001E8 Open session board meeting. Um happy you could all join us this evening. Uh I do have a report from closed session. The Board of Education took unanimous action in closed session to approve the settlement agreement for student number 2461. Uh the Board of Education took unanimous action in closed session to approve the settlement agreement for student number 6134. And with that, we will continue to the regular open session. Call to order. Uh roll call, please. Mr. Chang. I. Mr. Sung. Yeah. Ms. Lam. Here. Mrs. Ryan. Present. Mrs. Gill here and student board member Mr. Burke. Now I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Lena Richter to introduce our student leading us in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you, President Gill. Tonight, it is our honor to welcome um Charlotte Coyle, an amazing Valentine
002Viking and president of Spring Student Council, um to lead the board in the salute to the flag this evening and share a little bit about herself and her school. So, Charlotte, if you could join us at the podium. It is all yours. Sorry. Okay. Take your time. Good evening. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Superintendent Dr. De La Torre. Sorry if I said that wrong. Board President Gill, distinguished mem- distinguished board members, the executive team, and all those in attendance tonight. My name is Charlotte Coyle and I'm a fifth grade Viking at Valentine Elementary School and the Spring Student Council President. I am joined here by my principal, Ms. McAlpine, my teacher, Ms. Joyce, and my mom. I been attending Valentine since kindergarten. Becoming a member of the student council and being
003the president has made my year 10 times better. The student council has always been something I have wanted to do for a very long time. Last year I ran for vice president, but another candidate was elected. That night I thought, "How can I improve in fifth grade?" So, when I heard about the winter student council, I was so excited. But, I wasn't picked as a representative for my class. I was a little disappointed, but I knew I could try again in the spring election. But, for the spring student council something different happened. I was chosen for Miss Joyce's representative for president. This meant so much to me. It meant my classmates wanted me to lead. So, I worked hard and asked students what they thought we should add or improve to the school. This strategy
004paid off though, and many fourth graders, fifth graders, and teachers wanted me to be president. So, now I'm trying to make Valentine an even more amazing and fun place for not only the students, but the staff, teachers, and parents. At the moment we're having Popsicle sales to raise money for something called the buddy bench. This is the place where students can sit down if they have a hard time making friends, their friends are absent, or they're just shy and scared to approach people in general. Um no. When I was younger, and even now, I can be kind of shy around new people, and sometimes it's hard for me to meet new friends. The younger me would have 100% used it once or twice. The idea is someone can sit down and notice a student or
005is also a little shy and ask if they can play. Valentine is an amazing place, but sometimes little things can make a huge difference. Upcoming events that we have worked hard to prepare for in the third, fourth, and fifth grade are state testing. Students have learned so much all year, and this is a great time to shine and show our academic excellence. Jog-A-Thon will also be taking place in May, and everyone is looking forward to raising money for our school, focusing on health and fitness, and enjoying Popsicles at the end. Grade levels are going to are going on exciting field trips and enjoying end of the year activities. With only 26 days left in the school year, I'm really excited about the fifth grade activities, fifth grade promotion, and the road to middle school. Before
006I go, I'd like to recognize some people. Our dedicated Sergeant at Arms, Austin Lu, our awesome secretary, May Doherty, our amazing treasurer, Maxson Lu, I mean, Maxson Chen, woah. Our humorous vice president, Sophia Chen, and all the hardworking people that ran for student council. You guys are so awesome, kind, cool, and smart. You guys made my year so much better. Finally, Miss Choice, the amazing teacher who created and runs the the student council. Thank you for making student council happen. Without you, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have met all my awesome fourth graders who ran, who are now some of my good friends. Speaking of friends, I also wouldn't have made a bunch of student council friends, either. Now, without further ado, tonight, as I welcome you to the San Marino Unified School District
007Board Meeting, I would like to pay respects to our country and our flag. Please join me as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand quietly and put your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. 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 for your time and have a good evening. Thank you, Sharon. Thank you. Sharon, we need you to uh come on up here. I'm going to present you with a certificate. And we're going to take a photograph. I really appreciate you taking the time to be here this evening with your mom, Mrs. Choice, and your wonderful principal, Mrs. Valentine. Um you did a great job telling us all
008about your experiences at Valentine Elementary School. Congratulations on your position this year. Um I'm going to present you with this certificate that reads, "In sincere appreciation for leading the Board of Education in the Pledge of Allegiance at their regularly scheduled meeting held on April 28, 2006." Thank you. Well, her first and then we're going to invite your mom and the teacher and the principal to come up here. 1 2 3 Okay. Can we get Miss Joyce, who's in the background, and Mom. Mom, you can get right here next to your daughter. Thank you. Ready? 1 2 Make it a close Yes. All right. Okay. You guys can do your social distancing. Do you have a policeman? Yes, I do. Okay. And first I thought I was going to be next. I'm sorry. That's a fantastic
009job. All right, thank you. That was so wonderful. I feel like our students get more and more poised and professional each time. It's crazy. Um okay. >> President President Gill, may we take a moment and I want to welcome special welcome to Gretchen, who is our city council member and she's here visiting with us. Welcome, Gretchen. City council, former mayor. Thank you for being here. Okay. Um approval of agenda. I would like uh a motion, please. >> So moved. Second. Thank you. Roll call. Mr. Chang? I. Mr. Sung? >> I. Ms. Lam? I. Mrs. Ryan? I. Mrs. Gill, I and student board member Burke. Great. Uh approval of minutes. Do I have a motion to approve the 3 24 26 meeting minutes? I'd like to make a motion for the approval of 3 24 minutes.
010Second. Thank you, Mrs. Ryan and Mr. Chang. I. Um Uh roll call, please. Mr. Chang? I. Mr. Sung? >> I. Ms. Lam? I. Ms. Ryan? I. Mrs. Gill, I and student board member Burke. Um I need to go back to um item B, approval of the agenda. Um we have a slight change, so I need a motion to reorder the agenda as follows. Information section, consent section, action items, then comments. Do I have a motion? So moved. And a second, please. Second. Roll call. Uh Mr. Chang? I. Mr. Sung? I. Ms. Lam? I. Mrs. Ryan? I. Mrs. Gill, I and student board member Burke. Is everything else the same? Should be Mrs. Tellez. And do we have Go ahead with next. Uh I'm going to keep moving. >> Yours is the correct copy. This one
011is. Okay, great. Uh information items. Uh first, a Measure M update. I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Stephen Choi to update the board on the progress and current standing of Measure M. Thank you, President Gill, members of the board, student board member Burke, and Superintendent Dr. Della Torre and executive team, as well as the San Marino Unified community. Tonight, we are pleased to present another Measure M update. Jim Berlu from Nolan Construction Services is here with us and will be presenting a detailed update shortly. Since our last update at the March 24th board meeting, we have made significant progress across the program. So, we have quite a bit to share this evening. As you will hear, we have exciting summer projects coming up very soon, as well as several major construction projects in
012the works. Jim will walk us through these projects and provide an update on our lease-leaseback efforts as we move move through contractor selection and pre-construction planning. But, before I turn it over, I also want to note that you have note may have noticed the change in the in how Measure M items are being presented for approval. And these items are now placed under the consent section, as each item will include a cover sheet, as well as a description and costs, as well as related attachments. And this adjustment is really intended to help our board meetings uh run more efficiently. Um at the same time, if any board member has any questions, we are more than happy to pull any items for further discussion. I would also like to remind the board and the community that
013these approval items are discussed with our bond board subcommittee, which includes our board President Gill, board member Chang, our Superintendent, myself, our public information officer, as well as the entire bond program team. Um in addition, we hold bi-weekly meetings with our school site principals, followed with weekly emails, so our sites anticipate what's coming. Uh ultimately, these items go through multiple layers of review before coming to the full board. Um we also want to continue and prioritize transparency and community engagement. Our public information officer, Rochelle Mayor, is actively sharing updates and our most recent issue of the memo was distributed on April 3rd. Furthermore, the San Marino Tribune partners with us to highlight the latest updates across the community in regards to Measure M. And with that, I will turn it over to Jim uh to
014provide a more detailed presentation of what's happening and what's to come. Thank you very much, Dr. Choi. Good evening, President Gill, members of the board, Superintendent de la Torre, and members of the cabinet. Um we're going to go over the bond program right now. We're going to focus on Valentine. We're going to talk about Carver and San Marino High School. Hopefully I get the button in the right direction. Okay, there we go. Um this is a slide that you guys have seen before, just talking about the responsibilities of the CBOC. So, nothing here. This is just a boilerplate one. Um our project phasing overview, we continue to talk about phase one up here, um phase two and phase three. Phase one, this is where all of our major projects are at right now, currently, and
015we're pushing forward on everything. So, this slide right here, this is from the last presentation. It's familiar to everybody. Um just so you guys can see where we were previously, and this slide will show you if I hit enough times, there we go. Kind of where at. So, currently today, um we have the Valentine Elementary School, the new two-story classroom. We're in design at this point in time. We went through and did our lease-leaseback process, which you'll see here in a minute. Um and we shall be through design starting around April of this next year. We should be complete. So, and then we will start construction of next year, and then we will be done by July of 2028. That's where we're going with Valentine, Carver, and San Marino High School. So. Our early impact
016sites are going to be the playground replacement and shade structures at Valentine, Carver. Those two. Um the playgrounds we can push those out and do them right now. The only challenge we have is the shade structures that um they have to go through DSA. So, we're planning on starting right now building the playgrounds, get them put into place, and then as DSA does a review towards the end of summer, we'll have the shade structures approved, and we'll get those in towards the end. So, that way the children we will have the playgrounds done by the end of the uh summer time for school year. So. Okay, so our phase one schedule detail that we have here is major impacts is Valentine, Carver, and San Marino as we all know. The other ones we have, like
017I said, is the playground replacement, the shade structures, and then we have the synthetic turf and track replacement that's going to happen this summer as well at the high school. Um we have the stadium baseball field lighting that we're looking at right now. We're trying to investigate a design to figure how we can upgrade those, what our limitations are. We have gymnasium HVAC upgrades that are taking place right now. They're in design as we speak. We just gave them today some feedback on their design development of their plans. Um we have the concession building mural that's going to be painted on the outside of the building that should be happening within the next week or so and be totally done. And then, of course, we are starting on our district-wide roof replacements with our 30-year
018warranties. Um and we're going to proceed and we're starting out with the high school at this point in time. We've already spoken to Dr. Wolf to make sure that our schedule will fit at the campus, and it looks like we're going to be okay. Currently, this is our rough order magnitude estimated budget for the projects that we have out to bid right now. Um our project budgets come out to be a total of about 105, 106 million today. So, these are the Valentine, the Carver, the San Marino, as you can see up there. So, these are all the major ones. We have other small ones that we're taking care of as well. So, we went through the lease-lease-back process so far. Um we're looking for the best value for the district. We're not looking for
019lowest number, this, that, everything else, because we know everything can impact the cost of a project if they are not using a good procurement strategy and they have not good experiences. So, we are doing the best value selection. Um our project delivery role, our pre-construction services for the contractor, they're going to do constructability and phasing reviews. Um they're going to help with the subcontractor procurements and help with value engineering to keep the budgets down and make sure that the project is buildable to the budget that we actually agreed upon. So, January 30th, we went and put out a request for proposal, request for qualifications. We got those proposals in on March 12th. April 16th, we did an interview and we had four contractors show up for the interview, Balfour Beatty, Erickson Hall, Neff, and Pinner.
020Let me scroll down a little bit. Uh April 28th, which is today, we had legal review all the documentation that we need to send to the contractors. So, we've created the post-interview clarification and evaluation. That is where we take and evaluate what the contractors said they were going to do for how much and how they were going to bill. So, we put that into a memo for justification. Contractors review it, sign it, send it back. Now, we have them locked into their promise of how much they will do. Their addendum five tightened everything up on our scoring, our evaluations, everything, as well as the justification memo. And then the addendum acknowledgement form is the one that they just signed saying we acknowledge and then everything's in a nice tight bow and it is ready at
021that point for the district to figure out who they want to work on which project. So, right now nobody's been told anything. Um as of today, since Sam has approved it and if the board's okay with it, I will send out these four documents to the contractors. So, and all the contractors get a different number one form cuz it's all unique to them. Okay? So, San Marino High School, the Medical Arts Building. This is So, this is a updated rendering. This is like one of three different options they're going to show you. So, it looks much better, I assume. Um this little roof right here, they did it to kind of match the existing campus, but you'll see another version where this is not here. Reason being is because they have a flat roof, so
022they can probably put solar panels on it. Otherwise, we'd have to put them in the parking lots and take up your campus, so we're going to try to see how much we can get on the flat roof of the new building. Uh try to eliminate anything around the entire campus and the parking lots, things like that. So, as we know, this is the layout of the building. I put these slides down here just so everybody can tell that the L-shape that's right here is the new layout of the building right here. Okay? Uh the building currently is the straight section and the second straight section right there, but we're only focusing on the front straight section. Just want everybody to understand. And then this one over here is the library. It's on this side. So,
023just so everybody knows, this L is actually this building here, and then this one here that's up there is going to be your library building. Okay? Um we have five temporary portable classrooms that need to go on the high school for the construction. Dr. Wolfe needs to see if he can get some portables out there before the beginning of the school year. Um the challenge we have right now is the site is a geological hazard with all the fault lines everywhere. So, we're pushing DSA right now to say these are temporary. They're not going to be over a fault line. We figured out a place to put them by the girls um field house that it can be away from the faults and we're hoping DSA will say it's temporary, you can go. So, we're
024we're pushing for that right now. Worst case, and we told Dr. Wolfe is if we have to go through the regular process, they probably won't go in until January. So, that's why we're pushing hard for the it's temporary, let us go type thing right now. So. Okay. Um this is your concessions room mural. This is what it's going to end up looking like on the side of the building. So, it's just under $10,000. It would only take about 3 days to do. The athletic field. So, working with Dr. Wolfe and the athletic director, this is the style of the athletic field with the numbers and everything. We had some other input that was uh given to us about different shadings and things like that and that was talked to with AstroTurf, the professionals that do
025it all the time, and Dr. Wolfe, and this is the final one that they came up with that would work for the site. And they did consider everything. Dr. Wolfe did bring everything up, all the different shading, the different numbering, things down the middle, everything. So, and they did the pros and cons and explained it to them. And here's our final product. This is actually in production right now. So. This carpet. And this will be happening this summer as well. So, by the end of the summer that'll be done. Uh here's our scoreboard or media board. So, we're pushing for this one as well. We're trying to get this one done um by the end of summer, hopefully. This one may have to go through DSA and if it has to go through DSA, it
026slows us down, but we're trying to push to not do that. Uh gymnasium. So, we have two gymnasiums and we're upgrading the HVAC within the gymnasiums themselves. We're going to be utilizing a product called a duct sock right here and that duct sock is a hyperlink if anybody wanted to ever see that. Uh you can see what the product looks like. So, the product basically looks just like this regular duct work you see up here except for it's made of a fabric and on the inside it's reinforced. So, and you can get it in many different colors. Um it actually just unzips apart for some reason if you ever needed to change one or clean or do something, you could unzip, pull it apart, do it, but people really don't do it. They use these
027a lot in gymnasiums within uh K through 12 schools in California. Okay. Um rough order of magnitude was about 3.6 million. We'll trim that down as we get ready to put this out to bid. Okay. Uh Valentine Elementary School. So, this site here, as we have all seen before, we knew about few easements that were there. We have another easement that's right here. This easement kind of ruins the whole side of the building going over there. So, the facility master plan has a building over here. So, the thought is we're going to take all the portables out. We're going to put them on the right side temporarily. Build a building over there. It doesn't have to be shaped like that. It'll be shaped differently. Um we spoke to the staff. The staff said that they
028did not want to have the kitchen right in the case it's building getting too So, another good point to separate it would be just for the site so the kids and everybody are not disrupted quite a bit. But, we're really pushed into this just because of the easements and the things around the campus itself. Um final site will hopefully look like this, something like this. Uh fence will get put back for M&O. Uh this is actually access into the back side of the kitchen right there. So. So. Okay, Carver. So, Carver this is kind of where the drop-off and pick-up's going to end up being in the final product, and then we will have the Come on. And then we'll have the parking down here, so this will be a one-way exit coming out. Kind
029of like what we had in the facility master plan. Uh here is our building the actual layout and how many classrooms we're going to get. We know it's going to go into the north field into the the green grass area itself. Uh we're currently also working up there on the playground area to try to consolidate the playground into the flat surface up in the tennis courts. And that would be it. So Can you go back to the cover site plan? This one? No. This one? Uh I can Thank you, Clark. Yes, ma'am. So currently President Gill, we have, as you know, the buildings are up here. So this is the final product where the buildings come out up there and the buildings come out here. So this will be a later phase. That's San Gabriel.
030Or is Yeah. Or is that Huntington? San Gabriel here? >> That's San Gabriel. And then Huntington up here. Thank you. Any questions from the board on anything? Um you talked a little bit about, you know, all the different phases at the different um schools. Does it affect at all the uh summer programs and the events that we have ongoing? Um the use of the facilities, and as well in the fall um how will it impact um the instruction piece? Um priority number one is the students in the site. So, if you guys have testing or anything that's taking place and we need to stop work or adjust and move around, that's what we do. So, we will not impact the site. We'll make sure that we're away from it. Um, if we have something that
031looks like it's going to impact, we'll have that discussion with the site leadership to make sure that what we think we can do is acceptable to them first. We will never do something without prior approval. So, that should hopefully be minimized any kind of impact to the site and the children. We've had some planning and coordination meetings with uh a number of different um organizations that use our facilities. So, in the summer, we've met with PTA affiliates, with met with the Chinese School of San Marino, uh connected with Right At School um to coordinate. Just to because there's going to be a lot of activities and um you know, as as much as we coordinate, um we're we're going to be prepared. Things might change and um you know, we have each other's contact information.
032Um, so we're we're as prepared as much as we can. Yes, sir. But, and breaking ground is anticipated in '27, you're saying? End of next school year or >> Our Carver, I'm expecting to break ground about May of next year. The other sites, I'm looking at June of next year. Yeah. So, this coming school year, there won't really be any disruption, uh but we will have the temporary classrooms installed and will they be utilized right away? Everybody? So, we're we're looking at phasing in even between portables and interim housing. Um, so we had that discussion with some of our user groups as well. Like, what would that look like? What would that entail? Um, obviously we want to minimize disruption to the instructional program, um but it's a matter of sequencing. Um, but um you
033know, I think one thing that we got out of the lease-leaseback meetings was that we identified uh uh the potential to complete these projects by summer of '28, uh which then we kind of like sequence back from that date. Um so, we don't want to start too early because if you start too early, then it creates even more disruption between that time of starting and finishing. Yes, sir. Can you roll the image back to the high school? So, the Which one would you like, sir? The rendering, maybe? >> The main one, sir? Yeah. This? The the Oh, yeah. So, with the new addition, uh still on is that way uh effect to the you know, there's uh path for the each uh class the underground. So, is that that way uh need to change, you
034know? So, if we go to the next slide, you should you see the site plan for the high school. Um and this new building on the first floor, you see it's it's kind of L-shaped, right? So, it will it will change a little bit in terms of how students can access the building. You see how that red box down there on the left? Um but the designers and the architects have really figured out in terms of how to efficiently access this building uh in a way that's compliant uh and safe uh with DSA requirements. Um so, I I think there's still an opportunity for us to even look at details and still move things around if we can improve that access, right? >> Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, this is just a theoretical rendering of the building
035on the outside. So, this is just an option they threw out, so that has not even been discussed with the district yet. So, inside the campus, there's uh a the path for the each class. Yeah, so this building >> identification. So, is that that need to re- redo or not? Oh, oh, you're talking about the class files on the on the walkways? >> Yeah. Yeah, so so we had talked to Gil about that and I think what we're going to do is we we may have to relocate some of them. I know the current the latest class goes right in front of the 400 building right there. So, looking at this, I don't think it would disrupt that. Um but we we want to preserve that. We we don't want to lose that. Yeah, double
036check. Um any other questions? Steven, will we be looking at um the configuration of safety? You know, we've got some fences at at the various sites. So, as we're moving from one area to the other, is it's is it still going to be um are we still monitoring um the safety in terms of the campus? And then really um as we get the new structures in place, um are we redoing some of the fencing? Um how does like what's Yeah, it's looking at. Safety and security are is is core to not just, you know, the early impact projects, but to um the core to all of these major projects. And even with the high school that you see here, um there's security um integrated as part of the design. The the the fencing that you
037see between the new proposed building and the existing building here, um there's new security fencing here uh with the the idea that, you know, how could we safely um enclose the campus at the same time maintain some open access. So, that that gate is uh still openable, but it's a you know, it does improve security that there is security fencing there. And this holistic approach of integrating security is something that we are incorporating in all of our projects. And when we look at Carver and we're looking at that new building, we're thinking beyond the new building. Once that new building is done, we're looking at modernizing the classrooms as well as the campus. We're thinking about keeping a consistent safe experience across all of our campuses. Thank you. And also, if you could talk a
038little bit about you know, right now we have been saying that we have cameras, we have various things in strategic locations. Are we also looking as, you know, the evacuation pathway will be blocked or changed? How are we accommodating for that because say it starts, we break ground in 2027, we're still running monthly safety drills and evacuations. How is that our safety plans will have to be re-looked at and how will we continue to pivot and accommodate that safety aspect, right? Absolutely. We have to look at it holistically and interestingly enough, we're we're piloting some new technologies that can have a critical role in how we implement a safe and secure campus. Mr. Wong has implemented a very interesting pilot over at Carver School. One of the issues we have is in the kindergarten playground,
039there's a gate there where a student could easily open and run out. So, um we implemented a very innovative new approach where there's a sensor on that gate, there's a camera, there's a there's a loudspeaker. And as soon as that gate opens during hours of the school day, it's integrated and communicating, notifying certain individuals. So, very interesting approach to security and safety now. It's not just about fences, it's about integrating all the pieces from technology to fences to how we plan our drills. I think there'll be an opportunity for us to re-evaluate all of that and then implement it and train people so that we have to say that. And the training will be key to our staff as well. Yeah, thank you. I I would um speaking of safety, would like to see some
040physical um architectural features um probably installed um that are more integrated, you know, where cars can't Mhm. break right through that. I think there's a lot of um aesthetically pleasing ways of doing that. Um Absolutely. Some landscaping. Um and so on the east side I'm sorry, west side driveway, can you can you um say what the plan is for that with the new building? So, preliminarily, we had looked at fencing. We had looked at um implementing a um a security gate that's automatic and integrates technology. We are actually going to pilot that technology on the new gate that was installed at the high school um between the art gallery and the admin building right there. Um and the idea is um if you have a vehicle that we know and has been vetted as safe
041and should be there, the gate would open automatically based on license plates. Um but um at the same time, there's also an intercom system that will be integrated. But on the west side? On the west driveway. That is part of the um the design that we envision for the west side gate. But before we implement anything, I want to pilot this. I want to make sure it works and that's what we're going to test and pilot on the the southeast part of campus. And then the the construction area is totally blocked off from student access, right? So, um Yeah. Are you having people live scanned also that are on campus? Yes, ma'am. That is that is part of the uh requirements. We get everybody live scanned that's going to be out. And another thing that
042came out with DSA this past year is DSA requires us to also submit to them a safety plan. Okay. So, before the job even gets opened, we have to have a safety plan. It goes to the state, they review it, approve it, and they do kick them back and say, "This is not good enough." So, it's not just a piece of paper. So, there's another level of security. Thank you. It's good. Anyone else? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Chu. The Proclamation number one, California Day of the Teacher, May 13th, 2026. I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Jason Rose to present Proclamation number one. All right. Thank you. Good evening, President Gill, Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Del Torre, Executive Cabinet, student member, board member Burke. Each school year around this
043time, we like to bring attention to all the hard work that our classroom teachers have invested in our students and families. One way to do this is by honoring our teachers by proclaiming May 13th, 2026 as California Day of the Teacher. The Proclamation reads as follows: Whereas an educated citizenry serves as the foundation of our democracy, and whereas today's teachers mold the minds and train the workforce of the future, and whereas no other profession touches as many people with such a lasting effect, and whereas good teaching grows in value and pays dividends far beyond the classroom, and whereas excellence in our state begins with California's teachers, and whereas California's teachers are among the best educated, most credentialed, and hardest working educators in the country. Therefore, the San Marino Unified School District hereby proclaims Wednesday, May
04413th, 2026 as the California Day of the Teacher. We urge all San Marino citizens observe this day by taking time to remember and honor those San Marino Unified School District teachers who give the gift of knowledge through their teaching. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to the consent section. Uh do I have a motion to approve consent section? >> I think I have one more. Oh, do you? I do. Yes, proclamation two. Proclamation number two, I think that. All right. So, my second item for you tonight is also to shine a light on our classified staff and honor their dedication and hard work in their service of our students and families. One way in which we do this is to proclaim the week of May 17th through May 23rd, 2026 as classified appreciation week. The
045proclamation reads as follows: Whereas classified professionals provide valuable services to the schools and students of the San Marino Unified School District, and whereas classified professionals contribute to the establishment and promotion of a positive instructional environment, and whereas classified professionals serve a vital role in providing for the welfare and safety of San Marino Unified School District students, and whereas classified professionals employed by the San Marino Unified School District strive for excellence in all areas relative to the educational community, therefore the San Marino Unified School District hereby proclaims the week of Sunday, May 17th through Saturday, May 23rd, 2026 as classified school employee week and wishes to honor the contribution of the classified professionals to quality education in the state of California and the San Marino Unified School District. Thank you. Thank you. I'll second that for
046both. Thank you. All right, consent section. Uh do I have a motion to approve consent section A through T? President Gill, I'd like to make the motion to approve consent sections A to T. Thank you, Mrs. Ryan. Do I have a second? Second. Mrs. Lam? Yes. >> Uh thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Chang? I. Mr. Sung? >> I. Mrs. Lam? I. Mrs. Ryan? I. Mrs. Gill, I, and student board member Burke? I. Thank you. Action items. Uh I would now like to turn it over to Mrs. Penalora for a second reading of board policy 6146.1, certificate of proficiency {slash} high school equivalent. Thank you, Board President Gill, executive team, Dr. De La Torre, and our esteemed board members. Um I am here to uh present the second reading of the pathway to diploma. I
047wanted to know, do you want me to read it? Do you want to have me just answer questions that you might have about the pathway? Um I think we've all reviewed it. You can You can hit the highlights if you wouldn't mind. The highlights of it? Yes, absolutely. And any changes that have There are no changes. Um so the pathway to diploma uh allows our students to earn a a high school diploma with 130 credits, and um there are 13 specified uh courses that students need to make. Uh there will be a determination of whether or not the parents and the student want to do a certificate of completion or a pathway to diploma. We have uh organized all of the curriculum. We have developed the curriculum, and um and we're ready to have our
048first graduate this year, um who will be completing that pathway. Um I think that this is in um this is in response to Assembly Bill 181, and uh and we are looking forward to graduating more of our students. We have three to graduate next year, but the highlights are that our students are going to have access to each of the courses that um, we've designed for them. Are there any questions? Thank you, Mrs. Panella, thank Um, with that, do I have a motion to approve the second reading of board policy 6146.1 certificate of proficiency {slash} high school diploma? I want to say So moved. Thank you, Mrs. Ryan. Thank you, Ms. Lam. Uh, roll call. Mr. Chang. Chang. Joseph. >> I. Mrs. Song. I. Ms. Lam. I. Mrs. Ryan. I. Mrs. Gill, I, and Mr.
049Burke. Thank you. Now, I would like to turn it over to Dr. Mona Richter to present a second reading of board policy 5145.13 immigration. Thank you, President Gill, members of the board, student board member Burke, Superintendent Dr. Della Torre, and executive cabinet. Item 11B, which is board policy 5145.13 response to immigration enforcement, is being presented as an action item this evening. The board policy was presented to the board as a first read at the March 24th regularly scheduled public board meeting. Since its first read, no requests have been made for any updates or changes. This evening, the staff is bringing this item back to the board as a second read with a recommendation that the board take action to approve board policy 5145.13 as presented. Thank you. Any questions? Okay, with that, do I have
050a motion to approve the second reading of board policy 5145.13 immigration? Move to approve. Thank you, Ms. Lamb. Second. Thank you, Mrs. Ryan. Roll call. Mr. Chang. Hi. Mr. Wong. Hi. I. I. Mrs. Ryan. I. Mrs. Gill, I. And Mr. Burke. I. Mrs. Gill. I. And that's it for action items this meeting. Um moving on to public comment. The Board of Education has adopted board policy 9323B to ensure the public's right to be heard in any matters pertaining to the San Marino Unified School District. Persons who wish to provide public comment will have three options to submit public comments. Number one, submit through an online form. Mrs. De la Torre, do we have any submissions via the online form? We have no submissions today. Thank you so much. Number two, request to speak during the
051meeting via Zoom. Mr. Wong, please pause the meeting for 1 minute to collect public comments. The 1 minute starts now. Communications from the audience regarding matters not on the agenda or items in the consent for information sections. Please provide your comments now. For items in the action section of the agenda, please provide your comments prior to the board beginning discussion on those items. If you'd like to request to speak, please press the raise hand icon to make a request. If you're calling in from home, please dial star nine to make a request. Or please submit a public comment card. There are 30 seconds left. We do not have anyone wishing to speak. Thank you so much. The third way is to request to speak during the meeting in person via the public comment card, and
052I have four cards that were submitted this evening. Um all are not on the agenda, and I would like to start with Mr. James Jacobs. And you've submitted two cards to speak on behalf of um another CSEA member. So do you want to do both right now? Yeah. That'd be good. Yeah. This is on the same Is it the same topic? Yes, it is. 20 minutes allowed. for each speaker. We ask that you take no longer than 5 minutes per speaker. >> Not a problem. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Good evening. Uh Dr. Gelatori, President Gill, executive cabinet, and esteemed board members. My name's James Jacobs. I'm the SM the San Marino CSEA president. 26 years. Been here 26 years now. 26-year special education paraprofessional, and also the head varsity golf coach, among other
053things. I'm here to speak about our classified staff comp uh compensation and its direct connection to student success and staffing stability. San Marino is widely recognized as one of the highest performing districts in California. Alongside strong districts like Arcadia, La Cañada, we consistently see top-tier academic outcomes that reflect the excellence of our schools. To understand what sustains what sustains that success, it helps to think in terms of sports. It's the easiest thing for me. District administrators function like a team's front office, setting strategies, managing resources, and making organizational decisions. Teachers, they're the starters. The core performers who directly drive outcome on the field. But, it's the classified staff. They're the bench players, the role players, and the specialists. And in any successful sports organization, the bench is not optional. It's essential. Championship level teams, like
054my Dodgers, invest in their depth. They pay and develop their role players because they understand that injuries, fatigue, and complexity of of competition requires a strong supporting roster. Teams that undervalue their bench may show may still show flashes of of success, but they struggle with consistency and long-term performance. Right now, our classified compensation structure is not competitive enough to build and maintain that depth. We are seeing increased turnover, difficulty filling para-professional roles, experiencing staff leaving for neighboring neighboring districts that often that offer more competitive wages for similar work. That instability directly impacts students, especially in special education and intervention settings where consistency and experience matter most. If we want to maintain San Marino's level of excellence, we have to invest in the entire roster, not just the starters. That means ensuring classified staff are compensated
055in a way that reflects their value to the system as a whole. I I urge the board to prioritize classified staff classified salary competitiveness in our current negotiations so we can strengthen retention and sustain student success long-term. Following me, we will have several members from our classified family speaking about the impact of a 10% salary increase that would have an impact on their lives. I want to thank you for for the opportunity to address all of you this evening and hope that that you will see how 10% can make a profound profound impact on the lives of those who take care of our children and community every day. And if I can't, I'll read Matt's as well. All right. Good evening again to everyone. Uh this letter's been provided to me to read at this
056meeting by one of our paraprofessionals, Matt Wilson. Matt is a San Marino alum. 18 He actually actually played second base for me. 18-year veteran uh paraprofessional, varsity football assistant coach, and Matt has practice today. So, he's asking me to read this on his behalf. I want to make this simple. A 10% raise is not about extras. It's about closing the gap across multiple job classifications and retaining new hires with a competitive starting wage. The other districts in the area get to pick from the cream of the crop while we scrape from the bottom of the barrel. As a potential employee picking up between districts, if salary isn't the same ballpark isn't in the same ballpark, it's an easy decision to go elsewhere. Right now, we're falling behind. Paraprofessionals in San Marino start around $18.50 an
057hour. In neighboring San Gabriel Valley districts, the same role typically starts at 20 to $23 an hour. That means our employees can leave and make it make significantly more. Often just a short drive away. We've become option three or four for these potential hires. If they do end up picking us picking us, they use use the experience they're gathering to enhance their resume and use it as a stepping stone to be a better paying to go to a better paying district in the future. We're asking people to support our highest need students. Students rely on consistency and care while paying less in surrounding districts and in some cases less than fast food wages. The same issue's happening in fast in food services here. Fast food workers in California now earn $20 an hour minimum. Yet
058people feeding our students every day are often paid less. That is why we're seeing turnover in this department. So, let me be clear. Food services service workers in this district should be making no less than $20 an hour. This isn't about This is about retention. It's about respect. It's about keeping our schools functioning the way our students deserve. This is just one additional example of a position where starting salary needs to be corrected. And importantly, this district is in a strong financial position. It's not about whether we can do this. It's about whether we choose to invest in the people who serve our students every day. Our administration is paid at at or near the top of the salary scale in the area as well and it is well deserved. The foundational pieces and front
059day-to-day frontline day-to-day leaders and role models for our students should at the minimum fall in line with the rest of the area, but honestly, should be leading the pack. We are a destination district for students who for students, but we are not for classified employees. a testing stand. A 10% raise helps close the gap. It helps us compete. Invest in your staff and invest in your staff and you're investing in your students. We're simply asking to be brought brought in line with the market and valued for the work that we already do. Thank you for Matt Wilson. Thank you. Uh next I have Ben Cordero speaking on behalf speaking about classified salary as well. Good evening, everyone. Um thank you for your time. Um my name is Ben Cordero. Um And I've I've worked at
060San Marino for this is my 24th year. And uh and I'm a paraprofessional like James at the high school. Um I was working special needs. Um I'm here representing classified employees to respectfully ask the board to consider a 10% compensate compensation adjustment. Right now, many classified employees are working multiple jobs. Myself, I do three. Um just to keep up with the cost of living. That doesn't just affect budgets. It It affects sleep, stress, and time with the people who matter most. For me personally, it it would mean something very simple, but very important. I could spend more time with my granddaughter Samantha without constantly having to choose between extra work and being present in her life. And I know I'm not alone in that. Many of my colleagues are living the same reality with their
061own families. We often hear that this is one of the best districts to work for. But when looking around at surrounding districts, classified play pay does not always match that message. Some nearby districts already paying more for similar work. Classified employees are the foundation of what keeps this district running every day. We support students, staff, and campuses in many ways that directly contribute to the success that this district is proud of. We are not We are not asking for recognition in words. We're asking for it to be reflected in compensation. This is about retention, stability, and making sure the people who hold this district together can also have a stable life outside of work. Thank you for your time and consideration. Next I have Alec Tarantula. Good evening, uh board president Gill, uh superintendent Del
062Torre, and extinguished board members, and all the distinguished guests. Uh my name is Alec Hartula. I am a HMS paraprofessional. I have worked with the over the district for about 13 years now. Um I'm reading in behalf of Diana Cho Glass. Uh she could not make it tonight, so I'm going to read on her behalf. Um my name is Diana Cho Glass. I am a currently employed uh health aid at HMS. I've been a member of the school district for a little over 10 years. My journey began as a substitute aid and then progressed to a kindergarten aid and then a paraprofessional, where I spent 5 years working one-on-one with a student. I have always desired to work in the front office, and when I was offered that position of health clerk, I was so
063excited to the opportunity. However, I experienced a decrease in pay, which was disappointing, but I adapted. I can confidently say that working at the middle school has been my favorite role thus far. With that in context, I was astounded to be asked to speak at tonight's board meeting regarding the significance of a 10% raise for myself and my family. Upon reflection, I believe such a raise would be incredibly impactful, not only for me, but also my fellow classified colleagues. Many of us are in need of a boost, especially considering the cost of living these days. Despite being employed full-time, my income remains paycheck to paycheck. It's a challenge to manage expenses such as rent, health care, groceries, and I'm often leaning to the consideration of a second job. Therefore, a 10% increase in salary would
064provide meaningful support and some financial relief for me and my family. Finally, I want to express my sincere passion for my job. I truly love working at the health office at HMS, serving our students. My office is a safe space where students can come to feel better and receive care and find comfort. Thank you all for your time. Appreciate it. That's all I have for the cards and public comments. Thank you to our speakers for being here. Now next communication section, A, communications from the Board of Education. We ask that each board member take no more than 3 minutes to share their communications. And Mr. Chang, would you like to begin? April 1st, there's a Valentine School open house. And April 2nd, is a Carver open house. Both of the open house, I think is
065a good opportunity for parent to understand the the school uh activity and also the success. April 10th, I attend a Caltech Associate 100-year celebration with Dr. Territory. It's a long history for Caltech. I think they create a lot of success for the human being. April 18th, there's a foundation activity for public library foundation. As a initiate member for foundation. I always enjoy it for this event. I hope they can raise more money. Because my my two kids they go from the library, yeah. In the early stage they my wife always asked them to read. So they build up the foundation for English. As a new immigrant, I think that's is a is a the the big plus, yeah, to to learn. And then April 24th, May Day, tradition for the volunteer school. Uh thank you
066for Mr. David Pierce, you know, my volunteer to to act as a chicken, yeah. That's the third year. And then April 24th, Danzera show. Oh, this is also my favorite uh uh activity to see. I see the lot of the girl student lot of energy, yeah. Yeah, that's great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Sun? Yeah. Yeah, Mr. Chang, you forgot about April 11th. You stopped by Science Olympiad. Thank you. Thank you. So, April 11th, the the we had Huntington Middle School and High School went to the Science Olympiad in event in state level in Caltech. It was amazing that the how our students dedicate to the, you know, to make to the level. While other school we have kind of look around other school and they get a lot of the support and
067tutoring and tutoring everything. Our school student they don't have as much support, but they still make to the state level and they really strong stand. I mean, they really stand strong. So, I I was really proud of them supporting them and Mr. Chang actually visited us and encouraged them same time and he took me to the the Thailand in the lunch. That was amazing. And May Day was amazing, you know, that this is the second time I tried to do the chicken dance and I kind of missed the chance, but I was there and this this is my last year for the my kids Valentine and this is amazing, memorable because of my I have two kids that all grew up from the Valentine, but they both missed the chicken dance because of they happened
068to be that my first one had came as a first grade not the kindergarten and second one was a kindergarten it was COVID, you know. So, I always make up for that and I do the chicken dance for them instead. So, that's my tradition to them. And this is the first time I went to the dance dance central the the dance thing. I didn't know we are that good at dance, you know, it's just like a amazing their level of dancing is like a beyond the what I see, you know. It's I I I only know like K-pop a little bit and I just see the beach >> is better? Yeah, but they they're better there. Yeah, they they're better, you know, their Chinese dance was amazing, their ballet was amazing, you know, is it
069I could I didn't believe that they could they could do like 30 plus dancing in the whole event. I thought that they're just going to do three and that's it, you know. So, you yeah, it was it was amazing the event and I'm I want to, you know, support the dance team more, you know, if I get a chance, you know, that this is going to be good event for me. Thank you so much. Thank you. Miss Lamb? Uh yes. Um I attended the open house night at Carver prior to spring break. It was really wonderful to see the great work happening in all the classrooms and all of the students' works proudly showcased throughout the school. I especially enjoyed visiting the TK classrooms and also the dual language immersion classrooms. Um really proud of
070the dual language immersion classrooms because as a Chinese speaking native, I feel that the program is so strong um seeing how advanced the language is and seeing how um complex um what they're learning at the the level that they're at and at their age group. So, I'm very excited for that because my kids will eventually hopefully get to attend that and sign up for that. So, I'm excited for that. And the TK classrooms, which are growing as each year um because of the increasing enrollment, which we're also very proud of. And my kids will actually be attending this fall. So, um excited very excited for that. Uh I also had a chance to visit or actually spend some time at the Carver Carnival this past weekend and I volunteered at the Spam Musubi booth and
071we sold out. We were one of the first food uh booths to sold to sell out. So, um that was really great time. The kids had fun and just wanted to extend a big thank you to the PTA, the school leadership, um all of the teachers, staff, families, and everyone that attended to um and all the volunteers, of course. I All the parents were asked to volunteer and it's what made this entire event a success. Um the level of volunteerism at our district is truly inspiring and really just a reminder and strength of the San Marino San Marino school community. Thank you. Thank you. Mrs. Ryan? Thank you. Um This month I've been busy and not like my fellow board members attending some of the events. I've been working with a number of assembly members
072looking at education bills and um looking at what's coming down the pipe. Um I want to personally thank um Stephanie Duncan uh as she hosted our PTA affiliates Founders' Day celebration here at the district. I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend, but I wanted to thank her and um that's it. Thank you so much. Um I feel like everybody took more than 3 minutes. I would just let you know I timed you. I timed you and everybody took I was really just >> I just wanted to make sure I just did fair. We work collaboratively with our timing as well. Yeah. I'll I'll be brief. Um, I do feel like it's been a lot has been packed into the last couple weeks um as also we've had spring break um which I hope everyone used
073that time to recharge and um spend some quality time with their families um or away from their families, whatever whatever they needed. Um anyway, I I'm very excited about the progress that we've made with Measure M. Um, Mr. Chang and I have been able to delve um pretty deeply into that to to observe the planning process and the collaboration and we do have a great team um from Nolan and Dr. Troy and Dr. De La Torre and and Rochelle like everybody is just um firing on all cylinders. It's so exciting. I'm sorry Rowan that you won't get to see the new building. Um He'll be back. He'll be back. Um the HVAC for the gym is like >> I know. That's You're missing out on that. >> Yes, well we we are talking about naming
074rights if you're interested in uh throwing your name in the ring for that one. Um but uh no, it's it's very exciting and I think that um the amount of planning to that's going into um not having the the disruption uh impact our students. I think it's great and I think that these early impact projects where the people who are here right now can see you know, some of the progress and and feel like they are participating in it, too, which I think is just wonderful. Um Probably especially the air conditioning in the gym, I'm I'm guessing. Um I attended the California Distinguished Schools um awards where uh the high school and the middle school were both awarded and um it's just a testament to not only our amazing teachers and our our certificated staff
075who all work so hard um but our students are really incredible and like we've seen it at the high school from every level. I mean, just the range of talent and um they just work so hard and are are just so uh I think coachable, I think is a great word. People love teaching and our kids and I think that's a testament to to them and and our family. So, thank you for that. Uh I attended the Carver Carnival, also. A great time was had by all. I didn't get the spam musubi. I was late on that, but I did have a uh a caramel apple, which was delicious. So, thank you. Um Mr. Burke, you're up. >> Um appreciate it. The two main events would probably be Dance Centra for us. The one thing
076I do have to say about Dance Centra that makes it very special for all the high schoolers is the teachers dancing in Dance Centra. Um they're very brave and it's very how much they learn. Mhm. Cuz the students will choreograph their dance and then they learn so much from it's probably about 3 weeks and they get a vote on it. So, like the next day, you got to find out who's the best dancer. Miss Leon I think always wins, but she was in DECA at San Marino. She was on the dance team when she was there. So, it's only fair. An advantage there. Well, she's put her time in, for sure. So, but they're always good. Um and they're really creative on the stuff they did. Um our Spanish teacher did a Spanish interpretation dance.
077That was really awesome. Mr. Good, another crazy one with Star Wars. Um and then lastly, our ASB elections, big turnout for that. And I think we're going to fill close to 30 person class this year, so that'll be pretty good. Oh, wonderful. Other than that, I'll jump back. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Dr. Bailey twice. Yes, thank you, President Gale, members of the board. Um there is growing concern, supported by emerging research, that excessive screen time, particularly at levels exceeding 4 hours, um per day, may have adverse impacts on students. It may have adverse impacts on students' mental health, sleep patterns, attention, and overall well-being. So, I would like to emphasize that while not all screen time can be harmful, the distinction between school screen time and recreational screen time is really that important distinction.
078So, many studies have been done already, more to come, I'm sure, that have demonstrated that 4 hours, or anything in excess of 4 hours of recreational screen time, um has adverse impacts. And I think many school districts are starting to recognize that, and as such, they are going back and looking at their current technology policies. Um so, what we are going to do here in San Marino schools is, given that these considerations um are before us, the district has begun reviewing all of this research, um thoughtfully going through it, thinking about um what our practices are currently, um, and how we might be looking at modifying them in the future. So, we are going to be looking at sample policies. We're going to be talking with our principals this Friday during our uh, principals meeting.
079We will be discussing with them uh, opportunities for drafting some uh, policies that will modify and limit student screen time, um, which I think overall is going to be a positive move for San Marino. It'll be a big shift. Um, again, we can't control what happens after school or in our families' homes, but we can control what we're doing here um, in San Marino schools. And so, we have to be thoughtful and really um, thinking about the impact of the time that kids are spending, and we're seeing lots of behaviors, especially amongst elementary age students, um, that we have not seen before. And this is not at all unique to San Marino Unified School District. We're hearing this from teachers nationwide. And some of these studies are indicating that screen time is having an impact
080on attention span. And um, deep reading is not happening um, to the extent that it used to in public education. So, we really need to um, take a look at this and thoughtfully begin considering whether or not um, our school district would like to limit screen time. Um, I know that LAUSD recently passed um, or adopted a policy that is more like a framework. It isn't a hard and fast. If you really dig into their policy, it basically talks about how they're going to over time address the issue. So, they're easing into this, but they did look at the research and they're coming to the same conclusions. So, I just wanted to front-load the board that this is something that administration is going to be looking into, evaluating, and bringing back um to you all
081for your um consideration. So, I want to put that on your radar. Um I'm also very excited and very pleased to announce that just this afternoon we received word from the WASC Accreditation Committee that the San Marino High School received a 6-year clear, which is very exciting. That is um that's the maximum term allowable by WASC. And so, um congratulations to our administrators, our teachers, and our classified staff, and our students at San Marino High School all coming together and making that happen. So, very very early. Yeah, Rowland, you showed up. Thank you, Rowland. That's right. We saw him that day. That But, he had three alarms on before he could get there on I got there before you. Yeah. True. Get up your alarms. Get your alarms. Sorry. So, there should be a Rowland
082Burke Award Yes. coming your way very soon. Um yeah, and and speaking of of Rowland Burke, um Uh-oh. speaking of which, uh I I want to say that Dr. Rose has started a tradition here in San Marino schools wherein he provides all of our new employees with a jersey. Um it has their name on it and it has um the year that they started working for us. We're also providing this to our Board of Education members. Um it has their name on it and the year that they began to serve. So, Lou For our jersey that we are presenting you tonight that I hope will bring you many years of fond memories of your time spent here. So, if we can get a picture with the Board of Education? Right now? Miss Yeah, let's go
083up front and center. With his jersey? Sorry, it's not basketball. I know. Yeah. Yeah. I'll get on this side of you so that way our board president Mhm. Yes. Thank you. Okay, so um thank you for your service. And we're not saying goodbye to you yet. The show must go on. Bye, you show up. Yeah. And then the last thing I want to say And you have 26 more days Oh my god. before um our last day of school. So. Yes. >> Lots of 26. We're getting close to the finish line. Reuben, when are you going to head out to college? anybody's counting, but yeah. Uh All right. Moving day is August 28th. Okay. All right. So, we're all going to move you into your dorm, right? Yeah. Let me give you the Just kidding.
084Okay. Um with that, do we have any um board superintendent discussion items? Um no. Nothing from me. Thank you. Um and so, with that, um I'm going to adjourn at 8:24. The board does need to reconvene in closed session. We need to get Mr. Yes, of course. Um and then, if there's something to report, we will report it.