05-13-25 SMUSD BOE - Open Session

001Good evening. Today is May 13, 2025. Welcome to the San Marino Unified School District Board of Education meeting. Here's our board president, C. Joseph Chang. Hello. Uh this is Joseph Chen. I'm Paul President. Uh I'd like to uh call to order to open tonight uh regular open section at the 76 p.m. Uh first of all uh there's no uh report about the cross-section tonight. And uh before we start uh I'd like to uh at this time I would like to turn in over to uh Paul Kirk, Mrs. uh Sherin Ryan for announcement. Uh thank you President Chang. Good evening and welcome to the San Marino Unified School District Board of Education meeting at this Oh, sorry. Good evening and welcome to this regular meeting of the board of education. Thank you for joining us. The

002purpose of this open session is to conduct the business of the school district in a public session in accordance with the principles of transparency and accountability. This meeting provides the public with an opportunity to witness the deliberations and decision-making processes of the board as we carry out our responsibilities on behalf of the students, staff and community. It is important to note that this evening is not a town hall or community forum. It's not structured to facilitate open dialogue or debate between the board and members of the public. Instead, it serves as a formal business meeting governed by established procedures and protocols. Members of the public are welcome to address the board during the public comment period, which is guided by board policy 9323B. Each speaker will be given a designated amount of time to make

003their comments. Please be respectful and ensure your remarks comply with the guidelines outlined in the policy. While the board values and appreciates public input, we may not respond to comments during this meeting. However, all remarks will be taken under advisement. When appropriate, the superintendent may be asked to follow up with speakers following the meeting. We thank you for your participation and your continued support of our schools and our students. Mr. chain. Uh, thank you for Paul Clark. Uh, Mrs. Ryan. Uh, right now call to order. Mr. Song present. Mrs. Lamb here. Mrs. Ryan present. Mrs. Gear here. Mr. Chen here. Mr. Steven B. No. No. Not for tonight. Okay. Next. 6A. uh pledge of allegiance. I would like to uh ask our board vice president to lead for this section. Okay. Uh please stand and

004face the flag. Place your right hand over your heart. 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. 6B. Approve of agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. Second. Loc call. Mr. Song. I. Mrs. Lamb. I. Mrs. Ryan. I. Mrs. Spear. I. Mr. Chen. I. Motion carry. 6 C. Approval of a minutes. Do I have a motion to approve the April 22nd, 2025 meeting minutes? Move to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Roll call. Mr. S. I. Mrs. Lamb. I. Mrs. Ryan. I. Mrs. Gear. I. Mr. Chen. I. Motion carry. Next. uh go to the public comments. Uh during this time uh I think uh

005all the audience if you have a something you want to submit uh is the time because tonight have a lot of audience. So we need to uh use the limit the the time to collect all the time the public come and then we can calculate how how much time you can speak. Okay. So, uh before we move on to the public comment, I also like to turn it over to Paul Clark. Uh Mrs. Mrs. Sher Ryan again. Thank you, Mr. Chang. So, the board of education takes its responsibility seriously and is committed to following district and board policies and procedures. We would like to take this opportunity to remind the public that the district promotes mutual respect, civility, and orderly conduct among district employees, parents, and the public. This policy is not intended to deprive

006any person of his or her right to freedom of expression, but only to maintain a safe environment for staff, students, and the public. In the interest of presenting as a positive role model to the students of this district as well as to the community, whether people agree or disagree, the district encourages communication that shows respect in both content and tone and discourages verbally or physically threatening, hostile, or aggressive communications that could negatively impact students, employees, and the board meeting environment. Please be advised that should any person or persons disrupt this meeting, the board will take appropriate action. Thank you, Mr. Chang. Okay. So, right now, I'd like to talk about how to collect the uh public comment. The board of education has adopted policy 9323B to ensure the public's right to be heard in any

007matter pertaining to the Sanino Unified School District. Person who wish to provide public comment will have a three option to submit a public comment. First one submit through a online form. Do we have any submission via the online form? We have no submissions today. Okay. Second request to speak during the meeting via the zoom. Mr. home. Please pause the meeting for one minute to collect the public comment. The one minute timer has started. Communications from the audience regarding matters not on the agenda or items in the consent information and action sections. Please provide your comments now. If you would like to request to speak during the meeting, please press the raise hand icon to make a request. If you are dialing in from home, please dial star9 to make a request or if you're in

008the audience, submit a public comment card. There are 32 seconds left. do not have any any attendees online wishing to speak. Okay. Okay. A third request to speak during the meeting in person via the public command card. So we have a submission right now. Uh any audience if you want to speak is the time to pick up the the car and and uh refer to the Jennifer. Pretty soon I'm going to close the time and then there's no opportunity uh to to talk. Yeah. So let me uh give uh another 10 minutes to collect the the car in the in the meantime I like to review what is the topic. So because each topic we give the 20 minutes and then divide to how many to talk. So that's reason we need to soak by

009the topic right now. So she's six nine and one of these is also for on the agenda. These are all for we called up the one on the agenda. for both. So we can't pull it from this one yet because it's want to speak on one item one item. Yeah. But but this one did not put the the to not on the agenda. Right. Okay. I cannot read this. So, this one's on me. There's two issues on agenda. One not on agenda. So, one on agenda, two not on. Just call that one. So, No, this one wants to speak on on this also. Not on agenda. Yeah, on both Did you get nine also? Yeah. Right. Okay. So, 2 minutes and 22 seconds each for 20 minutes. Yeah. 2 minutes. 22 seconds each person. So,

010uh, I collect Was there anyone on the Zoom that's waiting to speak? That's not on the agenda. Okay. No. Thank you, Qua. Okay. So, Qua will be the timekeeper. Y, thank you. We want to ensure that everybody has an opportunity to speak so that we will u make sure that we adhere to the time for everyone. So, we wanted to make sure proper aotment is given. Okay. Okay. So tonight I collect the nine uh uh the car and always topic n on the agenda. So I consider is one topic the same. So then we we take 20 minutes right? 20 minutes for each item. Yeah. Um so divide to nine. Yes. So how many minutes for each? 2 minutes 22 seconds each person unless somebody wanted to donate their time to someone else which is

011permissible. Okay. So we are start right now. Okay. Um the first one uh is uh Michael Russo 14696 battery law California. So everyone agenda. Yes. Yeah. Another speech speak on the agenda. Five minutes since I agenda. Yeah. At that time. At that time. Yes, you can do that. Yeah. And please fulfill your the first one first and then Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they're asking if you can Yeah, you would go again under the Well where well if the same uh the the topic I I think uh to be fair you know the each one only can talk about two minutes else who gave us a card on on items not on the agenda to donate their time to you and then you would have four minutes and 44 seconds. So even Our topics may be different.

012You're treating yourself as one topic. It's items not on the agenda. We have two. Uh so this top it's still an item that's not on the agenda but but yeah no that's a good question. Well actually you know as the chair I'm very flexible. So right now we can you know if we we we can divide several category. So then we have to put together but I think it take the the time and and I think it's better you know we because some they even don't write what what the topic but just cross the topic not on the agenda so that's really I re reinforced for this yeah so are you ready to talk huh okay so your item is on somebody else has a on the agenda also. So yeah, if you want to

013do that, we haven't submitted one. I didn't realize this topic. So you can fill out another card for items on the agenda if that's what you want to do. If you want to speak to that item. Sure. Okay. Sounds good. Next. Okay. The next person. Okay. Uh next one is uh Steve Paul 1450. Uh, Loren Roino, and you recalculated my time now that there's only eight of us. Um, that is Qua, right? So, well, I don't want to waste anybody more time, but President Chang, members of the board, my name is Steve Talt, and I come forward this evening to discuss the way the district administration has responded to criticism. I first like to apologize. I've had oral surgery and I'm dealing with a parcel right now. So, if I whistle out of turn, you'll

014understand. According to various district governor standards for the board and the administration of this school district, school district recognizes the value of acting with dignity and treating parents and community members with respect and transparency. Board policy section 2111 commands that these the uh superintendent acts with dignity, treats everyone with civility and respect and understands the implication of demeanor and behavior. Despite these board's policies, instead over the last several years, and especially with regard to the latest that I witnessed concerning the firing of a school nurse, the administration has responded to criticism by attacking messengers and selling reputations. That is this is not what we expect here in San Marino. Instead of following policy and treating parents as partners, as stated in policy 602, in response to criticism by parents, parents have been called liars in

015great. And indeed, one parent was accused of having a sexual encounter with a possible hire, a fact that was entirely irrelevant, irrelevant to the proceedings. Dignified? No. Civil and respectful? No, this is 180 degrees opposite of what policies demand, your policies demand. Likewise, in response to issues which you'll hear tonight about school safety, instead of encouraging parents to undertake advisory and advocacy roles, another bold policy, the administration has responded by attempting to shut down advice. Now, I know from my personal experience, and that's why I'm a little emotional of being attacked when uh being critical of a school district. When my wife and I were critical of of a principal at a school here, we were labeled as racists and bullies by someone doing the bidding of the administration. You have 20 seconds left. This

016attack, which I believe was aided by an administrator, including an attack on my entire family, my children, and even my parents who were deceased. I still have the text message messages if anyone is interested in seeing them. I complained to the then superintendent at the time and then uh ended two then schoolboard members and nothing happened. Dignified, no. Civil and respectful, no. You should know that this approach has to end and changes need to be made. Please, can I get somebody's 20 seconds? Does anybody want to give me 20 seconds of their time? I'm almost done, you know. Okay. Thank you. Lip service to these policies has to stop. You you you need 20 seconds cuz this is what See, this is what I'm talking I'm being critical and you guys are shutting me down.

017Is he finished? Are you Are you're I'm 20 seconds more. Thank you. lip service to these policies has to stop and structural changes should be undertaken. I'm very proud of the fact that I graduated from Sacramento schools as did my wife and children. But I have lost confidence in the way the administration responds to issues and left to only wonder how great our schools would be if the administration actually followed its policies and professionally responded to criticism as opposed to strangling it, beating it, and disparaging the the messenger. The school district is constantly asking for community support. You will use that if you continue to refuse to follow your own policies. And the people responsible for these acts must face consequences as in the policy or estate in the policy must be made to understand

018the implications of demeanor and behavior. We have to stop turning away from these issues and turned towards them. Parents and community members want to have confidence in your system, but that confidence is waiting. Before you lose further support, a structural change is needed. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tol. Okay. Uh third Jose 2035 dema. You have 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Great. Thank you. I don't need that much time. Uh my message is short. My name is Joe Sue. Good evening, esteemed colleagues and San Marino residents. I just want to express great support for uh the school district and for Carver. I was called recently just to reaffirm the great work that's happening at Carver. I'm at 2035 Delmare right by Delmare Fields, a proud father of Owen and Connor who are both at Carver

019and fifth grade. But I just want to say this. Um I think it takes a lot of it takes a lot of courage to focus on the good. I think focusing on the bad uh is really easy to do. And I think that's not to say that we don't grow from failure. I'm a baseball dad. I coach kids uh 10 year 10 years old and under right now. And it's a blessing. Um but uh it's come to my attention that uh actions of administrators at Carver are under a huge magnifying glass and things are being called to question whether or not there is enough action on negative instances and I just want to say this uh let us let us take an example uh we have to examine ourselves before we examine others. What do

020we do daily? When I see Principal Caldwell in the car line, when I see him go to walking school bus Fridays on on the on the toy shop route uh dressed in full garb uh with his bag pipes. This is a man who loves the the the students. He loves the families. And I just want to say that that when I see uh Principal Cwell walk around, he reminds me of Dr. Mike Lynn, another amazing person. He just he walks in the hallways and he knows that he is there for a purpose for loving the children. I just want to say that that's what I've seen every day as a as a San Marino parent. And uh yes, so I just hope that yes, I know there are a lot to there's a lot to

021process in terms of what we can do to improve process. I want to uh urge everyone that we have to really also celebrate the good and we have to preserve the good and our leaders are also human so we have to preserve their limited resources of time and consideration as well. So 10 seconds left. Yes. Thank you very much. Keep it up. Keep it up. Yeah. Okay. Uh, next one is uh Mason Song. But I I like you who is a me song. I like you to identify your address. Yeah, you did not put your address. So what is your address? Can you speak up? What is your address? Where do you live? Yeah, we read it. Read it out. Okay. Then later come to write. It all is read out though. They're all We

022have to read it out though, right? Okay, please. Yeah. You have two minutes and 30 seconds. Good evening. My name is May Sun and I'm the president of the parent of a student at Valentine Elementary. Um, and I'm a proud SMUSD alumni. I'm not just a stakeholder in the district, I'm also part of its legacy. Um, I chose to send my son to Valentine because I wanted him to experience the same values I grew up with, an environment grounded in inclusivity, strong community, and commitment to children's safety. Um, I'm here tonight because my son is learning a troubling lesson at school that when he sets a boundary and it's ignored, the adults in charge may not protect him. On April 3rd, my son was at San Marino Chinese School looking for his friends to play

023with when another student that he had been having issues with approached him. He clearly stated he did not want to play or be chased. That boundary was ignored. The other student continued pursuing him, and in an effort to hide and evade, my sud ducked under an electrical appliance and injured his head in the process. But this wasn't the first time. The chasing without his consent had been happening during regular school hours as well, and he had tried to manage it on his own. It was only after he got hurt that he finally told us what had been going on. And even then, his reasoning was, "I didn't want to get anyone in trouble." This reasoning shows that my child no longer trusts that speaking up to adults leads to action. When my son told the

024teacher, what followed was a comment suggesting my son had misunderstood the situation and that maybe it was just play. This led me to believe the principal is never notified of previous incidents with the student. Let me be clear. When a child says no and that is ignored and he gets hurt, that's not a misunderstanding. It's a violation of consent. To her credit, Mrs. McAlpine responded to my son's incident immediately. She called us and reached out to the others other child's family. Now, this wasn't an isolated isolated event. After what happened to my son, I began investigating the situation and learned that on March 4th, during a field trip to the Huntington, the same student reportedly hit several classmate and choked one. Around that same time, another younger child was also choked on school grounds by

025the same student. Then on April 1st, another serious altercation occurred to have 20 seconds left ongoing pattern of violent behavior. Oh, okay. There's here. Um then on April 1st, another serious altercation occurred, suggesting an ongoing pattern of violent behavior. At what point do we stop treating these moments as individual mistakes and start asking why isn't our system preventing repeated harm? When students report physical aggression and adults minimize it as rough play, we're not protecting them. We're silencing them. We are telling the kids that their voice is flexible, that consent is optional. This is not the culture that Mrs. Beavers built. She taught our kids to speak up, take responsibility, and show empathy. But what they're learning now is that their boundaries are debatable, and the adults may not stand behind them. I reviewed the Carver

026PBIS flowchart, and even there, serious behaviors like fighting and bullying only may result in an office referral. The kind of vagueness gives too much room for in action and not enough protection for students. The recent Harvard task force reports echoes this. Students in unclear systems often lose trust, stop reporting, and carry the emotional weight of being unheard and unprotected. Compare this to Pasad Unifi's handbook. It clear it includes clearly defined behavioral responses, timelines, and required administrative steps. It protects students by providing structure and followthrough. We deserve the same. So tonight, I'm not just asking you to hear me. I'm asking you to take action. We need behavior policy transparency, a clear district-wide behavioral response framework, defined thresholds for SST for administrative involvement, escalation steps and timelines, parent notification standards for serious incidents, and we need

027an updated student handbook with step-by-step behavioral documentation, escalation procedures, and permit policies. a final version adopted before 2025 2026 school year. This is not about punishment. It's about safety. It's about trust. It's about showing our children that when they say no, we will listen and we will act. I respectfully ask the board to commit to the timeline of at least June 30th for a handbook and policy revisions. Our children are watching. Let's prove to them that their boundaries matter and that adults will stand behind them. Thank you. Okay. Uh next one is Amanda Lson also. Hello superintendent, board uh parents and community. I'm a Valentine parent. I have a third grader and a kindergartener. And I'm here tonight to express my gratitude to the district um and to Mrs. McAlpine, Mrs. Beavers, and the Valentine

028administration for the response to the uh devastating fires recently. Um from my perspective, the immediate response was one of um great wisdom in balancing environmental health and safety as well as um our children's emotional needs and um the benefits for them of normaly and returning to school. Following that um the response to the governor's um decree order uh to admit displaced students. Um, I appreciated the board's response to that and the communication about it. As a parent, I was grateful to learn that we would be welcoming new students so that we could gather with other parents to welcome them. These families who had gone through great devastation. Um, we had an opportunity to live out our Valentine principles of heart. What we teach our children to be helpful, empathetic, accepting, respectful, and trustworthy. Our kindergarten

029class was able to welcome parents into our parent chat and set up a playd date before um a new child came to the class so that that child would have some familiar faces and friends. So the parents had other parents to ask questions about drop off and pickup or those other things that would help them to feel that they belonged um that they were accepted and included. Um I feel that this went a long way towards easing their transition and provided us an opportunity to model for our children the values that um that we want to teach them. Um that being helpful, empathetic, accepting, respectful and trustworthy then also um led to a really smooth transition surprisingly despite um the trauma that these children had gone through. Um because we were able to talk with

030our kids about how someone new might feel that they might feel uncertain or have questions. They were able to offer um to welcome them. You have 10 seconds left to um to show those heart behaviors that then I believe also helped the new children to um to transition well and smoothly. And I just appreciate your leadership in doing that. So thank you. Yeah. Next one. Uh, Nia Tori. You have 2 minutes and 30 seconds. I'm going to speak fast then. Good morning, me or good evening members of the council, San Marino residents, community members, and company. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here to express concern about the proposal requiring schools to publicly disclose every behavior incident at the district level. While I understand the intention may be rooted in

031a desire for transparency, I believe this approach is deeply flawed and potentially harmful. First and foremost, it jeopardizes student privacy. Even anonymized reports can be revealing, especially in a small district like San Marino. And can we all agree we're pretty small? I'll come back to that. But let's focus on the kids for a moment. Our students are still growing emotionally, socially, and especially behaviorally. Publicizing publicizing their mistakes doesn't build accountability. It risks shaming and stigmatizing them. Children deserve support and guidance, not a public record of their worst moments. Second, this proposal places an enormous administrative burden on our educators, requiring constant documentation. Our school should prioritize restorative practices, not bureaucracy and spreadsheets. Let's be honest, kids don't feel safer because dad is published. Little Timmy and Susie aren't sitting around saying, "I'm sure glad those

032incident reports made it to our parents. Now, let's dodgeball." What makes kids feel safe as caring present adults, teachers, and staff who know them, listen to them, and show up for them every day. Third, behavior without context is dangerously misleading. A single report can't capture the full story or the needs of a child. Trust me, I'm a parent of a child who's been on both receiving and offensive sides of conflicts. I worked with principles, teachers, the counselors, as well as superintendent, and proactively, not reactively. Disclosing every incident risks distorting perception, creating unnecessary fear, and eroding trust between families and schools. I want to acknowledge something, though. Disagreeing with this proposal doesn't mean concern shouldn't be heard. They should. And I respect courage it takes to speak up. But lately, the conversation hasn't felt like advocacy.

033It feels like an attack. Emails sent from SMUSD address felt like a ruse to attract attention to circulate their narrative. Flyers that paint educators as untrustworthy untrustworthy personal attacks on principles, superintendent, and board members. That's not transparency. That's manipulation. That's not accountability. That's character assassination. We're a small town. When things like this circulate, everyone hears about it, including our kids. You have 10 seconds. Do we really want them to be next in line for this kind of public scrutiny? You know, let's find a better path forward, one grounded in trust, compassion, and shared responsibility, physical well-being. I understand our superintendent was criticized for calling this a holistic approach, but to most people that's a positive child- centered goal. If holistic is controversial, then maybe we need to re-examine. Thank you, Lon. No, no, she has

034a card. She's donating her time. Yeah, but that's it. Right. What's her name? It's on there on that card. No. Do you have a card already? Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Sorry for the interruption. Please continue. Thank you. Um, every student belongs. I know that they say this isn't about inner district, but it certainly feels like that. When we treat belonging like a privilege instead of a shared right, we abandon the inclusive values that public schools are built on. Now, our superintendent seemed to have gotten some flak over calling her approach holistic, but to most people, that's a positive child- centered goal. If holistic is controversial, then maybe we need to reexamine what kind of support we truly want for our children. Council members and everyone here, sometimes people will be offended, even when

035your position is measured and reasonable. Just because they're offended doesn't automatically make them right. Let's not confuse advocacy with entitlement. I've said this before here, Sam Marino, we're better than that. Okay. Uh, next one. Uh, Michael, right now you can talk three time. Yeah. Okay. So, each one need to follow the rule. Yeah. Under my judgment. Yeah. So, they give me the for him the one and then and donate the two so he can talk about the three. And when the times stop I I want no matter who you are to step down. Okay. These are the rule for the So you have minutes 30 seconds. Okay. Please. Yeah. Stop. Uh before I begin, these are mostly unpaid or modestly paid roles that you all serve. Uh I can only assume sitting in your chairs

036is not easy. sincerely thank you all uh for your time and commitment to the district. I'd also like to clarify something upfront before I start my speech. In past communications, our group was referred to as an company. Shelley, Linda, Joseph, you bring more than 60 years of experience to this board. But let me be clear, we are not nor have we ever been an company. We are the company, the families, the stakeholders, the people you took an oath to serve. And as you listen tonight, remember public service begins with accountability and respect for this community. Good evening, Dr. Delator, members of the board. I'm Michael Rizzo, a parent at Valentine. My daughter transferred from Carver after three boys held her down on the playground while she screamed and no adult intervened. This happened despite a

037doctor's note on file and a cast on her arm from a previous fracture. The principal's response made it clear Carver wasn't the right fit for our family. Recently, I wrote on behalf of several parents and myself outlining proposals to improve improve behavioral safety, communication, and permit policy. But in response, the district offered only vague reassurances, deflections, and silence. We were told Furpa, a federal law, prevents the district from sharing certain information, but Furpa covers individual records, not policies or anonymized data. California already requires annual suspension data in SARKC reports. So, choosing not to share broader trends isn't about privacy, it's about transparency. We were told San Marino's approach is holistic. aligning with state guidance. But as California moves away from suspensions, transparency becomes even more essential. If students aren't suspended for serious harm, families deserve

038to know what happens instead. What are the consequences? What supports are in place? In San Marino, those answers remain vague or internal. That's the real issue here. The state may discourage suspensions, but it doesn't discourage transparency. And research reports by leading schools like Stanford and Harvard universities agree behavioral systems work best when they are transparent, consistent, and include public input, not vague sight level models with no measurable outcomes or public oversight. Despite how the district portrays it, there's no clear framework, no published standards, no consistent documentation, and no system families can see or trust. That's why we're proposing three practical steps. Behavioral threshold matrix. The district references PBIS and MTSS as its frameworks for behavioral support. There's no public matrix not in the student handbook, principal presentations, or online. We propose a public behavioral matrix

039structured to go beyond current models with the transparency and consistency to raise the bar for San Marino. The handbook lacks clear guidance on cyber bullying, digital conduct, or tools like AI, things students use every day. Site level behavior data reporting. The superintendent says behavior is tracked internally, but no incident data is shared with families, just annual suspension rates that tell us nothing about daily disruptions. If suspensions are rare and diminishing, how are other incidents tracked? and how can we see if things are getting better? What's what we're proposing? Quarterly school site reports showing anonymized incident types and interventions. Basic transparency to track trends and guide solutions. Permit review standards. We asked about criteria for renewing or revoking permits after serious conduct violations. The answer, there are standards, but they're internal. what we're proposing clear public

040facing permit guidelines so every family knows what's expected and no one is held to invisible rules. Other top tier districts are already moving toward these standards. We're also recommending a student-led initiative to modernize policy and update the handbook, an effort that promotes student engagement, strengthens relevancy and clarity, and aligns with Measure M's modernization goals. along with the $25 million reserve. This proposal is more than plausible. Amid inflation, the Eaten Canyon fire aftermath, and rising cost from two proposed TK construction sites, it's more important than ever to re-evaluate spending priorities. The proposals we've outlined tonight are lowcost, high impact steps that improve safety and clarity without burdening staff or requiring major capital. In a year of uncertainty and transition, these are exactly the kinds of student centered investment this board should be looking to prioritize. Carver

041and Valentine have earned PBIS recognition. Valentine received a gold, which is a solid start. The highest PBIS standard is platinum. You have one minute left. achieved by districts like San Bernardino, Breo, Linda, and by publishing data, posting matrices and engaging families. While others advance, San Marino risk falling behind. Gold means systems exist. Platinum improves the work and the families can see them. This isn't about blame. It's about partnership. Each step we propose reflects thoughtful research and shared commitment to ensure no family faces these challenges alone. something we can only achieve by working together. Because in the end, this isn't about systems, positions, or politics. It's about keeping our children safe. And every parent in this district deserves to know that when something goes wrong, this district has done everything in its power to make it

042right. If you're wondering why this matters now, you probably haven't had your child assaulted, bullied, or traumatized at school. Because if you had, you wouldn't ask why now. you'd ask why no one spoke up sooner. And please vote for Measure R. Because it's the right thing to do. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh next one is uh NE10 3253 Oendor row. You have two minutes and 30 seconds. Good evening everyone. My name is Annie Tang, the current PTA president at Carver Elementary. Um, I just wanted to, as this is going to be one of my last schoolboard meetings as president, I just wanted to take this opportunity to share a little bit about my experience, um, being president. Uh, my family has been at Carver for seven years now. Um, and we've been through low

043enrollment, high enrollment, dual immersion, coming through, um, COVID, heat waves, wildfires. We've kind of seen it all. Um, and I can't speak highly enough about how the teachers and administration have, you know, brought their agame to school every single day to rally against these uh, rally through these challenges. Um, I'm on campus every day and sometimes I show up in the morning and I never leave. And I see the hard work that the teachers and the counselors and the staff and the principal put into their jobs every day. And you know I see kids and parents come into the office for various reasons throughout the day. That office is a super busy hub and you know but what is constant is I see that you know the staff that's in that office puts the kids

044first always. Um the teachers are loved. The uh the the kids' faces light up whenever they see the principal in the hallways. um like as if he's a celebrity or something. It's crazy. Um the parents are involved and they're very invested. Um there's an inside joke that Stuart always says that ma Carver is a magical place and he he says it too much and that's because when we say it's a magical place, it implies that all the good things that happen just magically happen and it takes no work and it just happens. And when in fact it doesn't. It actually takes a lot of parent volunteers. It takes a lot of um the work that the teachers and the administration and you know anything from the school and at the district all that work goes

045in that is unseen and that's why it seems magical. Um so the PTA is actually able to do uh what we're able to do due to the incredible support that we get from the district. Um, and you guys work really hard and I, you know, we raise a lot of money fundraising and it's not because I tell people to donate. It's because they see the good that's happening at the school and that's why we able to continue to be successful. Um, thank you guys very much. Publicly, I wanted to say that I had it was such an honor to serve and um, I had the best time this year and it was a great honor to work with you guys. Thank you. Okay. Uh, next one. Uh, Melissa Kelly 1670. Do you have 2 minutes

046and 30 seconds? Thank you. Thank you for your time. My name is Marissa Kelly. I'm the San Marino Council PTA president. I'd like to communicate the importance of voting for measure R. as Samur Pes voted to endorse it as as a result of a council study committee report and recommendation first approved by voters in 1991. Measure R is a six-year term parcel tax with senior exemptions and annual accountability reports that provides 1.6 million in annual revenue revenue to SMUSD supporting 11.4 essential teaching staff and counselor positions. This vital funding expires June 30th and is on the June 3rd ballot for renewal which many of you should have already received by mail. This measure would only cost taxpayer payers around $415 per year and requires twothird or supermajority in support to pass. So every vote counts.

047If measure R does not pass, SMUSD would face challenges to maintain safe and manageable class sizes and risk losing qualified teachers, counselors, library, and technology services across the district. Advanced math, science, technology, and engineering courses would also be threatened and likely eliminated, which could affect our school's ranking and property values. Drop off your signed ballot in a USPS mailbox or special ballot dropbox in front of San Marino City Hall anytime through June 3rd through uh though the sooner the better so you don't forget to vote. Vote in person at Huntington Middle School gym starting May 24th, 10 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. up until June 3rd. and that the hours for June 3rd are 7 am to 8 pm. If your senior's 18, May 19th is the last day to register to vote at vote.ca.gov. Don't

048disrupt district funding that has allowed our award-winning schools to excel over the last 36 years. And don't count on someone else to ensure that your child receives the best possible education. Our children are our most important investment. Please vote yes on measure R. Uh Jennifer, is that your left anything or that's it? Let me know. Yeah. No more. Okay. I think uh we conclude for tonight uh public comment. Wish you have a happy night and if you want to stay uh we are welcome. Yeah. Okay. I thought you you already donate your time to they want me. Oh, one minute. Okay. Sorry. I What? Can you read out their name and address? Okay. Yes. Yeah. Hold on. You both have one minute 30 seconds. Sharing a minute and a half. So, we'll be very fast.

049My name is Lon. I have twin boys currently in fourth grade at Carver and I'm here to support the wonderful school and our awesome principal Caldwell. So, we chose to come to Carver for the holistic program approach. We were actually going to go to St. Marks and Altadena, but chose to come to Carver for how they handle issues from a social emotional angle. My kids being very active boys, they've had their fair share of problems and we have been in Cwell's office numerous times mostly because I would call him because a child hit my kid or something happened to them on the playground because of another kid. So Kwell is very aware of all my emails and text messages to him about all the incidences that my kids have gotten into. So one event in

050particular with another child got pretty physical. I emailed him immediately. The very next day, Caldwell called me and told me that he pulled the child and mine into a meeting. They did a restorative circle with a counselor and they spent the entire day talking through the issues and made very few seconds left. And at first I was livid. I didn't think that was enough. I stormed out demanding more. And at the end of the day, fast forward a year later, this child that they've had so many issues with has significantly improved. And my kids now say that they are now friends with this kid. So had we pushed for more aggressive measures, it would may have not been great for either parties. And my point is if this info is also made public in some

051way with the shaming, it would have had it possibly had a different outcome. I think Calvin was very fair and knowledgeable and he's amazing principal. Hi, my name is Lena. I just want to say that, you know, our kids are still growing, their brains are growing, so we shouldn't hold him to the same standards, I think, as like adults. And I'm very lucky to have Dr. Principal, uh, Dr. Calva as our principal. So, he's always working overtime. He does a lot for our school. Very dedicated and the kids love him. Thank you. So, I think I need to say the conclude tonight comment. One more. This is supposed to be topic on the agenda after the presentation is done. So we go now or later. Okay. I need to specify which agenda Which one? It's

052um the information only the presentation. Okay. So when the the information section we call you okay. Okay. Oh that's different. I thought you wanted to speak on the presentation that's being delivered tonight. Oh it's not on the agenda. So that was Go ahead. Okay. Go. Go ahead. Yeah. You have two minutes and 30 seconds. Thank you. My name is Emily Wu Trong and I have uh lived in San Marino for over 24 years. Our family came here in 1988. My auntie Jed Wang um was the co-founder of the Chinese Club of San Marino. And the whole reason why the Chinese Club of San Marino existed was because um Asian kids were the minorities in the San Marino Unified School District. And so I was really happy to learn about this history um because Auntie Gene

053Wang was actually the reason why our family had moved from Arkansas to California. Yes, I'm born in Arkansas and I started second grade at Carver. Um, Bill Lankton was a former principal who was very kind to me when I first arrived and I had great memories. I even talked to spoke with my fifth grade teacher um today on over Instagram sharing with her um all of the different artwork that I've been doing. Um, and so, um, I, uh, May 10, I just passed AANHPI mental health day is May 10. And, um, I just wanted to congratulate all the the parents here who are advocating for your kids cuz when I was growing up in this school district, I really I was bullied in school and I did not know how to talk about sexual assault

054and bullying with um, the parents. And so, you know, I really hope that our community will listen to um our administrators and the communities come together to really find a way to have a dialogue that is civil, but for the well-being of the next generation because yes, I had my own troubles growing up with my parents being immigrants, conservative Taiwanese parents, and and I love them. You know, I was actually um interviewed by the world journal Chinese daily news before and it was called victim of perfectionist parents speaks out and my mother actually did say her reaction was um how could you do this to me? Are you really my daughter? Do I have to disown you? You have 10 seconds. So, so even and see Joseph Chang himself said to me before you were

055a pioneer. He I've been speaking out about mental health awareness since uh before the Titan Wellness Center had been created. And I just I I wish our community could learn more conflict resolution skills, life skills, more practical life skills so that our kids can know that there is supports in the community. and I'm part of them. And um we've us kids, we've never been alone even though we felt alone. And we h I it took me so long to to share my own story. Time will pass. Okay. And thank you so much for going to my father's funeral. Um I think that's a private. Okay. I need to maintain you know the but he he he and his family go way back. Thank you. Okay. Uh, one more time I want to confirm. Okay. No

056more the Okay. Comment car. Okay. Uh, thank you so much. Okay. For all your uh audience come in. Okay. We want continue to the agenda. Uh next one is a public hearing 9A public hearing and comment on the 2025 to 2026 district sunshine proposal for contract negotiation between the Sanino Unified School District and the Sanolino Teacher Association SMTA and the California School Employee Association CSEA chapter number 120. I I would like to turn it over to Dr. Jensen Los to conduct the public hearing and comment on the district sunshine proposal. For those interesting, the 2025 to 2026 district proposal are available for review at the the back table and on the district website. Dr. Ross. All right. Thank you, President Chang, board of education superintendent Dr. Delator Executive Cabinet. Uh, tonight the board of education

057will pause the board meeting to conduct a public hearing and take public comment on the 2025 2026 District Sunshine proposals for contract negotiations between the San Marino Unified School District, the San Marino Teachers Association, and the California School Employees Association CSEA Chapter 120. Copies of the district sun sunshine proposal for contract negotiations between the San Marino Unified School District, the San Marino Teachers Association and the California School Employees Association. Chapter 120 are available at the back of the room for review. These proposals will be brought back to the board of education for consideration and approval at the May 27th, 2025 board meeting. Mr. Hong, will you please pause the meeting for one minute to take public comments? One minute has started. Communications from the audience regarding the public hearing and comment on the 2526 district

058sunshine proposal for contract negotiations between the San Marino Unified School District and the San Marino Teachers Associations and the California Employees Association chapter 120. Please provide your comments now. If you would like to request to speak during the meeting, please press the raise hand icon. If you are calling in from home, please dial star9 or submit a public comment card. There are 30 seconds left. We do not have any attendees online that wish to speak. They can still raise their hand. If they would like to speak, they can raise their hand. Mr. Hall, so any no attendees only. Okay. Wish to speak. Let's go to the uh AB uh public hearing and comment on the 2025 to 2026 Sanino Teacher Association SMTA Sunshine proposal for negotiation with the San Marino Unified School District. I I

059I would like to turn it over to Dr. Jason Ross to conduct a public hearing and a comment on the SMTA sunshine proposal. Ros, thank you, President Drink. Uh tonight the board of education will pause the board meeting to conduct a public hearing and take public comment on the 20252026 sunshine proposal for contract negotiations between the San Marino Teachers Association SMTA and the San Marino Unified School District. Pursuant to the Educational Employment Relations Act, the San Marino Teachers Association is making its 2526 Sunshine proposal available for public's review. The SMTA sunshine proposal is available on the district's website and is available in the back of the boardroom for review. It does not require approval by the board of education. Mong, please pause the meeting for one minute to take public comment. One minute has started.

060Communications from the audience regarding public hearing on the 2526 San Marino Teachers Association Sunshine proposal for negotiations with the San Marino Unified School District. Please provide your comments now. If you would like to request to speak during the meeting, please press the raise hand icon. If you're calling in from home, please dial star9 to make a request or submit a public comment card. There are 30 seconds left. And we do not have any attendees online that wish to speak. Okay. Okay. Next, uh AC uh public hearing and a comment on the 2025 to 26 California School Employee Association GSEA chapter number 120 sunshine proposal for negotiation with the Sanino Unified School District. Uh Dr. Uh, lost. All right. Thank you, President Chang. Last one. Uh, tonight, the board of education will pause the board meeting

061to conduct a public hearing and take public comment on the 2025 2026 Sunshine proposal for contract negotiations between California School Employees Association, CSEA, chapter number 120, and the San Marino Unified School District. Pursuant to the Educational Employment Relations Act, the California School Employees Association, CSEA Chapter 120 is making its 2025 2022 Sunshine proposal available for the public's review. The CSEA Sunshine proposal is available on the district's website and is available in the back of the boardroom for review. It does not require approval by the board of education. Mr. Wong, please pause the meeting for one minute to take public comment. One minute has started. Communications from the audience regarding public hearing on the 2526 CSCA chapter 120 sunshine proposal for negotiations with the San Marino Unified School District. Please provide your comments now. If you

062would like to request to speak online, please press the raise hand icon to make a request. If you're calling in from home, please dial star9 or submit a public comment card. There are 32 seconds left. There are no attendees online that wish to speak. Okay. Thank you. So we conclude for the tonight uh public hearing and right now I I still like to collect the uh comment uh for those uh uh next item for consent section and also action section. So Mr. H please uh start to collect from the room and in the meantime the uh audience you can send your uh comment card. Yeah for the the next icon. One minute has started. Communications from the audience regarding matters not on the agenda for the consent and action item sections. Please provide your comments.

063Now, if you would like to request to speak online, please use the raise hand icon. If you're phoning in from home, please dial star 9 or submit a public comment card. There's 35 seconds left. We do not have any attendees online that wish to speak. Okay. Thank you. So any uh comment car from audience? We have no additional cards at this time. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Next, let's go to the consent section. Do I have a motion to approve the consent section? Move to approve from the from the 9A to the 9F. Move to approve. Uh section 9 consent section A through F. Second. No call. Mr. Song I. Mrs. Lamb. Mrs. Ryan. I. Mrs. Gear. I. Mr. Chen. I. Motion carried. Next. Uh 10. Communication section. A communication from the board of education staff

064from the Mr. So hello everybody. I'm surprised everybody's here still and the I get a chance to visit the the the school site in the last time and I visit the high school, middle school and car and elementary school and the when I the when I visit the high school Dr. share with the books and how he passion about the education. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. And went to the Miss Middle School. I know that Miss Mary, Miss Principal Hela was away, but Miss Kota was showing us like how she's communicating with teachers and care about the each situations and everything. I really appreciate it too. And you know, oh my god, the the cover right the he's working the the backward. Did you know that the our principal was working backwards

065in the whole campuses and he knows every single area and all the way to the cafeterias and everything that I I want Valentine parents so I never been to cover that much but I really appreciate and how he care about the students and I still remember the Harry Potters and everything too and of course Valentine you know this is my school and he's always like a concerned about the all the kids and everything that complain you know the one thing I realized that as a become a I'm a new elected board just in case you guys don't know me I'm Joshua song but one thing I learned from this school in the half year become a board is I just realized I don't say thank you enough to everybody you know that's what I want

066to share with everybody thank you thank you okay next uh Mr. Salam. Thank you. Um, I'd like to use my time to express gratitude. I want to thank you to the parents in attendance, those that spoke, for those that are listening in, for those that are present. It demonstrates engagement. It shows that you care about our kids, this city, about change and our preservation. San Marino is uniquely San Marino because of its community members like you. I want to thank our educators. Last week was teachers appreciation week. Thank you to all of our incredible educators. I hope you felt truly appreciated and um awarded by all the different activities that PTA planned. I also had the opportunity to visit San Marino High School and Huntington Middle School. I had um visited some of the classrooms

067in session and I saw the diverse teaching methods and the collaborative learning experiences happening across all classrooms which I'm very appreciative of. Thank you to the PTA. I had the joy of attending Carver Carnival and it was raining, it was pouring, but even so parents showed up and they showed up for their kids much like you guys here today. It rained really hard. Eventually, the sun came out and um all is well again and magic was in the air as as we've talked about. Um and for that, I'm internally appreciative of that. I want to thank the San Marino Schools Foundation. There was a thank you reception that the entire board as well as the executive team all attended and your support to our school is deeply appreciated. And um I want to thank all

068the volunteers in this district. You are why the school district is successful and um thank you for all those again for voicing your opinions. You are heard. We appreciate it. Thank you. Next, Mr. Brian. Thank you. Um so, um I also spent the day visiting the four schools and while oftent times I visit um several of the classrooms and various programs that I would like to um kind of see in action. Um this year, as in some past years, I just met with the principles and really just listen to them. Um because while the board provides direction for our superintendent, our cabinet and our uh district in terms of direction, we also are responsible to provide the supports that they need to accomplish the task that we have set out. And we spend uh two

069days usually in the summer just planning ahead for the year and to really kind of uh push forward in order to improve the schools. Um, this week, uh, as Mrs. Lamb said, was teacher appreciation, but it's also principal day this past week as well. So, um, I hope you guys were able to celebrate your principles as well as all of your educators. Uh, I attended a PISMA uh, school board uh, and we planned some things for CSBA conference that's coming up. I'm also um we were also in celebration at the San Marino Masonic Lodge where we honored uh many of our educators and our students in terms of their growth. And finally um along with Mrs. Lamb, we attended the San Marino Schools Foundation. Thank you, Tony Woo, and the rest of your um committee

070for all your support and for really just um promising and guaranteeing that our students are financially supported with all of our staff. So, thank you. Uh next, Mrs. Gia. Um thank you. Um I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who came tonight. Um, as a board member, it's really valuable for me to hear from people I don't engage with on a daily basis. And, you know, we need to hear where we can improve, but also where we're doing well. So, I really just appreciate that tonight. Um, you know, we were elected to represent each and every one of your children and uh doing the best that we can for them. So, um, we're doing our best. So, thank you for your patience and for being here tonight. Um, I along with Mr. Sun

071visited all four schools. Um, and we had some pretty in-depth conversations with all four principles. Uh, aside from Miss Hastllet, we talked to Mrs. Kota. Um, we're really excited for the things that are coming this next year and we talked about where they need support and also some great ideas for the coming year. um attended the foundation of donor appreciation, the um some Measure R garden parties, which thank you to the community members who are hosting those and getting the word out about the importance of uh Measure R. And just earlier today, we had the Measure M um special study session. And um that is when we learned about prioritizing the projects that the FAC worked so hard to put together over almost two years. And um it's just really exciting to see some some

072things happening there. And we're going to be coming out with some projects and uh passing a resolution hopefully in this next board meeting about those priorities. So uh thank you again. Thank you. Uh April 23 I uh did a uh free clinic uh bring to the PCC uh campus. This is the first time establishing the uh the partnership uh with the PCC administration. I hope the uh this able also can benefit beneficial to the uh our uh sino titan medical academy. And uh next one uh I appreciate you know the car uh cannibal even that the day was raining but finally uh sunshine I think it's a a better result and then uh once a year you know the seamino school foundation uh they have a donor party uh I think uh this uh very

073meaningful to me you know I I I I move into uh the Man 1990 is been work with the school foundation trustee and then became the school board. As you know the the smaller school district never enough for the uh funding. So this a a vehicle very important vehicle to to have the school uh to raise the money. Uh thank you for all the trustee and the donor and the community people. Uh lastly I you know uh because governor uh they uh have a executive order for the uh eaten fire. So I and uh um vice president uh uh Mrs. Gear and also superintendent Dr. territory. Uh so we went to the Senate office Sasa Paris uh trying to uh work with uh her she how uh she want to uh ask the governor to

074interpret about the executive order but so far uh we haven't got some information. Uh lastly uh I I like to say something you know I'm in the volunteer is almost uh you know 35 year but serve for school board 21 year this is not my way to do this job but someone always need to do something for this community. So to me you know this the job I need to sacrifice my family. Okay. So after 21 year, this is the first time the spring break I I can go to the Japan enjoy and see you know because my my father was the you know the Hiroshima survivor. So I I can see those and understand what's going on for history. I think this small school this way with a smaller community is very important. If

075we want to make the voice, I think you need to staff on the volunteer. I I'm not exaggerate. If you see my volunteer work, I I can come out of white page. Okay. from the boy scout, from school foundation, from whatever because this community is no funding even outside the thinking we are very rich but in fact we need have a resource. this resource including the time and effort energy. So everyone's stay in this tongue need to understand this mentality. It's not you just talk and then you know it's very very important today we need to together and make tomorrow uh even bright. Okay. Next. Thank you, President Chang, members of the board of education. Tonight, I'd like to take just a moment to reflect on and express heartfelt gratitude for the extraordinary work our

076educational services department, site principles, and dedicated teachers have accomplished over the past five years in implementing positive behavioral management strategies across our schools. Our board of education has a very strong commitment to positive behavioral management practices and these practices are guided by researchbased approaches with a steadfast commitment to supporting the social emotional development of all of our students. Our educators have embraced a cultural shift and that cultural shift has come down from the California Department of Education. So many of you may already know that due to disproportionality statewide, the state of California, particularly the California Department of Education, has called upon every public school district within our state to approach student discipline from a different perspective. instead of engaging in what we call exclusionary discipline practices where children are suspended or expelled um for um

077certain behaviors. The state has said that that doesn't really do anything to reform the students behaviors. It doesn't do anything to cause the student to become a better student. As a matter of fact, it does the opposite. It causes the student to detach the education system and often times to go down a path that is destructive and the research supports this and you're going to hear about this tonight in a wonderful presentation that will be delivered uh by our assistant superintendent of educational services Dr. Linda Richtor by all of our principles and our wonderful hardworking counselors who do this work with our children each and every day. So the California Department of Education has now created what they call the dashboard and this is publicly available to everyone. Um we are required now to report

078behavioral incidents via our school accountability report card which is on our website. In addition to that, we also um are required to report suspensions to the California Department of Education. The state of California looks at that data year and it affects our dashboard. Um, and this this is reported by school. Um, this is really important for everyone to know because we've been working on this for the past five years and I'm so grateful to really be able to talk about this um with the uh community in more detail. And um I really am very grateful that the principles have been bringing this forward and talking to their their school site parents um and staff about this even more. It's so important. Um and the board of education as um as clerk Ryan mentioned earlier, the

079board gets together every year at the end of the school year to develop their goals and that sets the tone and drives the work that I do as superintendent and that my does principal, students, assistant principles, um, and so forth and so on for the upcoming school. And one of their goals, um, that has been consistent over the past several years is student wellness, um, and, um, and actually staff wellness and we've really focused on that tremendously and we've had great success with that. So again, um, this is researchbased. Um, it really focuses on um, staying in line with what the California Department of Education has asked all public school districts to do um instead of suspending and expelling. And by the way, those two um consequences are still in play and if the behavior

080warrants it, students can still get suspended and they will get suspended. Um students will get expelled. Um but the law has changed even with respect to local defiance. We used to able to uh five years ago, 10 years ago suspend kindergarteners for defiance. That is no longer lawful. So the state has taken a hard stand on that and they have instead replaced um the more exclusionary or punitive um discipline processes with a more positive approach. restorative practices, behavioral interventions and support, multi-tered systems of support. And these again are positive responses to behavior that really build capacity for students to have empathy for other students at school. It also um addresses, you know, how we are going to change that behavior in the future. And our counselors are very involved in that work. Our teachers are

081all trained um and principles as well. So it is a very collaborative uh inclusive process that we have and it is one that every surrounding district is now involved in and every surrounding district has now provided training and support for their teachers, their counselors, their administrators. Um so we're kind of all in this together, if you will. Um so we're going to hear about that tonight. Um, I also just want to say that there has been some um information circulating that isn't exactly accurate. Maybe it's a miscommunication. I'm not sure what it is, but as a public school district, um, we do not have what what is being called a surplus of $25 million. Um, we are not forprofit. Um, we do not have a surplus. Um, that was the ending balance that was reported

082during our second interim. Um and that is comprised of both restricted and unrestricted funds within our budget. Um we have about $8 million in um what the board of education has termed assigned balances and actually our state called assigned balances within our budget for specific things. I'll give you an example. Um one of those things is the U Park athletics complex. We owe $2.6 million dollar on that and we have to make payments uh every year to the tune of about half a million dollars. And so the board of education in its uh infinite wisdom set aside $2.5 million to be able to make those payments prospectively so that it isn't something that we're not budgeting. It's something that we are aware of plan for and we have the funds set aside to be able

083to do that. Where did this money come from? This money came from federal funds that were uh given to the school district during CO. So we remember right when we had to shift to virtual instruction and all of our kiddos um were receiving virtual instruction in their own homes um we did not have classrooms that needed to be filled with substitute teachers. So we saved a lot of money um by not having to have substitute teachers coming in throughout the year. In addition to that, we didn't have to purchase a lot of the personal protective equipment like masks, hand sanitizers, we had handwashing stations, we had um all kinds of things of uh handheld thermometers. Um we had thermometer station set up. There was just a lot of investment uh that the feds provided one

084time money for that we didn't need because our wonderful president of the board of education so well connected to medical professionals. We received donation after donation after donation um of PPE which really helped us fund all of the supplies that we needed when the kids came back to school. In addition, uh we received money from the federal government in the form of one-time allocations um for a variety of different things that came under the heading of CO that money instead of us hiring temporary employees that would later have to be laid off when those federal funds were no longer being given to the district. Um we set those monies aside in reserve, if you will. Um which was smart in my opinion was a very solid business decision that board of education made at that

085time. Um, some of you may remember when measure E, one of the two parcel taxes that we have, failed to pass in March. Um, we have to notify teachers and classified employees if they're not coming back in the following year. And that's a statute, that's a law that we have to abide by. So, out of an abundance of caution, um, we had to lay off 48 teachers because we didn't know whether um whether measure E was going to pass or not. And that generates about $4.7 million per year. So we noticed these teachers these teachers then um you know started looking for other jobs. A lot of them some didn't. Some some were going to hedge their bets and wait around and see if we were going to be able to be successful in June

086when we put it back on the ballot. Um some of you may know Namj Jack she passed away. very very engaged, dynamic member of our community for so many years. Um she got people together and she was able to put it back on the ballot uh under the board's guidance um and direction in June and we passed it. But the community recognized and they should recognize this that we lost talent because some of those people that we laid off out of an abundance of caution when it didn't pass the first time went to find jobs elsewhere. And so they said, "Why don't you guys have a plan B?" And we kept hearing that from our community members over and over and over. Why why couldn't you have like a reserve or something that would cover

087that expense if if one of your parcel taxes doesn't pass? And the board took that to heart and in fact now has a reserve so that if you know, measure R were to fail, I hope it doesn't, um, that instead of us laying teachers off out of an abundance of caution, which we um in March of this year, we're we're betting that it's going to pass, right? But even if it doesn't pass, we can still cover those salaries for the next 25 26 year so that we don't lose talent. Um the board has a plan now in place. The community called for that plan. The board heard their voices, listened to what the community wanted us to do, and they did just that, and that was very smart. Um neighboring school districts had to temporary

088people off that they hired with co money and um that's never a a good process to go through and we didn't have to do that. Instead, we have a plan B and we are financially solvent as a school district right now. But but please know that that this one time money um that is being referred to as a surplus, which isn't possible, excuse me, I'm losing my voice. is a surplus um is not a surplus and I'm worried that people Thank you so much. I'm worried that people will think that we have this money and that we don't need measure R and that is is not couldn't be further from the truth. Right? One time money can only be spent once. It should never be used to pay for ongoing expenditures um like salaries, right?

089And this measure R pays for math and science teachers districtwide. And um you you know once that one time is spent it's forever gone and it's not going to come back to the district. So we have to keep that in mind when we're talking about reserves. It is smart to have reserves and that's what this board of education did um recognizing what the community wanted us to do. So there's that issue and in addition to that um I just wanted to that um San Marino is a small community. We are and we work really really hard to make sure that we are providing the quality of education that our parents demand and our students deserve and we do that every single day and we care so much about every child um in our schools and

090we really do. That's why we hired these counselors. Um when I first started working here um many years ago, we didn't have full-time counselors at the elementary school. Now we do and that's a great thing. Um we have a wonderful wellness center that you're going to hear about this evening that provides very valuable resource to our kids. And and I will say this, we are one of the lowest funded unified school districts in the entire state of California, which is why we have to rely on our our schools foundation. Thank you, President. Um and we rely on two parcel taxes. I wish we didn't have to. But the sad truth of the matter is we're not a basic a district. Basic a districts are able to fund their education system through property tax revenue. We

091don't collect enough property tax revenue in the city of San Marino to be able to fund our education system. And therefore, we have to rely on the local control funding formula, which is state funding. And the state really directs most of their funing to districts in lower socioeconomic areas where they believe the need is they don't believe the need is here in San Marino but the problem is we do have a great need and only 70% of our revenue comes from um comes from the state the other 30 comes from the schools foundation comes from the two parcel taxes comes from all the money that our wonderful hardworking PTAs raise every year and we're so grateful to them for their hard We would not be able to provide the level of education that we are

092able to provide if not for all of you sitting this room if not for the support that we get from our community. And literally I believe that our community wants the best for every single one of our children. I think we have that in common. We want to provide uh and I believe we do provide safe secure spaces for children to learn to develop and discover who they are going to be. Um we provide a very nurturing environment. Um we have worked hard over the past several years because another board goal is to make sure that our kids are safe. Um and we've invested heavily in that process. Um you can see the physical environment um you know growing and changing and becoming more You now have to get buzzed in when you go to

093San Marino High School. That used to be a completely open campus, right? Used you now you see this big fence around Huntington Middle School. That was never there before. We are doing everything that we can not only to keep our children and our students physically safe from harm, but also um we're concerned about their mental health and their wellbeing. And I can't say enough about that. Postco that was a big problem that we recognized. um students were in isolation for too long. They had some some issues that we really recognized as needing support and that's what this board of education stood up and said we need to make sure that they're taken care of and we invested heavily in that process as well. So I believe that this school district needs to with its community

094with its um you know not just our parents but our community members as well. We need to lock arms and move in the same direction. We need to work constructively and productively together and build relationships because as Mr. Chang said, you know, that's that's really what San Marino is all about and has been for decades. And we all have one thing in common and that is uh a shared moral imperative to give our kids the best. Give them what they deserve. And so I would ask everyone to come together and if you have questions, you know, pose your questions. We'll answer them. If you have concerns, express your concerns. We want to hear all concerns. Um we're open to them. We're going to listen to you. Don't have to follow the laws of the state

095and we still have to protect the privacy rights of all children. And that is a real issue. We care deeply about that. And so um please be patient with us, but We are working every day on behalf of your children and their safety, their security and their emotional mental health and wellbeing is so important to us. If your kids aren't getting what they need, that reflects on us and we are working hard every day to make sure that they do. I love this community. I love our PTAs. I love our board. I love our administrators. I'm you know our PT billions president who works tirelessly to operate summer school. Every person in this community has an important role and I I love the fact that this community comes together because they care. So let's continue

096to to talk to engage and to work hard together to provide our kids with that's really all I wanted to say tonight. Thank you. Okay. Um let's go to the uh 11 uh information item. A research based holistic approach to positive behavior management system that host safe and inclusion learning environment. Dr. Nina Richtor. Thank you President Chang, members of the board, superintendent Dr. Delator and executive cabinet. Thank you for that beautiful introduction into this presentation. This evening, staff will present an overview of San Reno Unifi's key researchbased approaches positive behavioral management systems aimed at creating safe and inclusive learning environments. The programs highlighted in this presentation is not an exhaust exhaustive listing as there are many many approaches that our teachers, our counselors, our staff and our administrators employ on a daily basis as they

097continue to create safe learning environments for every student has focused more on being inclusive rather than exclusionary. Tonight's presentation will highlight implementation of key behavioral management systems and structures, district and site level implementation and related professional development opportunities over the past several years, and a deeper understanding of program implementation and its impact with respect to their each school site as shared by our site principles and our counselors. This slide highlights the important work of San Reno Unified School District's commitment over the years in effort to create a positive and inclusive learning environment for each and every student. This work includes ongoing implementation of the following key systems of support which include multi-tered systems of support which is also commonly known as MTSS. This is a framework every school uses to provide targeted support to students

098who are struggling not only academically but behaviorally and socially. MTSS aims to identify students needing extra help early on and offers early interventions at many different levels of intensity. As the title suggests, MTSS encompasses a variety of support and interventions to ensure that all actions are aligned to supporting the academic, behavioral and or social emotional needs of every student. We also have response to intervention which is also known as RTI and this is implemented districtwide and offers an instructional framework used in schools to identify and support struggling learners through a multi-tered approach providing increasingly intensive support and interventions based on each student's individual needs and progress to ensure that the right appropriate support and intervention is provided to the right student at the right time in the most effective way. Oops, excuse me. RTI and

099MTSS are both frameworks for for supporting students. RTI primarily focuses on the academic interventions for struggling learners while MTSS is a broader umbrella and encompasses the academic behavioral and social emotional support for all students. Positive behavior intervention and supports, commonly known as PBIS, which has been mentioned a few times this evening, is an evidencebased framework used to improve student behavior and create safe, positive learning environments. PBIS focuses on proactively teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors and preventing the challenging behaviors. Universal Design for Learning, commonly known as UDL, offers a framework that focuses on designing learning experiences for all students. UDL allows for student agency, student voice, and choice in their learning. And lastly, restorative practices. An approach that promotes community building, empathy, and a sense of belonging and restoration of relationships to foster care, empathy, accountability,

100and positive interactions. For each of these key programs, I'll share a brief overview of district-led professional learning opportunities that have demonstrated successful in providing our students, staff, and oftentimes parents the knowledge and resources necessary to effective program implementation and positive student outcomes. Each school site will later provide a more indepth look at how each of these programs have been implemented and strengthened over the years at each of their respective schools. Resolute implementation of PBIS, an evidence-based framework, began early on, right in the middle of COVID 2020 2021 school year, and continues to help lead the work of creating a safe and inclusive learning environment at each of our schools, but particularly at our elementary schools who have really adopted formally adopted the framework of PBIS districtwide and school school site specific professional Learning opportunities were

101provided as we began the work of PBIS. Throughout the 2021 school year and each subsequent year thereafter, both Carver and Valentine participated in the PBIS team professional learning or training each year, which was led by the LA County Office of Education. These trainings provided teachers, administrators, and parents resources and tools needed to create systems and conditions that lead to positive outcomes and safe learning environments. Our principles will share a little bit more in depth shortly about what this looks like at each of their schools. I'm also certain that the principles will definitely highlight that this past year in 2024, both schools have been recognized by the state of California for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to implementing systems that foster safe and inclusive learning environments for students. Carver earning silver and Valentine earning gold.

102And I believe they are both I believe both slated for platinum next year. Districtwide work with universal for design for learning, an educational framework that offers flexibility in how information is presented, how students engage with the information and material, and how they demonstrate mastery or their understanding. This also began with fidelity during the same time, 2020 and 2021. Similar to PBIS, throughout the 2021 school year and each subsequent subsequent year thereafter, all four schools participated in annual trainings with LEO, the LA County Office of Education and or an outside expert agency called Focus Schools. These are expert consultants who work closely with our site administrators and provide ongoing coaching sessions to further develop uh concrete inclusive learning experiences for all learners. And this work continues year after year and has positively contributed to increased levels

103of student engagement and achievement. Lastly, this slide illustrates the all-encompassing work of implementing restorative practices over the past years in efforts to build a strong community and positive inclusive school environments. In 2022 23, an inaugural district-wide restorative practices cohort began the district's learning journey, prioritizing strategies that focus on repairing harm and building relationships and community, promoting conflict resolution and accountability with the goal again of creating positive and inclusive learning environments. Research demonstrates and is the premise of restorative practices that when community is built and students feel like they belong, they are less likely to disrupt the environment and or inflict harm on others. Staff from all sites participated in the cohort that engaged in three fullday learning sessions led by Miss Karen Younger who is an expert in restorative practices. Having gained much interest in

104recognizing the value of restorative restorative practices. The following year, a trainer of trainer cohort was launched. That cohort also participated in year-long professional development at all four school sites. This cohort has approximately five to 15 participating members at each site. A parent information session was also conducted through partnership for awareness to share an overview of the benefits of resto restorative practices and implementation at our schools and with our families. In 2024, professional learning was also extended to our site leaders, specifically our principles, our assistant principles, our school psychologists, our counselors, our librarians, and more to further strengthen schoolwide understanding and implementation of the value of conducting community circles, building community and empathy. Over the past five years, the San Marino Unified School District has been extremely committed to strengthening systems and creating conditions that promote

105safe, inclusive learning environments. This work could not be done without the dedication and the hard work of our teachers, our staff, our students, our administrators, and our community. Through the support and direction from the educational services department, this work continues to evolve year after year and continues to strengthen based on the individual needs of our our schools and our students. In the next few slides, school staff will share more indepth site level implementation and the impact and benefits of this work. So, at this time, I would like to pass it over to our two elementary principles who will be presenting information on their school sites and our amazing counselor, Miss Stacy Beavers. Would you like Thank you, Dr. Rigger, President Chang, board members, Dr. Deator, and cabinet. MTSS in his umbrella framework that weaves academic,

106social, emotional learning, mental health services, PBIS, and restorative practices into one coherent continuum. In our multi-tered systems of support, we have tier one for all students, tier 2 for some, and tier three for few. MTSS ensures no student just falls through the cracks, aligning resources so the right help reaches the right child at the right time. Supports we have in place for academics include rigorous instruction based on core curriculum to teach the state standards outlined by learning targets and objectives for each lesson. Utilization of universal design for learning framework into our lesson planning. teacher and staff collaboration through professional learning communities and staff professional development to support the researchbased best practices for instruction. Supports in place for behavior management include our schoolwide PBIS which we call Valentine heart at Valentine and Carver Carver at Carver.

107And these are the traits that we explicitly teach and base our programs on. Restorative practices and community building circles are social emotional curriculum called Second Step and the professional development that continues to be provided to our teachers and staff. Our programs to support students social emotional wellness include again our second step curriculum, mindfulness, training and understanding of traumainformed practices and restorative approaches. We have calming corners in every classroom and we continue to grow as educators through the professional development in all areas of our MTSS supports. So I would like to introd introduce our Valentine school counselor Stacy Beavers to dive a little bit deeper into our tier one programs of support. So at Valentine, we are committed to creating a school environment that is safe, supportive, and inclusive for every student. One of the main

108ways we do this is through the implementation of PBIS, positive behavior interventions and supports. It is a proactive schoolwide framework that focuses on teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to build a strong, respectful, and connected school community. At the heart of our PBIS system is a shared understanding of what it means to be a member of our school. We encourage and recognize students when they show heart, which stands for being helpful, empathetic, accepting, respectful, and trustworthy. These values guide our expectations and interactions throughout the school day. To reinforce these behaviors, we use heart slips. When staff see students demonstrating heart and action, whether it's helping a peer, showing kindness, including others, or being a role model, they receive a heart slip. Every other Friday, we hold a raffle and select one winner from each classroom to

109come to the office and choose a special prize. But the recognition doesn't stop there. All remaining heart slips are added to our schoolwide heart container. When the heart container is full, our entire school celebrates with an extra 20 minute recess. What makes this event even more special is that we turn we do turn it into a mini event. We bring out speakers um to play upbeat music. We provide sidewalk ch talk for creative fun and give students a joyful break that reinforces the power of positive behavior and community spirit. When students are not following our PBIS expectations, we support them by providing an opportunity to reflect and learn from their actions. They complete a heart reflection form which helps them think about the choices they made, how those choices did not align with our expectations,

110and what they can do differently in the future. This process encourages personal growth and helps students take responsibility in a supportive and constructive way. PBIS and the HART program aren't just about behavior management. They are about building a school culture where students feel seen, valued, and motivated to contribute to a welcoming environment. It helps us nurture not only academic success, but also strong character, positive relationships, and a true sense of belonging. Um, at our school, we also provide additional an additional robust framework of tier one schoolwide supports. Central to our approach is a commitment to restorative practices, trauma-informed care, and comprehensive social emotional learning, also known as SEAL. These supports are vital to creating a safe and inclusive environment. Restorative practices form the co cornerstone of our behavior support system. Through restorative circles, classroom discussions,

111and reflection activities, students are encouraged to build strong relationships, reflect on their actions, and repair harm in a meaningful way. These practices have helped us shift away from punitive discipline and towards a more empathetic community centered approach. Teachers facil facilitate daily or weekly restorative circles that allow students to express themselves, resolve conflicts, and practice active listening. These regular opportunities for connection have proven especially valuable in building community. Our traumainformed approach uh acknowledges the diverse experiences students bring to school and aims to promote resilience, safety, and emotional regulation. In the aftermath of the wildfires, this philosophy was especially critical. At Valentine, we received 47 students who were impacted by the wildfires. In response, administrators, teachers, and I worked in close collaboration to address the heightened social emotional needs of these students with compassion, flexibility, and consistency.

112Teachers and staff received professional development on trauma-informed strategies. Our team ensured open communication among families, support staff, and classroom teachers, fostering a network of support for every child. A foundational component of our tier one supports is the consistent implementation of the SecondStep curriculum, a research and evidence-based social emotional learning SEAL program. Um, second step is grounded in decades of research on child development, neuroscience, and behavior science. It is widely recognized for its for its effectiveness in improving students social emotional competencies, behavior and academic performance while o also reducing instance in instances of bullying and emotional distress. At our school, secondstep lessons are delivered every other week to all students from TK through fifth grade. The curriculum is carefully scaffolded by age and developmental level to build SEAL competencies progressively. Each lesson is designed to be

113engaging, interactive, and aligned with five core competencies. Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relation, relationship skills, and responsible decisionmaking. The curriculum is structured into four main units. Unit one is skills for learning and growth mindset. Unit two, empathy and kindness. Unit three, emotion management. And finally, unit four, problem solving. To ensure continuity between school and home, I send parent follow-up emails after each lesson. These communications include a summary of the lesson objectives and a home leak, a optional developmentally appropriate activity that parents can complete with their child to reinforce the concepts taught. These activities provide families with a shared language for discussing emotions, problem solving, and healthy social behaviors. Many parents have expressed appreciation for this connection, noting that it helps them reinforce at home in meaningful ways. In October, our school integrates bully bullying prevention curriculum

114as part of national bullyrevention month. These targeted lessons teach students to recognize bullying and differentiate it from other conflicts. Refuse to support or engage in bullying behavior. Report bullying to trusted adults. Include and support peers who may be isolated and cyber bullying in fourth and fifth grade. These lessons emphasize empowerment, bystander intervention, and community responsibility, aligning with our broader goal of creating a safe and inclusive school environment. The SecondStep program is not just a curriculum. It's a schoolwide strategy that fosters positive behavior, enhances student connectedness, and equips our students with lifelong skills in emotional intelligence and resilience. Its evidence-based impact paired with consistent delivery and family engagement has made it a cornerstone of our school's SEAL efforts. To complement our SEAL efforts, I've also incorporated regular mindfulness sessions through the Mind Yeti program, a researchbasedbased

115um extension of SecondStep. So, Mind Yeti uses guided audio sessions to help students practice calming their minds and bodies, build awareness of their emotions, and develop focus. Um, these short engaging mindfulness practices are delivered every other week alongside Second Step and are customized to s to suit the developmental age uh the developmental level of each grade. We found Mind Yeti especially beneficial in supporting students dealing with anxiety, trauma or difficulties with self-regulation. On a side note, our PE teacher also you utilizes mind yeti during PE calming corners. So thanks to a generous grant from partnership for awareness, we were able to implement calming down corners in every classroom as part of our schoolwide tier one support system. These dedicated spaces are intentionally designed to help students practice self-regulation and regain emotional control when feeling overwhelmed,

116frustrated, anxious, or disregulated. Each calming corner includes a variety of sensory tools and tactile objects such as stress balls, fidget spinners, and textured cushions. Items that offer students a safe and non-disruptive way to manage their physical responses to stress. In addition to sensory tools, the corners are equipped with visual supports. So, these include step-by-step visual guides for calming down, emotion charts with facial expressions and feeling words to help them identify what they're experiencing, breathing techniques, grounding activities such as the 54321 sensory checklist. Students are taught that the calming down corner is not a punitive place, but rather a proactive tool for self-care and emotional well-being. Students are encouraged to use the space when they recognize their own signs of escalation or when prompted gently by a teacher. Over time, students begin to internalize the coping

117strategies practiced in the corner and learn to self-regulate more independently. By normalizing the need for breaks and supporting students in understanding and managing their emotions, calming down corners have become an invaluable component of our traumainformed and aligned school environment. So altogether, these tier one supports create a school culture where students feel seen, supported, and capable of managing life's challenges. Whether they are facing everyday frustrations or recovering from significant trauma like the wildfires, our commitment to proactive schoolwide social emotional learning, restorative relationships, and traumainformed care ensures every child has the tools and support needed to thrive both academically and emotionally. Next slide. Okay. So, while our school is committed to providing robust tier one supports for all students, we also recognize that some students require more targeted support for those students who continue to struggle academically,

118behaviorally, socially, or emotionally. Despite our tier one efforts, we have a structured and collaborative intervention process in place called care, which stands for coordinating available resources in education. The care process is designed to ensure that all available school-based resources are thoughtfully coordinated to address a student's specific needs. When a teacher observes ongoing concerns in a student, whether in academics, attendance, behavior, social emotional development, speech and language, or fine gross motor skills, they initiate a care referral. This referral is the starting point of a team-based approach to early intervention. Once a referral is submitted, a care team meeting is scheduled. This team typically includes the school administrator, school counselor, school psychologist, and the referring general education teacher. Depending on the nature of the concern, the team may also include our speech and language pathologist or occupational

119therapist for additional expertise and and support. During the care meeting, the team collaboratively reviews all relevant student data, teacher observations, classroom performance, and any prior interventions attempted to together the team discusses the students strengths and needs and works to identify the root causes of the difficulties. Based on this conversation, we developed a tailored intervention and or accommodation plan that may include academic scaffolds, behavioral strategies, supports, or environment environmental accommodations. A critical part of the care process is implementation and progress monitoring. The agreed upon strategies are carried out typically by the classroom teacher and are carefully tracked over a 6 to 8 week period. During this time, data collection is ongoing and purposeful. Teachers track student performance, behavioral trends, and other relevant indicators to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. At the end of the intervention

120cycle, the care team reconvenes to analyze the data. This collaborate, this collaborative reflection helps the team decide whether the current plan is successful and should remain and just continue or the plan needs to be modified or intensified or if the student requires a more formalized problem solving process through a student success team, also known as SST meeting. All right. So, as Mrs. Beaver shared that when students have needs and we go through a care process, we see three trends, right? What we have in place is working, what we have in place is not working and might need more support or we know that this student requires more tier 2, tier three supports. So we move then into an SST, a student success team process. And that's a critical component of our multi-tiered system of supports

121specifically at tiers two and three. So an SST provides a structured collaborative approach to problem solving to identify and address students needs through targeted interventions for students who require support beyond the universal tier one level. and the student requires more than just a few interventions that we put in place by the care team, an SST is initiated and an SST serves as a key mechanism to design individualized plans, monitor progress and adjust strategies to ensure growth and success. This process ensures that every student receives the support they need to make progress and that support is datadriven, equitable, and responsive. The SST framework strengthens our MTSS by providing a clear pathway for intervention, accountability, and family engagement, ultimately providing outcomes for our most vulnerable learners. Through data analysis by the SS SST team, we will determine

122next steps by continuing what is in place and working, modifying or changing what is in place if it's not working, or even referring the student for tier three support. The CARE and SST process ensures that every student receives the support they need at the right level and at the right time. It fosters a culture of early intervention, shared responsibility, and professional collaboration. And ultimately, the CARE and SST process embodies our school commitment to equity, inclusivity, and whole child support. It bridges the gap between classroom um observations, targeted interventions because we want to ensure that every child has access to these resources, the accommodations, and the opportunities for them to thrive in our classrooms. So, as we look at examples of tier 2 and tier three supports, we want to emphasize the targeted and individualized strategies

123we're implementing to meet students where they are. These supports are designed for students who need more than just that core instruction and universal strategies. And as we enter tier 2 and tier three, some and few students actually need the support because they aren't responding to our tier one program. At tier 2, you'll see interventions like smallroup instruction, differentiated and personalized learning, afterchool tutoring and behavioral supports such as check-in, checkout, and daily behavior reports. These help address emerging academic and behavioral needs early. Through our work, our team identifies the skill deficits a student may have and we implement interventions to to support their specific needs. At tier three, the interventions become more intense and individualized. And this includes behavior contracts, targeted restorative circles, short-term individual or group counseling, and the use of social stories and sensory

124tools, and when necessary, referrals for psychoeducational assessments for special education services. We're also addressing attendance concerns through SART meetings and supporting overall wellness through access to our Titan Wellness Center. Together, these supports reflect our commitment to whole child development, ensuring every student receives that right level of support to help them. We are very proud of the progress we've made in building a safe and inclusive school environment for our students through the thoughtful implementation of tier 1, tier 2, and tier three. And we're seeing positive trends as our programs are implemented with greater fidelity, which is reflected in both our behavioral data and school climate feedback. One of the key efforts has been refining how we respond to student behavior. Minor behaviors are now consistently addressed and documented by classroom teachers, while major behaviors are referred

125to administration and tracked schoolwide. With the transition to digital office discipline referrals this year, we've improved accessibility, consistency, and our ability to analyze trends. To date, our referral numbers for major offenses remain stable despite our increased enrollment, showing that our supports are working. Our tier 2 interventions are data driven, and we use ongoing progress monitoring to ensure that stu that supports are tailored and effective for each student. This year, we also completed our final PBIS tiered fidelity fidelity inventory in April and scored between 80 and 100% across all tiers, making both Valentine and Carver eligible for PBIS platinum implementation recognition. A testament to the dedication of our staff and the strength of our MTSS framework. And additionally, we use California Healthy Kids Survey data from our students, from our parents and staff to reflect on

126the continuously improvement of our systems, ensuring we're not only responsive but proactive in creating a supportive environment because we want all of our students to be safe, included, and receiving the individualized support to meet their needs. It's a true honor to work at our elementary schools where amazing things happen and Carver and Valentine are very much in line. Miss McCalpine and I collaborate regularly. So I'm going to add a little bit relative to social emotional learning and calming corners because I know Miss Beavers and Dr. Amy now our counselor got her doctorate just this last week. So we're celebrating that. Dr. Amy worked really hard to implement this. As Miss McCalpine shared, both schools utilize the SecondStep curriculum in all classes with all grades. This is a tier one support to help foster a positive

127classroom environment by teaching students how to manage emotions, build healthy relationships, and navigate challenges effectively. This curriculum is research-based and supported by lots of empirical evidence. Miss Palpine also spoke briefly about calming corners, as did Miss Beavers. These are tier one supports that are embedded in every single classroom at Carver and Valentine. They involve SEAL books, fidget toys, and comfort items. Teachers make common corners available to all of their students following classroom processes. I want to talk a little bit about counseling supports. We are fortunate to have a full-time counselor at each of our elementary schools. This is something that our school board and our district leadership helped us to implement during the 2324 school year. Our counselors provide tier one support through the secondstep curriculum and individual and small groupoup counseling as a tier

1282 intervention. At Carver, we have also implemented unique programs like the destress recess, a parent learning series, coffee with the counselor. By the way, our first session is this Thursday. It's on tackling mental health and academic stress. We have peace patrol where a group of trained students help peers to resolve conflicts during recess. All of these interventions are tracked and monitored by our counselor and our and regular well-being check-ins for our fire impacted enrolles are also conducted. Want to flip to the next slide. So here you can see our PBIS flowchart. Carver and Valentine were both awarded for our PBIS work as you've heard tonight for the 2324 school year earning silver and gold respectively. Awards are issued through a rigorous process that involves two on-site evaluations by trained LEO staff. Both Carver and Valentine

129have applied for platinum recognition for 2025. Carver was originally going to apply for gold but was by told was told by the LEO on-site evaluator that we met all of the criteria for platinum and should apply for that level of recognition. In fact, we had staff who scored perfect scores during the on-site evaluation by the LEO representative. The LEO evaluator told us then that in all of her years of doing this work, she has never issued anyone a perfect score. Here you can see our flowcharts developed by our PBIS committees. These provide guidelines for identifying and dress and addressing in-class behaviors and for escalating to office managed behaviors. Office data referrals are initiated by teachers or staff. We regularly analyze these as part of the PBIS process as has been described by Miss Beavers and

130Miss Palpine to identify hot spots, hot times or particular behavioral patterns and to make systematic adjustments accordingly. You can see from the data though enrollment has increased at Carver and Valentine, the numbers of ODRs has remained relatively flat. You may also note that in terms of raw numbers, Carver has a few more than Valentine. A portion of those ODRs for both 24 and 25 were reflective of a very small number of students who received multiple ODRs each. Through the PBIS process and data analysis, those students were escalated to the tier 2 and tier three intervention processes. This is exactly how PBIS is meant to work and we're very pleased to be engaged in that work now for the past few years. I'd like now to turn it over to our principal of Huntington Middle School,

131Miss Hazley. Good evening. I am here with our assistant principal, Miss Michelle Cota, and our wonderful wellness counselor, Mrs. Pen Chen. And I would like to thank our colleagues for doing a wonderful job explaining the acronyms and various tools that we all use here. I will speak in a little as you speak um and say in addition to our UDL lessons that our teachers teach in the classroom, the RTI supports that we provide such as our afterchool support for academics and our SST meetings for students who need additional conferences to discuss what may be contributing to underperformance in either behaviors or academics which may or may not lead to those psychoeducational evaluations. What we would like to focus on primarily tonight is our wellness resources and the um recent uh advances in the last year

132that have happened at Huntington Middle School. So, I'd like to start with our wellness provides tiered levels of support including the popular Zen zone which is a lunchtime hangout for our students to relax and decompress. You'll see a photo of it in a minute. It also provides small afterchool social emotional support groups based on grade level and parent wellness support as well as one-on-one therapy. So, our wellness services expanded this year to include Miss Pen Chen, our bilingual Mandarin English therapist. We transformed a former workroom into a welcoming counseling space for students and families. Our administration holds monthly collaborative meetings with the HMS high school, sorry, with with HMS school counselor, our wellness therapist, our school psychologists, and our Titan wellness lead counselor to review referrals and plans for support for our students. In the

1332425 school year, there have been approximately 1,400 student visits to access our wellness services. And that's including the fun lunchtime Zen zone. Primarily, as you can see, 49.1% are sixth graders, 33.8 are seventh graders, 10.9 are eighth graders, and 6.2 are Valentine students because they come over to our wellness center as well. We share that with them. 86.7% of our students who have accessed our wellness spaces have returned more than once. And out of 107 confidential referrals, approximately one-third are from parents. See everybody I'm patient 10. Um, thank you for the wonderful introduction. I'm going to talk a little bit about the tier levels of support that the wellness center offers. Um, where's Stuart? Winnie had an amazing presentation. I'm going to be a little more casual and just talk about the things that we

134do. Um, so for tier one is the universal support. Um, that means that all the students regardless of their needs get to access that. Um, One of the things that we are actually doing right now this week in honor of to to recognize uh mental health awareness month is a mental health awareness week at the middle school where we are pushing into every single classroom with uh with with the most commonly seen uh most commonly seen I guess issues or topics that are brought up both students students and also their parents. And this includes test anxiety, right? This includes um cell phone usage. A lot of parents are concerned about how their students are using cell phones. So, oh, sure. Yeah, of course. And so, we are pushing into every classroom and um is that

135better? Is this better? Okay. Okay. I will speak a little bit closer. Um, so we are pushing it to every classroom with this level of support. With a uh new wellness space that Miss Hazley was talking about, we now are able to have an open door policy much like the Titan Wellness Center at the high school where students with um permission from their teacher are able to really just walk in without an appointment because sometimes we have emotional needs that can't be scheduled, right? We have them right now. we have um a meltdown. We have a kind unkind word that was set and we need that support right away. And so what the new wellness space offers is that uh we also have a monthly parent wellness connection where we invite all of our families,

136not just the HMS families, but high school families, elementary school families to come and to have not only connecting with with myself but also with other parents because you know you guys sh you guys share a lot of the same questions and your children are going through a lot of the same things and we're here not as necessarily experts telling you what to do but really people to collaborate with and we want you to learn from us as much as from the other uh families and parents. We have a zen zone. Uh Miss Hesa talked about that. We'll share a picture of that in a little bit. That is open during lunchtime. So it is a calming space where students can come. It is screen free, tech free, and they play with sand, they play

137puzzles, they play card games. Uh we even had some students come in and do yoga and do stretching. And it's a quiet space for them when sometimes the playground's just a little too much. It's too much activity. Uh the events that we were talking about um include what we have going on this week this week which is the mental health awareness week. Uh we are bringing uh puppies to the school. So we have puppy therapy for our students sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade. And we're also really really really recognizing our staff and teachers who work really hard. And so we are bringing some of that mental health support to them as well um in the form of goat therapy and goat yoga. So our staff had uh yesterday Monday had the opportunity to

138do some of that because we know you know when the stu when the teachers are supported the students are supported and we want to create that um that cycle. Um going on to tier two which is a targeted support. We run evidence and need based small groupoup sessions after school. targeted to different grade uh grades. So, sixth, seventh, eth. Um some of these in the past have included topics such as anxiety management, uh time management, and also social skills. And we also provide our eighth graders with a special session where they get to meet with our fabulous seniors from the high school who come actually in person to the middle school and let them know, hey, this is what high school's really about, right? let's hear it from the students and not you know just

139from the counselors. Uh we also have oh yeah attendance call. So that is uh that is support to students who maybe have missed attendance uh miss school. Um we have a lot of Chinese speaking families and so you know I'm I feel very fortunate to be able to use my language skills to communicate with them. I hop on the phone with them all the time. Hey, what's going on? And sometime it's really just I woke up late. Sometimes there's another issue, right? And then so I get to spend a few minutes with them on the phone and um depending on what the topic is and their concerns are or the reason why their student was late, then we can pass it on to our team, right? Maybe it's um something that our uh school counselor

140Jim Gonzalez who wasn't able to be with us tonight. Maybe it's something where she can provide the support. Um something that Miss Hazlet, Miss Kota can provide the support. So those attendance calls, it may seem It may seem small, but it does lead to uh it does lead to additional support. And then tier three for HMS wellness is really one-on-one goal oriented therapy sessions for students. So the therapy sessions that we provide for our students are um it's just like what you would get outside if you went to a private therapist. It is confidential, it is private, we do assessments and we also set goals with the students. And the goals that we set with the students are not my goals per se. Uh it is really what the student needs to work on. And

141we have found that the more the more involved they are in the process of setting the goals, the more motivation they have to achieve those goals. And you know as we work with them, we also include parents uh guardians in that in the assessment process and in the treatment process. And you know when it one of the greatest feelings is when after we work with them the student graduates from therapy and they take the tools that they learned and they can move on. Um yeah and finally that uh we have risk and threat assessment and that is typically performed with administration or our school psychologist uh Don Ronzo uh or uh Jun Gonzalez our counselor. Oh, and this is mine, too. Okay, so this gives you a little visual of the spaces that we have

142created at HMS uh dedicated to wellness. So, I can I'll read it really quick. HMS offers three dedicated wellness spaces in addition to our counselor and psych school psychologist offices. These spaces are designed to provide a supportive environment for meetings and to address students social and emotional needs. The wellness lounge aka the zenzone provides lunchtime relaxation activities. So you'll see the wellness lounge at the top. That is our largest space. That is where the zenzone is uh held. Typically we have about 25 students kept during lunch. And you know sometimes we do have to turn them away in order to keep it a little um more manageable. Uh on the bottom left is our Fox wellness den which is a space that we also uh see families in. we see students in. And finally, the

143wellness counseling office at the bottom right is a newest addition to HMS Wellness. Also, my office space. So, I'm very, very grateful for that. That was a supply closet. All right. My name is Michelle Cota. I'm the assistant principal at Huntington Middle School. Um, I have the unique perspective of I I taught at San Marino High School for eight years and was one of the members of that original cohort of the restorative practice um with Miss Younger. And so I was able to implement some of those practices as a teacher in my 9th, 10th, and 11th grade classrooms. Now obviously in my role as assistant principal um and working towards behavior improvement I've seen the benefit of it in this role as well and also I have a child attending Valentine Elementary and he has

144been the beneficiary of Miss McCelpine and Miss Beaver's extraordinary work. So I have seen the incredible efforts um and I'm so grateful to the board and the district officials for pioneering this at our our district. Um so again we have over the last few years worked with Miss Yner and um the restorative practices that she um spearheads. We initially had her train me many many members of our staff who then became trainers of other staff members and we still see to this day community circles being implemented in classrooms with fidelity. It's a really incredible program. One of our first activities at our back to school um professional development was one of our strongest teachers with regard to community circles led one for our entire staff and it was so wellreceived. Our new teachers were so

145eager to learn from them. They shared resources. Um so even our newer teachers who weren't able to participate in some of those earlier trainings benefited from them. In my role as an administrator, we have shifted from some of those exclusionary practices. Um, Miss Hazes and I have worked really hard to create more restorative measures. As um, Dr. Dr. Deator mentioned current research really indicates that some of those exclusionary practices not only are typically quite inequitably distributed but also very ineffective in moving students towards positive behavior changes. So, what Miss um Hazlet and I have been doing is we've really been there is no one-sizefits-all approach to behavior improvement. And so, we've been really spending the time working with each individual student, looking at their circumstances and context and creating tailormade restorative and instructional um approaches

146to each individual student. We've also incorporated restorative circles for conflict resolution. And something that we've both been really working towards this year is that followup. So, we'll hold the restorative circle with the students who are having difficulty. And then in that meeting, we will schedule a follow-up meeting two to three weeks later to ensure that commitments that have been made are being held to. Um, and I'll say, and again, I'm sure Miss Miss Hazel will be able to echo this, we have seen so few recurrences of negative behavior since we've seen this implemented. So, we're really pleased with the success rate of the measures that we've been putting forth the last few years. I can probably see that better here. What I wanted to also share is some of the additions in terms of safety,

147safety and security and ways we keep them active and engaged or meeting new friends um and not creating their own mischief. Um, so in addition to our clear communication of expectations with all students every fall and spring in PE classes, we go in in the fall and we go in in the spring reminding them of rules and expectations. Um, as well as the fun things that are to come. It's not just a rules assembly. It's a combination. Welcome to HMS or come on, you know, welcome back and reminders if any changes have happened. Um specifics to the site are we've been again benefits of um some grants and some mindful planning. We've added more cameras and we always want more cameras. I've I've been an administrator in many schools and it always feels like they

148find the place where the camera isn't and they do the mischief and we don't have proof. But we have so many amazing cameras now that um it makes the conversation go a lot faster because they know we saw what they did and we can get to the why and what were you thinking and if you were to do it again, you know, all those conversations. So the cameras have been a godsend. Um very very helpful. We've also implemented a policy this year that students must be in after school tutoring support or sports practice or the library or heading home at 3:00 because sometimes we'd had we'd have some shenanigans after school at three and we didn't have supervision, right? I don't pay people after school to monitor the campus. And it was I guess it

149was in place maybe before COVID, but then after we came back from COVID, we really wanted to encourage the kids to chat and get along and make friends again. But I implemented this year um that no, at 3:00, you know, head on to your next adventure. And Miss Cota and I remind the students uh every day at three o'clock in a friendly tone of what they're where what what they're supposed to do and where they're supposed to be. Um, in addition, I just wanted to share some of the things that our ASB, our PTA, our groups on campus spend a lot of time providing our students in terms of engagement. So, our teachers are encouraged and um volunteer their lunches to provide clubs and hangouts so that the students can build friendships with similar interests.

150Our ASB provides opportunities for home room competitions, spirit dressup days, dances, lunchtime events, etc. Our athletics, which is both inter mural and travel. Our arts, which is band, choir, orchestra, art class, and our outdoor education opportunities provide physical and creative outlets and create those social opportunities. Our web team, which are those older brothers and sisters in eighth grade, um supervise the sixth graders and support them through their transitional year at school, which is when um right, it's sixth grade and nth grade are the hardest years, right, when you're transitioning into new schools. And Web does a wonderful job going into sixth grade home rooms on a monthly basis um to interact with the kids, bond with the kids, and help them understand how you do HMS. And then Oops. And that's it. All right. So,

151thank you very much. Okay. Thank you. So, Oh, I cannot speak, Mr. Chang, if you don't want me to. Thank you, President Chang, members of the board, Dr. Delator, cabinet. Um, first I'd like to say how impressed I am with my elementary and middle school colleagues. Those presentations were really amazing. Um, the high school is a little bit of a different animal. We don't deal with a lot of the same issues. In some respects, dealing with older students is a little bit more straightforward. And Miss Alhendi is going to talk quite a bit about what our wellness center does. Um, but I want to just spend a minute um, just kind of talking about what we are doing at the high school when it comes to behavior um, and how much what Tanya is doing

152with the wellness center is working for us. But, um, unlike with younger students, um, California Education Code has a lot of behaviors that are specific usually to older kids that actually do require a mandatory suspension. Um, so there are instances where we have to suspend students. And I'm really proud to say that we have not suspended any students this year. And it's not because we've been told not to suspend them. It's because our students haven't committed any of those uh offenses that would have required us to do that. And I think it's because of all the things that you've heard here tonight. Not just the things that we're doing with the older students at the high school, but because of what our colleagues are doing with the younger students that by the time they get

153to us, they have had a lot of that practice of solving problems before that before they can create them and get into as Miss Hazlet said any shenanigans at the at the high school. Um so some of the things that that we have done I I do I want to mirror a little bit about of what Miss Cota said and also the elementary principles when they talked a lot they use the word needs a lot and I I've been a high school principal for 20 years. I have suspended hundreds if not thousands of students. It has never worked. I'm I'm happy to be in a place now where we recognize that that doesn't work and to look for things that do work. And one of the reasons why is because needs. Um, and when we

154look at all the things that Dr. Richtor talked about academically, when I look at the work that I'm doing with our teachers about grading reform, when we look at what we're doing in the classroom, we always talk about the difference between equality and equity. Equality means treating everybody exactly the same, which rarely works. Equity means treating everybody to what they need. And when it comes to behavior and discipline, following a behavior matrix equally uh doesn't take take into account that perpetrators have different needs and victims have different needs. And so when we have issues that happen at the high school, we want to work with the students and the families to restore the problem so that the problem doesn't keep repeating because a suspension solves the problem for two days and then the student returns

155and the problem is still there. So everything that we are trying to do is geared towards that. We have had um assemblies uh to talk to the students about some of the major issues that affect older students um like technology and cyber bullying. Um Miss Panalora, our assistant principal, and myself, we visit home rooms. Uh we go and talk to the students uh individually in every home room. Uh takes months to do, but the personal conversations are worth it. Um, we do a lot of the tier one stuff in our classrooms. Our teachers know that they're required to handle problems first. They're required to contact parents first before administrators get involved, unless of course it's something really serious, which again we didn't have any of this year. Um, and I can tell you like when

156we ask in an interview when we're hiring new teachers and we ask the question, what's your behavioral plan in your classroom? The answer I'm always looking for is the best behavior plan is an engaged lesson. So all the work that we're doing with uh UDL and uh researchbased instructional pra uh practices and project-based learning keeps students so busy they don't have time for the shenanigans. Um and that is just the simple things that we're doing. But really the real work comes from and we're very lucky I'm very lucky that I have the wellness center on my campus. um and not only have Miss Alhenny but her entire staff of of uh college interns that work with our students on a lot of these issues. So I will turn it over to her. Well, good evening.

157There's been a lot of information shared and I'm very proud to be standing before you. Every year I do typically request to come and speak in front of the board and the community to share all of the wonderful things that are happening throughout the wellness center. This year the year got away from us and so many things were going on. So this is a wonderful opportunity that without request now here I am and I'm able to share this information. So I appreciate all of your time and coming out. So just to talk about the Titan Wellness Center, it's our school-based mental health program for the district. So what that means is we're able to provide the therapy services that much of the community is looking for right on our school campuses in a convenient uh

158easy to access way. So, what you're seeing up there on the slide is just a breakdown of the referrals that we get from the school district and what it looks like. So, even though I'm over at the high school and I'm under Dr. Wolf, we have uh eight different MFTt trainees that come and support us and deliver those mental health services to all of the school sites. So, as each of those different school sites were presenting, the Titan Wellness Center is kind of in the background. every time one of the school districts mentioned that tier three that is really wellness in what we do. Um that is that extra level of just something that oftentimes extends to the parent as well. So as we're talking about behavior issues and things and the school does what

159they can within their frameworks and practices at the school site. Well then there's an additional layer of how can we support the parent. So one of the things that was talked about is suspension or sending kids home. What we find is when we work with those parents who are also recognizing that some of their kids need additional support that they really struggle what do I do when the kid comes home because we don't want to reward but we want to foster that engagement time. So those are some of the things that we do in the wellness center that is just kind of behind the scenes. I think one of the other things that really stood out to me and listening to the parents response is that transparency and sharing all of that information. The Titan

160Wellness Center works because of privacy and confidentiality. And it would be totally inappropriate for re us to put out a list of how many parent issues we dealt with or specific parents or names or infractions or all of those things. It just doesn't seem really to help support the mission that we're all actively trying to engage in because ultimately we want to see all of our students do well and all of our schools do well. So with that being said, it's having conversations, giving feedback, what different things can we provide, and how can we meet the changing, evolving needs of our community, whether you have an address in San Marino or you choose to access this amazing school institution. So it is a privilege for everyone that gets to encounter San Marino Unified, whether you

161work here, whether your students attend here, or whether you're blessed to have a permit so your child goes here. So I think all of these things collectively we are all supporting as a team. So we're doing that in the Titan Wellness Center. So that's why even though we're at the high school, we want to make sure that we are servicing all of our school sites. So you can see the breakdown of the referrals that come from San Marino High School HMS. You see that HMS has an uptick in referrals because we do offer those uh groups. And so that also includes making a referral so we can track what are the needs and the services that we provided. And then you could see the referrals for Valentine at 22 and then the referrals at car

162prefer 28. So those discussions are happening at all of the school sites of who needs that tier three and then then they're referred to us. So the top five reasons for referrals are the different things that are going on with the students that may have led to the referral. Oftentimes we could get a referral that has one thing checked or that has nine things checked. Um, but it's just really us looking at what are some of the reasons that we're getting the referrals and what are some of the things that we can give feedback to the counselors at the school sites to then implement in the classroom, implement in those lessons and have knowledge of. Go to the next. Um, so here as I said I can't see that bar but this is the breakdown

163of basically where we get those referrals. So one of the things I always like to focus on is getting parent direct referrals. I am hoping that parents connect with us, that they see us on the website, word of mouth, they connect with another parent that had a great experience with us. So, that's just a breakdown of kind of where those referrals come from and they're really important. So, as you see, staff is doing the majority of the referrals because they're the ones that are intervening with the students and they're engaging with them when there's an issue or challenge or something that they see. So, one of the things discussed is like outward behaviors, but at San Marina, we also have to be aware of inward behaviors. We also have to be aware of a student

164who was once outgoing and is now quiet. So, there's lots of different reasons, but these are the different folks that make those referrals. So, one of the things that's a little bit different at the high school is we do have friends uh referring friends. And actually, just today we got another friend referring a friend um to the wellness center, which is a wonderful uh opportunity for us to engage with that student. You can click to the next. Did it go? Oh, it did go. Um, so here's the breakdown for Carver and Valentine referrals. So it looks a little bit different. Um, so you see the majority for if you look at Carver, there's those 28 referrals that I spoke of. So 14 came from staff. That could be admin, counselor, it could really be or

165it could be teacher, it could be any staff member, school psychologist, the parent reached out directly requesting services or the Titan Wellness Center, which means that they were connected to us and then we referred them to continue. So then we submit the referral. Every year I erase the referral data. Well, actually I archive it. Um, and then we collect new data. So last year at the end of the school year, we had about 230 referrals for the district. And this year we have, I think it's 252 maybe. So we're definitely on track to surpass that number from last school year. Uh, the Valentine referrals, that's the breakdown is the 15 from staff. as one of the things from Valentine, the majority of those referrals do come from Stacy Beavers, the counselor, through that care team

166process. Um, and then we have some that are direct parent referral and then we have those students that have been ongoing receiving support from us. So, one of the just the new things we're always trying to find different ways to engage and really want to create an opportunity for parents to connect and have that community. So, we want to invite parents um to reach out and ask about challenges. What are the difficulties that you're having with your kids? You did not go to school. Typically, parents did not to learn how to navigate those developmental milestones, but every single person certificated staff member on all of our campuses did. So, it really makes sense that we have those conversations with parents. Parents actually reach out all the time through our generic email, the Titan Wellness Centers

167smusd. Or they email me directly because they found me on the website and they ask, "Hey, can we just connect? Can we just talk about some student behaviors? Can I just kind of see what it is that you're providing?" I also hear a lot from parents about how they've been trying to find a private therapist in the community and has really struggled to find someone. Oftentimes, you can't find anyone in person and so the Titan Wellness Center, we offer that. Um, and that's really valuable to the students because we go to the different school sites to be able to meet with the with the kids and then also with the parents. The other side of that is I'll also find parents who have that private therapist in the community and they have no idea what

168is going on with their child in therapy. They don't have any meetings with the therapist. They don't know what the goals are and they're very kept separate from the process and therefore the parent is kind of not sure how it is that they could support their child to meet their therapeutic needs. Here we do things different. We are all about focusing on that parent collaboration. How could we build the bond between the child and parent so that way they can have communications as uh Pen said, then we can graduate them from therapy and then they're off their own and they have a stronger relationship. So because we see all of these things, we offered this parent consultation coming up this summer. It was new. So we sent out that flyer and immediately we had quite

169a response. So much so, uh, we're sold out. Um, and then even today, we were continuing to get people to sign up for that. I don't remember if there's another slide about it. Okay, no, go back. Um, so this was really exciting for us because we were just hoping some of my trainees because some of their clients were going to be going off on vacations and not around in the summer, but we still stay open at the Titan Wellness Center. What an awesome opportunity to invite parents that would just like to sit down, chat about their students behaviors, get some, you know, just have a conversation, connect, ask school questions, whatever it would be. So, we put together this flyer and sent it out and then sure enough, it was really quick. I think we

170ended up within like the first two days with like 20 referrals. And when you check multiple sessions, and I think we said like one through three, three is multiple, that's 60 hours of time that we're going to be sitting with parents to support them. So I think in the end today, I want to say we had about 25. And so depending on the situation, we're going to try and squeeze them in. But it's such a beautiful opportunity for us to connect with parents to support them in their goal of trying to parent their child in this difficult time. Some of the issues that was brought up by PEN that we see it's that stress navigating social relationships students on their cell phones but still feeling isolated and how to navigate when that child is not

171returning your bids for emotional connection when you're saying tell me about something that happened at school it was fine and they have nothing else to say. So those are some of the things that we are addressing. And when you have a stronger connection in the home, then you perform better at school. You have less discipline issues. So it really is a whole holistic um thing that we're trying to do here, which does include parent support. So I appreciate you coming out tonight, not only just to speak and share your thoughts and feelings or concerns that you had, but then to stay and hear all of the wonderful things that we're doing as a district. So thank you very much. Thank you. Any question? Oh, just want to thank Dr. director and um each of the

172four sites for presenting and thank you so much for the um kind of end of the year but kind of a closer look at each of the stages because we have been in implementation evaluation and next steps for a couple of years and so what a wonderful job to arrive at platinum okay so that's pretty awesome so thank you so much Dr. Richtor, I just may I want to thank our sites, our parents, our students, our teachers, everyone. This is not an easy lift and it's taken a few years to really bring these programs and the success of these programs to where we are today. And it's beautiful to see that a really umbrella multi-tered systems of support. We have the whole child. We have academic, social, emotional, and behavioral um needs addressed, but also

173uh the vertical articulation of programs from elementary to high school is key. Yes. You're building a solid foundation that those students carry with them from elementary to middle school to high school. And along each metriculation, they're gaining more and more tools that help them navigate through life. So, thank you for all the work that each and every one of you do. Yeah. and really um onwards to college and in life and so thank you Tanya. Thank you everyone. So Dr. W let me share with you how we have the Titan awareness because I think the I was just about to thank you but now you're going to tell it. Okay. So eight years ago, yeah the one of the student board sitting there and Justin Chen. So he he uh come out idea talk to

174the school board said we we need have a awareness center to re relax. You know because the Sanino is a high academic uh the school. So then uh we say okay. So then uh we we visit the the two school board and the the previous superintendent. Then we visit uh particip high school and also diamond bar high school. So we we we see the how they have on the awareness center and then come back you know I I I I tell you when we build this tool we did not use any uh public uh taxpayer money. Yeah. because this money also donate by school board and also come from the uh school foundation and a partner awareness. So after we establish actually you know the the I think two year. So we we we we

175know the one of uh the Diamond Bar high school uh stu uh the senior they graduate they they study in the uh John Hopskin and then he suicides. So was a big news and and later I think we also have one in uh the pass away in Colombia. So you so you know the how much you know the school district that pay attention about this issue and uh with the small school district this way. Yeah, we don't have a funding but uh we depends on you know the donation and and finally we build up uh you know the this two and we are able just they said the the vertical you know the service the referral. Yeah. So, so I I I think this also a a a example a story you know the how

176important uh right now this society you know the we we we need awareness center not just for student I think also for the parent you know or maybe for for the school boy and and staff. Yeah. You know what? If I could just add one more thing just and I I meant to mention this. So, Dr. Deator, I loved how you kind of reviewed the funding and for any parent who's not really sure kind of what that looks like for San Marino, it's so important to understand how minimal the funds are that come in. And when Dr. Deator was talking about those teachers and staff members that got rifted, I was one of them. And fortunately, I'm still here. And so the way actually the district is managed like the budget and trying to make

177sure that there is that money available is really phenomenal. Um and it's it's kind of hard to understand because we think of San Marino that there's a subfluency but it is really the way that school districts are funded. And I know because I came from other school districts that had tons of money because they had these special categories that we just don't have here. And so really appreciation is to the foundation, to PFA, to PTSA and the community for contributing because that is what really does allow so many staff members to be here and to provide all of this support across the board. So I just think it's it's worthy of noting that that's it's really important to understand that because on its surface, it's really hard to kind of grasp how we struggle with

178that ongoing funding. So anytime there is a measure or something to vote, it's so critical that we do so so we can stay San Marino and have our own unified school district. Okay. Thank you for your presentation. We need to catch up. Okay. And the next is 11B uh major M update. Dr. Choy. Thank you, President Chang and members of the board, superintendent delator executive team and members of the SMUSD community. I'm pleased to provide this evening's update on the progress of our Measure M facilities program. Since the appointment of our bond program manager, CJ Nolan, we have made significant progress in laying the groundwork for the successful implementation of Measure M. CJ has been actively engaged with district staff, visiting and touring all four school sites to gain a firsthand understanding of their current

179conditions. In addition to these site visits, he has conducted a thorough review of the FMP, the facilities master plan, and has worked collaboratively with staff to understand not only the immediate needs, but also the long-term goals for the facilities. Earlier today, CJ played a leadership role in facilitating a bond prioritization study session with the board of education. And during the session, CJ emphasized a critical strategy for maximizing the impact of Measure M funds by strategically reducing expenditures related to cost escalation and interim housing. By carefully planning the sequencing of projects and minimizing the need for costly interim housing, we can ensure that more of the measure M funds are directed toward meaningful and lasting improvements to our campuses. The study session also provided a valuable opportunity to engage in a thoughtful discussion of how we

180should prioritize projects as we as we move forward. Also in attendance at the session included our school principles, uh the executive team and staff, uh our SMUSD facilities advisory committee chair, uh Jeff Morris, and CJ guided the group through key considerations, um including how to achieve immediate impact by focusing on early or design ready projects, bundling projects efficiently, and limiting classroom and site disruptions during construction activities. CJ also shared recommendations that prioritize student facility needs and proposed a cadence of phased modernizations that balance immediate improvements with long-term planning. CJ explored a bell curve pattern uh approach for the bond issuances which takes into account the legal requirement that bond proceeds must be expended within three years of issuance. The strategy is designed to effectively manage cash flow while aligning the timing of design work, project

181phasing and construction to ensure that there are smooth and efficient roll out of projects. The second part of the study session focused on financial planning with Chant Wang from Keyent Financial Advisors and Kristen Gar from Piper Sandler. Both Chat and Kristen provided insights on current interest rates, the district's credit ratings, and factors that would influence bond issuances. Chat also reminded the board that the district has an outstanding certificates of participation debt, which could be paid off using Measure M funds. As part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, I want to highlight that the recording of today's board study session will be available on the SMUSD YouTube channel for the community to view. Additionally, we'll continue to provide regular updates uh on our dedicated MeasureM latest update web page, ensuring that our community remains informed about

182the progress and planning of our facilities improvement program. Looking ahead, here are our next steps. At the next board of education meeting on May 27th, we will present two resolutions for approval. The 202526 tax levy resolution and the issuance resolution. Both resolutions are required for the district to receive bond proceeds. I will conclude my report by saying it is an exciting time as we transition from Azure M planning to implementation. We are committed to providing safe, modern, and highquality learning environments for all of our students. Thank you for your continued support and your partnership. Thank you, Dr. Cho. Uh next, let's go to the 12 action item. A world literature ethnic study course recommendation uh is Dr. Richtor. Okay. Thank you, President Chang, members of the board, superintendent, Dr. Deator, and executive cabinet. Item 12A

183is the approval of San Marino High School's world literature and ethnic studies course that's being presented tonight as an action item. An overview of the proposed curriculum was recommended for adoption and presented to the board as an information item for public hearing at the April 22nd regularly scheduled public board meeting. Staff would like to once again thank our teachers at the high school, our parents, and our students who all participated and were highly instrumental in the development of this comprehensive and relevant curriculum. This evening, SNAP is bringing this item back to the board as an action item with a recommendation that the board take action to adopt the proposed world literature and ethnic studies course as shown here on the on the screen. Okay. Uh I think this today is a second reading, right? That

184is correct. So it's also is a take action. Correct. Okay. Do do you have any question? Have there been any significant changes since the last time we saw it? There have been no changes at all and no input or feedback from the community and the teachers were very pleased with it right in their piloting as we heard. Yes, they were very pleased and our students were the students who were on the committee were very excited um to have this course next year. Our parents were also I move to approve. Okay. Any second? Second. Uh no call. I miss I Mrs. Mr. Lamb I uh Mrs. Ryan I Mrs. Gear I Mr. Chen I motion carry uh next uh B proposed 2025 26 board of education meeting date after the rhetoric. Yes. Thank you, President Chain,

185members of the board of education. Um, you should have up on the screen of the proposed 20256 board of education meeting dates. Um, do you have any questions? Any recommended edits to the list that you see before you or would you like me to go through each one? You can briefly briefly. Okay. So, okay. I have a no and I have a yes. Uh, it's pretty much modeled up the same that we had this year. Um, so there are no meetings in July. There's only one meeting in November, one meeting in December. Um, any questions? Any question? February, one meeting. It's just like this year. Yeah. Move to approve. Any second? I still looking. Okay. Yes. Second one. um where we have breaks like the February break um December winter break there's only one meeting

186Second. Okay. Uh, roll call. Mr. Song I. Mrs. Lan. I. Mrs. Ryan. I. Mrs. Gar. I. Mr. Chen. I. Motion carried. Thank you. Okay. Uh, C. Declaration of a need for fully qualified educator. Uh Dr. Ros. All right. Thank you, President Chang. Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Delatoran, executive cabinet. The declaration of need is an annual document required by an employing local education agency as a prerequisite to the issuance of any emergency permit and/or limited assignment permit for that agency. At this time, we do have a few certificated openings, and while we are extremely confident those positions will be filled, this would allow us a safety net in the case of an emergency. It is recommended that the board approve and authorize the district to submit the declaration of need for the 2526 school year.

187Any question? If not, uh I I need have a motion. So moved. Any second? Second. Roll call. Mr. Song. Hi. Uh, Mrs. Adam. I. Mrs. Ryan. I. Uh, Mrs. Gear. I. Mr. Chen. I. Motion carry. Next. Uh, superintendent discussion item. Well, I just like to say I'm very happy tonight because a lot of audience. So, I'm not lonely. Yeah. like before. So I think this a productive uh nine. Uh I think uh if no more comment I just join meeting. Yeah. Thank you. Good night.