001of education will come to order. As is our practice, this meeting will be recorded. The board provides remote access for members of the public and welcomes community members joining in person and remotely. The board is following the requirements of Senate Bill SB77, which enables remote participation by board members only under specific circumstances. We use simultaneous interpretation in Spanish for those attending virtually through the end of public comment. Translation will continue further into the meeting if people are utilizing the channel. Thank you to our interpreters Anna Cruz and Kimberly Ldios for joining us remotely. For meeting attendees wishing to access the Spanish translation channel on Zoom, please click on the interpretation button on the menu bar. If uh we ask speakers to be mindful of the Spanish interpretation and to speak slowly and clearly. Item 1B
002is the approval of the agenda. Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? Thank you. There's a motion to approve the agenda made by Trusty Gerard and a second by Trusty O'Neal. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed say no. The motion passes with the vote of 70 and the agenda for tonight's meeting has been approved. Item two is public comment. Guidelines for public comment are available on the SMCE website and in board docs and on the table outside the boardroom in both English and in Spanish. For speakers who require Spanish interpretation, our interpreters, Miss Grus and Miss Larios, will interpret following each speaker's comments. At this time, members of the public may provide comments for topics not included on the
003approved agenda. Please note that the County Board of Education does not act upon any matter that not that has not been agendaized except under limited circumstances as permitted by law. It is the policy of the county board to refer matters raised in this forum to the superintendent for investigation and or action where appropriate. Uh, Superintendent Chavez, do we have any comments submitted prior to the meeting for topics not on the approved agenda? >> We do. Uh, we did receive an email uh this afternoon um from Tracy Banaduche. Um, she's a school psychologist and I'll uh read a summary of it. Um, the email expresses appreciation for the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission's presentation on the Hillrest program on April 22nd. um while also raising concerns about the report's uh methodology. Uh Tracy is a
004psych psychologist and behaviorist who previously worked at Hillrest for four years uh and notes that the data presented uh relied entirely on student perspectives and suggests that the study would have been more balanced if it also included input from educational and probation staff. Uh she emphasizes uh the strong supports uh provided to students by school staff and credits staff care and commitment as contributing factors to students resilience. Uh the email encourages board members to continue to visit Hillrest uh firsthand, meet with the students and staff, observe classrooms and supports um and gather additional information to gain a fuller understanding of the program's positive aspects. Um and so we'll submit to the her entire email to you. >> Thank you. Um speakers are invited to make live comment and will have three minutes to speak. Please
005keep within the time limits. To make a comment over Zoom, members of the public may use the raise hand feature. Instructions for using this feature are provided as an attachment in the board packet. Once your hand is raised, please wait to be acknowledged by Superintendent Chavez. Uh Superintendent Chavez, are there any members of the public attending remotely who wish to make a comment at this time? No raised hands. >> Thank you. Uh members of the public may also provide live comment in person. Do we have any submitted cards? >> No sub submitted cards. >> Thank you. Uh public comment addressing a specific agenda item will be heard after the board's discussion on the item. If members of the public wish to speak to a specific agenda item, please use the raise hand feature when the
006item is announced or if in person, submit a card in advance of the item. Cards can be found on the table outside the boardroom and given to a staff member when completed. For item 3A, is there a motion to approve the minutes of the April 22nd, 2026 regular board meeting as presented? Is there a second? Thank you. There's a motion to approve the minutes of the April 2020 April 22nd, 2026 regular board meeting made by Trusty O'Neal and a second by Trusty Gerard. Is there any further discussion? >> All those in favor say I. >> I. All those opposed say no. The motion passes with a vote of 70 and the minutes of the April 2020 oh my gosh the April uh 2026 regular board meeting have been approved. Item four is the consent agenda.
007The consent agenda is not debatable and requires a unanimous vote for passage. An item may be removed from the consent agenda and placed on the regular order of business for separate discussion and action if any member of the board, the superintendent or the public so requests. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? Thank you. Uh there is a motion to approve the consent agenda made by Trustee Alvaro and a second by trustee Lev. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. All those opposed say no. The motion passes with a vote of 70 and the consent agenda has been approved. Um for item 5A, Mafoula Fairley, coordinator district improvement and support educational services division will introduce Latrice Bennett, head of
008school Oxford Day Academy, also known as ODA to provide the annual report from ODA uh coordinator Fairley. Doesn't sound like it. Why don't you use this? Try this. Oh, there. I see. >> Okay, now I think it is. Oh, there we go. >> Did I start over? I haven't said anything of real import yet. Um, I was just mentioning that I one of my duties is to lead the oversight of Oxford Day Academy. And this evening, um, the outgoing head of school is here along with the incoming head of school to give you their annual report um on the school. So, you don't mind if I just Okay. Okay. Good evening, President Board, board president Torres, members of the board, and superintendent Chavez. Latrice Bennett here again for our annual, I like to say, rendevous
009to just give you the report for um just programming for Oxford Day Academy for the 2526 school year. Uh, and as Miffila has mentioned, I'll jump right into Oh, is it this one? Yes. Clicking to my final farewells. It has truly been a privilege and honor to serve at East Colalto where I'm born and raised for the past nine years. Uh, the community and Oxford Day Academy in whole. Uh and I am deeply deeply grateful for Nancy McGee and her leadership and oversight as she led us through changes in leadership um and transparency reports just to provide that oversight and lays on support to us. Uh and yeah, I'm grateful although goodbyes are sad. Um I'm thankful and excited for the journey ahead. I'll be around. I'll be in within orbit. So, uh, with that,
010I'd like to introduce to you, um, Oxford Day Academyy's new, uh, new newly appointed head of school for the 2627 school year, Jimmy Aguilar, and he can introduce himself. >> Yeah, good evening. I'm very happy to be here. My name is Jimmy Aguilar, the incoming head of school for Oxford Day Academy. U, I am also from East Palo Alto. Uh, grew up here in Redwood City, but halfway through my schooling, moved out to East Palo Alto, and then have lived there um, ever since. very very excited to be able to overlap with Miss Bennett. She's been an amazing mentor um answering all of my questions as I'm stepping into this new role and very excited for what lies ahead for ODA. >> All right. Uh we'll begin with the 2025 2026 focus areas. Um, Miss
011Bennett will do a deeper dive into satellite data versus street data. Um, basically the narrative um that we see on the ground day-to-day at ODA in East Palo Alto. Um, we'll touch a little bit about EL attendance and truency. Um, pieces on continued academic intervention and we'll end with developing highly qualified teachers. Um, building within versus recruiting out. Okay. So, uh again, we've been doing this for a few years now, really developing our satellite data versus our street data. Really about, uh the story the state data tells versus the story that the whole story presented for our students that um just other data points tell as well. Uh and so we are um looking to continue to increase student performance in ELA and math. We do show an upward trend in that. um our and
012we'll get into it a little bit later, but our e um truency and attendance continue to impact that data a little bit. Uh the street data tells us that um again truency is continuing to impact the academic progress in graduation rates. Uh and so the driving question for 2526 was how can we effectively address truency attendance retention while ensuring that students are making academic progress. Uh and so this continues to be our focus point going into 2627 as you'll see because um it is something that we are really trying to aggressively uh handle in terms of getting students back to school uh as they drop out to to to help meet uh social economic needs of their families. uh and trying to figure out a way to recognize that as a real issue and at
013the same time uh provide some type of solution to where they are able to return to school and finish their schooling program with us. Uh and again going deeper into the newcomer attendance and truency updates. So our 2425 data did highlight a decrease in truency. Uh we hired a liaison uh to work specifically to get our truent um newcomers back to school and we did show an increase in that attendance and a decrease in their truency and the 2526 data continues to show that decrease in truency uh with the current trend down to 20%. However, that truency is still impacting our state data and our graduation cohort data. Uh so we're making little chunks but we're trying to you know going into the 26 27 and 27 28 really aggressively attack that uh that that
014point of um strain yeah our challenge for ODA uh the 2425 graduation rate also was impacted by the truency uh and as well as our dashboard data our continued academic interventions we continue to do the four tier curriculum packets that really target high achieving students to uh students that require more uh structure and need. Our CCSS NGSS aligned curriculum is still ongoing. Um our response to intervention to really help bridge the gaps between um where students should be for 9th and 10th math and ELA versus where they are and where they coming into. Uh and so we continue to partner with our neighboring Boys and Girls Club to provide strategic um response to intervention for math uh in this area and they've been such so gracious to continue this programming with us uh so that
015we can implement it into our bell schedule and student schedule um to really see that response intervention in real time and how it's helping our students. Our ELD programming shift and rebuilding, I'm really excited for Mr. Aguilar to come in. That's his background. uh to be able to come in and really shift our ELD department uh and to see some progress moving forward um in our language acquisition and reclassification of our students. Uh equitable access to curriculum and content for all learner subgroups continues to be part of our um academic invention intervention as well as our extended learning opportunities. So summer learning opportunities that uh address both high achieving so both ends of the spectrum. We provide internships um international trips for our higher uh higher achieving that are looking to explore as well as
016some of our um high needs that can attend the international trips but as well as our intervention for um the students that just require more support um and we want to ensure that there's no learning loss over the summer so we have a continued programming into the summer uh for our developing our highly quality thank you I keep forgetting to switch the other developing our highly qualified um teachers. So, it's always been of our mind to build within as opposed to resource out. And so, uh we partnered with Reach University and San Franc San Francisco State University to um pay for our teachers to be credentialed. So, we've we've established our own um credentiing pathway within our school. So, we now have four fully credentialed teachers and we will have additional fully qualified teacher by
017the end of 2027. and we have two more onboarding to reach this summer. So, it's a nice little pathway that continues to grow. Um, and we're excited about being able to build from within uh to, you know, eventually move up into administrative positions if they'd like. Um, but we we firmly believe in just building within because our teachers are so familiar with our very unique instructional model. Uh, and so it just lends itself so well to our programming overall. >> Yeah. And then um sort of um exploring the induction program also is something that I'm really passionate about. I've been in contact with Stacy um to sort of get information about um the induction program here at Sato County Office of Ed um to continue this pathway for the teachers beyond um uh Ree University
018uh the two years of induction. So something that we'll be continuing to explore. >> Once upon a time ago, I went through induction through Santo County. So I Yep. So I would guess you call me a pilot. Um yeah it uh we continue to offer extracurriculars to our students in the form of sports um as well as speech and debate um Spanish debate which was a newest addition. Uh we actually uh was able to get our debate league to include uh debate in espanol as an actual event that our students can uh attend and debate and they actually can travel um out of state to to contend for titles which is really cool. Moot court and internships. All of our students are 11th and 12th graders are um mandated to have summer internships to help
019them um complete their impact project that they have to complete for senior year which is more so like a community service but with more intentionality 100 hours that they have to complete with the impact symposium that is actually slated to take place in a couple weeks for our graduating seniors. So, this continues to be our programming for extracurricular to really help them uh to help strengthen their post-secary options whether it be college or career. Continued community partnership and engagement. So, we continue to do the community of practice with the neighboring high schools uh for post-secary options and uh for all learner subgroups. And that really is just um focusing on our students that we are seeing opt in for the two-year college after um high school and making sure they have strong pathways going into
020those colleges and they know exactly what they want to do or they have an idea and they can help. We help them get through the financial aid process as well. And we have a continued partnership with Kinyatta College that really helps to streamline that process for post-secary um just metriculation into the two-year community. uh making sure our students, especially those that are undocumented, understand the processes and what will be required of them. Um continuing partnerships with Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, uh with the Valley Urban Debate League, and continue partnerships with Stanford University, youth United for Community Action, Canopy and Epicenter. Now, the fun part. This is our demographic data for our I have to keep clicking this one. Hold on. There we go. So, this is the class of 2026. 99% of
021our students identify as Latinx, 1% um Asian-American, Indian-American. Uh there's 87% of our seniors on track to graduate this year. 100% of those graduating seniors obviously have the two-year um and career path post-secondary options and 75% of our students have the fouryear option and 100% of those that have applied which would be the 75% have been accepted to at least two of their colleges. Um, so all of our course programming is A throughG um aligned. And so once our students finish that course programming, they are automatically eligible for four-year um college acceptance. And so we walk them through that strenuous process come fall. Uh, and so our SELKs work so hard with our students to make sure that they understand again everything that will be required for them because a lot of our students are
022undocumented. uh will have to go through a different process than the traditional collegegoing college attending student um in this country. So we pay close attention to that. Uh which leads us to our newcomer data. 20% of ODA graduating seniors are newcomers and 90% of our seniors are firstgen collegebound. And again these are just some of the schools that our students continue to be accepted to. Again, we are seeing a trend that students even though they're accepted into these colleges are opting for the two-year. They're opting for uh the state schools and to be a commuter student just because finances um the cost of college these days is just skyrocketing and you know just current um state of our country. Students are opting to do either the two-year or stay closer to home and commute. But
023yeah, these continue to be the colleges our students are accepted into. We're so happy for them that they actually have collegegoing options because that's part of our commitment to them and their parents and to our community. And so we continue to uphold that. Okay. And then our 25 26 highlighted celebrations. So again, 12% of our newcomer truent students return to school. Um we had two teacher candidates fully qualified through our pipeline. And for our 2022 graduation cohort data, it's reported that 76% of that cohort will be graduating from their four-year college in 2026. So, our college retention um and completion rate continues to be pretty strong. Awesome. And I'll present a little bit about what you can um expect for me in the 2020 2026 2027 school year. um some opportunities that were highlighted for
024the team that came and visited ODA and offered some feedback um to us. Uh we'll continue to um really pay close attention to the street data as well as the satellite data that we'll receive from dashboards and things like that. Uh state testing. Um really a strong focus on multi- language learner, academic and attendance support. That's our largest subgroup. We really want to continue to pay close attention to those trends for that subgroup and allocate resources to support that subgroup. Uh point number three, strengthening operational and administrative systems. Uh we'll continue with our business operation manager, our director of operations at ODA to make sure that all the paperwork um really the big bucket is special education. Um making sure that everything is up to date. um especially when we're receiving newcomer students or students
025from other high schools. Um making sure that we're collecting those files and and everything is is up to date. And point number four, recruitment and retention. Continuing um this ODA pipeline that we like to call um to make sure that our that our teachers are happy at ODA and are feeling supported at ODA so that they can stay with us at ODA. And that concludes our presentation and we open it up for questions this time. >> Thank you. Are there comments or questions from the board? Trusty Alvaro. >> Thank you. Thank you for this report again. Um Miss Bennett, I want to thank you for your leadership the past several years. You've done a great job with the school and Mr. Aguilar. Looking forward to working with you. Latrice, I'll miss you. It's been really
026a nice partnership having you there. I I do have one specific question. You talked about your truency numbers, especially with newcomers, right? So, how much do you think the the political climate is affecting I know what we see in the public schools is that there's kids who aren't coming to school because they don't feel safe. It's not that they don't feel safe at school, they don't feel safe leaving the house. So, how much do you think that's affecting your truency numbers? And I know you're you're working to address that, but you know, >> absolutely. It's a it's an issue that we raised with our board beginning of the school year. I think even maybe towards the end of last school year, uh where there were a number of raids that were reported to be scheduled
027to be happening actually in East Palto. uh we were just part of this underground coalition that kept us a breast of the updates and we were able to inform our parents and our community. However, um we're fighting the public panic as well as misinformation that happens on different social media platforms. Um, and so we try to present as much truth and facts to our parents and community as we can to kind of mitigate a little bit of that panic and fear that happens through the misinformation or or just the very outputs of information that they're receiving. Um, and that's helped a bit to continue to get our our regular regularly attending students to school. We did see a drop in their attendance a little bit for maybe a couple weeks. Um but when we just
028we partnered with some community orgs to get the the latest data out um and we kept that really clear and present and um consistent for our parents to understand that their students were safe. Uh we also um gave them a specific route to get to school using the public transportation. There's a program um or initiative where students can actually schedule the rides. So we encouraged parents to have students schedule rides literally from house to school. Uh and so some of those initiatives have helped to kind of um create stability with our attendance and our truency. Uh but it's still impacted very much so. Um, but our our the main I think the root cause of the truency really is just the social socioeconomic need of of that subgroup to work uh and provide what's called
029like a like whatever fee that was paid for them to come over, they have to pay that back to whoever they're living with. um that continues to be when we make the phone calls and collect the data. That continues to be the number one reason why students um opt to just go to work because they have to pay that um that fee that they owe or else things happen is what they tell us. And so uh we're just working with our truency liaison to create a plan for them to be able to return to school. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Other comments or questions from the board? Trusty Lep. >> Yeah, thank you. And uh I want to echo um Trusty Alvaro's comments. It's been wonderful having you here and welcome to
030Missilar. Um you mentioned in your comments something about students who maybe need extra supports, aren't getting to participate in some of the special programs that you're known for like the travel and such. Like how do you address that? Because those are the things that make the program special. and if you need more help, it's kind of you're being punished from the opportunities that are available. And so I'm just curious how you addressing that. >> Sure. Um, so actually, so when we're looking at some of the enrichment programmings, especially like our international trips, we always base it first on who's actually legally able to travel. Um, and once we have that, we don't actually determine anything else from the for the arrangement trips based on like if they're a sped student or a different kind of
031learner. We actually make sure to include all learner groups for the enrichment trips. Um, however, if a student is has like failed a couple classes and needs to retake that in the summer and it coincides with a trip, then they just our priority is for them to recover and make sure they're on track to graduate. We've had instances though where we've made a deal with a student to finish recovery work sooner so that they could attend, you know, the trip that they were actually slated to attend, especially if it's an international trip. And then the students that can't legally travel internationally, we make sure that they are available and costs are covered for them to tra to travel to places like Los Angeles or Southern California to attend our SoCal college tour trips so that
032they have some exposure outside of East Palto. Um, and so I may have misspoke. I'm not I'm not sure when I said that there the high need students don't get the opportunities. They definitely do, but we obviously prioritize the need of credit recovery and making sure they've passed their classes. Uh, but we do work with them to ensure that they also have access to the enrichment programs and things of that nature. Yeah. >> Thank you, Trusty Gerard. >> Um, yes. Hi. It's so nice to see you again. Um, and we always enjoy having you here. We'll miss you, but welcome. Um, you talked about the extracurricular activities and there was really a a nice long list of them and you talked about um, internships and I was wondering what kind of internships um, are the
033students offered. So, we actually partner with a couple of organizations to ensure that they will hold spots for our students to be able to go and um apply for their internship program. So, that's the Boys and Girls Club, Youth United for Community Action, which is a studentled grassroots uh community building um effort uh programming in East Pal, which is right around the corner from us. They work on things like um policy for the comm for the community um water equity for the community. Really, really great things. Uh we also have um Hope Horizon, which is literally within walking distance. They also reserve spots for our students to be able to become tutors for um lower grade students to teach them math and ELA skills as well or front desk reception skills uh to really focus
034on both you know um career and college post-secondary options uh to make sure they have experience in those things as well. Food, our Silicon Valley Urban Debate League, also hold reserves um internship opportunities at their own partner organizations, whether it's Google, Meta, um some law firms that our students also have access to. So, it's pretty differentiated um in terms of the internships they're interested in. Students will also opt to find one that they're act that's better suits their own interest. Uh and so, obviously, we encourage them to do that as well. Um and then some students will will opt to even work with us um at ODA during the summer just to whether it's you know helping teach ELD courses uh obviously as like student teachers um or you know just doing some work around
035the office to get you know again like career experience that will do that as well. Um we partnered with Canopy who was really into like the agriculture and and you know tree equity around you know he's Paul Alto and Paul Alto and so we've had students also uh internship there as well. So yeah there's a wide variety whatever that we really try to pair it with whatever the students are interested in. Um obviously we're very small so we're able to gather that feedback very quickly in terms of student interest and make sure that we meet that need that way. And did you say there were 23 students graduating this year or >> 24? Yes. >> And when is your graduation? I usually >> graduation is Yes. Your invitation is coming next week. Our graduation is
036June 4th, >> Thursday at 5:30 p.m. You will get your invitations. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Other comments or questions from the board. >> Trusty Adios. Well, I also want to join everybody saying thank you for all the work that you've done and uh for the presentation too and welcome Mr. Aguilad. Um I think it just uh following what uh was asked about the opportunities is there any um first of all how many students in your school >> about so targeted about like 100 115 right now we're a little underenrolled at 88 >> because I don't know if there's any opportunities of seeing like uh um career and technical education coming into your programming uh or joining others that do provide that. I know that uh it takes you know >> a lot
037to to provide that. Um and I hear about your truency but uh I also have heard how much um has other programs have helped their community of uh students when that's offered because it's an interest of the students and and that actually when they leave right they leave with the skills that will probably support them with finding that employment as I hear is one of the biggest need um so that's one of my questions what are you thoughts about that. >> Great question. Yes, as you all know, CTE pathway and programming in a at a school site takes a lot of resources and allocations in terms we have you have to have a CTE credential teacher um as well as like space for the instructors to come. And so, um we actually opt to do
038concurrent enrollment CTE pathways for our students. Um and so because concurrent enrollment has worked so well with for our students in terms of them just being able to select when they go to the college courses. Uh if we have a student that is interested in a career pathway, we often will um encourage them to look at a CTE pathway at Kenyatta to complete that before they graduate college. But it does happen concurrently as opposed to a dual enrollment um CTE pathway style at the site level. >> Exactly. Okay. Well, thank you. And then my second question is um great presentation, a lot of information. I was just wondering any information about family engagement and the opportunities you give in your school for families to engage with. >> Yes, our families engage. We have um our
039ELAC group. We have our school site council and our studentran uh parent engagement group that we that all um have input in um what happens at the school dayto day. uh they've had a little more input than than than you than usual, I guess I'll say. And the this this year's LCAP, that was one of the pieces of feedback that we got from our annual site visit. So, we made sure to include parent groups when um at an I guess more intimate level when creating and establishing goals for the LCAP for next year. Uh and they help with, you know, planning events. um they will shop their own field trips and we have a monthly a bimonthly parent meeting that they attend >> by monthly. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Other comments or
040questions from the board? >> Trusty left. >> Yeah. I just wanted to follow up. Um you said you're at about 88 students now and your target is >> uh for this year I think it was 99. >> Oh, okay. So, is this impacting finances and a bit and >> Yes, it is. Fully >> staffed. We were in some deficit spending this year, but we are pretty frugal and we were able to build a pretty strong reserve. Uh, and so we are just doing a little bit of that spending, but keeping it uh keeping it again pretty conservative. We've planned for a conservative budget going into uh 2627 to be able to just um navigate what might be another low enrollment year as Jimmy continues to just build enrollment back up. We have decided to target
041um our recruitment and and retention also is talking about our students and making sure that when students come to Oxford Day Academy, they fully understand the program that they're coming into. I think um the root cause of some of our transfer students is their parents want a small school. They love the programming, but students really want a bigger school. Uh and so parents ultimately give into that. And what and the trend is the the parents will give into that. we don't see them for a year and then mid year, junior year, they they want to come back because they find that they couldn't they couldn't hack it in the in the bigger schools. And so, uh, we've shifted our admissions, um, protocol this year a bit or a process, I'll call it, where, um, the
042students once they apply and they're admitted, they have to attend, um, just a school tour and they also have to do what we call like a mock tutorial with me or with Jimmy, which they just basically answer PIQ style some questions about themselves. We hold a tutorial uh and we kind of gauge the students interest to and really explain to them our philosophy about learning uh what they can expect from Oxford Academy um and making sure they understand they're coming into a space that is intentionally small so that we can customize their learning for whatever they need it or for however they need it. And so because of that process, we can we can now guarantee that all students coming into Oxford A Academy understand exactly where they're coming into um even as far as
043you know our split campuses and how everything's everything operates. Nothing is a surprise. And so um we do believe that that that will help to target some of that transfer out rate um because students are very much aware of the space and the program they're coming into. I think that answers your question, but if it didn't, you can ask another Yeah. Yeah, in addition to that, my background is K8. Um, so looking forward to leveraging my relationships with the families and the trust that the families already have in me in the community um for recruitment efforts. >> Thank you, Trusty Benini. >> Thank you. Um, thank you both for the presentation and um for your time with the school. Um, my questions, I have a couple. Um, my first one has to do with professional
044development. I'm just curious um if you do that mostly in house or if you have partnerships with um the with Sequoia Union or whether you do some of that um with the county office with things that are offered here. I'm just curious about how you support your teachers in that. >> Sure. In the past, we've partnered with the county um with some of like the PBL efforts that was being made u the PBIS as well. Um I say that right? PBS PBS >> yeah that's like a programming station too right PBS but yes or PBIS uh implementation MTSS uh the county does uh collaborate with us on those efforts uh we typically handle professional development inhouse or with um our reach partners as well as our Oxford um university partners because our instructional model is
045actually um based on the Oxford tutorial method we actually have um folks alongside Oxford University, one of the 36 colleges that will actually um come in and do some summer professional development with our teachers, especially our newer teachers. Um, but we have a we have a allocated position to curriculum and content developer uh position that actually works pretty closely with our teachers throughout the year. >> Okay, great. That sounds amazing. Um and then my second question has to do just with um I guess administrative um tasks and other things you mentioned um giving parents information about um you know concerns around um immigration issues and such. Do you use the services of the county office for that as well? Do you partner? Do you ask for support in that area or anything to do administratively
046that you're supporting students behind the scenes? Um, I think I understand your question. Are you asking do we collaborate with the county in order to maybe communicate some of that information to parents or >> maybe not? Well, yes, could be communication, but just if you have um inquiries about um how to proceed or policies or things like that, do you use uh our office as a resource? Oh, um, yes, not probably not as much as we could, but, uh, the county does a great job of sending out, I think, weekly newsletters and just, um, updates on, uh, trends in the area and policies that are being updated. And so, we use that as well to inform our students, um, as well as just other community partners that will also give us that information. >> Okay,
047great. And then my last question is um uh can you remind us when the next cycle for authorization is because I don't remember. >> Yeah, I believe it's the 2728 school year. >> Okay. >> So, in about two years. >> Okay. >> Other comments or questions from the board? >> I have no questions, but I have lots of comments. Miss Bennett, I'm going to miss you. Um thank you for all the work that you've done. Um the site visits to ODA are one of my favorites. Um so I hope we continue that with Mr. Aguilad. Um and just even your leadership now of staying to make sure we there's this transition of leadership. Um I think it's just a huge um dedication of your passion and your heart um to the school, to the kids,
048and to the community. So I know they're going to miss you as well. And then Mr. Aguilad, welcome. And we're here as a resource. If you need us, feel free to reach out. And those are all my comments. Uh, do we have any comments from the public? >> And no comments from the public. >> Thank you. There is no action to take on this item. >> Thank you so much. >> For item 6A, Hector Kamacho Jr., Executive Director, Equity, Social Justice, and Inclusion, Office of the Superintendent will provide a report and updates on the SMCE's equity, social justice, and inclusion work. Mr. Kamacho and Ruby. Yeah. >> Good evening, President Torres, members of the board, and Superintendent Chavez. Uh, it's a pleasure to be here with my colleague Ruby A Costa Makar, who's going to
049help out, but is also fighting a little illness, so I'll take the bulk of the first part. Um, and bear with us as we make it through this. Um, equity, social justice, and inclusion was a key priority of Superintendent McGee um, when she was in office. And I've just been so fortunate to be able to continue the work that was started by not only Superintendent McGee but also many educators in this building that are still here and following on the great leadership of Nambi Clay as the uh next executive director for equity, social justice, and inclusion. Um tonight's topics have become are are presented to you in a in a climate that um maybe doesn't fully appreciate the work that is done in this realm. Um, and so I give that to you just as
050a context setting, but also as a reminder that, um, there are lots of people who are very interested in the kinds of things that we're doing for not so pleasant reasons. And so, um, as we go through the presentation, kind of maybe that lens of similar to how we talk about, um, our own tactical safety plans, some of this is related to that. So, as we think about the services that we're providing for our districts, our students, and our families, just a reminder of um we're present. Um so, you know, the work of equity, social justice, and inclusion is really rooted in our mission overall um as an organization. And every conversation that we have as a department and this is the department by the way. Um every conversation we have about uh equity, social
051justice, inclusion is rooted in this vision of excellence and equity in education. And it means a lot to us because it is about every student, every educator in every school. And that means that the needs are different and they vary across our county. They vary even within our office and within our school programs in every sense of the word. So I start with this in every presentation that we give because it is directly tied to what we're trying to accomplish as an organization. And typically when people think about um diversity, equity, and inclusion, they they do think of like diversity celebrations, which is part of the things that we do as well. So we uh through Ruby's leadership we um host Fred Cormatu Day every year um which is a remembrance event um that brings
052in youth and community from um across the county to celebrate commemorate uh the experiences of Fred Fred Coramatsu and so reminding people of the history of our country and the people that are involved in that history. We do things like uh support the elido uh de lao which was a demonstration of folkloric dance and mariachi music across the county in our school programs. So there is there are these celebratory activities that happen. We also participated in the SIP inclusion academy which is thinking about how we in institute universal tier one um support for all of our students across all of our school districts um because that is about equity as well. But today, what I really want to focus on is this commitment to equity that was established in 2022. Um, we were talking a
053lot about what equity looks like in the county and what equity looks like in our work specifically. And so this statement was developed through collaboration um as an organization under Nyamb's leadership, but also um we brought this to the board um over over the time in its development because we had to assign some very specific language about what it looks like when an organization is committed to equity. So it starts with a definition of our or should I say art starts with our definition of what equity means. Um and so you have it there and it's listed on our website and in our documents but it also gives four very very tangible ways in which we are trying to make efforts towards this work because it is never something that is completed. It is something
054that is always in progress. And one of the ones that really resonates with me is the idea of centering the voices of those who have been historically marginalized and underserved. And that includes not only our students but their families and the employees in this organization as well. So this is our shared starting place when we talk about how we do equity work at the county office of education. And that work is really rooted in um thinking about mindsets overall. And so I like to share this quote from uh Gloria Anzalda who is um a poet a philosopher. she she's no longer with us, but thinking about how nothing happens in the real world unless it first happens in the images in our head. And so we've created a system in our country that um has
055been in many ways exclusionary for a lot of people and for a lot of reasons. And so when we think about what's possible, that has to start with how we think about the work that we do and how we affect families in our community. And so our work really looks at that from a layered lens. So we think about everyone being on their own individual journey in the equity space thinking about what are my experiences what are my family's experiences what is my history in our schools what is our history in this country and understanding what that means for who I am in this world and how I walk through this earth because that is how you come to work with that individual journey and you become part of an organization that is rooted in
056steeped in equity work and you're part of an equity leadership journey as an organization ation because we're trying to get to the place where we are doing community uplift for everyone else. So all those layers are really are really important part of this journey for everyone that works in the county office of education and we have to be able to tend to all three of those layers of this kind of work um if we're going to do it with fidelity. So three things that I want to focus on and you saw that in your memo was the equity leadership team which is helping lead this work at the organization. then on our specific work in SMC families which is for supporting our students who are in um undocumented and mixed immigration status and targeted families.
057And lastly, one highlight is our Ye um summer programming which Ruby will take the lead in talking about that one. So I'll start with letting you know about our equity leadership team which is a cross departmental organ uh cross-d departmental group of leaders um or should I say employees across SMCE who represent offices from administrative assistant all the way through um coordinators and analysts. Um I there are two executive directors in that leak equity leadership team and there are no real other cabinet members from there. So you won't see superintendent Chavez in there or any of our associate or deputy superintendent because this is meant to be an organizationwide effort that really reflects positions across the organization. And their role in that is to bring not only their department level insights into equity learning, equity
058leadership team conversations, but also to bring that information back to departments so that it's an ongoing conversation overall as an organization. What we're trying to do in this work is really thinking about how we strengthen our internal systems overall um and our practices so that we're better supporting our employees because at the end of the day we want SMCE to be a place that models the practices that we hope to see in our local districts as well as they're working with their families and with their students. That's the hope of this work overall. A lot of information in this one um but you can't really start from scratch. And so we think about what are the existing frameworks that help us design the kinds of systems that we're trying to create within our system and
059that is how you move from that's how you move into action from talking about things right so some of the ones that are kind of influencing how we look at it are systems thinking and improvement science culturally responsive and sustaining practices targeted universalism and liberatory design. These are all frames frameworks for how you do this work that's rooted in community and it has influenced how we look at equity work here at the county. And what we did was we determined these equity priority areas as an organization to say if we're going to get to that place of equity and excellence in education, it's going to take us looking really closely at these six core areas. So space and place, what does it mean to work in this building and our school sites? Cohesion and communication.
060What are we messaging out to the community and to our employees and is it in a cohesive way? Recruitment and intent and and retention. Who enters this place as an employee and how are they supported through their educa through not through their educational journey but their professional journey so that they can stay and and receive the professional growth that they're hoping to achieve. Budgets and finance meaning how are our resources aligned to the goals that we are trying to achieve as an organization. Much of which is connected to our strategic plan and our strategic goals. structures and policies which are what are the practices that exist in our organization that either support and or that support and uplift our employees and our students and where are the areas in which we can do more work
061and then finally community uplift what is the actual work that we're doing in community and so y is a great example of that that we'll highlight a little bit later on so those are the areas that are really guiding our work and we like to make sure that we're data informed in this process and a lot of this data is publicly available So if you look at the county dashboards which are on the right which are on our public website, it tells you a little information about what we're seeing in our districts and the equity index is one of those dashboards that you can view. So it takes a look at how are our school districts experiencing their school systems based on whether it be funding or test scores or all kinds of different measures.
062So those are publicly available. The employee survey, you all receive information on that as well. So you know, but that's not public data because we are at the end of the day an organization. So that is internal data that we use. But these are the kinds of data that help inform what are the things that we really need to focus on as equity as an equity leadership team. So here's the part where we're going to talk about SMC families which is I think one of the points of the request for this agenda item which is what are we doing right now in the face of um increased immigration enforcement in our country and in our state and in our region. So this is the area where I will kind of caveat of more tact safety
063tactical area. So take what you will this information um and we'll try to share as much as we can but we're also mindful of um people that would also like to have this information for not so pleasant reasons. So we always start when we are talking with our partner schools and our partner community organizations about schools being legally and ethically required to provide a safe learning environment for all students regardless of their immigration status. that is rooted in not only the California constitution but in things like furpa the family uh educational rights and privacy act uh plyer versus do which reaffirmed every student's right to uh public education um regardless of immigration status and you'll notice two really important bills in 2017 that are a foundation for some of the updates that we've seen over
064the last uh 12 months to really reinforce safety for our students in the community. This is especially important in a place like Samontel County because nearly half of our students in the state have at least one uh parent that is an immigrant and more locally in Satell County over one-third of the residents living here are born in a place outside of the United States. So, it's very very localized. And one of the reasons why we're focusing on it in schools is that immigration enforcement that's happening does have an impact or can significantly impact a student's willingness, as we talked about with ODA, to come to school and their overall well-being when they do show up. So, while they might be coming to school and seeing it as a safe place, they might be worried about
065whether or not their parents will be there when they get home. And those are real things that we have to confront because we want to make sure they have access to education while they are in our schools. And that's why we started the SMC families initiative to ensure that we were safeguarding and protecting all of the students that are in our programs. So there are four real main criteria or not criteria, four real real main elements of what we do as part of this initiative. These are all created in partnership with the county of Satel office of the county attorney um faith and action bay area office of community affairs. So, it's a collaborative effort that we're doing that includes an alert system and weekly update calls for practitioners. But what I wanted to highlight
066um for you all today was the two things on the side, which are the trainings and consultation that Ruby and I and our team provide throughout the county, both with school sites, with districts, with community partners, and in many cases with families directly to let them know about what are your educational rights as a family and your rights to an education and what are schools doing to ensure your safety while you are on schoolside campuses. The other part is youth leadership development. We are an educational institution and so student voice has to be in a critical part of that conversation. And so we are working with the youth leadership institute to help create pathways for youthled policy development for youthled allyship and for youthled action research projects. They have to be a critical voice because
067we can say all we want about the protections we want to create but they are living it in their daily lives and they should be a part of that that conversation that's happening. And we're also seeing increase through our trainings and consult consultations more engagement with families directly who are ready to speak up and say this is how we want to help and these are the needs that we are seeing in our community. So we're helping facilitate that conversation as well. The next slide has a lot of information so I don't expect you to read it all but it is about what has changed since 2017 when the foundations for protection for immigrant students became on board. So in 2017, most most of the legislation that you saw from the legislature was focused on suggestive
068language of we should look look to make sure that we are collecting or not collecting immigrant status information. We should look at our board policies to make sure that we are supporting our students. And the biggest shift from what was passed in 2017 to what was passed in 2025 was that these are no longer we should there were no longer maybe you should look at things. They are you will update your policies to reflect these things. And so AB49, AB419 and SB98 are are the key areas that updated all of our laws which said that in California we're reaffirming that there is we will not require proof of immigration status when a student enrolls. Previously we require a birth certificate. Um now there are other methods in which a school can verify a student's um
069birth year. Um every LEA in the state was required to update its board policies including our board uh by March 1st to reflect all of these new laws. And there were new laws around access to non-public areas on school campuses, how we disclose and to whom we disclose information and the reiteration that we need to have publicly displayed student rights to educational um opportunity in our school sites as well. The last thing is something about an online portal that the attorneys general's office added as well is that when um there is increased enforcement in areas and the federal um federal agents are not operating within established protocols, there's a reporting um there's a reporting portal that the attorney general is now collecting information on that. So again, this is all information that we are providing
070to schools and districts and families um in the community, including our community partners that are operating in our school sites because, you know, many of our districts have partnerships with outside groups that use their facilities. And so they also want to know what are the protections for our students when they are in our programs on school site campuses. So we get really really specific and we have tactical guidelines that we provide them as well. Um, but that's been all developed in partnership with the county attorney's office to make sure that we are also still adhering to the law. Um, because students have a right to be protected by not only local board policies, but also the Cal California Education Code and California Constitutional Laws as well. So, that's most of the immigration status stuff. What
071I do want to do now is turn it over to Ruby who's going to tell you a little bit more about one of our real amazing programs that is steeped in the equity work that we're trying to do and that is the Y program. Good evening everybody. Um I'm here today to talk to you about the Y program. It's in its fifth summer um of implementation. It stands for youth entrepreneurship employment and empowerment. Um it was created about five or six years ago when I first started here at the county office of ed when I was actually on the CTE team. Um so there is a little bit of framing around college and career um access work here. Um, it started in North County because there w there's a hu I'm from North County and
072there's a huge need in North County for more youth development opportunities as well as college and career expanded learning opportunities. And so previously uh in my work in San Francisco Unified, we had developed a paid internship program for young people who come from historically marginalized uh backgrounds and neighborhoods. and that's self-identified, right? Um to build a youth development, youth workforce program rooted in three areas, empowerment, entrepreneurship, and employment. Um, and we picked those three E because those are all tools, skills, and a knowledge base for young people to be more involved in their community. Understand the systems of oppression that we all have to navigate as folks from historically marginalized backgrounds. And then employment which is a fundamental skill um survival skill uh that that is important in navigating not only our world but more
073locally our county um because we do live in the most expensive county in all the Bay Area. And so, how do we sort of like reconcile social justice and equity work with the tools that young people really need to thrive um and to grow up and have their own families in Sanonteo County and also be able to take advantage of all of the opportunities um in the industries that we have here. Um the main sort of focus for Y is really to become critically conscious. So, understanding the issues that disproportionately impact um youth of color uh and uh folks from low-income backgrounds, be justice focused, actionoriented, and most importantly, contributors to our local community. Um, so all of those are ethics that have been instilled in me as somebody from North County, which is why
074uh the entrepreneurship piece is really prominent in our program because there's so many minority um owned small businesses in North County that still continue to thrive generation after generation. And so these are some of the nuts and bolts that I thought you might be interested in for this summer. Um, it's an 8-week program starts June 8th and runs until July 31st. So, it's uh 20 hours per week. The youth are paid 20 to $23 per hour. So, new students will be paid $20 an hour returning 23. Um, this summer we are continuing to offer a middle school program, a high school program, and a and this part is new, an intentional transitional aged youth program. Um, for youth 18 to 24, uh, the only eligibility that you need as a young person to join is
075identify as, uh, coming from a historically marginalized background. And that can be a number of things, right? You could be a multilingual learner, you could qualify for free and reduced price meals, uh, you could identify as a person of color, LGBTQ plus, etc. And we don't require a GPA. There's no GPA requirement. So we really try to have it open um to all youth. And then secondly, the program is 160 hours um because when I was on the CTE team, 160 hours equals a semester's worth of work. So in the evolution of this program, eventually we wanted to offer some sort of academic credit that the students can carry with them um in in to contribute to their graduation credit requirement. Um so there's lots of opportunity for that in terms of piloting a credit
076recovery math program or credit recovery English program. We want to work really closely with the trades um on this on the credit recovery for math because many of our young people ca cannot actually pass a basic math test to enter into our pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs in our county. So really trying to think about how we can adapt experiential learning into academic outcomes um is something that we have been trying to refine over the last five years. The first three weeks of the program um are all about professional development. So they will develop uh a resume. They'll participate in mock interviews. Uh we'll go on college and career tours. There's a really great communication workshop that Silicon Valley Urban Debate League does. Um youth have the opportunity to dive into what financial literacy and financial
077empowerment means and we partner with Peninsula Family Service on that. Um and so there's a wide range of topics that our youth go through um throughout the eight weeks. The most important um and the Gilead Foundation has actually helped us to build this out is our work in community health um and health equity. And Ye over the course of the last six or seven years has definitely reflected all four uh components of our strategic plan. our equity commitments, the United for youth blueprint, um, and then ongoing best practices and culturally relevant pedagogy and practice. Um, and so building out really what self-care, wellness, and the health disparities that exist in our county um, is all sort of encompassed in the 8-week program. By the time that they finish the 8-week program, uh they have developed
078a portfolio and also a port a performance assessment which is actually a CTE sort of model on how you represent your learning. Um and so that is a performance assessment that is live in action and we have a really beautiful community showcase um at the end. And then all of our site placements are based in the community. Um and this summer we're going to touch on the topics of community health health equity leading to community health worker certificate uh P3 early learning. So part of this summer is actually funded by the CI grant that uh we have so that's a tri department collaboration um arts media and entrepreneurship environmental justice and food systems. This year we are really lucky to be partnering with UCCC and UC ANR on the Phoenix Garden. Um so they'll be
079diving into um sustainable food systems there. Our core partners in terms of location um in South City we will be at the Gene Mullen uh community learning center and then at the Al Cove in Samonteo. Um we always try to have this program living in the community instead of a school site so that students can get oriented to what resources exist in the community. Uh previously we have always been at the EAC in South City on Grand Avenue so that they can learn about um Elconil train renaissance etc. Um and so really getting students outside of their comfort zone in their normal sort of roots in how they traverse the county um is also a goal um in the program. There are also some industry aligned certifications that we integrate and we will expand as
080we evolve the program. Um but this year we'll be offering CPR first aid, mental health first aid, um TB testing, and the youth who will be participating in the P3 early learning program will also um get background checked because it aligns with the licensing standards of early education. So we try to make the program industry aligned in that they are earning real life certifications that they can use beyond uh the the length of the program. These are all of our partners partial listing for this summer. Um a few that I want to point out are Felgood Cuts. They are a um Samoanowned barber shop in South City and that is going to be a community health placement um healthright 360 Asian-American Recovery Services who does um community health outreach youth point health formerly Daily City
081Youth Youth Daily City Youth Health Center. Uh we always partner with Daily City Partnership. um our P P3 partners who we love, Izzy, Friends to Parents, Peninsula Family Service, and then some of our um our health equity initiative folks, Capa Cultural Center and Salmon Solutions. And that is it for me. So what we tried to do was give you an overview of um equity, social justice, and inclusion work from three different levels. What it looks like internally, what it looks like out in the community working with schools and families, and what it looks like with a specifically youth centered program. Um just a little peak into our everyday life. Uh but yeah, we're happy to answer any questions you might have. >> Comments or questions from the board? Trusty Alvaro, >> thank you. Thank you
082both. Ruby, I hope you feel better. Um, it's good work and I understand what you're saying about our portion that we don't that we keep to ourselves, but I just wanted to um, ye sounds incredible. There's um, a couple of people on the coast who are Sherice McHugh, who was our former uh, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for many years. She retired, but she's still doing a lot of stuff in the community. and John Parsons who actually John the younger John Parsons who who has an accountant in wealth management they do a group up at the high school and they've been doing it for I think eight years now where they go up and they spend I think it's about a week they do interviews they do financial literacy they do the kids that
083have LinkedIn profiles by the time they're done and bios and resumes and that it's very much like that except it's not out in community. So, if ever you want to have that connection with them, let me know and I'll and I'll connect you with Shares and and John. Um because it's really important and the kids respond to it. I mean, you know what happens. Um I'd love to see more of it in a bigger way, but I understand that you have to spread as you as you're capable of spreading. But that but there are some things going on in pockets. I'm sure there's other places too, but I just happen to know a little bit about Half Moon Bay. And then um I don't know if you're aware but the library system has a a
084one read which is everybody in the li in the county can read the same book. This year's one is uh George Teay's book They Called Us enemy which is a graphic novel. I don't usually read them but I read that one. And one of the things he's done is he's updated it because he did the book in I think 2017. he's updated it and there's a whole section at the end which includes quite a bit about Fred Kuramasu which is which was really exciting to read. And of course he's from this area. I mean he grew up in LA but he's he's from this area now. So that was really important that we've got these you know other partners that are working on the same kind of thing. So, I just wanted to thank you
085for what you're doing and carrying on uh NaB's work and and broadening it because this is just really important. It's really important work. So, thank you. >> Other comments or questions? >> Trust. >> Hello. Um, I know this is the start of the program and whatever and you have a lot of goals, a lot of programs and issues you want to do, but how is the effectiveness of what you're doing going to be measured to see if it's working and if it should be continued, adapted or cancelled? how how what is the measurement matrix of the different programs you're having >> um for and also for Sanonteo County families we work very closely with um our CLA team to develop program evaluation >> center for learning and analytics under RSP research systems and planning um
086and so they are a magnificent team that can develop really acute or broad measurement tools for program evaluation. Um, and so for Ye, we've always had a youth program evaluation where they design the questions and they evaluate their program. And so that's been interwoven in the whole design from the beginning. And then also family engagement. We have always incorporated family focus groups um and family surveys within the program as well. So we try to keep it as community based and locally owned as possible. Um feedback is really important to me and it's actually um part of equity and social justice work is to constantly reflect on what we're putting out there and how we're analyzing our effectiveness. So we work with the center for learning and analy analytics very closely on those two programs and
087then Hector can speak to the equity leadership team. So for equity leadership team it was started with data and it continues with data. So we do our annual employee survey which is really what highlights what are the issues that are rising to the forefront for all of our employees across not only this building but across our school sites as well. And so that's a really key indicator for us is are we making progress? And when we look at those results as a leadership team, uh we do what a lot of educators do, which is we focus on the negative. And uh that helps inform what we're going to really go in on hard for that upcoming year so that we can see results hopefully shift over time by the time the next employee survey happens.
088So we have now four more than four years. We've got many years of data of employee survey information. And some things rise up that are familiar topics, but sometimes there's something new that maybe we hadn't noticed. Overall, the results on our employee survey are we have some really engaged employees who are very happy with what they're doing here, but we also want to recognize that there are some employees that want to have additional support and that's the kind of work that we're doing that we're trying to shift those needles on that work. >> So, but do you have like a goal every year or some matrix that okay, we want to hit this goal. Why how did we hit it? Why didn't we hit it? Or maybe we need to do this to reach it.
089So it's a coord it's a collaboration with the center for learning analytics who helps do that that work for us. The challenge is it really matters how many people participate in the survey year-toear and we also have changes in employment over the course of time right so it's I won't say it's a moving target but we have to account for those pieces and so what our biggest measure is how do we get people to number one take the survey and we have a pretty successful survey completion rate and then how do we track with while still remaining while still allowing employees to remain anonymous how do we track who's answering how right Because if we see something that says that say women in our workforce are having a very different experience than those that identify
090as male, that's something that we should think about and how does our equity leadership team deal with something like that. Right? So the data really depends on who's taking the survey and right now we have some pretty successful some some pretty successful surveying rates. What we're still trying to figure out is um how do we encourage people to identify themselves in ways that don't fully identify themselves as the employee because no one wants to be an employee on a survey that says, "Oh, you think that about your organization, we're trying to prevent that as much as possible." And as much as we say it's anonymous and it is anonymous, sometimes people are still uncomfortable filling that part out. >> Thank you, Tristy Der. >> Um thank you. Um, thank you for the report. It's really
091interesting and I'm uh very interested in the in the new project uh ye am I pronouncing it correctly? Okay. Um, how do you choose the participants for these this program? And by the way, I'm thrilled that a lot of it is in the the north county. We don't get to see a whole lot of things up here. So, it's very exciting. Um, how do you choose your participants? >> So, we've always wanted to f to focus on serving those who may not have been tradition identified as traditional leaders. Um, and so we rely a lot on the counselors in the districts to refer to us. Um, and then now because it's sort of had a buzz in the last 3 or four years, now it's all word of mouth, which in like youth programs is
092the best way to measure the effectiveness of a program. Um, and so we have some criteria around demographics and also we ask some uh sort of narrative questions in our application. Tell us a little bit about yourself. We also do some interviews. Um, and so that's why we've expanded to serve different age groups to see like how students are identifying themselves for these kinds of programs. Um, also taking a look at their transcripts. Like I said, we don't have a GPA requirement which opens up the opportunity to folks who may not have historically had an opportunity like this. Um, so we highly rely on referrals from from the community members who work with those with the most need. >> And where do you actually hold the classes? >> Um, we've historically held them at Daily
093City Hall. That was in our first year. The EAC Economic Advancement Center on Grand Avenue. Um, where we'll have it at Al Cove this summer at the South City Library. Um, I think that's we we did um we did uh collaborate with Redwood City PAL or the PAL Center a few years ago. So, we held it at their that space. Um, but as you know, Trusty Gerard, it is really hard to find community space in North County um that is accessible for youth. And so that has always been a challenge, but luckily um our partners at Daily City, at the city of Daily City and then the city of South San Francisco have been really amazing. >> Okay, thank you. >> Um and then for the other part of the program, um how are students
094and families referred to you? um that that need your services and your help. >> So we don't do direct service providing to students. We provide the resources to teachers, school staff, district leaders to say these are the these are the rights and responsibilities of students and these are the tools in which you can use to make sure that those safety protocols are in place. the families sometimes or a community organization might organize something that says, "Can you come to let us know what our educational rights are?" So that would be something that a community based organization would invite us into. And so that's how we do those spaces, but we don't coordinate those efforts. Most of ours are with districts and schools themselves in addition to community partners that invite us in. >> And yours,
095this part of it is really throughout the entire county in my >> the whole county. And we know where targeted actions are happening right now. And so I think there's a lot more interest in the communities that are experiencing those targeted enforcement activities. >> Okay. Thank you very much, >> Trusty Benini. >> Thank you for the presentation. Um on my first question is regarding the um Sanonteo County Families Initiative. So, I'm curious if this um this work also extends to our schools um within our that we run at the county office, including the court and community schools, but also special services and such. Um are we providing those same supports and family engagement in our own schools? I I asked this because a lot of times we ask this of different programs and it's the
096answer is no. And so I'm curious if this one might be a yes. >> Sure. >> Um, so we ho we've hosted a num a number maybe at least 15. I just hosted nine in the last six weeks. Um, trainings that are open to everybody in the county, including our own school programs and our own staff. Um and we have had I think some representation from our school programs there. We also have um an internal team that is working on this that's cross departmental um and has one staff member from every department. And so I believe um two of my colleagues in safe and supportive schools did training at our school programs with all of uh the teachers. Um and that aligns with our protocols and the the new legislation that was rolled out this
097school year. >> And part of that part of why we're doing that is because part of the updated legislation required that staff be informed about what the new protocols are. So that was that's our responsibility as an LEA as well. >> Yeah. Okay. So um I'm also curious if there is a how should I say this? A connection with our um our school safety protocols. So I'm asking this because when we had conversations around the safety protocols for instance at Gateway, I'll use that as an example. um how things were um uh you know accessible um what directions were given if people were signing in um and I know this isn't necessarily that piece but it's related because it's a concern and it was raised in that context and um and so you know uh
098a number of us were a couple of us I guess here were at were at gateway today and I would would say that I didn't see any changes in terms terms of the sign-in procedures, the anything. So, um I'm curious if you see an opportunity to create a safer space there for our staff and for our um students. >> So, you raised a good point because as Ruby and I go to school campuses, we have to sign in and in some cases that is very apparent where you're supposed to be. You park and you see the office right away. In other campuses um they are very porous and even we are walking wandering trying to find where the sign in place because that is the only technically public space that is in on a school
099site. So we raise awareness about what the issues are because it is aligned to our big five protocol that does play a part of it. But what we're re realizing and recognizing, not just us, but school communities, as we talk about this, is that our campuses do need to be looked at in terms of what access looks like. Now, for a lot of the school sites that we visited that have been recently renovated and renewed, they have one entry point, and that's that funnel is really, really help. They have lots of egress because they have gates that open outwards, but if you're a newly designed school site, there's usually only one point of entry. So that has raised conversations not only in our own programs but throughout the county for all of these poorest campuses
100that um are poorest for a reason that they're part of the community but also how do we maintain safety now that we're living in a different climate where people need to sign in. So it has raised those questions across campuses including our own programs. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, okay. So, my my second question or my second set of questions has to do with with Ye. And so, um, I'm I have a few, so I'm just going to say a couple and then let you respond if you can. Um, one is I I understand the the beginning of it in North County, but I'm just curious um if you can tell us like all the districts that participate and then I guess um if there's hope to expand it to others because it does seem
101like a really terrific program. And then specifically, is it possible that it um encompasses our um our schools as well because this is where we are. So that's my first question. >> I mean the answer is starts with it's me and Ruby, right? And we're we're dealing with, you know, hundreds of kids every summer. Um so it's really a capacity issue at this point of where we can go. Um there is increased interest because not only are new students joining the program, we have returning students. So the pool gets smaller each time unless there is a massive amount of resources available for this. So they are decisions that we have to make on whether we can expand the program and whether we have the staff capacity to expand the program because it is popular. Um
102Ruby can tell you about who's participating now um and who's traditionally participated in the past. >> Can can I before Ruby goes can I also add that this is primarily grant funded. Yeah. So when we speak about resources and how much how much can we expand it, it's the grant funding that also that we continuously I know that Ruby works really hard on finding those funds to be able to to um to have the program. >> Um I also realized I didn't introduce myself. Um so my my position is a coordinator of advocacy and partnerships. um it was previously coordinator of expanded learning and community partnerships and then prior to that it was CTE. All of that to say um is that the work has always been about the community um and about the youth.
103And so what I found was that when we first started to build this program, there weren't a lot of community partners in North County who could help to sort of like balance the work, right? So originally um our our core partner was going to be the Mid Peninsula Boys and Girls Club and they already serve the you the the eligible youth that we were looking for. Um and then that was when all the Boys and Girls Clubs merged, right? So, um the idea was to always work in partnership with a youth development, uh organization. And so I wrote a K12 strong workforce grant that actually got fully funded um for two and a half years. And so we had $2 million to streamline and build a system that serves this particular group of youth. And
104that was in partnership with Jefferson Union, South San Francisco Unified, San Bruno Park School District, and Sonteo Union. So all of the North County school districts, also Beayshore and Jefferson Elementary, actually too. So it was very localized as a pilot, but also trying to get $2 million into the community um with a very specific need. So that's how we built the program out. In our first outreach, in our first summer outreach, we had over 400 youth apply. Um, and so the need in North County is still tremendous. Um, but also is the desert of community partners. And so on our end in terms of capacity for advocacy and partnerships, I found that I had to build the program and the ecosystem at the same time. Um, and so that's kind of taking on its own
105life in terms of advocating for more resources and community partnerships for North County. Um, and so because we are a small but mighty team of two, right, we can only be at so many places at the same time. um and writing so many grants. But I do think that we're at a point where we can apply for multi-year grants, maybe looking at some state funding, but always sort of having a holistic view of how we can fund this program um through multiple streams. >> Thank you for that information. And I have two more quick questions, Ph. Um, one is you mentioned the um the hope I think for credits or for you mentioned the benchmarking of the hours. Is that already in place? That's one of my I couldn't I didn't understand if you said
106there it wasn't there were credits that you could issue at this point or it was a a hope. >> It depends on the district and the demographic each year. So um if there is a need not all of our students need the credits to graduate um some of them do and in that case then we work on an individual basis. Um not all of our students get the credits because there's this like math thing where if you have too many credits and the GPA doesn't like the GPA ends up being lower because you have your denominator is bigger if that makes sense. >> Okay. Um, and so it is on a case- by case basis. However, several years ago when we partnered with the PAL Center, um, I think we had over 20 youth from
107that program who had 10 who earned 10 credits based on their work over the summer and that was really impactful for them um because they needed the credit. >> Okay. And my last question is um sort of related to what um Trusty O'Neal was asking around the long well the the measurable you know goals whether you're having outcomes and so my question around that is um have you had an opportunity yet to try to look at um longitudinal or you know the outcomes um students who are participating are they uh you know you said you don't check GPA but are they potentially doing better? Are they um what's their rate of graduation like you know are they going on to two four um or colleges or to you know trades like do you know what
108they're doing? >> We sort of measure effectiveness based on the program and the cohort that we have right in front of us. So, one of our really big benchmarks is attrition of the program. We actually have very little, maybe 1 or 2% over the last 5 years. And with the summer youth development program, that's really good. Um, and so we compare that with what if we tried in our school districts during the school year alternative ways of learning or integrating experiential learning into classroom experiences and how that might increase attendance um, and absenteeism. Um, but because of limited resources, we only have a summer program right now, which is why we wanted to build out a TA program so we can connect them directly with pathways and pipelines directly to employment and certificate programs. TA
109is transitional age youth ages 18 through 24. >> So do you so do you collect um do you have demographics for the students? Right. and then you you know where their districts are. So with the um I can't remember the acronym but the data team >> C >> Yeah, I wrote it but I dropped it so far. Um and I so I'm curious if there's um if that's something you could do to sort of because it would be good um as with any program that we have, right? you we want to if it's great and you're seeing great outcomes and you have these goals, I think it's something that um at least from the the board perspective, right? We go, "Oh, we we'd like to prioritize something like that or know more about it and
110then prioritize." Um but it's hard to do that without seeing seeing that. I mean, we could guess. Um but I'm curious if it's possible if you haven't already done that, if you think that's something you could do, or would that be overwhelming to do? That is something we can do because we we have started a middle school program and have a lot of returners from the middle school program and you can see year to year um qualitatively how much they've grown um versus like when we get a just graduated senior who's struggling to get to their internship site. So, it's kind of like a we have to address the need now, but then also prepare the next cohort of youth to not be in the same position when they graduate from high school. So yes,
111and I think we would need more resources to really be able to track youth long term um and then fully connect with our systems that already like track um track CCI, the college and career indicator, but it was always designed to be aligned with the CCI. >> Okay. >> Thank you so much. >> Other comments or questions? Trusty lab. Thank you. And um just building on that, I was curious too about like four years now, you're going to be fit five years out, what's happened to those kids five years later? That's that's information that would be wonderful and you're going to need it if you're going to raise money, I think, as well. So >> one of the things that I would add is I showed uh the frameworks that we used how we how
112we approach this work overall and in some of those frameworks around particularly liberator education it's really rethinking the data that we use to evaluate effectiveness and so for us when we present a number like the number the uh attrition rate of 1% that is significant in our communities. These are these are students who might not have any sort of access to programming in the summer and are disengaged in their school and then disengaged in their community, but they're coming back to this work this work experience summer after summer. That changes a community's understanding of school and education um for what would otherwise be lost learning time. So we're when we look at it, we're going to explore those kind of uh measurements as well. But from what our community is responding in terms of what
113it's the purpose it serves for their community and their children, it's like off the charts. But that again that's looking at a different set of data, but we can also start looking at those pieces of data as well. No, I think you know the data doesn't have to be anybody else's data except your own data and just you know now you five years in it's kind of there's some some timeline there to look at. So that's great. Um I wasn't clear I didn't have the slides in advance. Was it 70 students across all middle school through um Tay or is it just 70 who are in like an upper middle school or high school program or what's sort of the number of students involved in this summer program? >> 70 total across all of the
114age groups. >> Okay. And so doesn't seem like a lot, but I know that it is a lot to manage a program like this and two people and and and such. Um, and you know, we don't really I think this program doesn't do um kind of direct student services on one hand or family services, but this program is and there's sort of been more of a move a little bit in the county office it seems over the last few years to kind of do more um direct services. So I'm kind of maybe this is for the superintendent as well sort of what's the bigger vision here for the county office of education in this space because there are and maybe there's a der in north county of a lot of organizations in the ground doing
115this kind of work and so does that mean the county office transfers funds or is the county office really going to be involved heavily is it something that should be budgeted I mean I'm assuming your staff your time comes out of the county office budget so it's it's potentially an expensive program, but it sounds like a valuable program. I'm just kind of trying to figure out like how would scaling something like that look like and who does it? >> I can respond kind of on possibilities. Um, yes, I agree with you that over the years the d programs that directly um connect to students like our LGBTQ plus um YAS event that we host um that has expanded over the years. it's also grandfunded. Um, and the GE is the other one. Um, so I
116think it's it's worth a conversation internally with our with our cabinet team in terms of direction and vision if we are going to continue to expand. I think um uh aligning our resources to those programs would be important. >> And then the last thing I have is that I really appreciated the legislative update chart. Um, I had gotten an inquiry from somebody in the community today and I was trying to put together what's changed and I didn't have that, but now I'm going to forward that to them and it was very helpful. So, thank you. >> Yeah. Well, our plan was to present the information to you and then give you the slides that we wouldn't really wouldn't mind being out there because it's just legislation which is public information. So, we're going to follow
117up with um some of the information that we would be okay with sharing in the public. >> Thank you. Other questions or comments? trusty. >> Well, first of all, thank you so much for the presentation. Um, very excited about the work that is being done and why is it such a small team? I wish there was more and and that the expansion can exist because I would really I was just envisioning this for our core community school students. I mean how impactful and uh needed it is for them to have this type of opportunities especially that it is a summer that you have a certain you know time frame and that they could possibly you know like gateway students could like attend and do that right so um so right now the the ability for
118students to attend is mostly because they're in North County is that how my understanding >> kind There's another piece that we didn't really touch on which is a challenge is transportation. So, we really have to think about where these where we're going to be offering the programming and where the work sites are going to be because they have to have access um to those places. So, we have had folks that say you can come here, but we're like that's not really accessible for our students who have to get there every day for multiple weeks. So, that is another factor in that. And with our community school students, they could be coming from a wide range of places. So what's the centralized location for that? It's just another piece of consideration for transportation. >> Would the
119is it like the students get that free SAM trans or like >> car thing? >> they do. And uh our public transit system um >> I know >> doesn't always reach every all the places we would love them to reach. That's what sad. >> I know. I know. Okay. Well, just just to like you know, for me it's like keeping in mind the the students there in those um you know that they can have opportunities for what you're sharing right now. That is amazing. And um it would be great like again I'm thinking about gateway students uh especially because it's on the in the summer. So you know it really looks like a great opportunity that they could have. Um and then um everybody asked my questions. Let's see. Um, so the 18 to tw
12021 years old, the transition age is that like you said that's the new cohort just starting this summer and Okay. And is that also so are those students some that have already taken the G program >> right now? No, they're new. >> Um, transitional age youth. We we piloted a little bit of a program last year um but saw the need for like an intentional space for the 18 to 24. Um so the the TA program this year will be focused on uh community health outreach >> um to move into community health work across the county and then um the P3 early learning. working with our P3 team on the workforce initiatives that they have and building out those pipelines so that they so that the youth have work experience and they can enter directly
121into the work that Joner May and Sierra Gastner Wage are working on. >> And how are those referred since they might not be in school anymore, high school? We recruit from um the community colleges and then also the graduating senior class. Um so for example at South San Francisco High School, they already do um a work experience program where uh the high school students will go into the elementary schools to tutor or to learn about uh youth development. Um, and so those students have identified as having an interest in early learning already. Um, and so we give them professional development and connect their experience with the workforce pathways that we're concurrently building within the county. >> Wow. Great. Thank you. And um my other question is um about the grant. So grantf funded program. So
122what happens like if it does run out of you know like you say you're you're applying to want to more grants but if there hypothe hypothetically if there was no grand money do we need to close this program what would happen I mean I just >> I think that would be a conversation you know with u budget committee that would be a conversation u for um cabinet and core cabinet to make those decisions. Um >> yeah, and my question comes because the goals, right, like our strategic plan does say that this is important for the students in Sato County. So, um I think it's it's working really well. It's a few years already. Um, but I always get nervous about grants, you know, because sometimes you have more money, sometimes you have less money and
123so such an important uh program that it should be expanded as um Trusty Banini said like later on through the whole county. um you know it would need more staff, more more support, but uh but again I I it goes back into the goals that our students in Satato County need and um as they graduate and they become you know transition age youth and I go back again into court and community schools right when they leave um when they trying to find for those opportunities I think this just sounds like a a great opportunity. So hopefully it's something that can have a conversation of uh let's not let it like be so dependent on grants in the future um or something can happen so that it continues. So thank you very much for the information.
124>> Other comments or questions? Trusty Benini. Um just um Trusty Aras's uh comments made me just think of uh do you know um do you intentionally seek out because when you talk about Tay for me that's related to um things that I know around students with disabilities and so um or you know our our other students um of different you know marginalized groups um like foster youth things like that. So, do we know uh the demographics of those participants in terms of those other um factors that aren't the ones you listed, but that may be students with disabilities, foster youth, justice impacted youth, anything else, all of those. Um also dreamers as well. Um and so especially with the transitional age youth um and intentionally building a program around what TA has historically been defined
125as. Yes, absolutely. We would want to focus on that uh those populations. >> Thank you. >> Other comments or questions? Okay. I'm so excited. Sorry. this. So, as an educator, my field is K through 8, but in the community through my work in after school programs, it's working with like middle school students and high school students and giving them that development and experience and pipeline. So, this is like my bread and butter. I love this and um thank you for the work that you do. Um couple questions that came to mind and also thinking about um you talking about the need of partnerships uh for the ind industry aligned certifications. Who who does those? >> Um we have uh one of our CTE coordinators in South San Francisco uh is CPR trained certified. Um so
126we work with her to CPR first aid train our youth. Um, and then we're working with MIMS uh from the East Bay to do other certifications for our Tay Community Health program. So, uh, stop the bleed. I can't think of all of them in my head, but they're like they're very focused on, um, entry- level health careers that don't require bachelor's degrees that are very useful. Um, and then we're partnering with our health equity um, initiative. So, Sommon Solutions, Capo Cultural Center, uh, Kingdom Love to do our mental health first aid certification. >> Oh, awesome. I only mentioned it because today I received an email from the Peninsula Healthc Care District and they are doing some of these trainings for free and I think that would be a great partner. They also have they also
127have money and um other resources. Um, thinking about transportation, I know that you said there's about 70. This is more for um, Superintendent Chavez. Is there anything that we could do to support with transportation potentially if it's a small group of that that would need support? We're always in I'm always in conversations with Ruby and and and Hector and and the team about I mean over the years around Ye and the the resources that it needs to to run successfully. So, I think if there is an opportunity to to provide transportation or partner with with an organization, we're we're open to that for sure. So, and on a personal note, because this is something that I am very passionate about, if you need support where I can volunteer for a day or something, I'd love
128to um to see it in action or just to be present, just to visit. Um I know you mentioned there was a showcase. I would love to be invited to that. And I hate to put more work on you, but I um I know we also talked about data and everything. I think at the conclusion of the program, I I would love to have you come at the end to kind of just report out on how it went for that cohort. Um because I just think this is amazing work that we should really be honing in on, especially because of um the strate strategic plan and the work that it's doing with our students. So yeah, I will hopefully try to remember that for um the summer time. Um but that's all I have. Um
129do we have any comments or comments from the public? Uh yes, we do see I do see a raised hand. Joanna Anna uh Rasmusen. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay, great. Thank you so much. This is Johanna Rasmmanson, the chair of the Sanonteo County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission. Um, I want to thank uh Trusty Benini and Arius for elevating our students who attend court and community schools. I have to say that um when I saw the priorities that were listed in this presentation um it really hurt my heart to see that our foster youth and our incarcerated youth um were not included as a priority. And um as we talked about last month when I came to present for the board, almost all of these students are special education
130students with learning challenges. And many, many of them are undocumented students. And I just don't understand how the Office of Equity and Social Justice and Inclusion can simply forget to mention them. These students deserve to be a priority. They are our most vulnerable and they are students of the county office of ed. These are cord and community school students. So I urge the board to acknowledge these crit critical gaps and ensure that our students receive the equity, inclusion and social justice opportunities that this office is providing to other students. Thank you so much. >> Do we have any other comments? I I don't see other raised hands. Thank you. And thank you again. Uh there is no action to take on this item. >> Thank you. Item 6B is a superintendent comments. Superintendent Chavez, do
131you have any comments to share? >> I do. Thank you very much, uh President Torres. Um, so we're in the middle of uh teacher appreci appreciation week and I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all teachers who do extra extraordinary um uh care, dedication and passion to bring us to our that they bring to our students every day. Um, I also especially want to recognize the teachers in our own student programs at the An Campbell Center, our special services um, uh, programs and uh, Cordon community. So, thank you very much for a very the meaningful impact that they bring to our students every day. I also want to um acknowledge that on April 24th, the Association of California School Administrators, Region 5, hosted their annual acknowledgement and awards event. And um from our county
132office, there were two uh honores. Uh Mason Henrik's uh manager of school safety and risk prevention was awarded the 2026 classified leader of the year. and um Tammy Moore, associate superintendent of human resources, was awarded the 2026 George Hurley Outstanding Service Award. So, uh congratulations to both of them. Um and I also uh want to close and I know that we're going to adjourn this meeting uh uh in honor of Superintendent, former superintendent Nancy McGee um who passed on April 26. Um, I want to uh just personally express our heartfelt condolences uh to her sons Travis and Noah and her entire family. Um, Nancy was loved uh and respected by many and she will be dearly missed. Um, thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on to item 7A. Uh when an ad hoc subcommittee meets
133or a representative attends a meeting related to their given assignment, board members may choose to bring a report to the board at this time. Would any board members like to report out? Trusty Alvaro. >> Just a quick comment that next meeting, next regular meeting, uh the representatives from the Y will be here to talk about the housing uh updates up at Jones College. Thank you, Trusty Benini. >> Um, so we had a gateway subcommittee meeting on April 28th. Um, and we had a few updates. Um, I don't have the specifics here, but I will bring them to the next meeting. I apologize. Um, but I think some of them will be coming to us. Um, you know, as a board, I'm sure. So, so there was that. And then we also had an uh trusty
134Jordan and I um had a meeting with um Sarah Notch for our um LCAP lesson on role and um we know that will also the LCAP will be coming to the board. Um, we weren't sure, we did have a question, uh, we weren't sure since it was parsed out from the budget study session, whether there would be a separate, um, opportunity for that before it comes to us for the first hearing or whether it will just be that because I thought we would have a a a pre-iscussion before the the June discussion. So, that is a an outstanding question that was raised in the meeting. Can I respond to it? No. Yes. So, yeah, the plan is to to have it on the May 20th agenda and give it enough time for it to be
135presented to the board and for the board to provide feedback. >> Okay. Thank you. And just as a just a quick summary, it's we're midcycle, so it's like the second year into the LCAP. And so the the main goals, the main buckets, we'll call them um they are cons they'll be consistent, but we were asking a lot a lot of questions around um data about uh student um um you know baselines and and and achievement levels and things like that. So we're hoping that we can build some of that in. That was some of our our discussion. Trusty Gerard, do you have any other um recollections on what we spoke about or do you want to share anything else? That's all I can remember right now. >> Um, no. I think that I think that
136pretty well covers it. >> Okay. Thank you. That's all. >> Thank you. Any other report outs? I'm seeing none. Are there any questions or comments from the board for any of the subcommittees or representatives? Are there any comments from the public? No comments from the public. Thank you. There is no action to take on this item. Um for item 7B, board members will comment. Trusty Alvaro. >> Okay. Thank you. Um first of all, thank you to all our teachers. Teacher appreciation week is too short. It should be 52 of them every year. So, thank you to our teachers for all they do. Um I was able last week to come boy, it's becomes like a jumble. Yes, it was last week to come to the uh environmental education conference. Julie Hillbornne from this office uh
137was basically putting it together and then we we adjourned to the ribbon cutting of the solar solar system our own solar system. Um the environmental educ education conference was really interesting. I I I like the panelists and the way and then there were table presentations. I got to go around and talk to a a lot of different groups, some of whom I knew, uh some of whom were ours, but also others that I'd never heard of before and talk to them about some of the offerings that they're bringing to local school districts and, you know, picked up some stuff to pass along to some of the local districts. So, I I really appreciated that conference and and our focus on environmental literacy and environmental education. Um I was excited to hear the reports from both
138our center for equity, social justice, inclusion and from ODA. Um they're doing good work and you know it's a constant uphill battle in the climate that we have but they're doing good work and I want to extend a best wishes to Latrice in her next endeavor. She's done a great job. And then I mentioned this when um Mr. Kamacho and and Ruby were presenting. But they called us enemy is the uh Sonteo County Reads book this year and I did pick it up. It's available on through the libraries and hard copies and they have ebooks. You can go to smcl.org. So there's tons and tons of them. There's no limit on them. They they would bought a bunch of them. Um it's a pretty quick read. It's a it's a graphic novel and it's pretty
139amazing. It's it's George Teay from, as we all know, from Star Trek, but his experiences um being a little boy in a family that was incarcerated during World War II because they were Japanese and then further incarcerated because his parents were what was called nos, which is they refused to um take an oath to renounce the emperor of Japan and therefore or they were considered enemies twice over. It's it's pretty pretty emotional book and at the end he did update it as I mentioned to sort of bring it into the present. He talks about uh Fred Kuramatsu's work and and why we honor him. But he also has a few little bits about what we're doing now um with finding people who are different and calling them the enemy. So I would encourage anyone to
140read it. It's it's just a lovely little it's a lovely little book. And that's all I have. >> Thank you Trusty Aas. Um well first of all I want to start with my comments with condolences to uh Nancy McGee's families and friends. Um um and really just I didn't have a chance to meet her p in person but uh my meetings with her um I just want to say that you know they they really started me here in the board. So, uh, it's been kind of a hard to think that she's no longer with us, but I I I just again just her family and friends. Um, I also want to report that on April 28th, I attended virtually um that JJ DPC uh monthly meeting and was happy to see that our superintendent was
141there in person. Um but just wanted to bring one of the things um that really I I was really impressed. It was about the presentation uh racial challenge by um the CEO Christy Crings. This organization addresses the root causes of school violence, bullying, prejudice, and self harm through students wellness programs that build hope, resilience, and belonging. and all the information that she provided and the results and the outcomes of how they train and support students um to me was very eye opening and amazing. So um I just wanted to bring that up um from my attendance to to that JJPC commission meeting. And then on April 29, I also came to that 2026 climate ready school symposium and the ribbon cutting ceremony for solar panels. So want to congratulate the uh county office of ed
142for such an amazing uh event. I learned a lot too. Um and a reminder about taking care of our climate. And um then today, May 6, I went to the Corin Community School spring uh teacher appreciation lunchon and that was at Gateway. Um it's just amazing to to be able to just see everybody. Um it feels they feeling so special that this lunch was provided for them you know by uh the PTA 17 district. Yes. So we were volunteering there but um uh with that I want to congratulate all teachers at all of our Satel County schools and especially our core and community school teachers and want to close with happy mother's day for all mothers in our county. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty Benini. >> Thank you. Um, let's see. Um, first I want
143to share that um, I I think I've mentioned before I'm on the planning committee for the uh, CSBA's annual education conference. So I had a meeting on the 29th um to uh continue to do the planning and the the takeaway from that was they are looking for very unique student performers for the conference uh in December. So if anybody listening or anybody here knows of anybody who should apply, I think that that will open up soon. I'm not sure it's open yet. I don't have the date here. Um but it's they're they really want to have some diverse um applications. So keep that in mind. Um the the request for proposals has closed. It closed on May 1st. Um and I wanted to share also uh same with Trusty Aras that I was able to
144go to Gateway Today to celebrate the teachers and that was just very nice. Um lots of volunteers from 17th district um and our staff and teachers were very appreciative and it was it was lovely. Um, so happy teacher appreciation week, top of teachers. And, um, let's see. Lastly, um, it this is May's mental health month. I forgot to wear my pin. I had it sitting out, but I did bring ribbons for all of you, so I have them here. I forgot to pass them out. And just these lovely new little cards that they have that have um the 988 information. So, I brought one for everyone. Um there was a kickoff yesterday um at Al at Al Cove in Sonteo and there was a lovely panel and one of the um presenters from the conference
145that was uh held here a couple months ago with Ma Mason Henrik's um leading this the safety conference. Uh she was a she's a freshman um and she presented for safe space. She was also on the panel and so I forgot she was a freshman and I went up to talk to her and I I was asked going to ask her where she was going to college. I mean she was very mature and I said um she said, "Oh, I'm a freshman." I said I was kind of taken back and I said, "Wow, you're very well spoken." It was it was really impressive. So she's she's really um even more so than at the presentation that we attended months ago. So um so happy u mental health month. There are a lot of resources um
146lots of things going on and I think if you go to the county um behavioral health website there are a lot of lot of things that you can find there and um it's really important that we support that. The theme is um mental health is ours. So that was the topic of the conversation. So thank you. That's all. >> Thank you Trusty Love. >> Um thank you. Just want to second everything that Superintendent Chavez and others had said about honoring and thanking our educators, the EXA award winners, and of course, Superintendent McGee. Appreciate we're going to adjourn in her honor. And um I want to highlight again the great work from my former colleagues on the environmental team. The climate ready school summit gets better every year. And then congratulations to the 33 Corin community
147student um students who made the principal's honors um role this quarter. Congratulations to them. Thanks. >> Thank you, Trusty O'Neal. First off, um I just wanted to let I attended the CTE um showcase for Jefferson High School District and since they started their program in the last four years, they they started out with 100 kids. They now have over 400 kids in their CTE program. And they did a whole showcase of all the different programs that are in their consortium. Um, one thing that was pretty cool is I I've mentioned that, you know, on the the county board CTE advisory, they want us to get field trips and I was able through my other day job got to the Verizon Innovations Lab and apparently there's been five schools in Sano County that have gone down
148there because the kids really like it. That's cool. Okay. Virtual everything, you know. Um, I also attended the Senate count the county board of ed. I saw Marco there. The EDCTE advisory meeting that was here I think I think it was last week. Attended the CSBA meeting here that Chelsea was hosted. Also worked the dream machine in Halfboom Bay um you know one cold Sunday um and stuff. And then um I as I've known Nancy McGee for years because just being in politics on the peninsula and stuff and unlike you know I was able to meet her once or twice before she went on medical leave but as the years progressed and I know a lot of people in the county and people that disappear um I there's a poem by Emerson that I think
149really fits um Nancy and it is to laugh often and much. To win the respect of intelligent people, the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics, and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition. To know that one life has breathed easier because you had lived here. and that is to succeeded. And I think we all can say that that that fits Nancy. >> Thank you, Trusty Gerard. >> Um, thank you. Um, I also would like to uh give my condolences to NY's family. I know that this has been a very very difficult journey for them and I know how much she absolutely adored her
150little granddaughters. Um, and I'm sure that they're going to uh miss her terribly. And I am so grateful that we are uh serving her memory by closing um our meeting tonight with her memory. Um, I also attended the CTE presentations at Jefferson High School and uh, I thoroughly enjoyed talking to all the students. That was the best part. Um, because really the instructors stepped aside and it was it was all students and uh, um, they knew their stuff, let me tell you. Um, they really did. So, I enjoyed it very much. Um I also in uh attended the environmental seminar that we had here last week and um that it was really very very informative. Um I learned a lot and um one of the things I I like the best about that was there
151were a lot of students participating um and talking about the environment and the things they are personally doing and and how they're leading their school um in all the uh things that are important to them environmentally. So, it was uh very very well done and I'm very proud of our office uh for all the work that they did on it and it was wonderful to be here for the ribbon cutting of our solar panels. Yay. So, um that was fun too. Um I also unfortunately missed the lunchon today um which I always love going to. But I was the MC for an ACCCBE County Board of Education budget session this afternoon. Um it was supposed to be from 12 to 1, but it was more like 12 to 1:45. Um it was well attended. It
152was our key presenter was Misty Key from the Ventura County Office of Education. And I must say she did an amazing job. It is recorded. So if you want to go on the ACCB website, um you can uh go on and view it. It's well worth it. And happy Mother's Day everybody. Thank you. Uh happy teacher appreciation week to all of our educators out there. Um I see Tammy Moore online. So congratulations on your recognition. Um for Nancy, I want to share my favorite memory with her. Um so I first met her when I was a teacher um for the YAS program. I was able to bring my class to that and she um introduced um everyone there. Um but then later um I was part of the chamber leadership program and she presented with
153a a former trustee uh Joe Ross. Um and I was just so fascinated to that was my first glimpse of the county office before joining on. And then when I did when I was appointed, um, she was the one who swore me in. And then after we spent time in in her office and it was really just to get to know me. And now that I know how hectic um, a superintendent's schedule is, like her taking the time to do that um, really means a lot and kind of where I started here. So, it's I'm very grateful for for that moment and that opportunity. Um, this is for all of our board members uh just to be on the lookout for for emails from Superintendent Chavez. Um, we have a busy couple of weeks for
154May. Um, and so we took input from folks um in some of the some of the decisions. There's still some other decisions that need to be made that were would require input to make sure uh folks are available again because it's a very busy month. Um, also for certain meetings there's going to be um some information shared um are ask just to be mindful of time because again very busy uh is if you take the time to look at that ahead of time and really uh figure out your questions ahead of time to submit those um just so we can be more efficient and have more dialogue and discussion um depending on um whether it be LCAP housing um any other reports that are pretty hefty. Um and that is all I have for my
155comments. Um for item eight, the adjournment tonight will be um we will be adjourning our meeting in memory of our former county superintendent Nancy McGee. Uh so tonight we are during our meeting in honor of a dedicated educator and beloved community leader, former Superintendent McGee, who passed away peacefully on April 26th, 2026. Nancy was born in 1959 in Santa Barbara County. She received a bachelor's degree in English and American literature and a single subject service degree from San Diego State before receiving her mers in library and information science from San Jose State University. She received an administrative services credential in educational leadership and administration from Pointloma Nazarene University. Nancy spent more than 20 years working in classrooms before moving into district and county leadership roles, including associate superintendent of student services here at the county
156office. She was elected county superintendent of schools in 2018 and reelected in 2022. During her tenure, uh, Nancy accomplished many things, including leading the county office through the CO 19 pandemic and supporting the transition to distance learning and back to in-person learning as safe coalitions allowed. She served on several regional boards and committees, including the first five sat county commission, the housing endowment and regional trust, heart of sato county, and the big lift leadership team. Nancy was the chair of the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities and co-chared the Sanonteo County Childare Partnership Council. She was passionate about the environment and led the county office in becoming a statewide leader empowering students to understand and tackle climate change and create more sustainable communities. Nancy retired in February of this year to spend time with her
157family and passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones. We extend our heart heartfelt condolences to NY's sons, Travis and Noah, her granddaughters Avery and Emmy, and all who knew and loved her. Tonight, we honor Nancy McGee's memory and her lifelong commitment to children and families. Our next regular board meeting will be the special meeting governance workshop on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. And this meeting is now adjourned.