really going on in the workplace. Uh as a CTE CATC, excuse me, we're interested this year you see about the rubrics and that's all part of this Golden State uh initiative. We're very interested in that, getting the rubrics behind it because I think when we do get data behind some of our uh some of the things that we report to the community, it's going to become more obvious that these programs are important and the sort of things that parents ought to be kind of pushing their kids into. Uh, one of the things we're going to do

103this year with the CATAC that I'm excited about is we're going to hold our meetings at different school sites so that we, those people you saw on the slide before we have a real good understanding of what goes on, get to talk to the teachers, get to see the facilities, get to interact with the students and understand how they're how they're doing in their program and what these programs mean to them. And the final thing I want to talk about uh just for a minute is as you can see we are now talking about middle and elementary schools. 10 years or so ago when I first got involved with this we weren't talking about that. But it's important now to start getting kids involved in the sort of things that C CCT brings to them

104early if only because of things like those soft skills again. how to work as a in a group, how to be responsible, how to develop those soft skills that are important later on, regardless of which particular CCTE program they go into. So going down into the middle schools into the uh into the grade schools is very important for us and uh you can see the sort of things that we're doing. For example, the junior achievement, if you've been to the junior achievement biz, terrific opportunity for kids, really orients them to uh to what real life is like. bring that back to the the what they learned there in the classroom in their CCTE pathways. And again, you're producing a kid that leaves school and is ready to go to work or to go on to

105college with an idea what they want to do when they get out of college. So, uh, with that, I think we're ready for your questions. All right. Uh, thank you, um, Rick and Jen back there. >> Terry. Yeah. I know he's leading leading from the rear. Um, do I have a first of all, do I have a motion on this item? I see a motion. I Sorry, I caught Richard first. I have a motion from Vice President Breer and a second from Trusty Whitehurst Payne. I'll give you the next one. Um, we have a motion and a second. Uh, Marty, do we have any public speakers on this item? >> All right. We will then move to board discussion. And it looks like you're >> fresh first in the pack. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes,

106because I'm always excited about this and you know this D. Every year I I say something like this, but uh I was going to talk about this later, but uh on Sunday for those of you who take the local rag um the union trip, my husband insists. So, uh I take it for him, but and he wants a hard copy, too. Not not the Yes. Anyway, uh it talks about student loan payments and how students are failing. We as educators have to get our heads out of the sand and realize that we are not helping students by encouraging them to ignore money. Scholarships are available tomorrow. I understand at Crawford High School they're going to be talking about the FAFSA scholarship and so on. the application for that and the whole notion that we can't

107go and take some classes in advance. We can't do work. We can't do something to help our children, our students, so that when they graduate from high school, number one, they should have some credits already. Um, and Jen will be talking about it later about the 4x4 and all of that, but we need to do everything we can to help our students so that they're not saddled with a lot of debt. We're just coming online with a finance class to really start teaching students. Don't just sign up for any and every loan. Try to get some grants instead. Do some other things so that you're not in debt. You can get a um your RN through the community college through city college I believe has that program. Just do things to help yourself so that

108you're not graduating with I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and it's happening to our kids. And that's debt. You can't just uh use bankruptcy I think it is. Yeah. Can't can't do that. you have to pay that debt off. So, if they can take some of these classes, learn some things along with learning the academics, then they're better prepared. They're better prepared for the world after college, after high school. They're better prepared to be citizens of this country. if we do our part and try to help educate them on the advantages of just Oops. I guess got some fans there. Um uh Vice President uh Barrera, >> thank you President uh Patterson and thank you uh Rick and Terry as always. Um great great presentation. Um couple of uh thoughts and

109maybe you know as we go on we can get data around this. Um so the first is around paid internship. You know how how are we doing with that and are we actually creating opportunities where students um are not forced to just go and you know work any job who have to help support their families but can actually have paid internships. So that would be the first question I I'll ask that. Yeah. >> Yeah. Absolutely. That's one of the most important things that we're looking to in internships, but more specifically about these paid opportunities. So, obviously, it's been a little bit of a challenge. It's one of the things that we've identified with the instructional coordinators >> uh as one of the more challenging obstacles we have and trying to secure those, but uh be

110rest assured we are looking into that. We partnered up with a couple different uh programs that we're trying to look into uh to make something like that happen. Uh and then of course we have the C tick uh which is helping us to reach out uh for this. But absolutely a very pertinent question you know as it relates to the students and their desire to have an experience that can also pay for them. I get that. >> Exactly. And and I'm not suggesting that um that we are the source of the you know funding for the paid internship. It's partnering with employers who see the value you know that the students are bringing. I I think within the uh within the business community and I can only speak to the to the slice that I'm

111familiar with, but but I think there's the expectation particularly among the small excuse me the larger companies that that they will pay the interns and and I think that that we've been talking about internships across the board enough that that companies are beginning to understand that they have a bit of a responsibility to take on interns and to pay them as pay them as well. >> Yeah. And I'd like to defer to to Dr. Robson who'd like to add to that as well. >> Oh, great. >> Hi, good evening. I just wanted to share with the team that for the past few summers, we as a district have had summer paid internships for our high school students. Our students have been taught um the elementary curriculum during the summer program. And so, not only were

112they the teachers of the classroom, being supported by the elementary teachers, but they were also paid for their time. And then for the first time in quite some time, we have our first student um a student with disability that is being paid a paid internship at Henry High School um in the department of rehabilitation. So they are paying. Um we had not participated in this program for quite some time and so we did have a family reach out to us and we have provided that opportunity at Henry High School and so we do look to expand upon that and I think the one thing that I would add is we're studying models across our district who have booming internship programs. Um Terry had spoken to the soft skills that we are teaching into as we

113gradually um go down to elementary, middle, and high because a lot of work and preparation needs to go into ensuring our students are ready for those internships whether it's paid or or non-paid. >> Yeah, I appre I appreciate that, Jen. And again, it's so we as an employer are modeling uh you know that when we have interns, we pay them. Uh and and I think that's, you know, as Terry said, I think that's a um that's the kind of relationship that we're looking uh for with uh employer partners. The the second, and you know, we brought this up a little bit ago uh just in talking about our college career readiness uh goal. Um AB800 allows or or encourages uh districts to uh teach students about their rights in the workplace uh including about labor

114history. And so I would like to you know get some data as we go forward about um how are we implementing AB800? how many students are actually um you know um having some level of education about workplace rights you know as as they go out there. So yeah noted >> I think I saw Trusty Hazen with her hand up previously. >> Thank you and thank you for everything you've shared. Um I before I get into um questions about the report, I do have some technical feedback and just want to remind everyone that at our board governance workshop in May um and there actually minutes uh for that with item G1, there was clear consensus among the board and leadership team around progress monitoring expectations including language to be included in board agendas, goal and guardrail

115templates, inclusion of student voice and presentations, presentations templates, inclusion of bright spot and area data in monitoring reports. And while all of that showed up really beautifully, I would say in July with literacy and math monitoring reports, I don't really see much of that in tonight's monitoring report, which makes it really difficult to monitor progress against our goals and understand really what's working to achieve the growth we want for all students. I agree with what trustee Whitehurst Payne shared about how impactful this is, right? To help build economic self-sufficiency and to support students in saving money uh on college and setting them up for career success. And it's hard to evaluate the success of our progress um with the information um that's been shared. I know that our target for last school year, which you

116shared, was um for 2425, was 24.4% of Spotlight students completing at least um one pathway with a grade of C or higher in the capstone course. Uh and I think it looks like based on the data shared on another slide that only 21.6% of Spotlight students completed that pathway. So, we're about 3% below where where we wanted to be. Um, and what I'm trying to understand is what's getting in the way of us achieving this goal. what strategies are being used at schools like SCPA, at Hoover, at UC, where when you look at the data, which isn't included um in the presentation, but when I when I look at the data, I see um that those sites are doing particularly well when it comes to student pathway capstone completion compared to the rest of the

117district. And so I think understanding which high impact strategies are being used to support students in achieving our pathway goals so that they can be supported by this board and then taken to scale is exactly the kind of learning I hope our monitoring process will surface. So I'm wondering if you can speak to any learnings that have happened. You talked about the Golden State Pathway instructional coordinators. I'm wondering if and how they're replicating the best practices we're seeing at these sites where we see really high rates of spotlight pathway completion. So, if you can speak to that and then I've got a couple other questions and >> I think that's a great question. Uh, one I think that's a tremendous question. Uh, one of the ways we're addressing that which I think is really critical

118and and we have a couple of instructional coordinators here tonight. uh we do meet uh quarterly and we do something they have the agenda for this upcoming uh quarterly meeting in which we share best practices and I've asked two of our um two of our groups to uh to share their best practices. So uh we are also creating a cohort uh model in which we will go and explore the other schools and what they're doing. So they will go together uh to observe and then the other thing is that obviously we are continuously focusing on um our own capacity building. So we are having our own professional development with Susan Crate uh Susan Crate Susan Yanzawa from create from UCSD who's helping us to uh to really kind of look at the Golden State pathways

119and and truly what impact are we having um to move the needle on those items. But yes, you are correct. And I think we need to highlight those type of practices and see and learn. I do believe we have SCPA students presenting tonight. Is that correct? >> If I may jump in here, is there uh >> can we Brent, can we queue up the slide deck and go really quickly? I I just want to address some of the concerns you raised because they are valid. If we Rick, may I have the clicker? So I think it's important for um the board um to understand that we uh Dr. Richardson and I very shortly will be presenting on 4.1 which is progress monitoring for A throughG. We're going to present to the board the three um

120strategies levers that we as a district have been working on to make our students college and career prepared. So what it might feel to you right now is a little bit wonky um because we started with the presentation because we also have um Terry with us. But this specific interim goal is progress monitoring around our spotlight students graduating earning their CCTE pathway completion. So what I want to um point out to the board is that our students then upon graduation they're they're measured upon all these different indicators. Those are the college and career indicators. This particular measure focuses on our CCTE pathway completion. I'll take responsibility in the fact that we didn't include all of the school data in the direct um presentation, but you also have that as an appendix. And you are um

121Trusty Hayen, you are correct. We have schools that we spotlight and and Rick alluded to the fact that we have um what we call data collaboration meetings where our site leaders then share out best practices with one another so that they could be modeled and replicated across the district. One of the key components that we're going to talk about this evening is schedules and the impacts of scheduling and decisions we make at sites with regards to when we allow a student to take a CCT course. when we started to survey um sites, some sites don't allow students to even start a CCT course until their 10th grade year. Some sites allow for CCTE pathway um courses to be sampling of electives. We want to interrupt those practices and really have those conversations with the school

122communities. In addition to that, with the instructional coordinators that we've hired, the goal is to really have conversations with our elementary, middle, and high schools to say, is this the right pathway for our school community? Because I I reflect on my time at Claremont High School where we identified four pathways. We did um survey our our middle school students and our high school students, but we neglected to survey our um elementary families within the community and and our beliefs um and our passions and our interests shift. And so maybe perhaps engineering is not the right pathway for for a cluster. Maybe it's healthcare. Those are the things that we want to um listen and learn from our school communities and do different. And so that is part of the work of Dr. Cook and the

123instructional coordinators and the CCTE team. But we know and recognize that um we did take a dip with our CCTE completion rate. And um it often when we um dig a little deeper into the data, it really is about scheduling and lack of knowledge of the benefits that um the completion of a CCT pathway will bring a student. >> Thank you. And I think that information is really helpful for us to understand this data, right? Understanding why we took a dip, right? Hearing like nothing about scheduling was was in here. Um, and so understanding that we really are focused on on scheduling and that we see that as a high impact strategy to move the needle. What I'm hearing also is right there's a lack of awareness that we have work to do uh to

124promote these pathways to younger students. maybe the pathways that are offered don't align with the interests, but none of that was included here. So, if we're doing work around that, be great to know. Um, so then we can hear, you know, over the coming months and years the progress we're making towards advancing those strategies. Um, and I'm wondering when we look at the data and look at schools like SCPA, Hoover, UC, which are outperforming the rest of the district in terms of spotlight student pathway completion. Is it because of those implementation of those strategies you've described? Is it about scheduling? Is it about those school communities being excited and buying into pathway participation? Is there anything else happening in those sites um that we're looking at bringing to scale? >> I I'll make an observation

125from the the CATAC perspective and if you look at the CATAC membership that we put up there, one of the things that's uh that I think is exciting and is is good and and needed is the the addition of counselors. Uh I do know over the years one of the things that we have heard at the CATAC and we've we've mentioned and brought up with you know working with with Dr. Cook's predecessors is sometimes the the the I'll just use this term the value of a particular CCTE program is not uniformly understood within the education community. One of the things we had to do several years ago I think is get the counselors on board. Some of the counselors would see CCT just as a filler. I think Jen's kind of saying that and and

126and the the orientation of the school leadership around the importance of the CCTE is something that needs to be looked at. I'm a little reluctant to say that. I I don't work in the schools. I don't live in the schools. I'm not an educator. >> But part of our job is to listen and and and to talk to kids as as well as as the parents and the uh and and the teachers as well. No, >> you said it and we heard you. >> Pardon? >> You've said it. Now, we heard you. >> Yes. >> Just before we leave this one point, when you go to SCPA, and I'm sure most of us have been there, this is a school that's totally focused on creative and performing arts, whether it's through >> um the stage

127or the costumes or whatever. So there I I think that may be an anomaly or an aberant school to look at in comparison to the others where you have where you have so many um different children who were not screened like they are at SCPA. They have to go through an interview to get there. Um that that to me is an example that maybe we should take out of the mix in that sense because I don't know any other school that we have in San Diego Unifi that attracts kids from uh Orange County, from all over just for that one um SC school of creative and performing arts. They that's all they want to do versus even Kernney doesn't focus totally on on engineering and so forth, they have other interests. The kids are in

128that area, anybody can go there. So, I think that may be a different example. when you guys look at the data, >> be sure to kind of >> I think uh what I would add to that, I think it's important to note we we do have speakers from SCPA who are joining to highlight um how I'm stealing the thunder right now, but SCPA has moved the dial in all three levers that we focus on as a district. A throughg completion, dual enrollment credits, and CCT um pathway completion. Principal Farson is in the room and I would encourage him to then speak when it's time um about the demographics at his school site because while students audition, we still have students with disability, English learners, and we pull students from all across the district. So, it's

129multiaceted in terms of the um uh the types of learning and the levels of support interventions that are needed. And I think what I would highlight is you're you're correct um Dr. Dr. Whitehurst Pain in the fact that when we look at schools on this chart that you have in front of you, the schools that hi have a higher CCTE completion rate do it with intention and purpose. >> Their their school community knows about the pathway. They know uh the whether it's a twocourse model, a three course model, and they're aware of what it means to be in the engineering pathway or the healthc care pathway or the education pathway. So these are the things that we're working on and ensuring our elementary families are aware, our middle school families are aware, but Canyon Hills

130is a great example as well. They're very um strategic in scheduling, in marketing and branding. Lincoln as well. There are areas of an improvement. Um I I I will lift up we have an instructional coordinator in the house. Madison, while we have a high graduation rate, we have low um CCTE pathway completion. That's part of the work that the instructional coordinator coordinator is going to do in the Madison cluster of how can we align a CPA CPMA and an I middle to a Madison high school so that our students stay and complete the pathway. And so we are looking at schools that have done it well and then we're we're learning from those schools so that we could replicate it across the board. >> I want to say Dr. director's pain and please uh principal

131parson I believe that the um auditioning process is more of a professionalization to for the children but they don't actually like sift through any of the candidates in the way that you described and when I went to visit um I actually was talking to children and they told me that the science classes were their favorite ones um and they actually have really great other programs so I just I want to make sure that we actually can um think about this school as holistic as possible real quick one just around the internships because I agree it's really important. Are the Golden State Pathway uh instructional coordinators are they >> can they serve as internship coordinators because I know when we look at sites like Kernney where they have internship programs it requires additional staffing and as

132I look at our budget where we don't have a lot of money it are we able to leverage this Golden State pathway grant to support the internships that Trusty Barrera mentioned. >> Yeah. So that's one of the things that we have actually discussed with our uh instructional coordinators. So that is part of the the conversation is that they are going to help to promote and secure internships for our um for our students. Also um we do have a really great example in Claremont. And so we're trying to kind of again borrow and see what other great programs are doing. Um and to all of this, you know, I'm a systems thinker and I always ask myself what's producing these type of outcomes, right? And um sometimes the fix is the easiest one which is again

133what you were saying is do the kids even know like what a capstone is and and so I think we have to kind of construct that together and and that's why it's so critical I fully believe that we have to audit and understand um how people see understand CCTE and um and how we're educating our parents. So that's why we are trying to expect fidelity with our instructional coordinators about we have to go out to our community and we have to share you know all that type of information so we get the outcomes we really striving for. >> Thank you. And I'm just going to trust Bazo. >> Yes. Waiting patiently over here. Um no thank you. I just wanted to really lift up the program at Claremont. And I know I talk about the

134Claremont program a lot, but I I really feel like we we need to do more across the district similar to that program. And if I'm reading correctly on the chart, they have one of the highest rates of um completion for their um CCT. And the program that they have in place that I think is typically geared towards seniors comes during a time when seniors are, you know, in senioritis mode. not really interested in school, ready to graduate. They get involved in these internship programs. They've worked with San Diego Unifi, so they have like um working with uh elementary and middle schools, the county, um like chiropractic uh practices, real estate, things like lab research, and I've talked to the students there and seen their presentations at the end, and they just say, "These are things

135I would have probably never thought of." And the thing that's unique about that program, it's is it's not just one area. They get to focus. there's so many different areas and they have to create these reports at the end. Um and it also creates that public private partnership that we talked about um really involving the community. So on so many levels it's such a unique and I think innovative program and do we have any plans in place to do that in other parts of the district because as far as I know Claremont's the only place that we have that. Yes, that's one of the the more critical conversations we're having uh is how can we again share some best practices, but you know, obviously they've had years and years of of refining and uh and

136so we're trying to get some of our our instructional coordinators to actually observe and see it so they can feel it. Um, so that's part of the process is that we're developing our own toolkits with our instructoral coordinators over the next year. So that way when we hit it um in November as we start the process of getting ready for actually 26 27, they actually are starting the process of getting ready for these bigger uh ideas of of implementation. But those things do take time. So we want to do it correctly. We want to make sure uh that they understand the expectations, the process, the systems. Um, so yes, I've I was personally at Claremont to go watch it myself and it's it's impressive. Um, and so, uh, the other item I should bring up

137is that I I actually partnered up also with, um, different districts to understand some of the things that they're doing as well because it's it's about education and what's best for our kids and we can see and borrow from other people and definitely adopt it and other people are studying us as well. Uh but today at the San Diego County Office of Ed um workshop that we had today, we observed a really awesome presentation on the middle school CT experience. And I'm beginning to really believe that that's where we have to really shift some of our attention into the elementary and and middle school so they come prepared and we shift some of our introductory courses maybe away. But um you know I already have some appointments set up to to observe and look at

138how uh certain schools districts are using some of these practices to to really impact especially our middle school and our elementary schools. But great question. >> Thank you. And let me just say um from the perspective of chair this is going to be a very long night. Now, we've tried in the past to have one report a night, not because we're lazy, but because in hour four, the quality of cognition declines substantially. And so, um, we're going to have a long night tonight. Um, so I want to encourage my colleagues, ask all the questions you can, but let's try to try to understand we're going to go into our we're probably going to be at 10 tonight. So, I want to thank staff. Um, this is a this is a grueling experience for staff frequently,

139but you did a great job. Um, I want to very briefly point out and I will return to this um, in my comments throughout the night because although it is a lot of reports tonight, they are all tied. So, I understand why it was why it's that we've done it that way. But one of my concerns here and I think it's relevant to all the topics. Um, is we've laid out A throughG requirements to receive a diploma. Uh we have APs, we have CT CTE pathways, career and technical education pathways. We have dual enrollment. We like to see two or three dual enrollments. >> We have electives in order to support the social emotional well-being of students and give them some to come to school for uh and to allow them to explore self-discovery. We

140have we need opportunities for recovery if a student falls behind. So at some point we're I've just off the top of my head listed six things. At a certain point we run into some challenges and my guess is part of the answer and I know that my colleague Trusty Hazen was talking essentially about meaning making like let's make meaning out of what's happening here >> and I at a certain point there is a zero sum conflict over time and more than any single complaint I've heard from parents in my entire time on the board the most common is and from principles frankly the difficulty of students fitting their schedule together classes they couldn't get because it was only offered in 10th and now they can't come back to it. They fell behind and now they

141can't recover. So, we have all these things. They're all priorities for us. And I I just kind of if you could very briefly opine on how you see that happening given that you're having to have compete with things that we've we've expressed are also our priorities. Thank you. >> I would love to expand upon that. >> I'll go next. um that everything that was lifted up this evening, we've also heard not only from our students, but from our counselors, from our families. As board, you've received numerous emails about um scheduling concerns, not having enough time for either acceleration at the middle school level or at the high school level, credit recovery, etc. One of the things that we have done over the past four years is study different research models for block scheduling. And so

142that is going to be a forthcoming presentation where you'll then hear about the rationale of why we're making the proposal we're making in order to accomplish strategically everything that was lifted into the space. Realistically, on a sixth period schedule, a traditional sixth period schedule as we know it, we cannot accomplish all of these things. A through G, that that is our diploma. The expectation and the responsibility of us as educators and leaders is to ensure all of our students graduate with a C or higher. So, that's something within our sphere of influence when we work with our educators. When we talk about CCTE completion, that's more of um a scheduling issue because there's that um grappling of I'm really passionate about robotics and engineering, but yet I'm really passionate about majoring in ROC or I

143want engineering and I want band yet I didn't have the opportunity in middle to take an advanced level math or world language class. and the reality of um working with a high school student and a counselor who meets with those students to look at the transcripts. When you come in not having taken advanced level um classes in middle school, you're already off track. When we pull a student out for a support class for um whether they're an English learner or a student with disability, you're off track not only for graduation but for for other aspects of your diploma. And so we as a district have explored various block scheduling and so that is part of the conversation that we're going to have this evening. >> All right. Um thank you very much. Um let me

144real quick um Principal Farson you brought some kids I don't want to trigger a second round of of question and comment but did did you anticipate speaking in the A throughg section. Did >> is that better? Okay. Is it would would you prefer that? >> Awesome. Well, we'll have um principal faren do and or instructional coordinator Aacia Thei. We'll have you introduce your students, please. >> We'll basically take this as part of the presentation on >> It's okay. We've learned to be flexible. and principal Farson, if you could share a little bit about SCPA and some of the questions that >> Well, I was going to let the students speak this evening, but >> Okay. I'm sorry. >> Absolutely. Um, so San Diego School of Crime Performing Arts represents all of San Diego. Um, county

145actually, as I said before, 91 different zip codes. We are a 6 through 12. The entire school is on a block 4x4 schedule and we have been for the last six five five years maybe. It has been a journey. It definitely takes meticulous attention and intentionality behind every move we make. We work with career partners. We work with conservatories and universities to know what college and career ready means. And we alter a scope and sequence of courses starting as early as a sixth grade all the way into the senior year. So every student will be completing a capstone project. and the conversations around exploration begin in the sixth grade and are nurtured all the way through. Um I am delighted I I say I'm the luckiest man in the world because uh this school is

146united by something that we are not everything to everybody but we are a lot of love and that is with a common denominator and we use arts as the voice um to make statements and to create students that are well-rounded and ready to engage in any economy that the world will throw our direction. Um and we are absolutely delighted to have Aaca Thei with me today. She is our instructional coordinator for the go state pathways grant. Um who is excited to create those opportunity. Actually, I'll just let her speak, but thank you. Aaca, come on up. >> Hi everybody. Um so my name is Aacia. I'm the instructional coordinator for the Golden State Pathways Grant. Um I'm really excited to introduce our students. They're going to talk about all of the things that make um

147their work special. they're going to talk about their pathways as majors and that's part of the intentionality that has been designed in SCPA long before I got there. And so the data that you see can can be replicated and is replicated in other schools, but it took a lot of work. Um it took a lot of dedication and it's held in high regard by our staff. Um and so they are the leaders of the work at our school. As um leaders, Tim and I get to do fun things like this. However, the uh intentionality of what was built at SCA is SCPA is real and it could be done in other places. You just have to all get in the boat and row together um and really say who are we as a school? What

148do we want for our students? What is the end goal? And SCPA's vision is about being critical literate thinkers who are ready to engage in the global creative economy. That is our vision and that's what we prepare students to do. So with that, I'm gonna let my students introduce themselves. I have Alia Nalon, Valeria Garcia Bonitez, and Kyler Kalier Kitani who are gonna um talk about SCPA. >> Hi, my name is Alia Nilon. I'm a 12th grader um at SCBA majoring in musical theater. My plans after graduating are attending university and majoring in journalism or education. Um, my major in musical theater has supported my academic goals within my high school career and the future by teaching and growing my public speaking skills, community building exercises, as well as furthering my performance skills within critical

149and quick thinking. Um the 4x4 schedule has also been a large contributor contributor contributor sorry to the support regarding my academic goals through allowing me more time to focus and prioritize the classes I'm taking during the semester as well as helping with stress and times time management. Um, one of the most impactful and important supports I've received at SCPA are the teachers, staff, and admin as um, they contribute largely. Them simply being dedicated and passionate about what they do. The extra help, the understanding attitudes, and overall belief in every student's ambitions has been a constant nudge in the right direction. My name is Valeria Garcia. My my major is fine arts and I'm a senior in SCPA. My plans after high school are attending university and being able to take college credit classes at SCPA

150has helped me with my to further my education as well as being able to take a Chuco studies course has really helped me learn about my culture and background. Thank you. [Applause] >> Hello everyone, my name is Kalia Ketani. I am a sophomore attending San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and I am a music orchestra and jazz major. My plans after high school is to go to a conservatory and study music performance. Um, my major has supported my academic goals by helping me learn new instruments such as the upright and electric bass. I've had access to private teachers and music programs across the city like Young Line Chaz Conservatory and San Diego State University Communic Community Music School. And I have also met people who share similar musical interests like myself. Um, the

1514x4 schedule has helped me succeed in school by um giving me less stress with my classes, more time to focus on specific classes instead of having to worry about every class, more time for extracurriculars, and um perfecting my artistic crafts. Um something that um has been the most important slash effective that's supported me and receiving as a student as at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts is the support from my teachers, staff, and admin when it comes to advice, applying for college courses, and them being a great source of knowledge while being kind and passionate about what they do. Thank you. [Applause] >> All right. Thank you. Thank you, principal. You may want to let your students go, but stick around. >> It's his birthday. >> Happy birthday. Happy birthday to you.

152Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Katana. >> Happy birthday to you. >> I'm gonna make you audition. >> All right. Um so with that we will Are you gonna stick around for this A3G? You you are Yes. Okay. Um thank you so much. Um we will now move to a vote which is just receiving the report I guess is what it's doing. Um uh with that we'll move to a vote. Student trustees please vote. All their board members please vote. That motion passes unanimously with student trustees concurring. Thank you so much. >> We will now hear. >> Yes. Thank you. We really appreciate it. >> Thanksgiving dinner. >> We'll see you at the November 6. It's going to be amazing. >> Oh, that's right. Okay. Um with that, we will hear item E3. We're

153onethird of the way through uh this raft of reports. Um, we will now hear item E3, the SOFG progress monitoring report on college and career preparedness, tracking completion of A throughG course requirements. Dr. Beula, please introduce the item. >> Thank you, President Person. Our high school graduation rates for the 2425 academic year saw a notable increase compared to the previous year, and we saw measurable improvements in college and career readiness. The class of 25 graduation rate is projected to be nearly 2% higher than the class of 2024 and their college and career preparedness rate was 4.2% higher than the previous year's graduating class as measured by the state's college and career indicator which is actually really complex. Um so I I I think that we also have to hold that when we talk literacy and

154we talk mathematics is very different but college and career readiness has about nine different indicators. Um, so it gets really tricky, hence all of the presentations we're having today. We are constantly working to improve student outcomes throughout our district. And I attribute these modest raises in graduation rates and college and career readiness to our focus on real time data monitoring. The collaborative support systems we've enacted to help students on their path to being future ready. So those are two high lever strategies that we're using. For this item, I'd like to welcome Dr. Erin Richardson and Dr. Jen Robersonson. Thank you, Dr. Bula. Um, good evening, board president, Dr. Person, Vice President Barrera, and trustees. Um, tonight you will hear from um, us about the progress monitoring for interim goal 4.1 and want to highlight the

155graduation rates along with our student preparedness rates. Um, we did hear from our SDS SCPA students and we'll share why SDSPA was um, actually highlighted in the presentations. You'll see here that um I'm going to give you an overview of goal four before we dive into 4.1. Um talk about the research um behind this goal and also how we're tracking towards that with graduation rate and the CCI indicator along with our A throughG progress monitoring which is one of the levers that we've named and then the next steps that we plan to take alongside our schools. So goal four um was really designed about the the college and career index and the indicator that the state has in place but also knowing that we wanted our students to leave graduation with a plan. Um there's

156often exchanges during graduation about what are you planning as they cross the stage and we feel like it's too late at that point when they're crossing the stage. And this goal was really about how might we how do we provide opportunities for our students to reach preparedness in a way for their future. Not the future and we've talked about this before. Not the future that of me in my prime but them in their prime. So, um, we've used this graphic before and I think it's really important for us to ground ourselves of how we got, um, here with this goal. And a lot of that work came from the University of Chicago and Chicago public schools studies over the course of 10 years when they had their graduation rate was extremely low. and they recognized

157that the students who were most prepared um and graduating were predicted in their ninth grade year. And so when they started to invest in their ninth graders, there were four things that they found were impactful to their ninth graders. And you'll see them kind of in the the larger uh I'm going to do my math really quickly, octagons that are kind of around in this graphic. And what they determined was that adults coming together and talking about freshman students, how are they doing in their math class? How does that compare to an English class? How does that look in science? How is that in PE? And the adults start talking about student progress. There was more interconnection of the students and more of a community that was supporting the students. So, how were schools coming

158together and teameing around freshman success? They also talked about instructional practices um and grading practices and how that impacted their students. Another lever that they talked about was that student adult relationship. how are we connecting with our students early? And one of the other ways that they um felt was impactful is that transition year, that eighth to ninth grade transition and how were students adopted, brought into the community, understood the community, understood high school, got their head wrapped around whether it's four classes they're taking or six classes they're taking with four to six different adults and all the different expectations that each class has. helping them with that transition early were the ways that they saw improvement. So when our team originally came together, we decided where could we push on and what could we

159change? There's a lot of things in the CC indic CCI indicator that we can't impact the literacy passing of that. Also, the AP pass rate, although that's changed recently in the current CCI indicator, but like AP passage rates, we couldn't impact, but we did know there were three things that we could impact. we could impact A throughG rates, early college access, which included um our college courses along with our AP and IB courses, and then our CTE completers. We knew that those were the three things that we were going to put in invest on. And so those are the um tonight we're going to look at the graduation rates and A throughG here. And you already heard from Dr. Cook about our CTE pathway completion. So, the first thing up here is the last nine

160years of our graduation rate. I do want to note that um we've made progress and while it may look like we're back to 2021 and 22, I want to remind the board that during that time we had the emergency COVID waiverss of AB 104. And so, we did have students that weren't necessarily meeting our A throughG diploma. Um, and I'm proud to say that the 90.2% 2% um is because of the hard work that we've done alongside our students and families and the designing for meaningful um diploma work that we're actually seeing progress in our graduation rate. Uh here is our six-year comparison of our CCI indicator of preparedness. Um and you will see that when we first came were established an office of graduation in 2023. It was February we came to the board.

161Um and we shared about everything we aspired to do and a lot of that was about getting data in the hands of principles so that they could move the levers. having um data decisions um at our school sites to design student schedules knowing such things as what are the demographics of our school and what's the demographics of our students in API and college courses and is that equal and what do we need to do to change the access for some of our students um and so what we did is you will see growth actually more growth than we expected a 7% % change between 23 to the projected 2025 data at 67.1. We attribute this to the A throughG levers that early college access in our work with our community college partners and also one

162of the predictors that aren't in here but we did notice a difference was we have more students with the seal of biiteracy and so that also was supporting our growth in here. Um I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Robertson who's going to continue with some of the presentation. >> Thank you Dr. Richardson. So for our progress monitoring it was really important that Dr. Richardson set the frame or the umbrella of how then we get to 4.1 for our interim goals. And it's important um as I mentioned earlier that our students are ma measured um upon graduation. So when we um refer to the numbers that you see here, it is our students who graduated with us that then are A throughG um compliant if you will, meeting the UC CSU eligibility. So for

163interim um goal 4.1, we as a district thought it was um really beneficial to pay close attention to our spotlight students and ensuring that they are meeting A throughG and earning a C or higher. That is what this goal means. So, as a district, we've monitored our Spotlight students and their progress, whether our students are earning D's and Fs and putting in the necessary interventions and supports that Dr. Richardson had lifted up um with regards to the work that we do with our site teams. What you'll notice here is this goal um really emphasizes the importance of uh increasing. You'll know uh you may have noticed in Dr. Cook's presentation for CCTE, it was a 3% uh raise each year. It is very similar for our spotlight students and A throughG completion. I want to

164remind everyone that in order to be uh CSU UC eligible, you need a C or higher. Our graduation diploma allows for our students to graduate with D's. So when a student earns a D, they are no longer A throughG compliant. Um so our goal is to ensure that all of our spotlight students then graduate with a C or higher. What you'll see here um based on last year's graduates of our spotlight students identified our students then um were at 27.7% as far as A throughG compliant. That meant that our students earned uh one or more D's on their transcript and they they did graduate um but then they are not able to apply to a UCCCSU system. So, you'll see that we uh frequently monitor that and we'll talk about what we do as a

165team to continue to monitor and intervene when necessary. But to to um launch into the conversation, what we learned from our counselors, our site leaders, from our data insights team is that we needed to identify a way in San Diego Unified to measure A throughG and what is our benchmark for that? um because when you um talk with neighboring districts or you look at research, it often entities um vary in perspective of how this is monitored. So we as a district um went out and had conversations with our counselors, with our site leaders um and our students and we built out what you see in front of you as far as what we're measuring for our A throughG on track benchmarks. What you're going to see is the the expectation is that our ninth graders

166um will have taken and passed with a C or higher English, math, science. Um 10th grade as uh you'll see they will have completed two years of English or in progress, right? Um uh for English, math, uh world history, science. 11th grade it's three years of English, three years of math, US history, world history, two years of science. Lo stands for other um languages. Um and so that is our world language. Um oftent times our students will take the exam and then load out and then 12th grade as you see it just um increases. So, we wanted to first share that we developed this um as an internal team so that we could then present to you how we monitor the data and where we're at. As Dr. Richardson mentioned when we monitor our our

167graduation and then our A throughG completion what you'll see is um at the top you'll see our uh graduation rates each year but the darker blue represents our students percentage that are meeting graduating meeting UCSU eligibility they can apply to a school they've earned C or higher the light blue then indicates our graduates who do not graduate CSU UC eligible Therefore, they've earned a D or more on their transcript. And so, what you'll notice here is that while we have um slightly increased from 24 to 25 by a 0.9 percentage point, we have work to do with ensuring that our students are recovering their D's and Fs. Um and then, uh to take it to another level, we monitor by class of. So when our students come to us in high school, we give them

168what we call class of or a cohort um assignment. So our current ninth graders class of 2029, 10th graders class of 2028, 11th graders class of 2027, seniors class of 2026. You may wonder um for class of 2029 why it's significantly higher. In our benchmark, we count in progress. So, our students are enrolled in the proper courses. They may not have yet failed or earned a D. And so, we're still in our progress reporting periods. Our first grading mark is coming up for the quarter schools very shortly. For our class of 2028, you'll see that um 70% of that class is um on track for UCSU. 32% is not. So what we have been working with um our site leaders and our counselors on is strategic scheduling not only in the main site schedule but

169extended day I often call it night school. Um our students have night school opportunities and or summer school and then we also have the egeneuity online uh option for our students to um recover their credits. And then for our junior class 64% is on track 18% is not. And then for our seniors, we do have work to do with our seniors as well. 55% is on track and 17% is not. And I'm gonna um pass it over to my colleague here who will take us through the next few slides. >> This is the point where the students were going to come in just so you know, but they went to go off to a birthday celebration. Um, so when we talked about the three levers that we've been trying to move, SDSPA has actually moved

170in all three. They've increased in A throughG, the early college credit, and their CTE pathway completions. And so, one of the things that we've talked about is um, student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change. And so some of the work, the leadership matters that's happening at SDSCA and the the working with their school counselors and their teachers is really showing up in their data. And so we really wanted to take the opportunity to highlight them because while some schools grew in a lever, whether it was A throughG or maybe they're really strong in CTE pathways, they had growth across all three. um since we've been measuring this. So, in talking about our next steps, um we've been working with our principles and school leaders on dashboards to monitor student success. I do want to

171highlight that for the t first time in my tenure um which is not long just for the record. I came in 21. Um we pulled our school counselors from elementary, middle, and high school last week. And in our high school team, they took a look at the dashboard data. They looked at their data. They analyzed their data and looked for opportunities for their work. They named CTE completers. They named who was in CTE. They named who was completing A throughG not at the rate that they thought they were, you know, go passing. There was a lot of ahas with our counselors. And so that first one about having dashboards and datas in the hands of our school counselors and our administrators is one of our biggest lever and our work that we're really putting a

172lot of energy into. Um the part also is bringing our clusters together to look at our spotlight students and see how they're moving through our elementary, middle, and high school. Um Dr. Cook talked about wanting to focus on CTE in middle school. We are working with our schools, our middle schools determine what might a high school readiness indicator look like. We have this preparedness upon graduation, but what does that look like? And then we need to think about what is that middle school indicator. That's the work that we're doing by bringing these collaboratives together. We know that adults talking about students and students in their classroom through the lens of PLC's is something that helps our students. um talking about grading practices and making sure that if I am an IM2, our grading scales are

173similar and the same so that it's not just the luck of the draw of how the computer organized us into classes. So having PLC's and monitoring our student progress and then also I'm really excited because our counselors have been our school counselors have been the keeper of this information of on track. We will be working with the we have been working with our data team insights team and we're going to have a forward-facing dashboard for parents and students to monitor progress towards graduation and the levers that we talked about A throughG CTE completers. So I think that is really going to change where our students can self-monitor and we can support our families and students on knowing what that means and helping them prepare. Um and then as it was mentioned in the last presentation

174in in here exploring the block scheduling for our high schools. So with that I hand it back over to the board. >> Thank you doctors. Uh Miss Doultz are there any speakers uh from the public on this item? Not on this item. Okay great. So we will move to um trustee comment and question. Do any of my colleagues have comments? Was that is that you low raising uh vice president Bara? Yeah, thank you, President Person. I I so much appreciate this uh whole presentation, but Erin, I think the point that you're consistently making is um in order to really make progress on ultimately the college and career indicators, but the levers that get us there um does require an enormous amount of work and focus. And um you know I I don't think it's by

175accident that our number projected 67% is actually 50% higher than the state average college and career uh readiness. And I think that what we're seeing is that steady progress, you know, over the last uh few years um coming out of COVID uh is, you know, really exactly that. It's the result of our educators getting together and making a commitment that we're going to create a brighter future for our students. So, I just, you know, thank you for leading that effort and thank you to our educators, you know, at at all of our schools that are making this happen. Chelsea Hazen, >> thank you. I agree. I think it's really exciting to see how all of the work you've been leading uh is resulting in meaningful change in terms of student outcomes um that we know

176are going to lead to more successful futures for more kids. Um, it's great to see that we have an increased graduation rate and I also really appreciate your cander that while graduation rate is going up, we still have a lot of students who aren't meeting A throughG requirements. Um, and it's really great to hear that we're also thinking about middle school, right? The work that we heard is happening at SCPA starting in sixth grade. um and really getting students and families and teachers and counselors thinking about uh what high school readiness looks like um for another day. I'm also interested in kindergarten readiness, but but we'll save that. >> Okay, good. Um, and I guess one of the things uh I'm curious about, one of the strategies that was identified last year to support goal

1774.1 and spotlight student achievement in particular was the adoption of an alternative sequence for high school graduation. And we voted in April to support the implementation of I think what you described as flexible and rigorous equity centered pathways um to graduation to really re-engage the approximately 10% of students um who don't graduate um a portion of whom end up up dropping out. And so I'm wondering if you could talk to us, you know, the plan was in the spring, we heard that over the summer, so like August, se September, starting to have conversations with eligible students and families um so that they could sort of start solidifying their post-secary plans. So can you update us on how that works going because that seemed like an important strategy in additional in addition to some of the

178scheduling um changes? >> That's a great question. So the alternative sequence begins with this class, the qu class of 2026. So over the summer, what we did with site leaders and counselors is we created uh the referral process and we put together the guardrails as to um the contract language, if you will, upon if we have conversations and you you go down the alternative path, what does this mean for for you? Um and so we built in all of those guardrails. Um Dr. Dr. Richardson mentioned uh just two weeks ago or maybe last week, last week, we had our first in-person meeting with our counselors to fully um talk about the alternative sequence, what this means, the referral process, um the approval process. Once a referral is made, they would come to the office of

179graduation. We would ensure um the we would vet the student's transcript. Um, we also have to then make sure that that school site then has the pathway completion. Um, I want to demystify there is this notion that the alternative sequence is less than. It's actually just as rigorous. Our students have to complete a CCTE pathway and they have to earn a C or higher on a college course. So, um to have those conversations with the student um is meaningful because we have to then explain to them we now need to put you on a path that may look a little different than what you had thought for yourself. And so that is just um starting and when we present in January, we'll be able to bring back to you the data that says here's how

180many students then qualify for the alternative sequence that we put on to the alternative sequence to graduate in 2026. >> Thank you. So it sounds like it's going according to plan and we are where we hoped we would be at this point in the year. Okay, great. Uh >> can I just comment on that because that's actually my favorite part. um is the fact that we're looking at children that potentially could uh not be on track to graduate and instead of offering remedial coursework which has been the traditional arm of high school is we're actually saying no we're going to engage you in college and career um and all research says like that actually ignites something in them so I think it's a really beautiful um alternative route >> yeah no I think so and

181I think as we look at the on track to graduate data understanding that even maybe for students in 12th grade right now who aren't on track, we might be able um to get them there with this alternative pathway. Um oh, one of the things so when we look at the specifics around goal 4.1, the target for last spring was 27.7% of students would complete um A throughG requirements with the SER higher. Um and it looks like based on the data that we ended up at 35%. So we beat that goal. Sort of the opposite of what we saw in the previous reports. I think something really for us to celebrate, right? That 35% of Spotlight students met this goal. Um and I think uh the last report we had seen like in 2023 is 24%.

182So, is it all of the, you know, sort of tweaks and changes and focus and, you know, as Trusty Bur described, like we're really doing the hard work. Is it those things? Is there anything else you think we should be aware of as a board that has contributed to us really beating our target in that regard? I would say that um our principles are coming together and sharing their best practices when we have our data collaborations. And one of the things that we talk about when we're in there is how are you helping your teachers to design the lesson with the spotlight student in mind. >> Amazing. >> And and Dr. Dr. Del Rossario says that often about his experience in LA and how when he was working with some of the neediest students in

183science, it was and it was an AP course, it was how do I design this for my students who are most struggling? And so I think in the numbers that you're seeing with Spotlight Students, I think the schools that have tried on some things maybe failed forward. I mean that's truth too. I've been in some classrooms where principles are are taking us and saying like this really isn't working. Like we have a list this long of we've met with this many kids. But really then not just meeting with the kids and knowing why they're spotlight students and why they're struggling, but going into the classrooms and seeing them and looking at how is in instruction designed for those students. And that's some of the shift that I would say has happened in the last 12

184to 18 months is getting our our leaders into those classrooms to see some of those shifts. And it maybe they're not happening yet, but what are those um approximations that we're seeing our teachers make? >> I think it's really exciting and I think really validating of the goals that this board set right around spotlight students, right? We didn't say all students should grow. Of course, we want all students to succeed. um but that we sort of took this risk and said the kids that are furthest from educational justice um and that that work is paying off. So really thank you uh for the work. >> All right, Trusty Bazo. >> Yes, thank you both. I know it's been a long night and thank you for being here to present um and excited to see the

185data. I did want to ask about community engagement a little bit more. I know we've talked about the program application that's going to be available online for parents to be able to see along with their students, but especially like our English language learner parents, which is a lot uh you know of our districts um fall into that. And I think even starting in at like the middle school level because we're talking about the counselors and we're talking about the students and obviously we want to make the students be the leader and take charge of you know be independent but I'm not hearing as much about how we're involving the community and the parents and making sure they understand because I remember going to my daughter's college night at the high school and it was not

186going to lie it was pretty confusing especially going in as a freshman and go when they were going in as freshman I was like um I don't know if I I even understand this process. So, um besides the program that you're going to have online and maybe like a college night here and there, is there other ways particularly maybe with our spotlight students um you know, families, whoever, parents, guardians, um making sure that they're tied in as well. What are the counselors kind of doing around that? >> I'll let Dr. Roersonson add. I I think one of the um strategies we had with the GSP grant was an instructional coordinator at our comprehensive high schools to work in concert with our school counselors um to get that community engagement um not only for the pathways

187but also to understand what does it mean to be on track for graduation. Um the high school transcript is very complex. when we were looking at it with our school counselors and they're the experts like there were questions on what some courses would meet and different things. So the complexity is even greater with our parents. So there will have to be a level of engagement and we really see that that's going to happen at the school level with the instructional coordinator and the school counselors um because they have the most impact and influence more so than we do. And so that's really where we believe that that change will happen. I think the one thing that I would add is um we partnered with the San Diego County Office of Education to lead the work

188with our counseling team. It was um wellreceived the professional learning and what was shared with us is this is the first time in years that our counselors were able to then come together as a whole collective of learners and learn from one another and hear a unified message. We have best practices at each of our schools. Um I I know that I see Mir Mesa and UCI in the house. We have um college nights, career nights at each of their schools. And so when we bring counselors together, then they can share their best practices and and then they could replicate that at other school sites because it is happening, but it's happening in pockets. And so we want to then um have that modeled throughout the district and then learn from one another. So we

189know that there's a lot of work to do. We have a plan in place for a professional learning plan in place for our counselors and this was just the beginning and we look forward to our continued partnership with the county office of ed. >> That's great. I have one more little mini question here or it's maybe request in the future. Um on the question of the for instance our projected 29.8 who will be receiving a D in their A through G. There's an axis that's not here, which is the depth of how many D's did they get. So, yeah. Are are we close on those? If we move, for instance, because that mixes kids who got 15 D's with kids that may have just gotten that one D and they're close. So, if we could

190sort of get an idea of the depth of that on the Z-axis. Sure. Or whatever. Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. With that, thank you very much. Uh once again doctors um and um I guess this is not an action item somehow but the other one >> that was a report. Okay. >> I don't know man. That's um okay with that. Um oh you don't even you're on >> triple duty tonight. Wow. Okay. We will now hear and consider item E4, approval of 4x4 schedule implementation for all comprehensive high schools by school year 2028 to 2029. Dr. Goula, please introduce the item. >> Yes. Thank you, President Patterson. Finally, I'd like to thank Dr. Robersonson for helping us lead through tonight. The executive director of the office of graduation wears a mighty hat. And thank

191you. Um Dr. Dr. Robertson will provide an update about bringing the remaining eight district high schools in alignment with 13 others that already use a 4x4 schedule. Research shows that this strategic schedule provides more opportunities for students on all achievement spectrum for more time for dual enrollment in college courses to opportunities for credit recovery. We have held input sessions and we'll be moving forward to the 4x4 schedule, but we'll be implementing it in a more gradual pace and providing more options for the type of 4x4 we implement for each school community. We believe that more opportunities for discourse, design, and learning must take place and that students, families along with educators and leaders need to be at the table for this design. I also want to remind us of the statement that helped us create

192our goals and guard rails that student outcomes don't change unless adult behaviors change. Now, I'll turn it over to Dr. Robersonson. >> Thank you. Um, and I really appreciate that quote of student outcomes don't change unless our adult behaviors change. um be but I want to ground us in the research that we've studied quite some time for um high school redesign transformational change instructional change and I want to start by recognizing that the 4x4 schedule results does in fact result in fewer instructional minutes as compared to a traditional schedule that is a concern it is a legitimate concern but what I want to share with you this evening is it's not necessarily about the instructional time what I want to highlight is the quote there. It's not about the length of time, but the effectiveness

193of the educator's instruction that makes all of the difference. And what we want to highlight throughout this presentation is how we as a district are going to address the concerns that have been lifted with with regards to the lack of instructional minutes um proactively with lesson design, professional learning for our educators, etc. Um one of the um catalysts for this is when we um for the past four years conducted empathy interviews with our students um through the designing for meaningful graduation work group. We heard from our students a number of things and what I want to share with the board is our students um asked for more opportunities more opportunities to take college courses, AP courses, CCTE courses and elective courses. What we often heard from our students is that quote, "We're not allowed to

194take until." There are students that are not allowed to take a CCTE course until their 10th grade year. There are students that are not allowed to take a dual enrollment class unless they meet X, Y, and Z criteria, such as an AVID course. So we as a district what we uncovered is we ourselves put obstacles and barriers for our students then to take these um opportunities um things that they're passionate about things that they're interested in things they want to explore. Um they also expressed um and we're highlighting the the need for opportunities but it's also the opportunities to uh recover credits. Right? We have students that struggle as you just saw with needing to remediate. students make mistakes in their high school um career, they need to remediate. And often what is asked of

195them is that they take night school, extended day, summer school. But the reality of our students is they work at night. They might play um in an extracurricular activity, something that they're passionate about, that they're connected to, and they have to make a choice. Either I'm going to recover this credit in night school or I'm going to do something that I love and I'm passionate about. So students really wanted more opportunities So then we really listened to them. We um brought forward a uh diploma pathway as we talked about this evening. But one thing that that was lifted up was a need for us as a district to study what was happening in our districts with certain schedules but then outside of our district with regards to block scheduling and how it was working um

196and to learn and grow from them. So, um, the other thing that I wanted to point out that we've heard, it's a common theme this whole entire evening is that, um, our students wanted more opportunities to see their counselors for both academic planning and social emotional support. Our students lifted up the fact that the reality is the counselor ratio is 459 at a high school. One counselor 459. students expressed it's not feasible realistic for uh a counselor to often meet individually with every student and monitor that progress and so they lifted up we want more opportunities um to meet with our counselors whether it's in the school day to strategize if it's you know nighttime activities where we're doing college exploration academic FA all of those things and so we really listen to our students

197about their needs their desires what they're passionate about and we be began to explore But simultaneously we are also listening to our community. And as we are doing that and as a board um you may have received various input from from school communities as to what was happening or not happening at high school sites. Often what we hear is what we refer to as the 10th grade squeeze or the 10th grade crunch when our students um don't have the opportunity to take an accelerated um integrated math one or two at at middle school or world language class in middle school. they are off track on a traditional sixth period day because the reality is and it's not getting any different from us more graduation requirements are then being asked of our students in 20 uh

1983031 we'll have the financial literacy requirement we as a district adopted the ethnic studies graduation requirement earlier so our schools um systems and structures are really looking through how can we make this work for our students and and so we study different models of that. Um, what we heard from our community is that there are limited opportunities for the students to then, I like to use the word major. Um, major in band, major in ROC, do both and and they often have to pick one or the other. Um, there are barriers to advancements that I I narrated to the board um that we ourselves as educators and counselors and leaders put onto our students. We set guard rails. You have to pass X, Y, and Z to then be able to take a class. We

199want to interrupt those things whether whether it's a schedule issue or not. We want to interrupt those things and ensure all of our students have access and opportunity and are encouraged to take courses. Um our students and our community has uh often um used the words shallow learning. There's no time for in-depth learning, exploration, labs, etc. Explor uh exploratory learning. Our students have expressed stress and concerns for their well-being with regards to workload, homework, etc. The quote that you see here is often lifted. Um, my students want to take Spanish, engineering, and band, but with only six slots, something has to give. That is the reality of a sixth period schedule. And so, um, that that is the condition. Those are the conditions and outcomes that we as a district are trying to solve. Um

200the presentation this evening is going to propose to the board uh our research that we've done our conversations that we've had with other districts and and the rationale for the proposal being made this evening. So this is our current reality of current schools and the different types of schedules that we have. Um this is rather complex. So we have eight schools on the far left that you'll see there on a sixth period day. Um the the ABC represents our board members district um ABCDs. So it doesn't mean anything other than that. Um you'll see that a straight 4x4 quarter and I want to uh pause and just explain what that means. Here we have Claremont, LMC, Lincoln, Morris High. When we talk about just straight quarters, I like to talk about it in term one

201and term two. So we're in term one right now. We began quarter one in August. We're going to end quarter 1 in October, then we start quarter two, and then we end before winter break. So, a student in essence is completing a full year um before winter break. Then, when we come back from winter break, they're in another set of courses. So, the uh the students that are on straight quarter are taking four classes at a time and then we'll take another four classes. But then we have um schools that um have then said you know there is a need to year-long some classes so I want to AB them. We call it the hybrid model where there's quarter and there's AB. So as a site they've made a decision that some of our courses

202are going to be straight quarters and some of them are going to be what we call the AB schedule where on an A day you have one course and on a B day you have another course. That does then add to a student's schedule. they may have five classes as opposed to four. Um, and then you'll see we have two remaining schools that are on a what we call a straight AB structure quarter. Um, where they have eight periods a day. On an A day, a student will take four classes and on a B day a student takes four classes and they switch and they go back and forth. So, the student takes eight classes. These are the varying types of 4x4 that we have in our district that we're here to talk about this

203evening. and then the conversation of um transitioning our six period days into one of those models uh with with input. So, how do we as a district best support college and career goals for all of our students? I think what we've heard um not only from our presentations but from our students, from our families, from ouru uh communities is there is a need to accelerate. We um have done a great job with expanding our dual enrollment courses as a district. And when we say early college credit, we really mean dual enrollment, our students taking college courses during their high school day. Um our students taking AP courses and our students taking IB courses. And we monitor those. And we want to encourage open access and opportunity for all of our students to take all of

204those things. We want to ensure that there's opportunities as we shared earlier for internships, apprenticeships, um industry certifications on uh a traditional schedule. The uh lack of flexibility may not warrant um those being possible for our students. And then subsequently um it's built-in time to connect with counselors, focus on personal wellness, balancing of their academic needs with their social emotional needs. So what we know um and we have shared is that the traditional sixth period schedule has less flexibility than a 4x4 schedule. Longer class periods are ideal for labs, writing workshops, project-based learning, but do require a different approach to lesson design. And that's um why I wanted to start uh the presentation with what we do in our day-to-day lessons really matters. um no matter the type of schedule, it's not about jamming two

205lessons into one day. That's not what the 4x4 is. And so we have to be intentional. We have to be focused. And each of our schools have developed a professional learning plan to work alongside our educators to look at the pacing of their courses, their um their uh lesson design from start to finish um and and working to explore all those things. And then we know um and recognize it takes more than just a 4x4 schedule to change the outcomes for the students. It's more than just the schedule, but we do want to ensure that we're providing our students with the best schedule that meets all of the opportunities that we desire. What we don't know um that we need further examination of is that there are some uh fundamental practices that all 4x4 schedules

206will need in order to have an impact on student outcomes. I just shared with you um the varying models of a quarter versus a hybrid versus a AV. We don't know what's best for student outcomes. I will recognize and lift up to the board each of our school school communities is vastly different and their needs um and their student needs are different and so we want to engage with the school community as to what works best. The um last one is does a 4x4 have greater costs? We're often asked that and so that is data that we're going to be bringing back um to have conversations about um and we're going to be learning about that together. Uh it was uh shared earlier by Dr. Bugula that we did have input sessions. These input sessions

207um to our community may very well have felt rushed and without intention. But I'm here to share with you that it it is about um and we take responsibility for communicating right the goals, the vision and the work that we've done over the past four years. So this didn't just come up overnight. This was a grassroots effort that was um actually brought up by families, brought up by students, brought up by counselors, brought up by parents. And so that is why we then went to explore. The one thing that I want to say is that we as a district went out and um met with Sano, Powe, Helix, and we studied the various models of their 4x4. And so that was one of the um the impetus for why we wanted to stay with the

2084x4 model because we did study trimesters. We did study other block scheduling that have been offered. And as a district when we went out and did research of um neighboring districts such as Coronado who recently transitioned, one of the driving forces was the 4x4. Um, we recognize that there are lingering questions and concerns about rigor and the impacts um from shifting from year-long courses to semester long courses. That is a legitimate concern. I have those same concerns about day-to-day instruction. Now, whether you're in a sixth period or a 4x4 um and that is the work that Dr. Richardson said um shared is when we have our communities of practice and we're going in to observe instructional um practices. We're having those conversations of you know what what is the purpose of the lesson? What is

209the focus? What standards are we teaching? Are there opportunities for our students to ask questions, work with each other in groups, etc. So we'll be studying each of those things. Um one of the uh concerns that is often list lifted is AP and IV. IB as as I showed you, our two IB schools are abded specifically for that reason, so that our students could then take um as many classes as they can to prepare them for the IB diploma. And so the same conversations we have with our AP colleagues as well um in terms of can we then uh alter our lessons to then um the College Boards offers what I will share with you is a pacing guide that they call a block schedule. They don't name a 4x4, but it's a block schedule.

210So, what we would then do with our AP teachers is then sit alongside them, take a look at the standards, take a look at the approach, and see if um the redesign could happen that way. But the technical aspects of how AP works and when it's offered, whether it's in term one or term two or a blend, is really going to be sightbased deter determined. And that's a conversation that we have with each of our educators and our site leaders because they all do it differently. So when I talk about the quarter and the hybrid schools that offer AB and quarter, there are some um AP lang English composition courses that work well with AP US and they AB together and it's a natural fit for humanities block. That's what you see in a hybrid

211model and those are the types of conversations that we want to have. Um community members have also expressed concern that semesterl long courses may cause students to fall behind when they're absent. um and or be more stressed. Um that is a legitimate concern with regards to absences, right? When we're on a 4x4, it's a faster pace for for absences. But each of our schools that have a 4x4 um have then uh implemented I like to call it um classrooms without walls and they structure things for students who need to then have uh tutoring or interventions um maybe identify the needs in which they can have makeup sessions. And so those are the things that we would explore as a community. There's other concerns around I know this um pays close attention to our ESN students

212um but really for English learners and students with disabilities um it's often asked about whether our students can then handle 90 minutes versus 60 minutes and whether our students can be engaged. So I will share that when I when I compare my student my own daughter with my nephew their levels of engagement are are completely different. One loses focus in two minutes the other can like read a book in in a matter of like 30 minutes. So I think that that is the intention with lesson design and using that instructional time to then differentiate the learning in the classroom. Are we allowing students to work with one another? Are there questions being posed to then um you know check for understanding of our students? But what we have found in our research and in studying

213schools is that when we have uh when our students often what happens is when our students with disabilities take a support class as I shared earlier we pull them out of a class that they are passionate about that they're interested in. Then when we have a student that is a student with disability and an English learner, oftentimes we do that twice to them. And so not only are they off track, but they say to us, why am I here? I can't take auto. I can't take culinary. I can't take art. This is boring. And so we want to ensure that we are um being mindful of that and we're giving our students all the opportunities that we can. Um so as we engaged our communities, we learned a lot um we heard um voices of

214our educators, voices of our students, voices of our community members. And so we shifted our plan in our previous presentations to our our school communities. We named specific schools. A shift was made in this um proposal that is in front of you to then um take a look at what we're calling planning year number one. This is the current year 2526 where we're going to then collect data on our sixth period schedules and our 4x4 existing schedules. We are going to take a look at what type of data AP passage rate, CCT completion rate, DNF rate, all of those types of things so that we can build a comprehensive plan. We're going to study the foundational practice that impact student outcomes. Rearch research has already showed us some of these things, but we want to

215dig a little deeper. We then would work to identify at least two um or more school sites to pilot the 4x4 for next year 26 27. Then in the subsequent year, we're going to continue to collect the data pre and post for 4x4, those that were in the pilot year, and bring that back to the board and bring that back to the school community to show um whether or not this strategy of of a schedule is working. So, we're going to take a look at grades, attendance, um the measurement of college and career indicator, and then we're going to continue to moni monitor the foundational practices of a schedule. The following year is year three. Um that would be 2728. The goal then is to continue to do progress monitoring, but to add in two

216additional pilot schools for the 4x4 schedule for the 28 29th school year. And then um subsequently then we would have our remaining schools um go into a uh a version of a 4x4 by 29 2030. What we want to emphasize here and I think it's on the next slide. Yes, is our plan for engagement. Um as I shared in our engagement sessions um we really focused on the quarter system. We talked a little bit about the hybrid system, but there were questions that were raised of like, why not the AB structure? Why can't we have a similar schedule as a Mission Bay or a San Diego High? Um, and so we talked about it as a district staff team. And we said, you know, we can continue to explore the different 4x4 models. And then,

217um, as I shared, each of our school communities are different. We then would, uh, seek to understand what type of model that they would want to enter in and explore. And then we would work alongside them. So we would get um community input um that would be the students, the families um and and the educators and we would identify which 4x4 best meets the needs of the student at that school site. And then finally we do have a a plan um in working alongside our leaders and our education educators on lesson design, scheduling practices and then our student and family engagement. So, with that, um, that is our proposal for implementing a type of a 4x4 implementation, and I'll pause there for board discussion. >> All right. I'm going to try to get a motion

218here first. Um, do I have a motion on the item? Okay. Uh, I think Trusty uh, Hayes had her hand up first, but I'll give you I'll give you a second. Um, so we have a motion and a second. um to to move forward for sake of discussion. >> I know who was the motion. >> Uh vice president I no trust trusty hazing was the first and the second was vice president Barera. >> So we have a motion and a second. Um I believe we have speakers on this item. >> Yes, we do. We have 20 in-person speakers and three virtual. And in accordance with our bylaws, we allow 20 minutes total. uh comment on an a particular agenda item. So, if you would allow each per each speaker to have one minute, we can

219hear from everyone. >> Yeah, we'll go we'll go a little over and one minute per speaker. >> So, I'm going to call groups of approximately four or five people to come and be ready at the podium. And as we said, we'll you'll each get one minute so we can hear from everyone. Uh first we will call Lori Williams, Peter Oscin, Margie and Jennifer Housar again. Hi, my name is Lori Williams. I come to you today as a PointLoma High School parent and a an educator who lived through the transition from a sixth period day to a 4x4 schedule at another school in the district and I currently serve at Madison High School as the instructional coordinator. My heart first is as a parent. I ask you to please approve this 4x4 transition for all schools.

220I want my high school, my Pointloma high school pointer to have the same opportunities as the students I worked with um at the 4x4 school. My son last year was in an honors chemistry class. He had on average one lab a month whereas at the 4x4 school he the students had on average four labs a week. In addition to that there was increased opportunity for work-based learning opportunities. my son's school. They took notes. They did quizzes and tests. My name is Peter Oscin. I'm a teacher at Paloma High School. I think it's important for parents to really realize 4x4 schedules come at a cost. It's 40 hours less education per class. Uh I am a government economics teacher. Civic knowledge in our country is poor. Only 11% of citizens can name all five parts of

221the first amendment with ironically the freedom of petition being the least mentioned. I am an effective educator. I need more time to create thoughtful engaged citizens not less. Uh the roll out of 4x4 has been rushed uh public engagement has been limited and the implementation here tonight is rushed. Also, we have a method in our contract to engage in 4x in transitions to 4x4. District leadership is trying to bypass that. Instead, I encourage the board to encourage district leadership to go back and use the existing methods versus trying to vote do this vote tonight. Um, not doing so, I believe, will hurt our school community and hurt hurt education, hurt student education. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Margies and I'm the parent of two students in area C, one at Stanley Middle

222and one at UC High. I choiced my children into area C in part to avoid enrollment in block schedule schools. I am also a high school teacher with over 20 years experience in San Diego Unified. I have taught at only two sites, San Diego High School of Science and Technology in 4x4 block and then ADB day and currently at University High School on a traditional schedule. Um, I'm going to skip over all the points that have already been made and go to Hannah Cook's research brief um around the block evaluating school schedules. Little peer-reviewed empirical research has been conducted on the impact of block scheduling in the last decade. across many variables and measures. Results are inconclusive as to whether block scheduling is more effective than traditional schedules. Based on the current literature, there is

223not enough evidence to suggest that block scheduling's advantages outweigh the draw the drawbacks of overhauling the master schedule. The findings highlight the inconsistent results and lack of strong evidence to support the notion that block scheduling leads to significant learning benefits. [Applause] Hello, my name is Jennifer Husar and I'm a parent of a sixth grader. If the 4x4 is implemented, it will likely be when my son is in high school. I'm disheartened that the board's decision has not included middle school families input when our kids have an even higher stake in the decision you make tonight. This model asks our kids to do more with less. More coursework, 25% less time to cover it. eight classes a year instead of six while graduating with 20 extra credits. Instead of teaching our kids the wisdom of smart

224and efficient time management, we are asking them to do even more with their already overwhelming schedules. We are not improving anyone's mental health by pressuring them to put even more on their already full plates. I acknowledge that this is that works for some schools, but this needs to be a sightbased decision. Thank you. The next group of speakers, excuse me, Kyle Weinberg, Daniel Shutler Oha, Adelene Shutler Oha Koli Tippetsz Russell, Kyle Weinberg, President SDA. I'm here to express the frustrations of educators with this transition to block schedules. We know that most of the high schools in the district have successfully implemented block schedules, but this came about through critical educator voice in the decision-making process through supermajority votes that generate our collective commitment to implement this model. Without this collective commitment, we will be going

225down a path that leads to animosity and division that will detract from our core mission of providing the best possible education for our students. In March, our SDA bargaining team proposed to improve protections in our contract around moving to block schedules. This proposal brings all voices of school communities to the table, including families, students, educators, staff to make this decision together, and we have not received a response from the district. The board is voting on a top- down approach to implementing block schedules that runs counter to our shared goal of advancing democracy in our schools. >> Instead of imposing block schedules from above, the board has the opportunity to support us in having these conversations and determine our own path without holding a sword over our heads. We can do better. Thank you. [Applause] >>

226All right. Um I am a CTE teacher at Patrick Henry. My wife and I started our careers in a 4x4. She had to go home to take care of our baby. Um, so she won't be next. Um, you know, uh, as a video production teacher last year at Challenger Middle School, I helped two, uh, middle schoolers uh, create a documentary that played the Tribeca uh, film festival. Um, as well as winning 500 bucks. And when NBC7 interviewed them, neither student said they'd be continuing with the AM pathway at Mir Mesa High School. um they achieve the peak of what a middle schooler can achieve at that level and they decide that's not what they want to do with the rest of their lives and that's you know that's perfectly okay. Um but that's that's what's

227normal. Um that's not counter to what a student going to SCPA right um they're going there with that intention in mind and most of our students they're they're figuring things out and they need that space. Um, at Patrick Henry, um, I discovered firsthand what my colleagues at PDS warned me about, the dreaded assigned time home. And in the first two weeks of the school year, I lost over a third of my digital comm students, juniors and seniors, to assign time home. Um, and yeah, it's assigned time home. [Applause] Hi, my name is Caroli Tippets Russell and I am an educator. I teach at Pointl High and my kids both attend Pointloma High. Uh so I'm here speaking uh about the 4x4 block scheduling input session session at PointLoma on September 16th. Dr. Roersonson was really

228professional in her presentation. However, there was zero data shown why this drastic change was being made. None. We heard the benefit is that students retake courses they fail within the school day. This may be an issue at some schools, but PointLah High only has a 5% failure rate as of our last grading period. So we don't need this benefit. What our students do need is instructional minutes in the classroom. This will enable Pointloma to continue a successful academic trajectory. The students of Pointl High have improved their passing AP scores rate by 23% in the last 5 years. We do not need to remove 40 hours of instruction for each course. That will not lead to continued success success. Um, and the public policy institute of California just reported that four or five students are not

229prepared for college. How is 40 hours less going to prepare them for college? Thank you. Next group of speakers, Henry Escobar, Sarah Butterfield, Eliza Furhoff, and Brian Benz. So, I'm a PAR educator at Canyon Hills High School and currently what I see is that the students are unengaged. Um, they're just not ready for this 4x4. It's just going to be a overwhelming burden because it's just going to lead to more disciplinary um issues with the student. They're going to they're going to feel stuck. They're going to feel caged in when they have to stay in a classroom for longer than usual than what it is now. If anything, I would think we should have shorter um class time as opposed to longer. Um and this is this isn't fair for the teachers as well because

230they have to modify their curriculum. Whether it's taking stuff out or adding stuff in, it's just going to take time and and that's what they don't have time. Um, other than that, it's it's it's not a good idea. It's just um motivation is a big factor and uh you can't blame teachers for that. [Applause] Uh, hi, my name is Eliza Frohoff. I'm both a parent and a teacher. I have taught at both a 4x4 and separately at six period schedule schools and by far the learning was so much better in a smaller class setting with the less time than at the um Lincoln I taught at Lincoln. Um, while the 4x4 schedule may benefit some students by providing remediation opportunities or accelerating c coursework, it has significant unintended consequences for programs that define the culture

231and heart heartbeat of a school such as ASB yearbook, which I teach, music, theater, and athletics. These programs thrive on year-long continuity and consistent student engagement. Under a 4x4, student leaders and staff adviserss lose half the instructional time and continuity needed to plan schoolwide events, publish a yearbook, or maintain traditions that build community and belonging. This is not a small loss. It undercuts the very fabric of student life. In addition, it also harms a [Applause] good evening. My name is Sarah. I am the parent of a current sixth grader and eighth grader in PointLoma. I urge you to vote no on the 4x4 block schedule. The district is framing it as an opportunity, but in reality, it comes at a great cost to both students and teachers. Teachers are going to face 90-minute classes, larger

232student loans, and the challenge of teaching eight classes worth of curriculum each year instead of six. That means more grading, more lesson planning, and less time to give students the individual support that they need. Many teachers are already stretched thin and this model risks accelerating burnout and driving good educators out of the class um the classroom. At the same time, students are losing 40 hours of instruction per subject. AP courses are crammed into unrealistic timelines and critical questions around athletics and support for diverse learners remain unanswered. Even with the district's slower roll out, every school will still be forced into a 4x4 by 2028. That's not a meaningful choice. That is just postponing the inevitable. while using pilot schools and our students, my students, as test cases. Our kids deserve proven solutions, not experiments that

233cut their instructional time or add to their workload or undermine the excellence our schools have already achieved. Please vote no on this proposal. [Applause] >> Good evening. Brian Benz. I uh graduated from La Hoya High School. My kids graduated from Claremont UC. I've taught for 32 years in San Diego, the last 27 at Pointloma High School. And I wanted to bring you some data. And the data is a lot what Dr. Overson was talking about. It's from the US News and World Report. Of the 13 high schools in San Diego Unified School District that use 4x4, only four of them have over,200 students. That would be Crawford, Lincoln, Morris, and Hoover. And in that report, they all rank 648 or higher in California. Of the eight schools that you want to change, seven of them

234have populations over 1,200 students. And all seven of those rank in the top 450 in this state. And those take into consideration APs, graduation rates, failures, everything you're talking about. It doesn't work at these big schools. you know, SDCPA, that school is only for like five, six00 kids. These are big schools. Please vote no. The next group of speakers, Jud Grubs, Amber Lavine, and Sean Hunter. Good evening. I'm Jud Grubs. I have uh two kids at UC High School. I'm also on the SGT, SSC, and DAC. Our own district statistics paint a troubling picture that this 4x4 model could worsen, not alleviate, chronic absenteeism, down slightly from 23.3% the prior year. the absenteeism. We're still classified as yellow status, indicating medium performance with room for urgent improvement. While initiatives like the 2025 be a pro

235and always go campaign with the Padres's boosted attendance over 75% of participating schools, overall rate for students of color exceeds 30% in sub subgroups, highlighting disparities that block scheduling could s could amplify. Even on the landing page for the 4x4 proposed block change of the school district website, what it displays is foroding predetermined outcome of implementing a 4x4 schedule. In it, every single answer was positive and in favor of scheduling. I urge the board to vote no. [Applause] Hi, my name is Amber Lavine and I'm the mother of three boys in the Point Lama cluster. Um, first I wanted to brag about my oldest son. He's a graduating senior and he took honors physics, honors Spanish, AP human geography, AP world history, AP Spanish, AP pre-calc, AP biology, AP calculus, AP English language, AP English

236literature, AP chemistry, and now Mesa political science. And thank you to uh board member Weisshurers Payne for the um debt concern where you talked about the conflict of not having enough coursework done in high school for college but thanks to the AP programs he took which he passed every single one of them except for the ones he's still in and got fives on most of them thanks to the Pointlma high school teaching staff and most of those teachers who are in the AP courses were there to say do not put this on us that 40 hours of lost work is going to make it harder order for us to teach these courses. So she told us that the meeting that that she didn't see a huge plummet in the AP pass rate, but just for

237AP human geography alone, freshman year, almost 100% pass rate at Pointl High School. So I think that it would be really detrimental to our program in PointLoma to pass this. Please don't know. [Applause] >> Hi, I'm Sean Hunter. My daughter goes to Mirram Mesa High School. Um she is a junior. she's taking a lot of AP classes right now. Um, one concern around AP classes is in addition to the shortened time. Uh, especially if that class happens to fall in the second semester, the amount of time you have until you take that test actually cuts your class time down to like twothirds of the amount of time that you would have to learn that material uh, and still take it that year. Uh, another challenge that's going to be a big one for this kind

238of scheduling is languages. there's just going to be a big challenge to try to fit an entire year's worth of language into one uh semester and actually get the practice that you need to get that competency. So in two years you have what is the equivalent of four years of uh language and that's just not going to be the same as somebody who got four years spaced out just because of the time it takes to learn and absorb that material. That's true for a lot of other classes as well. Um, but my biggest concern in part is the pacing of this and it being rolled out with a plan here. My daughter has to go and pick her classes in a couple weeks. They don't even know what it's going to look like, what kind

239of if it's AB, if it's a semester. So, I think it's the timing is especially bad. [Applause] >> And the last group of inperson, Ruth Steinhower, Arlland Arnson, and Ron Whitney. Uh, good evening. Thank you very much for hearing and considering my and the majority of the Point LMA High School parents and teachers concerns about the 4x4 schedule as proposed. My name is Roose Steinhower. I'm a graduate 40 years ago at Pointl High School. My son just graduated from Pointl High Schools at Berkeley and I have a ninth grader at PointLoma who has autism and whose schedule is very important to his success. I have many concerns about the 4x4 schedule. For one, there are a lot fewer teaching hours and there are fewer teachers to be giving the support to those kids that need

240them in those classes in those big classes. Um the classes are longer so it is a lot harder to focus especially for kids who have diverse learning needs like my son. Um missing one or two days leads to a huge amount of work to make up. And so if you're out for a week with COVID, you just have a huge amount of work. Um there are questions about the rigor and the AP classes which many students need to take in order to get into competitive colleges. So it depends on when you take. Anyway, thank you for listening and hearing us. [Applause] Hello. Uh, Arlland Arnston. I am the father of an incredible student. He's a junior at PointLoma High School. Uh, Dr. Robertson, doctors, uh, students, thank you for listening to all of us. Uh,

241we have a really serious problem at PointLoma about this 4x4. The the meeting we had two weeks ago, none of us knew about. We had to hear it from our kids. We did not know about this meeting. Every parent I talked to heard it from their kids only. Um, that was a big deal because it felt like everything was being pushed over on us. And I have everything everybody said here is on my list. I don't have time for that. But I want to tell you that a lot of the students stood up and talked and it was amazing how great they were and for us to hear what they had to say and the fear that they had in their voices that this was a big problem. They're already stressed out. They're already doing

242amazing in their AP classes. And the thought of reducing that instruction hour with these amazing teachers that they have in AP. It's freaks them out. And we don't want to see that in our kids, especially the ones that are performing. And the ones that aren't performing that may be at another school. Our school doesn't need a 4x4. Our school needs that time with these teachers. Thank you. [Applause] >> Hi. Uh my name is Ron Whitney. and I have two uh sons at PointLoma and I'm in my 21st year of teaching AP and IB classes at uh Grant Hills High School in the Gmont district. Repeat a lot of things, but one thing I don't think has been brought up yet. The idea of doing an AP class and then having an exam months later. I

243know that's been addressed in some of the literature. I see it on your website and from my wife and sons going to the meeting at PointLoma. I heard one answer was that's okay. will have review sessions to get the kids who haven't been taking the class ready for the exam. Where's the money? Why not use all this magical money for review sessions to help the remedial kids? And if you think that the teachers are going to show up for a bunch of review sessions and you think the students are going to show up to a bunch of review sessions, I can speak for experience in the teaching community. Doesn't work that way. You can't really grab a bunch of kids. Hey, remember that stuff we did four months ago? Why don't you come on Saturday?

244I'll be there for free. You guys come, we'll do a review. I appreciate the idea. I don't see it working. Thank you. And I would say no. >> We have three virtual speakers. Each speaker will have one minute. Julie Dennis, if you are available, please unmute. >> I'm available. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Go ahead, please. Wonderful. Um, the question still remains unanswered. Why is this vote happening with less than 30 days notice to parents and staff? And some schools did not receive any notice. As such, I urge you to vote no on this measure. I'm neither for or against this 4x4 schedule change. I'm against unilateral dis district decisions that will impact over 20,000 students regardless of what the staff, students, school admin, or parents see what is best for the students. Tries

245to fit all schools into one box. And I have read the research that was referenced tonight. The data set is small. One study was about schools in Saudi Arabia. One longitudinal study quote was pulled pulled data from reports from 2001 and prior. No research from this decade. I urge the board to look at the research that's being referenced. I've worked in schools as a licensed mental health therapist for over 20 years with various schedules. There are pros and cons to all of them. My overarching experience, professional and personal, as a mother of three, two in the district and one in North Carolina as a freshman in college, is that a decision like this needs to be up to the stakeholders at the school site, not the district, not the small set of empathy interviews. >>

246Your time is up. Ashley Palmore. >> Yes, I'm here. I'm a middle school parent in the Henry cluster. First, I want to express my extreme disappointment with the approach that was taken to sharing this plan. And what was advertised and told you guys as input sessions and opportunities to ask questions was really just an announcement to us of something that sounded like it was an already made decision. We were given only pros with no cons acknowledged. We were told students were interviewed yet none of these students are going to be attending when this impact is felt. They asked the students if they wanted more electives. Of course, who wouldn't? But was the plan for getting those electives actually shared? Because you heard earlier from your student advisory board, they don't want this either. Not one

247person in the meeting who wasn't from the district office walked away thinking this was a good choice. I asked tonight that you use the site governance teams as they were intended to let each site decide if this plan is right for the students and staff at their school. There are too many unanswered questions to decide. You mentioned all the studying and conversations yet to happen. So making this decision beforehand seems premature. Let the true stakeholders decide. The parents and most of all the teachers and the students who will be impacted. Not those you asked several years ago, but the ones who are here now. Your own data shows the work you're doing is working for the majority of the students. Do not make our children test subjects for a system no one wants. >> Thank

248you. Your time is up. >> Laura Garrett. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Uh can you hear me? >> Yes. I'm the parent of a 10th grader at PointLoma and an eighth grader at Grant who up until two weeks ago I was planning to send to PointLoma as well though now we're rethinking that assumption in light of the planned block scheduling changes. Much of the concern that I have has already been voiced by others um in particular around AP testing and outcomes. I was able to find two studies, one conduct conducted at Baiji State in Minnesota and one published by the College Board that showed that a 4x4 schedule has negative implications for subject retention and a negative impact on AP test scores. Now, I hate to just cherrypick studies that I was able to

249find, but surely we also have data from our own district. What is known about the 13 schools who are actively using this model and its AP students. Thus far, the only mitigation for AP test takers I've heard is an expectation of more self-study on weekends and nights, which strikes me as an uncreditly unfair on additional burden on students who are likely already working quite intensely in faster paced classes and have significant extracurricular extracurricular pursuits. Not to mention the potential financial implications for parents. >> Thank you. Your time is up. >> I urge you to vote now. Thank you. That that concludes public comment. >> Yeah. Um Okay. Point of clarification. Uh Mr. Mr. Chair, we applied in the system. >> You have one minute. Go ahead. >> Thank you, sir. My name is Farber or

250Javier. Good evening. We live in fear from ceramic sc toxicity since 1997. My doctor declared that anxiety has contributed to increased forgetfulness and elevated blood pressure compounded by medical um >> by moderate late onset >> you may get more time. I mean this is a time to limited items. You have one minute but if you do this in non public comment in the appropriate time you probably get a little more time to speak. >> May I have now my turn sir? >> I applied in the system. >> If you'd like to speak if you'd like to finish a comment now you can do so. Continue. >> Thank you sir. >> Second. >> This is exactly the input that we would like to focus on this presentation. And thank you mom for your uh excellent uh

251presentation. We learn from it and we are going to teach this to our community. I was a substitute teacher three years with unified school district and I saw what is missing in the ven diagram. How could a San Diego regardless of age can learn if he has that fear the space where he live is not you know prepared that is one sir number two we have prepared all the programs we have prepared the house we have prepared the assessment of the products what we need only is five quality products for survival of our region. We need some kind of moral dimension on our planners and decision makers. Sir, thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um with that, uh do any trustees have any questions or comments on this item? >> Uh Vice President

252Barrera, >> I'll start. Um, first of all, I I want to not only thank everybody who's come and uh spoken in public comment tonight, but I want to thank Superintendent Bula and and her team. Um, and let me own up to what has prompted this conversation and has prompted the concern th this is coming from us. This is coming from the board. We for probably the last uh at least three years I would say have been saying to uh the staff that we see real benefits in the in a 4x4 schedule and we see benefits in terms of opportunities for students to take more courses, opportunities for students uh to go out and uh do internships and uh and and have opportunities in the community. So this is coming from the board. I think what

253this is a reminder of and I'll again I'll speak for myself is why top-down decisionmaking is never the right way to go. [Applause] So, what's in front of us now is do we move forward with this conversation in the schools that currently don't have a 4x4 schedule um or do we just sort of cut it off now? I can't support cutting it off now. What is important is that the conversation doesn't begin with an assumption that uh the outcome is predetermined. By the way, as we know in the process and I think uh President Weineberg spoke to this, a couple of you spoke to this. Uh there's currently a process within the contract. I know there's negotiations about that process as well. Um but the process is essentially that this conversation happens um through through

254site governance uh in the school community that votes are taken but that ultimately the school board makes the decision. That's what the process is now. the schedule that uh Superintendent Bagula and and the staff are recommending um means that at some point uh in the eight schools that don't currently have a 4x4 schedule, that decision may come to the school board. But that's not the decision that this school board is making tonight. What's important is that this process is done in each school community in a way that does allow the stakeholders in the school community to go through this consider what you think is best. have those debates uh and then and then take a vote and then it's going to be up to whatever school board is here uh to decide uh whether what

255whatever decision that board is going to make as a result of uh the vote that's taken at the at the school site level. So I do think this process should go forward. I do think there are real potential benefits uh in in the 4x4 schedule. Um but the school communities have to have the opportunity to go through that process themselves according to uh the process that's outlined in the contract. Um and and ultimately school boards are going to have to make that decision. So I would just again say two things. Um the superintendent and the staff have been going out and trying to uh uh have these discussions, implement a process because the board has asked them to do it. And I think what they've come back with is a recognition that this shouldn't be

256rushed. But ultimately, this process is going to follow the contract and it's going to follow uh the opportunity for uh people at the school community to weigh in and take a vote. And so I'm not cutting off that opportunity tonight. I think it's an important discussion to make. So I'm voting yes to move this process forward. Um but but again to do it in a way that uh frankly is more respectful of each school community than I think our board has been in trying to push uh for for a predetermined decision. >> Can we vote no? We vote no on board. >> You can vote according to the contract which of course gives you an opportunity to vote no. Ultimately though, according to the contract, the school board uh will make the final decision at

257that point. >> All right. All right. But we're not going to have back and forth. Honestly, they'll >> But no, but I I think that's it'll degenerate. >> Yeah. But no, no, it's not it's not about arguing. It's about being clear and the process is clear right now. And you know what Kyle's suggesting is there's room to actually negotiate that process, but the process is clear. There will be a discussion. And there will be a vote uh with the >> Well, no, that's not that's let me be clear back and forth. >> Yeah, but I you can clarify. >> Yeah, but I I just want to be clear. >> I'm not voting for this tonight saying that there's a predetermined outcome because that's not what the process actually allows. Our board cannot tonight vote to

258establish 4x4s at schools without going through the process. So the process will be followed. That process might even develop, you know, under under the negotiations. Um and then and then those decisions will be made at a at a later point. But what the board's voting on tonight if it approves this uh uh recommendation is not that there will be 4x4. It's voting to continue that process moving forward. And again, I'll I think there are real benefits and real opportunities uh for a 4x4, but there may be school communities that in the end disagree with that and and the school board's going to need to honor that. So, I'm voting yes. >> Thank you, Vice President. Uh do we are there any additional comment? >> Yes, please. Trusty Ordas. >> Okay. Um I would like to

259say thank you uh Jen for your presentation. Um I do want to go over a few points to tell you guys that I feel like we should be worrying about because if we don't worry about these things now, they'll come up later and then we won't be able to fix them in enough time. I do want to say that we should take a step back and realize that a lot of staff and students are unhappy about this and we just presented it. We haven't even gone through with it and we already have strong emotions on going through this process and creating it. So that's one of the things that we have to figure out if we already if we're going to vote on this and since we're all a team, we have to work with

260the staff. So the staff at the site level is able to for the schools that don't have the 4x4 move it so we start doing 4x4. Are the staff if the staff already don't want it? How are we going to ensure that if it does happen, the staff are going to have that exact motivation? Are going to make those classes engaging? Are are we going to be checking in with those staff members if this does happen? Because we're already noticing that enough students are saying no and enough staff are saying no. That's something that we have to think about and say why is this? Not just saying, okay, it might just be an emotional thing because maybe some students just don't want to take that many classes or some staff because they've been working at

261the same site for multiple years, they don't want to change their jobs. But that's one of the things we do we do have to keep in consideration because it does affect the outcome in when 4x4s actually happen for the AP classes on how you were stating that um there's going to be study study sessions before school or after school. If we talk about before school and you can totally clear it up if uh you have an answer towards this. If we're talking about before school, are we providing that transportation for that child? Because some students can't get to class, can't get to school on time because their parent has to work or because they have to take the actual city bus because the school bus doesn't go to their locations. So, how are we going

262to manage that and make sure that that student is going before school? For after school students, we're talking about sports. We're talking about extracurriculars. We already know that the students who take AP classes are already overachieving students because they want to challenge themselves. So we can already assume and from I'm talking from the student perspective on speaking from multiple students not just from my school only but from schools that already have the 4x4 students who do take those AP courses are involved in extracurriculars and sports. So we already sorry we already have that factor on the weekends. That's a whole another thing. We have tournaments during the weekends. We have programs during the weekends. How are we going to make sure that the student actually picks the study session over the sport? And that also

263plays another factor. If the student is missing that sport, they're not going to be able to play. Or if they miss the extracurricular, they won't be giving as much time. If what we want is for students to have balance, we should make sure that what we're doing is giving the students enough flexibility to be able to balance. Another thing that I wanted to bring up was um for the community college system um it's you stated that uh staff at the site level will need to offer classes that rotate between a Monday Wednesday schedule or a Tuesday Thursday schedule. We do have limited sources with colleges. We are not the number one priority for colleges. College students are. We are under that as high school students. So, for example, I will bring up the example at

264my school, black studies was a course that wanted to be taken, but because at the college level, there weren't enough staff who were eligible to teach that class, they weren't able to give it to high school students. So, are we really making sure that all students have the same amount of college classes that they can take if we allowing 4x4s to bring more college um classes on campus? I just think there's there's too much worry for simple things that I feel like if we do go through with this, it's going to cause a lot of things to fall behind. For the schools that already have that do not have a 4x4, that have a traditional schedule, I don't see enough of a statement that shows that those schools are struggling with a traditional six period

265schedule that they need to be brought to a 4x4. [Applause] And it's not that I don't think the 4x4 is reasonable. I think it is good that more students are taking more classes. But from the student perspective, if what we want is to not make our district oneizefits-all, we are putting them under the structure of following a simple 4x4 when it's not needed for the schools that don't have it. If we are going to vote on yes trustees, I want us to be able to have a plan C, not a plan A and B, have those high schools be able to choose what they want or have those high schools not have it at all because there's no significant decrease or effect or problem with the stu with the schools that do not have a

2664x4 that we need to bring everything down for it to change. I think that's what I'll say. Thank you, Trusty Was. Would you like to respond to any? >> Yeah. >> Um I think the points, the concerns that you raise are valid. Um when we have shifted high schools from a six period day to a 4x4, it took two to three years of conversations, ongoing conversations. So that is why you see in this plan the need to engage because what you lifted up it might seem on the um surface very simple conversations but there are a lot of misconceptions that I've heard not only here at the dis but from our our testimonies with regards to how scheduling works. The presentation didn't dig into the technical aspects of how an AB or AP courses could

267be scheduled into a a student's schedule or year-longing ASB or yearbook. That wasn't the point of the presentation. Each school then does that differently. And that's when I said that it's really important for us to go in and engage. I would I would um encourage our AP teachers at each of those schools to really talk to their colleagues at the 4x4 because they were hesitant as well. They lifted up very similar concerns, but they will be the first to say I wouldn't go back. Maybe they would AB some things, but maybe they wouldn't. If our students talk to students at each of the 4x4s, you'll in fact see that they have more opportunities and they would not go back to a sixth period day. So what what this plan then allows is the time that

268we spoke about where we can do that. We can learn from each other. We can ask those questions. We can take a look at different types of scheduling. Our students can talk to other students because there really are benefits. And right now um there are a lot of misconceptions that are out there that we heard in this space that over time and conversation we could then um really get to the root of that and have those flourishing conversations but it will take time and I will say that if you do look really look and I'm happy to engage with each of the school communities that are untraditional when we talk about all all needs to mean all. So when you look at the chart in front of you of the the eight remaining schools, we

269don't have high percentage rates of CCTE completion. And what our students have expressed is the need for a different type of schedule. We have had public testimony from schools where we've heard specifically from our students and from our families that the schedule is so impacted that they cannot take an engineering course, they cannot take a band course, they cannot take a world language course, which is why we're then exploring these things. So this plan then um allows us more time to explore, have those meaningful conversations, learn from one another, and then make decisions at the school site level. Thank you. Um Um Trusty W. >> Um I want to begin by thanking Dr. Robersonson and your team. Um I know how much time and effort has gone into preparing this presentation and into trying to

270imagine ways to better serve students across our district. I really appreciate that. Um we really Ashley and I really appreciate and all students we appreciate your hard work and intention because at the heart of this we know that it's a desire to improve outcomes for students but as a as one of the student board members I do have to be honest about what I hear from my peers and what I hear is a lot of worry not because students fear change because that happens on a daily basis but because this proposal feels feels kind of rushed, incomplete, and a little bit out of step from what our classrooms really need. And at its core, this action item simply doesn't have enough structure. Teachers don't know how they would redesign their lessons from a 57 like

271minute class to 90 minute blocks. And counselors don't know how they'll support students beyond scheduling logistics. Parents don't know the real cost of what it will cost. And students, the ones who are affected by this, living it through it every single day, they don't know the change. They don't know how this will change and how it will serve them better. And I feel like without those answers, we're left with uncertainty, confusion, and likely chaos um the first years of roll out. And this is why I really urge the board trustees to put a pause on this vote because a 4x4 schedule is not inherently bad. I come from a school that operates on a 4x4 schedule. But a district-wide mandate without a clear plan is. And if this is truly about improving student learning, then

272groundwork has to come first. There should be more information for teachers how they would go from a 57 minute class to 90. There should be more transparent data showing why this model will actually improve outcomes. I think there should be a lot more clarity on cost as well because we shouldn't be pushing and voting on something if we don't even know the cost of it. And we need more equity protection because AP and IB students, we don't we we don't want them to be left disadvantaged by months of gaps between um the exam and when they actually take it. And I really think that none of this is in place right now and we're really being asked to approve of a plan before it's really ready. And I don't think that's how you should build

273trust or a sustainable change. And I I'm speaking not from just theory because Hoover, we already operate on a 4x4 schedule, but it's not a rigid 4x4 schedule. It's a hybrid model. So, at Hoover, we have some classes that operate um through the semester schedule and some operate through the 4x4 schedule. And classes that have a lot of coursework, like our science classes, our math classes, they're all year long. And it's good. It's great. My school, we have a really dense population of ELA students. And having a year long, which means double the time of a 4x4 is great because then it gives them the opportunity to continue learning and building their own confidence within their English learning skills. But I think what really works at Hoover is not just the structure but with the

274flexibility of the school and teachers, the team, the SGT team. They have the ability to decide whether their classes are taught in quarters or across semesters. It just depends on what they believe is best for their students. And that local decision- making is really critical. So, I think this hybrid approach of a plan C is great and it really blends with the benefits of a 4x4 schedule, but what we have right now is a lot of uncertainty. And I don't think that we should vote on something if we're still uncertain. I think we should go back and have a deeper conversation and then move on with the vote later on. What might work at Hoover might not work at PointLoma. and white might work at PointLoma might not work at Crawford. And a one I

275do agree with Ashley, a one-sizefititall mandate ignores all those differences. So true unity doesn't come from forcing every school into the same mold. It really comes from empowering communities to design what works best for their students. So I think from my perspective as a student and from the students who are literally sitting in the crowd, the students from our student advisory board who all unanimously said no to not move on with this, some who come from a 4x4. I think students are asking us to take a pause at this and vote at a later time. So tonight I'm going to vote no. Jesse Hazen, >> thank you. And I really appreciate all the feedback um that we've heard tonight from the community and I know leading up to this vote. Um I think there were

276a lot of really thoughtful questions um and critiques and really appreciate the work Dr. Robersonson, you've been leading um along with the meaningful graduation work group. And I know we don't want to get into the weeds, but I'm concerned when there are misconceptions, right? Because what I keep hearing is a one-sizefits-all approach. Um and I think a misconception that what's being proposed is one 4x4 model. But what I've heard from you um is that we are what this recommendation says is that we would explore all of the block schedule models um which might look like uh what we just heard described at Hoover and other places where you may have a world language or a math course that's taught over the course of the year. Um we heard concerns um that um retention is an

277issue if you have a gap um and other courses in this same block schedule um may only be a semester long. So I'm just wondering can you is that accurate that that would be an option under what's being um proposed here? >> Yes. What was proposed to the board is that by 2930 2029 2030 is that all the remaining eight high schools will have had time to either pilot andor explore the three different types of the block scheduling that we showcased this evening quarter hybrid or the AB structure. And so that was what you saw delineated. And then the one thing that I would add to the conversation is we do have an internal plan for our educators for professional learning and for our counselors. Um and so we could also follow up to the

278board and and share that as well. >> I and I think that's really important because I appreciate what we heard um from Trusty Wyn about not feeling uh like we have all of the details and all the plans but I know um based on conversations with you, right? Those plans exist. the details exist though they have not all been um shared in terms of research um and everything else. Um but I think it's really important as I think about the majority of the feedback we heard tonight um lots of concerns um from parents with students in AP courses concerned that their student may only be able to take an AP course for one semester. What I'm hearing you say is it's absolutely plausible that within what's being proposed, an AP course could still be a

279year-long course. Um, and the other thing um where I'm hearing maybe misconceptions or I'm not sure if I understand clearly is around um again AP courses. That's where we're getting a lot of feedback around these study sessions. And what I had heard previously um at a listening session was that you might have or that you would have study sessions that would occur during um the school day, right? So, this isn't extra, this isn't after school, this isn't during work time um or sports time or other extracurriculars, but actually built into the regular schedule the same way um there would be room for remediation, also room to scaffold and support around APs or other classes. Is that accurate? >> That's accurate. So those are the types of learning sessions that we have planned out with our

280educators. >> So it's not after school, it's not before school, it is during the school day. >> Those are offerings. There are some sites. The goal is to do it all within the school day, >> right? >> And there are ways in which like technically in a master schedule you could do, right? You can book in AVID with AP course and have it lead right into it. Schools do it very differently. That's why I encourage us to then go out and then talk with other AP teachers to see what works best to AP psych teachers. Having that conversation of what model worked best for you um is an ideal conversation. And I think that um we already have sites right now that do spiral review for AP testing and other types of end of course

281exams where they do have boot camps on a Saturday or they have boot camps in the summertime. But the real goal in the professional learning for for educators is really to to sit alongside them to look at the pacing guide that is offered by college board for example for a block schedule to rethink the learning and we have worked alongside each of our high school learning uh leaders to develop that plan. The entire plan for professional learning for PLC's everything would be dedicated to this type of work for our leaders that's built out but that's for our site leaders to then lead at their school site with their educators. We would be looking at chunking of lessons, lesson design, pacing, all of those things. >> Thank you. And I think you know we're talking a

282lot about this you know related to college and career readiness and of course uh this is connected to that you know you've lifted this up as you know a high lever strategy to advance those goals and what we talked about in terms of goal 4.1 and 4.2. But I think the other thing for me that is really important and what I've heard from a lot of students and a lot of families um and and educators is also around motivation, right? That this is as much around our guard rail to ensure students are motivated um as it is also to support those college and career goals. Right? We know that, you know, so many students that I talked to and I don't know if this is, you know, the case for you and the student advisory

283board is, you know, students are showing up for for ASB, for those career pathways, for yearbook, for band, for art. And what ends up happening for a lot of students as you've described in 10th grade in particular and 11th grade is those things become limited and the things that kids love the most, the things that motivate them to show up become taken have to be taken out of their schedule. And so my hope is that by exploring this and really working within each community and I really appreciate the revision to the proposal to say let's look at all of the options for block scheduling. Let's work in each school community. Let's take until 2030 um to figure out what makes sense um how do we work with teachers at each school uh to see what

284makes sense for that school? How do we work with parents in those communities so that this is really the beginning of a much longer term conversation which I really appreciate. Um, one of the things I'm wondering, uh, is we have this existing meaningful graduation workg group, um, which I believe is, you know, comprised of administrative principles, counselors, and what would it look like to invite teachers to participate in that ongoing work? Um, so that collectively, collaboratively, we're we're shaping this ongoing work together to make sure that all voices are are heard. And one last thing that I think is related but I don't want to lose is you talked a lot about counselors around the professional development that's happening um with counselors um you talked about feedback from students um around big case loads um

285and not having enough time and so we see this maybe as a solution to address um some of those challenges. I also wonder um and I just want to plant the seed as we go through this year's budget process and I know dollars are very tight um is there an opportunity to explore whether we can reduce counselor to student ratios if that's also being been a challenge so not related to 4x4 but something that that I heard and I don't want to lose >> uh trusty boso and then trusty wires >> thank you president and thank you to everyone our audience as well as all our my colleagues here for your comments. Um, I wanted to present kind of from a little bit different perspective. I know we've been talking about how we feel like

286this is rushed. Um, I wish we had a little bit more input from some of the schools that did have this process. uh you know I know we have in past meetings but I think it would have been really important to have some of those schools represented either students or principles to to talk a little bit because I have heard good things about 4x4 and specifically I wanted to to share that the schools that are planning to roll this out I think is it Mir Mesa and Madison are those the two that were >> in Canyon Hills >> and Canyon Hills was the other one okay so I know specifically my kids went to school at Mir Mesa high school. My I have a good relationship with the principal there. Um he's been working on

287this research I know with you for like four years has really done um they've done a lot of homework. They've gone to school they've you know um like you said t gone to many sites where they're using this doing this work and it's been successful and I know he's very excited about the work. Um, and I feel as though that community is is on board from I mean there are outliers of course. So I would propose I don't know maybe something in the middle because I feel uncomfortable not voting with my student colleagues up here because I feel like that's an important thing that I want to um respect the schools that are ready to go. Like I know Mir Ma is ready to go. Um and I I don't know if I can speak

288for the other two Madison or could we have those schools that are just ready now to to go ahead and roll out and the ones where there is like more concern as Alina mentioned, you know, maybe take a pause with some of those schools. Is there a way to do so, you know, tonight to do something in the middle rather than just saying we're going to just do across the board? because as because as a parent, you know, I am a parent. I mean, I I came up in the to this position as a parent and uh I know, you know, that things don't aren't going to get done or it's not going to be it's not going to work out if the if we don't have the communities on board and and for that

289matter all the staff and the principles and I know there's just all so many different I'm hearing a lot of different perspectives right now and um I would like to let the schools that are ready to go, you know, this coming year that are prepared to to allow them to start and then maybe take a pause on the remaining schools. That would be my suggestion. >> Yeah. So, >> I So, I I actually want to reference back our our proposal because that's I I want to say that we're actually all capturing the same sort of concerns that we found. Um, and thank you, Trusty Boreda, for stating that this was, you know, a an ask from the board. And so, our team went out there and said, "Okay, let's let's explore this." And what we

290found was exactly what you all said. And my biggest concern is um this is high stakes change and if we're going to do this it has to be done well and to have it be done well after speaking with Dr. Robersonson and a lot of other high school principles they discussed having years of discussions and planning and and so I'm thinking if it's going to take years to do it well then we have to build a plan that's a plan C. We went and talked we heard so we were thinking okay how do we do this? And so if we look at actually the plan that we propose is actually to do exactly what you all all of you just said and I'm going to include the students in here. It means we're going to

291collect data. Um I'm I I I'm going to always quote you Dr. Person. We built the cockpit. We now have a cockpit to actually analyze the data, but we need to look a little bit closer around the data collection and analysis of these 4x4 schools and what is the impact on AP and IB and all of those things. I don't have a report for you right now. We have to do that analysis. We also talk about the foundational practices that impact student outcomes. We need to take a look at that and what does that mean to have those foundational practices to identify at least two sites to pilot to start practicing. To your point, there's some schools that want this some school leaders that are ready. What might we do with those willing as we

292continue to collect? Now, I'm going to say a true practice of really analyzing the data of really listening to people is things are going to emerge. And I have been thinking about this like what is the problem we're trying to solve andor what are the conditions we're trying to improve for students because that's really what we're trying to do. And so in this data analysis in this implementation in this slowing down to honor the couple of years that principles have told us like it took us a while to do this and we're going to support you and and we don't know what we're going to find in year 2028. Um, we might come back and go, okay, we just found something completely different and new, and I want to leave a little bit of it

293open for what emerges. But this is high stakes change. And I and I recognize that. And because it's high stakes change, we have to stay very close. And I'm also thinking about our staff. How are they going to make sure they're alongside our counselors, alongside our teachers, providing the time for teachers to plan, to redesign, for our principles to actually lead this through for family and community engagement. This is a lot of different mechanisms and then there's a technical aspect of just building the darn thing, right? And so there's a lot of pieces, moving pieces here, which is why we're proposing to just really slow things down, continuously collect data. You'll see that as the very first piece across all of the years and actually say we're going to report out what we're finding. We

294want to hold ourselves accountable. We're not trying to do something that's going to hurt others. So, I just want to say that that it is the conditions that we're proposing is to actually do that um to to think about all of the pieces that you said. So, I just want to make sure that we honor um this plan C that we came back with when we said, "Okay, so there's a lot of concerns here that we have to slow this down. It takes time and we need more um more time with community as well." >> Trusty Wy, >> I'll get to you afterwards. Okay. I I've been quiet because I was actually at Mission Bay High School in the 80s and 70s and 80s and we had a schedule that was block. I mean, we

295didn't see all of our students. I had like 175 students and we didn't get to see them every day. We had 135 246 >> alternated days and then Fridays we would see everybody for an hour. And I absolutely loved it. Everybody at the school loved it. They're still doing some form of that. Uh it did not make sense for us to have them for a few minutes for um 175 students each teacher. It didn't make sense. So uh it meant that you had to plan differently. You could not do a one lesson for that day. You had to plan two lessons for a day. But it just made a lot of sense to me and and the staff there at Mission Bay. And I I commend them for standing up for their guns and still

296doing it even when no one else was doing it. Uh I I want to take a pause here and say that I am very proud of our students. I am really proud of them tonight. they have done a tremendous job of going against the the adults and just really advocating for our students. That's why we have you on the board. That's what we wanted to hear. And that, you know, it makes me happy and I think that you've come up with the solution that for those schools that have thought it through and they they're ready to move on this, let them move, but let's slow this thing down because one of the things we learned from Bethun, the K8, you have to allow people to come along with you. Um, the other schools we had

297decided, they were asking us to close down the K8s. Um and in fact um one of them had already done it many years ago closed down the school for K8 because they saw that that we needed to do that. And so the school that was complaining, they didn't say anything. They didn't want it closed. It looked like a regular school. I mean it's a middle school. So, we have to allow although we're a large district somehow or another and I know this is more staff and we're all bemoning that fact because it it does put a lot of pressure on you. Thank you, Jen, and your staff. I know we put you under a lot of pressure, but I believe it's going to work out in the end and it's going to and and the

298folks who change with this, they'll love it once they get into it, but it's going to take some time. and um just thank you to all of you who've been working on this trying to get it right for us. So now your turn. >> Okay, second round. Let's start the second. >> Um I just want to say thank you. Um and thank you for everyone who has spoken and again again thank you Jen. I did want to uh reference back to what Trusty Bosu was saying on there not being enough evidence from 4x4s coming on and saying hey like we are doing this this is why it works. Like we already trusty Alina already stated from her being from Hoover how she has hybrid. But I feel like if we were to bring in more

299schools from 4x4 that say that this is genuinely helping and presenting it to the educators maybe the staff instead of feeling like oh you guys are throwing this blanket on us. We don't want to do this. they can actually understand and see the perspective because if what we want everyone is to come on the same level, we have to make sure that everyone sees all perspectives and sides instead of just saying okay this is what's going to happen to the traditional schools if we 4x4. No, we also need to know okay for the actual 4x4 schools this is what's happening to them. I feel like if we have more of that evidence actually on in front of our hands and for everyone to see, it would bring down more the amount of stress that students

300and educators are having. Um, I also want to go back to what uh Trusty Hayen was saying to you about the study sessions. Thank you for clearing that up on how you're going to build into the actual classes. But I do want to know how are we going to have enough time to bring in the material that we were that like bringing back in the material, bringing back in the labs that we say that we're going to bring into class and bringing back the material that we're already supposed to learn and keeping those students engaged. We already know that one of the biggest issues with students is schoolwork and when they're in class, not all students are learn the same way. Nobody knows how a student process their own information than the student themselves. So

301how are we going to make sure that bringing back bu building in that material will actually be presentable and will actually be good for the student? I feel like we're taking a very very very far step if we do that and it ends up failing because then we have thousands of students at risk and it's not just a few. That's all I'll say. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty Ordas. Any other comments? All right, I got some thoughts. Um, thank you to um all the members of the public who spoke in the room and um in virtual land. Thank you my colleagues for the commentary. Um so, you know, my instinct is to kind of go meta and think through what is happening right now like beyond the question. we can get into like the question

302but what's happening right now and um so I would say clearly we we have sort of we did not stick the landing on this roll out but that goes without saying and I would say um that is somewhat a question of you know some of this emerged out of one-on ones um and conversations been going on for many um between various board members and the superintendent. Um and I also want to say some problems of the roll out are the result of I just want to acknowledge we are in an austerity environment. We've tried to for example give raises that have kept pace with inflation so that our the purchasing power of our wage remains steady. This is a very expensive city, but that also that forces us other forms of austerity because you have

303to pay for that somehow. And we've made substantial cuts in central office um and front offices. And we have I just want to acknowledge that Dr. Robersonson has been like in terms of the way the board has been thinking about 4x4 and sending you out into the breach is it's like I feel I feel personally bad about that that we are understaffed in relation to a ta undertaking of this scale. So, I want to acknowledge that and and and my culpability and and the board's culpability in thinking through the the proportion between the task that you've been given and the time in your day because you've got a lot of other hats. You were here A throughG, you were you were here at career and technical. So, clearly we need to think through the the

304tool the human resources we have to accomplish any given task. So I want to acknowledge that. Um I also want to acknowledge that something that both of the student trustees um brought up which is that students students don't understand it fully and a lot of the discussion I have gotten I don't know hundreds of emails about this some positive and excited but the majority not excited. Um, I would say there's a there is um there's there there is a dramatic disproportion is very very unhappy about this and the the the unhappiness in the other seven schools is fairly slight. We had a couple comments tonight from UC. We had one from a retired La Hoya um graduate. Um so clearly our the job the work at PointLoma that we've done was insufficient um relative to

305the challenge. Um and I also want to say so let me just acknowledge that's like what's going on here and I and I am always very concerned when you do when you begin an undertaking and right out of the gate we have We we have we as a as a board as a leadership team led by the board we have not done done the groundwork. I mean it is a apparent that both from our student trustees and from the public that we have we have not done the groundwork relative to what is proposed tonight in terms of communicating with our stakeholders. Now, that said, I will also say that honest honestly to be fair, around 80% of the comments I've gotten from parents over the last almost three years now, parents who found my number

306or called a friend and they knew a friend who knew me and I got the number or they sent an email to me at my board email or they found my personal email somewhere or I just met them at a at a cluster meeting or whatever. I mean, honest to God, 80% are parents who are having struggling with their children not being able to fit things into their schedule. So, so I have to balance what what we hear at any given occasion against the totality of what I've experienced as a board member, which is this is a critical issue. We we had at SCS CPA, we had I think it was an all counselors meeting or something. I think certainly the majority of the concerns from that all counselors meeting was about just the the

307difficulty of getting students the classes they need to satisfy all the requirements and and then in addition to giving them the kind of enrichment they were after and so again I've got all the counselors saying this is a critical problem we can't fit it in with I mean depending on how you think about it it's either whatever it's 16 blocks or it's it's eight classes I mean, you can think about how we're doing it in various ways, but it's six versus 8 or 12 versus um 16. Um, and so I have all of that saying we need more classes. We just need more classes. And so, let me just go over and again, I'm going to get to I'm going to get somewhere and I'm coming around to it. So, let me cook for a

308second here. Um, we're going into hour seven of because we started our close session at 3M. Um, but I got a little juice left from that uh diet, Dr. Pepper. Um, so I, you know, just going through it, we've got our A throughG, we've got our APS. Now, the APs are satisfying some of the A throughg, so there's some overlap there. We've got our CTE pathways, um, which mostly are not overlapping with A3G or AP mostly. >> Some some there's some overlap and which are like two to three to get to the capstone or something. Yes. >> Um, we've got our priorities on dual enrollment. Again, some of which may overlap with CTE or with not APs, but with some accelerated content. We've got the electives and and frankly, this is a huge thing for

309us. I mean, our number one goal is social emotional wellness. And I hear it all the time that there's no electives. I can't do the fun things. I want to do band. I hear it from my kids. I've got a middle schooler who I'm I I tear up more than John Boehner. I always say it's crazy, but like my daughter of all who's like mean to me and she's mean to their family, but the sweetheart is just like and she's like not super excited about school, but she does well. But she she's like, I want I love Latin. It's my favorite class and I got a sweet spot because my brother took Latin at La Hoya at Mirland's and I didn't and I should have done it and it's the one thing I regret. and

310she goes,"I want to do the full four things of Latin, but I can see I'm not going to be able to." There's my little Bardeau who who's already can see she's not going to be able to fit in her four years of Latin that she's for whatever reason is excited about. So, so you have the electives that we're very motivated on giving kids more choice, more enjoyment, more electives. We have credit recovery which some may dismiss as you know for kids other than high our high achieving kids but it's a reality that kids need to recover. We've got you brought up acceleration. We've got other kids that want to accelerate. So we've got all of these things going on and and so I've got a lot of pressure from my own experience over the last

311three years in terms of we need more classes and and so let me then get to the I'm almost there. I'm just closing it out here. There is a question which we've heard from our labor partners, which we've heard from a number of people in the room about one-sizefits-all. And I absolutely agree this is not going to be a one-sizefits-all. Whatever happens over the next five years or six years is not one size. But the question about whether or not the board should set out agendas on this sort of thing or set goals or or a plan is it's it's an interesting question. There are a lot of things that we as a district and as a community and as a society say actually they're so important that they should be board decisions. We think

312about rights and repres representation for our LGBT community. If we had a site that was like, "No, we don't want to do that." We like, "Tough luck. You're doing it." We think about um we think about title funding. That's gonna the title the way the title funding gets decided on the ground is up to the school. But it's so important that this that the federal government says this is how we're going to send it down. Concentration funding, the state says this is how. Now, there's a lot of room for for for choice at the at the site level, but look at um our graduation requirements. I just taking notes here. Um a lot of implementations of best practices that are so significant that that we as a society, as a board say and as labor

313partners say, hey, we shouldn't do HR at the site level. It's that is chaos. We're going to do HR at the district level with some autonomy at the site level. Data dashboards. We're not having each school do a data dashboard. I mean we're not going to do that. So there's a lot of things that are so important that we say okay we should have some autonomy in terms of how this thing actually gets implemented but in terms of setting the vision it is important to have unity and so the question then becomes for me and this is really fundamental is this a thing 4x4 and I heard a lot of in the emails and the comments here a lot of very high achieving schools are doing 4x4 there there is I'll just we can look

314at this thing and say well in the way it's been implemented Thus far there is some there's a differential clearly. You can see that the schools that haven't implemented are in district A, B and C and the districts that have are D and E. So there is some basic we can see some basic demographic realities to to the implementation. But that's not inherent in 4x4. Mission Bay does a 4x4 and they love it and Santo Academy does it. I mean I'm not going to go through the full list but a lot of very high achieving schools do four 4x4. So there's a lot being treated like it's like a some nightmare black and white scenario but it's not lots of if we did 4x4 I have no doubt we would our sites if properly implemented

315would succeed at it. So the question then becomes for me is this is the 4x4 so advantageous not only in relation to like the underlying data which I is can be equivocal in terms of like your underlying cast scores or something and there's all kinds of confounds like class and size and all the kinds of stuff that confounds it. But what I my my concern is in relation to what our goals are as a district in terms of what we want for our students and that is a through G acceleration o enrichment opportunities to challenge kids CTE pathways because we believe it's very important to have a career in technical pathway dual enrollment to expose kids to college especially kids who have never would would otherwise not think of themselves as college students electives we've

316again that's our number one goal social emotional and wellness. So recovery, which has huge equity consequence, ex acceleration. I'm in the La Hoya cluster. I hear acceleration concerns all the time. And so these are things that are very important to us. What I am what I'm getting toward is we have to do a lot of work as a district in terms of coming to a consensus in particular with our labor partners and and and and my colleague Shaya alluded to um an existing committees that may be used for this sort of thing. But there are joint committees that we could utilize or form in order to bring together families, sites that are using 4x4 sites that aren't sites professors from neighboring universities um to actually come up build a consensus about is this a thing

317that is so advantageous not only in relation to like whatever cast scores or other criteria, but in relation to what we've set out as goals for our students, for all of our students that it is a thing that this sort of that this sort of thing should be decided not that particulars of the implementation but that that that that it is something we should pursue as a district should be decided at the district level because it is so important it could be that so so what I would I want to go back to what my colleague Vice President Barrera said and I'm rounding it out here said in the beginning which is we are not voting tonight for each of these sites to have 4x4 and I'm a little concerned about the language around pilots

318because from a certain sense there's no need to pilot. Lots of places do 4x4. So we're either doing it or we're not doing it. So what I would say is if we and I never like to do dis work. It's always problematic. Only so many things can be done on the dis. But maybe a little clarification of the language about what we're voting on can bring us closer to consensus. Not dramatic changes but from from what what Richard said and what some my other colleagues have said >> already. So let's move on those three and >> yes I I totally agree. So what what what I'm what I would say is just for clarification and I this is essentially what is what Richard is saying is this is a plan that expresses the desire of

319this board to move forward with 4x4. However, it is not a final determination that we these sites will do 4x4. It is clear from what we heard tonight. It's clear from all the emails I've gotten that we need to do a lot more work in terms of not only educating our community, but educating ourselves in bringing to bear those sites that are already using 4x4. Because it's a weird question to ask, well, we should go do pilots. Pilots, like some people said tonight, we got 13 sites doing 4x4. What more pilots do you need? So, I think that I am willing to to vote for a board item that says this is a plan that expresses the commitment to the board, the the current belief of the board that this is in the best interest

320of all of our sites, but that we need a lot of work in terms of it. These the end result could not be this. If if the joint committee comes together and and there is not consensus around it, if sites are do not ultimately come along, it will ultimately have to come each of these will have to ultimately come back to the board. So, so I am willing to support this item if what this item is saying is we believe in 4x4 and we believe we should move forward. We believe it's beneficial to our students, but we this is not in itself determining that outcome. this we are starting out on a process and we are open to that process evolving in a way that is not necessarily anticipated in this plan. >> Shane, I

321see you making a face. >> I'm just not clear on what what the motion is. >> So, if if I may. >> Yes. >> Year one, it says at least two or more. There's the ore missing. We've identified three school communities that are ready to go that we lifted up. Madison Canyon near Mesa. They've done a lot of work over the past three years. Um then what the plan then delineates and they've had conversations about whether we're going to go quarter, hybrid, AB, those are going to be sitebased decisions and we've talked about it at each of their school sites. What then this plan presents to you is that by 29 2030 give us the time and the leeway then to begin to work with those school sites to begin educating on the different types

322of schedules so that then we can if we go with Richard's suggestion of like the twothirds vote on the type of schedule and then comes back to the board for those subsequent five schools what have you then that's built out in this Okay, >> that's what I would say. >> Sorry, Jen, can you say that last part again? >> The end goal is to The end goal over several years is to work alongside the remaining five communities to identify the ideal state is to identify which 4x4 um system would work best. Richard's suggestion um was to then take it to SGT two-thirds vote, right, to to determine which model worked best. If a determination couldn't be made, then it could come back to the board for final decision. Did I capture that correctly? >> I'll

323just say I I wish we had a better way of interacting with school site communities in the SGT. I've served on SGT and SSSE. These are very small groups that are not necessarily representative. I've had I've sat on SGT meetings that had one parent present, two teachers and an administrator. I mean that so the the level of engagement we've had use point as an example is vastly more than an SGT. So, and I'm also concerned that this is that this gets channeled into an exclusively teachers are aside from students. Teachers are are are the most important body besides students. You have in my worldview it goes students, teachers, administrators, parents, etc. But I'd love to have a something that was beyond an SGT in terms of like building a consensus on a site. that concerns

324me because I've been on an SGT that did not feel adequate to that representative. >> I do think a couple of things and I think actually uh the president of SDA mentioned this is that we're trying to think about how we bring in more like families, students and all of them have voice and I I do see our deputy superintendent wanting to speak. So I'm going to go ahead and call her. I am actually the part the part that I'm wrestling with and I think that this is a part of I actually want to be pushed on this. Um when we say we're going to collect data and report out >> I think that the part that's missing here is that sometimes we what if we get data that says this isn't working at this

325school and and I think and I'm going to just say it. I think that there might be a distrust to what emerges. And I'm here to say as someone that's collective, I know when I've led groups to a certain direction and then the data emerges, you go, "Oh, okay. So then where do we pivot?" And that's the part that I'm seeing here in the plan. We're going to be talking to communities, engaging with more people, and then whatever emerges is we're going to have to work within that emergence. And that's when I've seen when I've done work with school districts or with teams as a consultant, that's where sometimes people want to drive the data to say a certain thing. And I'm here to say that that's not how I roll. Um, so how does

326the data show up? What is it actually saying? And then having to come back to the board and saying something like these schools yes and these schools no. And so I that's actually the part that I'm I'm wrestling with around if you really are working with the community, things are going to emerge that are not going to go in a complete path this way. So that's the part that's gray here, but I'm want to call up Nicole. I'm I'm going to channel my inner Jessica Faulk Michelle on this one because I just want to be like very clear on what our labor partner shared that there is already a shared decision-making process when it comes to the changing of school schedules that does require a twothirds vote and that is delineated um in the collective

327bargaining agreement. So this process that you're talking about of like getting input and involving SGT and doing a staff vote that does already exist. I think the question is is that if all of this work goes into the community um to talk about a 4x4 schedule and there is not a 23 vote from staff, then it could go to the board making a decision to then change the model of our high schools to be on a 4x4 or an alternate schedule. So, I just did want to clarify that a lot of what you're talking about with the shared decision-making process um is happening in our schools and that's why so many of our schools are on a 4x4 or a hybrid model now. So I think the question and and just so that um I

328think we just all need a little bit of clarity on what the ask is here is whether or not we're going to continue to use that shared decisionmaking process and if the um vote does not uh happen to go towards a 4x4 then is that something that comes to the board for each individual school to decide and make a vote on or are we saying that we are collectively deciding to move all of our high schools to a 4x4 model? I just think we should be clear about the that distinction because we have been talking a little bit and it's getting a it's getting a little murky. Um so just wanted to provide that piece of clarity. >> Vice President Ber. >> Yeah. No, I appreciate that. I we we're not changing the process in

329the contract. First of all, we can't just do that unilaterally. So, um, what what I understand this plan to be is absolutely includes the process and the contract that allows STS to go through this process, take a vote and then the board does have final decision. that's what exists and we're not proposing to change that at all unless somebody because if if the idea is that we're going to change the process in the contract then I can't support that but I don't hear at all that we're talking about changing the process in the contract. I mean is I guess I'll just ask superintendent Bul is that part of the recommendation? >> No, it's a it's a much deeper engagement. It's a much deeper engagement on data collection, analysis, identification, leadership. Like like I said, this

330is high stakes change. >> So it's requires a lot of of analysis, but also a lot of connection and a lot of coming um besides folks. And so that's why it looks so stretched out because it it does that. And that and I'm going to just say one more time, if we're not open to what emerges when we're saying we're collecting data, then it's not really a a community engagement plan. So, I think the key question here is I'm just going to give a hypothetical. If we were to vote for this today, the quote plan, um, what I was proposing, and I believe what Richard is interpreting this as, these sites would still need to return to the board for approval to do 4x4. That's what that's what >> that that's also how I'm interpreting

331it. I'm very technical individual. >> Yeah. >> Um so to be very clear, we first go to SGT, then we take it to a twothirds vote by certificated staff, SDA members. If the sites don't get the which I would like to lift up, Canyon and Mir Mesa have tried then then we return to the board for final approval. That is what I heard. >> So, but okay. Okay. So, so you're you're we're I think you and Richard and I at least and I maybe the rest of the board I guess we'll see are think of this as a plan, but we are not making the decision today to move these sites individually to 4x4. That would have to come back to the board. Trusty Hazen, >> I guess what I'm not clear about hearing, you

332know, that the sites that are ready to go have not been able to get that twothirds vote, but they need to know if they're going or not going next year. So, are we saying that a vote is going to come back to us very soon on those sites for next year? I mean because that's what you were just suggesting, right? That would need to happen in short order for the planning to take place that would be required um to launch this next year. I just want to make sure everybody's clear on >> what we're considering. >> The proposal that was presented is we would identify two to three school sites which we've named in the communities. We did not name in this presentation. They're ready to go. for the subsequent five, we would then have

333the lead time to work alongside them, come back and have that conversation. That that is what is truly represented in this proposal. >> So So here's >> Okay, hold on. We'll get there. So when we say they're ready to go, does that mean you have a principal and some majority of staff, but not twothirds? Yes. So, Mayor Mesa's also here. Principal Sabins is here. So, if we'd like to have a conversation with him, we could do that. They have um pulled their staff. They've surveyed the staff. They've done their due diligence with regards to where are we at in terms of the twothirds mark. So, we've been engaging in this conversation. Same with Canyon Hills for two to three years now. Madison when I went out to their school school community is in a very

334similar um mindset of let's do this and and for all the reasons that we talked about this evening. >> Okay. So there's a little asterisk there or a big asterisk which is in relation to the totality of these we're talking about a plan that would have to return to the board. But you're also saying there are two to three sites where they are there is broad consensus short of a twothird staff vote to move forward. >> Yes. >> I mean just realistically that's what's happened. >> Yes. >> There has not been an official vote. >> So so what I would propose is >> hold on. >> This is the process. We clearly what I will say is our contract clearly gives the board the authority to make the decision. That is not I so far

335as I understand SDA is not that is the contract. So and and we are certainly not giving up that authority because it may be that actually it is in the best interest of our students to move forward. So what I would say however is there's two separate things it seems to me in this board item. There are there is a an approval of the board in a situation in which we are short of two two3 we believe sites believe they are short up to twothirds two to three sites and there is the overall plan. So I would I would say that if we're going to approve this that we would have to return in relation to those two sites to see whether they would have to attempt to get a twothirds and either succeed or

336fail and then bring it to us to have an overall reflection on whether or not we want to move forward even though they're short of two/3s. Can I suggest I know Nicole's up, but I'd like to hear from Jeff to to >> Before we ask any of our principles to come up and speak. I know we've been having this discussion for a while. Um, and I'm not I I as the deputy superintendent am not very clear um on where we're at and what the ask is and I'm not sure that everyone who's going to be participating in voting is super clear on it. So, what I'm wondering is if we actually need um some time to get that clarity with board members on what the um path forward is. I think we need to get

337very clear on what our contractual obligations are. Um because I am nervous uh that we might be asking for a vote on something that we each have a different interpretation on what we're voting on. >> Yeah. President, >> thank you. President, I'm I'm withdrawing my motion to support this. There's too much confusion right now about what we're even voting on. So, >> yeah. Well, we've lost our motion. So, I mean, well, let me be clear to be perfectly clear with Robert's rules. Once you have a motion in a second, is it is the body's motion. It's no longer the maker's motion technically. So, we we it it does appear, however, there is emerging consensus. So, I'm not What I would say is yeah, but I mean it's I want to go home, too. But at

338a certain point, we we want to make a good decision here. So, let's push through. I I I So, while I object on Robert's rules of the maker taking the motion from the body, it's still the body's motion. Um I I think we I would entertain a substitute motion to postpone final consideration until we have more clarity both contractually and in terms of what is before the board. um and if necessary to disambiguate the multiple of items that appear. There is a plan and then there is appears to be two or three sites that we actually are being asked to take a vote on. So, um if if staff is it appears that if deputy superintendent feels that way, I think that's reflective of staff more broadly. So, I would entertain a motion to postpone

339consideration until we have >> okay >> a return to date. Well, we have a business meeting that's fairly light. If if if the board is willing, then we can make a motion to postpone until the next which I believe is 14th. >> 14th. >> We have a motion on the 14th. Would staff be able to >> I will personally commit myself to bringing something back on the 14th with more clarity. >> Just let me say I feel for you, Dr. Dwit, and for you. This is I know this is hard. But I appreciate the willingness to um to to take this back and and get some clarity on this. >> Who was the motion? >> So I have a mot who was the motion. >> The motion is to postpone consideration, >> right? Who was

340motion and second >> and defer to staff in terms Sharon made the motion to to postpone. I think Richard >> second and and and Vice President Bers it to October 14th. >> Okay. >> I have a motion and a second. I'm hoping there's no further discussion, but maybe there is. Do my colleagues have any. >> Seeing none, we will move to a vote. Student trustees, please vote on the motion to postpone October 14th. >> All the trustees, please vote. Oh, sorry, dude. This is why I look down because I start to shift here and >> try again. Sorry, I pressed the only we can see the red light I just pressed. Let's take the vote again. Student trustees, please vote. I apologize. >> All other trustees, please vote. >> That motion. Now, that motion passes

341unanimously. Student trustees concur. All right, back to the script here. First of all, I want to thank everyone who spoken tonight. even though we postponed your your commentary clearly had a a significant effect on the discussion. So I want to thank you >> and President Patterson just a reminder in your bylaws you do have a fiveh hour limit on board meetings but I think we're forward you have a five hour limit on board meetings. So >> so you're about there. So >> mind just skimming the line here. >> Moving forward. >> Okay. Yes. Okay. Yes, we will move. Um, we will now consider items F1, F2, and F3 related to student discipline and bargaining agreements. Is there a motion on these items? Uh, Trusty Odas. Second from Trusty Wers Payne. We have a motion and

342a second. Miss Dals, are there any comments on this item? Uh, are there any comments from my colleagues on this item? Seeing no discussion, we will move to a vote. Uh, student trustees, please. Oh, we This is just our elected trustees. Um, trustees, please vote. Uh, that motion passes unanimously. Um, all right. Um, I believe that, uh, that's good. We're good. Um, we will now move to the board consent agenda. Um, no. Yes, we will. But we will first do G1, board meeting minutes. Is there a motion on this item? I have a motion from Vice President Barrera and a second from Trusty Hazen. Uh Miss Doulson, any items on the minutes? Thank you. Do any of my colleagues have any comments on these? Oh, it's it's consensus. So, um Okay. Student trustees, please vote.

343Uh all remaining board members, please vote. That motion passes unanimously. Student trustees concurring. Um we will now we will now move to item H um which is district operational ma matters. Uh we will now conduct a public hearing and consider item H4 easement to the city of San Diego at O Farerrell Charter School. The public hearing is now open. Miss Stoultz, are there any speakers on this item? >> There actually was, but I think he's gone. >> Cesar Javier >> him out. >> I think Mr. Javier has has gone. So, no. >> Okay. He's left the building. Okay. That's unfortunate. Um, is there a motion on this item? Uh, Trusty Hazen with with a motion. Um, Trustee White Payne with a second. We have a motion and a second. Do any of the trustees have

344comments on this item? Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Student trustees, please vote. All other board members, please vote. That motion passes unanimously with student trustees concurring. We will now consider item H5, emergency waiver resulting from a water leak at Dayola Middle School. Holy moly. Is there a motion on this item? Trusty Whitehurst Payne. Trusty Hazen. We have a motion, a second. Miss Staltz, there any speakers on this item? Okay. Uh do any of my colleagues have any comments on this item? Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Student trustees, please vote. All other board members, please vote. That motion passes unanimously with student trustees concurring. Whoa. Wow, this is a monster. Um, we've never skimmed the five hour mark before. So, um, we will now consider item H6. Oh, you Yeah, before my

345days. I don't I don't let that my gabble that out. U, we will now consider item H6, ratification of employee salary plans. Is there uh vice president Barrera moves? Uh and I have a second from Trusty Ordas. Uh we have a motion and a second. Miss Stoulz, are there any speakers on this item? Okay. Do any of the trustees have any comments on this item? Okay. Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Student trustees, please vote. All other board members, please vote. That motion passes unanimously with student trustees concurring. We will now consider items I1 through I35, the superintendent's consent agenda. Consent items are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion followed by a vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless the board, member of the public

346or staff request specific items be removed from the consent agenda for separate discussion and action. Any agenda item will be removed removed will be voted upon following the motion to approve the consent agenda. Does the board have any items that they would like to have pulled from the consent for discussion? >> None. Miss Doultz, has the Has any member of the public pulled an item? >> There had been, but they're not they're no longer here. So >> Oh my goodness. Okay. >> So there is none. >> We will vote on the entirety of the the the agenda. Do I have a motion for the superintendent's consent agenda? Trusty Boso with a second from Trusty Wyers Payne. We have a motion and a second. Um it is a consent agenda so we will not have discussion.

347Uh student trustees please vote. All other board members please vote. That motion passes unanimously with student trustees concurring. Okay. Yep. Here we go. I think we're we're here. Uh we will now receive public testimony on non-aggenda items. Miss Stoultz, have we received any requests for non-aggenda comment? >> Yes, we have. And we will see who is still still here. I'll call the names of everyone who signed up. May M Ae May Mary Grace Flores Vihan Bardwis from the swear committee Katrina Klas. Okay, you have two minutes. I told you I had more friends. So, I'm really surprised you blocked my email again. Especially when the what? District Attorney called me and and literally checked up and he said no, they wouldn't have the audacity. Call me surprised. Anyways, California law requires that every employee, disabled

348or not, be provided a workplace free from harassment, retaliation, and toxic hostile conduct. This is not optional. It is a baseline legal standard. And yet this district has attempted to intimidate and silence rather than support. Blocking voices, sicking police on teachers and parents, and dismissing complaints is retaliation. This district pretends the rules are optional. When teachers are harassed, students lose stability and a joyful learning environment. When whistleblowers, teachers and parents are silenced, the community loses trust. And when the law is ignored, the district risks liability that no PR spin can undo. Though I know you're trying. And yet, I'm here anyway. My presence here is a reminder the law should not bend to convenience. Workers have rights, for now, at least, and this board has obligations. The district's intimidation doesn't erase my rights, and its

349hostility doesn't erase the fact that students and staff deserve better. I'll keep showing up even though you don't want me to, and I'll keep saying it. No worker should be harassed. No teacher should be retaliated against. No student should be collateral damage in your power games. You cannot build safe schools for students without safe working environments for staff. The question is not whether these protections apply. They do. The question is whether you intend to reform and uphold them or continue violating the law in full public view. >> Cat Anderson. >> I thought so. Daniel Abberi. Aberi. Katherine Zimmerman. Hudson Mitchell Pullman, Claire Safant, Valerie Traina. Good evening. I'm Valerie Trina of District E representing defense of democracy. I also want to add that I am the great granddaughter of immigrants from Italy. I'm deeply disturbed

350at a social media post forwarded to me about censorship of an important beautifully written book at Patrick Henry High School. The post reads in part, quote, "Under pressure from MAGA parents, teachers at Patrick Henry were directed to abort the teaching of quote the book of unknown Americans halfway through the unit. It's a novel about brown immigrants in the USA," unquote. I had to read the post twice as I couldn't believe that San Diego Unified, a progressive district by any measure, would allow censorship in our schools. I've read five chapters of this book and find it to be a truthful depiction of how immigrants from Latin America and elsewhere would feel coming to the USA and what type of jobs they'd be offered. The characters are warm, complex people like many of the immigrants I've met

351over my lifetime. I've been unable to uncover the reasons for the ban on learning from this novel, but they really don't matter. My tax dollars support the curriculum and teachers of Patrick Henry with the understanding that these are trained individuals who can be trusted to choose worthwhile books that expand young minds. This is still the United States of America, governed by a Constitution that guarantees us the right to free speech and assembly and the freedom to learn. I'm calling on Superintendent Fabi Boula, Cody Patterson, Richard Barrera, all of you to just reinstate that book. I want you to do a very deep investigation into why this happened and and and and reverse it because we are the majority. They these people who are ignoramises or bigots, they're the minority who just happen to get into

352power. >> Thank you. Carly Wrl, Genevieve Z, you have two minutes. I'm here to speak on the multiple student injuries from repeated hygiene facility bullying at Golden Hill K38 school during the 2324 and 2425 school years in the Ann Woodmire's third grade classes under principal Julie Martinez mishandling. The challenge of reporting these crimes was multifaceted. Nobody wants to identify child abuse. Even wants surrounded with the signs. I will never forgive myself for refusing to recognize a medically dangerous classroom environment until it was too late. My child was injured so badly we had to emergency transfer out of the school I was proudly sponsoring. Once I had identified the danger while volunteering, I reported the illegal classroom activity to the office. The office told me that day I needed a doctor's note in order for my

353child to access her basic safety rights to hygiene facilities. Inmates in prison do not need a doctor's note to access toilets and neither do 8-year-olds in a classroom, but the school office did not know this. I specifically requested to see the district's policy on bathroom access, and the school said there was none. The wellness policy makes it clear children should not be harmed during class. But I could not get the school to recognize that repeated forced to classroom soiling under verbal abuse of threats of behavior dollar punishments for housing facility access causes actual literal physical illness and emotional stability in kids. This was a challenge of medical education and willful policy compliance. I believe it to be common sense that forcing a child to sit in their own excrement for 500 days unsanitary causes disease

354but the school did not and perhaps it was denial but here in lies a big challenge. There are people who refuse to follow rules they do not understand. How can we expect a school to enforce safety rules via hygiene facility access if unrestrict restricted access to hygiene facilities are not explicitly protected in wellness policies? I believe we have an opportunity to protect other students from suffering past injuries of hygiene to now child abuse in the classroom by modifying the wellness policy to specifically include unrestricted access to toilets. In the wellness policy 5030, the only mentions of the words toilet or bathroom are protecting lactating employees. Due to severity of past student injuries suffered at Golden Hill K38 school and other schools and the potential safety liabilities that she could threaten school funding, I recommend a

355specific addition of unrestricted hygiene facility access to wellness policy 5030 to protect all students from temporary genital injury and or permanent general gastrointestinal or eurogenital organ damage. Support unrestricted availability of toilets throughout the school day and extended day. While the current policy protects physical emotional safety, this phrasing only implies the inclusion of unrestricted toilet access injury prevention to people who understand enough biology to know what happens to a child who is repeatedly bullied and threatened under teacher by the teacher when they beg to use the toilets. There are currently no specific prohibitions against repeatedly preventing children from accessing toilets at school. Thank you, >> Nazarene. Hello. Um again uh thanks for allowing me to make this uh comment. Um I just wanted to reiterate um my support for u what's happening in Palestine and I

356want to emphasize that we are experiencing austerity right now because we are having budget cuts at the state level at the governor is not funding ethnic studies. the governor has tabled AB 101 to uh make uh ethnic studies a requirement but to not provide funding for it. And so they're just basically submitting to the pressure of the Trump administration. And I don't think we should submit ourselves to the pressure of the Trump administration to implement um budget cuts. And there's also budget cuts at the federal level coming this way. And I've been advocating against AB715 at the state legislature um because it's a suppressive uh curriculum to discount Palestinian voices in the curriculum and it's also against what teachers have. The California Teachers Association has recommended. So I think we should stick to what teachers

357know best and what um people know best is that uh students want to learn about themselves and we shouldn't be suppressing them. So, thank you. >> That concludes public comment. >> All right. Looks like we're bringing this thing in under the five hour mark. Um, thank you to everybody who lasted this long. Thank you for coming today and providing testimony. Um, we we genuinely appreciate your input. Uh and um your comments today will certainly be folded into our decision-making process as we move forward. Uh with that at uh 9:50, this meeting is now adjourned. A special board governance workshop will be held on October 8th, 2025, and the next regular meeting will be held on October 14, 2025.