2025-05-21 Board Meeting

001Good evening. The May 21st, 2025 meeting of the San Monteo County Board of Education will come to order. As is our practice, this meeting will be recorded. I warmly welcome our youth commission liaison, Bethany Zhao, joining us at the DAS. I also note that Superintendent McGee is joining us remotely this evening. There she is on the screen. Uh 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 Assembly Bill AB2449 which enables remote participation by board me 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

002and Kimberly Larios 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. We ask all speakers to be mindful of the Spanish interpretation and speak slowly and clearly. I ask board members to speak directly into the microphone and remind speakers wearing masks to remove their masks when speaking in order to be clearly heard by all attendees. Item 1B is the approval of the agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So move. Second. Thank you. Uh there is a motion to approve the agenda made by Trusty Gerard and a second by Trustee Alvaro. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say no. Uh the motion passes with a vote

003of 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 as well as on the table outside the boardroom in both English and in Spanish. If there are speakers who require Spanish translation or interpretation, our interpreters, Miss Cruz and Miss Ldios, will interpret following each speaker's comments. At this time, members of the public may provide comment for topics not included on the approved agenda. The County Board of Education does not act upon any matter that has not been agendaized except under li limited circumstances as permitted by law. It is the policy of the county board to refer refer matters raised in this forum to the superintendent for investigation and or action were appropriate. Superintendent McGee, do

004we have any comments submitted prior to the meeting? Um, good evening. I just want to take a minute to say good evening to everyone. Welcome. We um are so happy there's so many uh community members in the room. We're looking forward to recognizing you. It's one of my favorite board meetings of the year and I'm sorry that I can't be there in person. Um regarding public comment, um President Torres, we have no cards submitted in advance of the meeting. Thank you. Speakers are invited to make live comment and have three minutes to speak. The board's executive assistant, Jennifer Pererna, will keep the time and advise when the speaker has 30 seconds left. Please make sure to keep within the time limits. To make a comment over Zoom, members of the public may use the raise

005hand feature. Instructions for using this feature are provided as an attachment in the board packet. Once the hand is raised, please wait to be acknowledged by Superintendent McGee. Superintendent McGee, are there any members of the public attending remotely who wish to make a comment at this time? It looks like we have no hands raised online. Thank you. Members of the public may also provide live comment in person. Superintendent Mickey, are there any submitted cards? We do have uh one submitted card that is from Janice Pelazari. So, we'll invite Janice to the podium tonight. Janice President Torres um trustees of the board. Makes me very nervous to be here in person. Um I'm going to talk to the board agenda even though I'm not supposed to. I want to give a shout out to Marco who

006is our student of the year. I want to thank Yoga Fly and Monttero Credit Union for helping Corn Community um with what we need to do for our kids. Um a couple things. I was in San Francisco court today with three of our juvenile our kids. Um some made better decisions than others. Some will come back to us sooner than others, but they're good kids. They did make some right decisions this time. Um, I want to shout out Ridge because we got compost bins from Green Corner. Want to know? Yeah, Green Corner. Um, the kids put them together today that were there on site and Rich is going to post some signs. Um, I want to appreciate everybody for the celebration this afternoon. I wasn't able to make it there since I was in court,

007but um, I hear people appreciated it. I also wanted to bring attention to um San Antonio Union High who has our kids do slideshows and present them to them to see if they're ready to reentered their programs. I'm hoping that we can do something that all districts need to do that because it helps the kids. Some of them don't want to go back, but it's important that we kind of shove them back to see if they can do it. Um sorry, I'm just saying that. Okay, lastly, I want to Oh, wait a sec. I forgot to thank Miss Cannon for the volunteer work she does at Hillrest. Um, I'm going to go back and then Miss Laura, I want to give a shout out. Um, she did all our testing to give you guys data,

008which I really appreciate because it takes the load off of some of us and she really did every data point in testing that you guys need. So, she definitely needs some major shout outs tonight. So, thank you and have a good night. Uh, thank you, uh, Miss Pelazari and, um, President Torres. I have no other cards submitted. Thank you so much. A public comment addressing a specific agenda item will be heard after the board's questions, comments, and discussion on the item. If members of the public wish to speak to a specific agenda item, then please use the raise hand feature when the item is announced or if in person submit a card in advance of the item. Item 3A is the May 2025 employee of the month. Uh SA Allen, transportation scheduler, business services division.

009Will SA please join me in the middle of the room? Thank you. Um, each month the board and the superintendent recognize an employee for providing outstanding service. For the month of May 2025, we recognize SA Allen, transportation scheduler, business services division. SA joined the county office in November 2022 as a transportation scheduler. Her colleagues appreciate that she brings good energy and kindness in to every situation and is always available with a smile for any concerns or questions that may arise on a daily basis. She is a competent, warm, problem-solving team member who is always accessible, demonstrates clear and effective communication, and goes above and beyond to make sure families in the county have access to the critical programs that their children need. The county offic's early start program at the Anne Campbell Center for Children

010and Families holds on-site classes for children and a caregiver three times per week. These classes provide crucial parent education and social emotional support for families as well as opportunities for children to play and to learn. Before we had bus service in place, uh the these important classes were only available to families who had reliable transportation to the Ant Campbell Center. To ensure equitable access to these classes, we needed to provide transportation to families who could not otherwise attend. SA was a key player in making this goal a reality. She worked with the bus drivers and planned transportation routes for families all around the county from Daily City to East Palo Alto. She never allowed obstacles to get in her way. For example, when the team ran into an issue with a certain bus route not

011arriving to class on time, she offered to ride along. Oh, wow. To determine to improve the route. Due to her impressive efforts launching and coordinating bus services, families who needed transportation are now able to participate in these classes. We are proud of our county office of education staff and are pleased to recognize SA Allen for her outstanding work. Congratulations to SA for being named employee of the month for May 2025. Would you like to say a few words? I'm nervous. Um, I used to I've been a bus driver since 2009. I came over to the county office a couple of years ago and that gave me the opportunity to work on the other side of the business. However, I did not know that I was going to be working with a great group of people.

012Um Kevin has been major support to me with anything that I'm dealing with, any issue. He has an open door policy. Um he makes me feel comfortable to talk to him about anything. Um Rich, who's just became my manager recently. He is awesome. I sit right outside his desk, so he hears me all day long. Um and he offers support, you know, when needed. Um there's so many other people I would like to thank. Uh the the staff at the ACC center, well back in the day we used to call it ECE. Um but Heather, Robin, Francesca, they are all great. We have our um we exchange phone numbers. So now we text sometimes instead of calling directly on the desk, but then I also have a great support system at our K12 program, which

013is Ellen Palino. She's the principal and we text a lot. We talk like five or six times a day. Um, but it's been great here and I didn't know that coming here it would be like a family type environment. So, I'm happy to be a part of the SMCE team and thank you all. So exciting to have that um in addition to today. So thank you. Item four is the 2025 presentation to honor our volunteers recognition award winners and youth commission liaison to be followed by item five the the reception. uh Deputy Superintendent Chavez and I will now begin the presentation. Now I see why Janice had a little bit of issue with the mic. Good evening um board members, President Torres. Great to see the the room full of um attendees. Sure. Oh, great.

014Thank you. We didn't rehearse this. Um, so welcome to the 2025 um volunteer recognition award presentation. Yes. Thank you to all attendees tonight for allowing the county board of education um and our county office team to celebrate you, our innovative and committed students, educators, and community members who contribute to our county's rich learning landscape and in the process support student learning and success. As we go through tonight's program, uh we will invite honores to come forward so that we can highlight the individual uh or team's service or accomplishment and present the recognition certificate. So you'll come up over here and be presented with a recognition. Um at the completion of the presentation, we invite honores to take advantage of the photo backdrop for pictures and then join the celebration reception. So once we get everyone

015through, there's a photo uh opportunity outside and the reception outside with treats. I think it's very good cake. Um we'd like to start by recognizing our volunteers in Sonteo County. Volunteers play an important role in supporting our schools and communities. Volunteers serve in classrooms and in libraries, organize events, coach teams and clubs, and serve on commissions and boards. We would like to express our gratitude to the outstanding individuals assembled here tonight who have supported the Satel County Office of Education and all its programs. our contribute your contributions are invaluable and enrich the lives of our students uh in meaningful ways. So, thank you all very very much. I invite um board president Torres to introduce uh the first group of volunteers. Thank you. Um we have lots of names so I apologize if I butcher

016any names throughout this whole day. Feel free to correct me. So to begin, we honor our volunteers in the court and community schools programs. First up is Doris Marai. Doris, would you please come forward? Doris along with Chris Cannon who couldn't attend this evening volunteers in the Judy Monog library at the Hillrest School and her generous gift of time working with students in the library ensures that students connect with engaging and relevant content and expand expand their learning beyond the the classroom. Our students know that Miss Mariah is there for them whether to suggest a great book, share an interesting lesson on current topics, or simply just to listen. Thank you so much for your support of our students and our library. You are a valuable member of our program. Thank you so much. Up

017next is Joanna Jeffs, another special volunteer with the court and community programs. Would Joanna please come forward? Uh for the last several years, Joanna has served as the liaison with the 17th district PTA and the primary contact for the court and community schools. She is a tireless supporter of our students, staff, and program. She organizes and provides delicious food and elevates recognition that our staff members greatly appreciate. We are thankful for Joanna's support and willingness to generously volunteer her time and feed our staff. Thank you. We are happy to recognize one additional volunteer with the Courton Community Schools, Angel Ramirez. Angel, would you please come forward? So, over the course of several months, Angel provided financial literacy lessons to our students at Hillrest. His presentations designed to include real life applications, incorporate interactive learning and

018impact future ready skills, equipped our students with practical tools to manage their financial finances effectively, make informed choices, and set a strong foundation for their futures. He brought financial literacy to life, helping every student gain the confidence and skills to achieve financial independence. Angel, please know that your expertise and your commitment to shaping a financially empowered generation are greatly appreciated. Thankfully, in our next category of volunteers, we honor Mike McCord and Desiree Theer, volunteers with the Youth Climate Ambassadors Program. Unfortunately, Mike and Desiree were unable to join this evening, but we would still like to share about their amazing work. So, the youth climate ambassadors program started in Berlingame under the direction of Mike and Desiree, and over the years has grown into a strong collaborative partnership that includes the county office and other organizations.

019Both Mike and Desiree tirelessly contribute their time mentoring during bimonthly workshops and provide students with coaching on their community impact projects. Thank you to Mike and Desiree for inspiring the inspiring work that they do and for leading the next generation of youth to become not only stewards of our planet but leaders in the environmental movement. Our next group of volunteers are the 2025 environmental youth leadership summit volunteers. These students spent a great deal of time planning and preparing for the environmental youth leadership summit. They attended weekly meetings for two months prior to the event and many of them ran breakout sessions on everything from a nature walk to a session on eco solutions that involved different stations. Some of the students facilitated breakout rooms and spoke during the opening keynote. And according to the coordinator,

020Hillbornne, these students literally ran the program and did a phenomenal job. So we first invite up Cherish Liko, a 12th grade grader at Westmore High School in the Jennifer Jefferson Union High School District. Up next is Trevor Cho, a ninth grader from the Nova School. Congratulations. Our next volunteer is Billy Bagota, a eighth grader from the Westboro Middle School in the South San Francisco Unified School District. Thank you. Would Maya Garcia Rivera, a seventh grader from Taylor Middle School in the Milbury Elementary School District, please come up? Congratulations. We welcome Kora Rosen, an 11th grader at Crystal Springs Upland School. And lastly, we are proud to honor Isabelle Ling, an an 11th grader from the Carl Mount High School in the Sequoia Union High School District. Congratulations. So, not in attendance this evening, but also

021honored as the 2025 Environmental Youth Leadership Summit volunteers are Kelly Zang and Iris Yan. So, applause for them. So, our final group of of honorary volunteers in the 2025 Sanonteo County Tobacco Education Coalition Youth Advisory Group leaders, whose names are listed on the screen hopefully um the county office of education's tobacco youth health tobacco education coalition co-hosts um this group to ensure youth voices remain at the forefront of tobacco prevention education. The youth advisory group is composed of student leaders from 8th grade to 12th grade across San Monteo County. There are the names. So these students volunteer their time to raise awareness about tobacco use, encourage help seeking behaviors, and educate the broader community, all through a lens of social equity. Each year they lead several major initiatives including the countywide youth public service announcement

022contest, the photov voice project and a com community tobacco vaping waste cleanup. We are thrilled to honor Kira McLintto as the youth advisory group leader of the year. But Kira, please come and join us in the front of the room. So Kiara is a graduating senior at Aragon High School and she joined the youth advisory group as an eighth grader in 2020, its inaugural year, and now serves as both statewide and national youth councils focused on tobacco use prevention. So, in addition to her leadership, Kira is the recipient of the Aragon High School Gold Award for launching a summer outreach campaign that includes a series of emails, social media posts, and presentations. Her campaign is focused on educating teens about the health effects of tobacco use and helping them recognize the advertising strategies tobacco companies

023use to target our youth. So, this work is especially timely as teens are more frequently exposed to these ads during the summer months when school-based support systems are less available. Cara, we are so proud of what you've accomplished with the youth advisory group and congratulations on being the leader of the year. So, let's give all of our amazing volunteers one more round of applause. And to give you a break from hearing my voice, I will now turn the presentation back to Deputy Superintendent Chavez to introduce our recognition award winners. Thank you very much, Board President Torres. Our first category of recognition awards for our 2025 California Distinguished Schools honores. This year, 11 elementary schools from seven school districts in Sonteo County received a 2025 California Distinguished Schools Awards from the California Department of Education for

024their progress in supporting student success. The California Distinguished School Awards Program honors schools uh that performed well on several state indicators displayed on the 2025 California school dashboard such as suspension rate, chronic absenteeism, and student performance in English language arts and mathematics. The state alternates between honoring elementary schools and middle school and high schools with awardees holding their title for two years. Up first, drum roll. I like that. Thank you. Uh, up first is Central Elementary from the Belmont Redwood Shores School District with Superintendent Dan Dara, Principal Chuck Donovan, and Trustee Anne Dan. Please come up to accept the school's award. Excellent. Receiving a well-deserved honor is Brisbane Elementary School, Brisbane Elementary from the Brisbane Elementary School District. We are happy to invite principal Sean Higgins and teacher Jennifer Syimer Simmer Abaya to accept the

025school's award. Our next honore is Northstar Academy from the Redwood City Elementary School District. Would Assistant Superintendent Anna Era and Principal Aaron Kikos please come up to accept the school's award. From the Hillsboro City School District, we have three awardee schools, North Hillsboro, West Hillsboro, and South Hillsboro. with the team of superintendent an Anna Darcy, North Hillsboro principal Heidi Beams, West Hillsboro principal Heather Mata, and Trustee Don Giddis. Please come up to accept your award. Lastly, in this category, we are proud to honor Meadows Elementary School from the Milbury Elementary School District. I believe we have quite the group in attendance tonight to celebrate with Superintendent Lisa Hickeyi, Principal Julie Constantino, Trustee Claire Belrami, Trustee Lynn Ferario, Ferrario, uh, director of educational service Katherine uh, Wesliff, teacher Jennifer Columbo, teacher Claudia Paraldi, and teacher Christy

026M Martin. Please come up to accept your award. There's a camera over there. Pose. Yes. Let's give him another round of applause. Also receiving recognition, but not in attendance this evening, are Hoover Elementary and Roosevelt Elementary from the Berling Games uh school district um and Britain Acres Elementary and Mariposa uh Upper Elementary from S. Carlos School District. So, let's give them a round of applause. Our next recognition awards are for the county's 2025 California Green Ribbon um school award winners. These these awards recognize public and private schools, districts, and county offices that demonstrate progress in three pillars of sustainability. reducing environmental impact, improving the health and wellness of school and commun school community, and providing effective environmental education. Applicants are assessed on their ability to demonstrate progress in these three areas and are recognized at

027either the bronze, silver, gold, or green achiever level. First up, I know these people, is our own Satell County Office of Education team, which earned a green achiever, the highest level of the California Green Ribbons Award program. would Julie Hillborn, coordinator environmental literacy and sustainability, Ron Soaper, director sustainability construction and facilities, Rich Maldonado, manager facility services, and Kevin Bolta, deputy superintendent business services. Please come up to accept this award. I think we took Kevin from a very important duty of cutting cake. The county just wait a second. The county office of education uh received this prestigious honor for the its groundbreaking leadership in environmental literacy and susta and sustainability and climate ready practices. The county office has prioritized sustainability for decades and in 2017 deepened its commitment to en environmental education by launching an environmental

028literacy and sustainability initiative that supports Sonteo County Schools and integrates climate ready practices across a school's campus, curriculum, community, and culture through environmental education programs like the environmental Solutionary Teacher Fellowship and the Youth CL Climate Ambassadors. The county office empowers educators and students to address climate change and sustainability changes and continues to drive transformation across districts throughout California, fostering sustain sustainable and equitable learning environments. Congratulations to our team. We are so proud of you. The entire office celebrates you today. The second 2025 Green Ribbon Award winner is the Satel Union High School District with a bronze recognition award. We invite we invite up Superintendent Randall Booker and Dave Emmanuel, chair Simont Union High School District Sustainability Committee to accept the district's award. Okay. The Satell Union High School District was honored with a 2025 California

029Green Ribbon Award bronze level for implementing a comprehensive sustainability strategy across its campuses including investment in renewable renewable energy, water conservation, standardized waste management, fleet electrification and eco commu commuting incentives to reduce environmental impacts and operational costs. The district prioritizes student and staff wellness through coordinated health initiatives, standardized safety practices, and integrated school garden programs that enhance learning and wait for it. Yesun well-being. Additionally, they actively incorporate environmental and sustainability education into their curriculum with teachers engaging in professional development programs such as the environmental solutionary teacher fellowship and training in the district sustainability dashboard. Congratulations, Sato Union High School District. We are incredibly excited to I lost my spot. Sorry. We're incredibly excited uh of our next honor uh honore, the 2025 outdoor education cabin leader of the year. The Sonteo County Outdoor Education has

030a long history and tradition of high school students volunteering as cabin leaders for the residential outdoor education program. The program depends on these dedicated students. Um, and this year's cabin leader of the year is Ashling Edwards from Teran Nova High School, who was unable to join us in person tonight, but we're wondering is she online? She is. So, we're get to move her over and ready. Let's applause. Thank you for joining us, Ashling Edwards. Um, this year, and she gets to hear the acknowledgement. This year, Ashling volunteer at the outdoor education at outdoor education five times with each visit marked by passion, dedication, and deep commitment to both student, students, and the natural world. Each week as cabin leader, she fully embraced the role, returning each time with greater intention, leadership, and care. Ashling prioritized

031student safety, foster inclusive and emotionally safe spaces, and encouraged personal growth among students. As she stepped into greater leadership, she confidently led activities and lessons, took initiative, and consistently brought a positive, supportive presence to the program. From environmental education to hands-on pro art projects, Ashling made learning impact impactful and memorable. Her contributions have left a have left a lasting impression and we are deeply grateful for her time, energy, and heart. Ashley, Director Collins, and her team are looking forward to your application as a naturalist in a few years. I we think you're ready. Congratulations, Ashling. Now for the second year, we are sincerely privileged to present the San Mateo County Office of Education Student Program Award. For 2025, we recognize Marco, who goes by Marcus Ernnandez, a senior at Gateway Community School. Marcus, thanks for

032joining us up here. Any members of Marcus that want to join us? Ah, no. Up. Perfecto. Marcus, you are a remarkable young man with deep commitment to growth and learning. As a senior, Marcus consistently demonstrates what it means to persevere. One staff member described him as a committed as committed to his personal and academic evolution, a quality that has been evident in both his actions and attitude. He regularly shows up and dedicates himself to his graduation goal, which he proudly achieved this year. Marcus is both respected for his determination and uh admired by for his character. Staff noted his inherent integrity and maturity as traits that contribute to the ele elevation of our school climate on a regular basis. Whether it's completing assignments, treating others with respect, or being willing to help out, Marcus brings

033positivity and purpose to our school. We are honored to recognize Marcus Ernnandez with the 2025 Student Programs Award, a celebration of his journey, his growth, and his exceptionally bright future ahead. We are so proud of you, Marcus. Congratulations. Okay, I'm It's almost time to switch it over to another voice. Our next group of celebrants are the 2025 Art Takes a Bus Ride winners. This year's theme, connecting the community with STEM transvited students to reflect on how public transportation brings people together. A distinguished panel of local arts leaders carefully reviewed over a hundred submissions, ultimately selecting 12 powerful pieces that will travel across Sonteo County in two SAM tra Samr buses for the next year. The official bus uh reveal took place on May 7th at a special celebration hosted by Sam Trans where community members,

034students, and even supervisor Jackie Spear came together to honor the artists. In addition to winning the entries, we are thrilled to feature the runnerups uh submissions in a popup and in a popup um and pop-up entries. We um in a pop-up exhibit in down in our downstairs hallway in our building. So, if you walk out this hallway, you'll see the ex the exhibit um at the end of the hallway. Um, we're encouraged, uh, we encourage everyone to stop by and check it out. Um, it is with great pride that we now recognize the talented students whose artwork was selected for this year's traveling gallery, the buses. Up first, Ming Ming Nuang, a fourth grade um, fourth grader at College Park Elementary School in the Satel Foster City School District. Good job. I love it. So

035cute. Next, Audrey Shen, a sixth grader at Ter Linda Middle School in the S. Carlos School District. Would Bowen Wood Bowen Wang, a sixth grader at Central Middle School in the San Carlos School District, please come Huh? He has a determined handshake. We are proud to honor Muen, an eighth grader at Bo Bodage uh middle school in the San Mattel Foster City School District. also a determined handshake. And um not in attendance this evening, but also honored at as our 2025 Art Takes a Bus Ride winners are Christopher Sun, Bowen Hoe, um Mabel Nelkin, Melody Lloyd, Sarah Wing, Meen uh Daras Danis, uh Courtney Yao, and uh Charmaine Manasala. So, let's give them a round of applause. Now, we're going to turn our attention to recognize the winners of the 2025 San Mako County Tobacco

036Education Coalition Public Service Announcement Contest. This spring, the county offic's tobacco use prevention education program hosted the fifth annual anti-tobacco PSA competition for middle and high school students. The contest was led by the tobacco education coalition's youth advisory group recognized earlier uh this evening. The group selected the the theme better for a second, worse for a lifetime to emphasize the long-term harmful effects of tobacco use and raise awareness about healthy coping strategies for youth. More than 100 entries were submitted across three categories, poster, audio, and video. Each category awarded first, second, and third place honors. Those interested in viewing the winning submissions are encouraged to visit the new section of the county offic's website. Notably, six of nine honores are students from the Jefferson Elementary School District and although they could not attend this evening,

037they will formally be recognized um at their board meeting on May 28th. First, first up, congratulations to Malachi Era, uh, an eighth grader at Kennedy Middle School in Redwood City School District. Congratulations. Cheers. proud teacher sit in the front to take pictures. Next is Leslie uh Guzman, an eighth grader at Parkside Intermediate School in the San Bruno Park School District. Next, Anna Ariyaga, a seventh grader at Benjamin Franklin um school in Jefferson Elementary School District. Anna, we're going to get you the certificate. But you know what? For a pose, hold it this way. like this. Look that way. There you go. Problem solving. Thank you, Anna. We'll we'll definitely We have it. Um just not here. Okay. Gracias. Excellent. Super. Okay. Our last honore in the category in this category is Arjun Gaul, a seventh

038grader at Hillview Middle School in the Menlo Park City School District. Congratulations As we noted in not in attendance this evening but also honored as winners in this category are Shenia uh Shaniah Soraniano Lily Bagonia um Mariel Deariate Khloe Lee and Joyce Doe from Jefferson Elementary School District. Let's give them a round of applause. All right, that was very impressive. That was a a lot of honores. Very excited. We express our sincerest gratitude to the extraordinary group of our 2025 volunteers and recognition award winners. Let's give them another round of applause. And now we turn it back to board president Torres for one last recognition. Okay, one more. One more. So, we have one more special honore this evening. I am honored to say a few words about our 2024 to 2025 youth commission liaison,

039Bethany Zhao. Bethany, would you please join me in the middle of the room? So Bethany Zhao, an Oceanana High School senior and member of the Sonteo County Youth Commission, served as the youth commission liaison to the Sonteo County Board of Education for the 2024 to 2025 school year, actively contributing to board discussions and policy initiatives. She led efforts on key youth issues including teen dating violence, domestic violence, and educator housing while advocating for equity in student civic engagement at the state level. Both the board and superintendent McGee express our deep appreciation for your service and wish you success in your future endeavors. Can I announce where you're going for college? And she will be going to Northwestern University after graduating. Congratulations and thank you to our youth commission leaison. So in closing, congratulations again to

040all of our incredible honores this year. It's been quite an evening. So at this time we will adjourn for a 15minute recess and reception to celebrate our outstanding honores. Um it is now 7:55. Um and the board will resume the meeting at 810. We also invite the honores to meet by the backdrop for photos and join in the reception. Again, there is cake. Please enjoy yourselves. Thank you so much. Uh good evening. We are going to resume uh the meeting. Uh before jumping into item six, um Trusty Alvaro had asked to take some time uh for some comments for Bethany and her award. So I'll head it hand it over to you, Trusty Alvaro. Okay. Thanks. Um, yeah, I just wanted a minute before you slid out the door to just thank you and just

041say what an inspiration you are to all of us. This is a um this is a difficult time especially for for those of us who work in in education or in community. It's it's tough. But when we meet people like you who are the young leaders who are coming up next because some of us are just about done with that and you're coming up and you have so much passion and so much energy and so much heart and so much brains that it it's it really gives me hope. And so I have to thank you for that, for giving me hope. So thank you, Bethany. Oh, yes. Go ahead. Thank you so much. I really appreciate all your well wishes and I just want to say that these past two years have been so amazing.

042I feel like not only have I learned a lot, but this group really does kind of feel like a family. Um, so I just want to thank you all for always having been so welcoming, so kind. I really do think that all of you are some of the wisest and most amazing people that I've ever met really. So I just want to say thank you so much and um, I'll really miss you. If you guys are ever in Chicago, let me know. Would anyone else like to add anything? the warm jacket. She does. Yes, she does. Yes, she does. I I I just wanted to say and I I uh Bethany already knows um how much uh respect I have for her and what she has done. And uh I was so excited to have

043a North County uh representative this for the last two years. And boy has she shone like a shining star. Um, you make me proud, Bethany. And uh, it has been such a pleasure knowing you and I expect to keep on knowing you. I want those reports on how you're doing back there at Northwestern. We'll see how you get through that first winter. But, uh, thank you for being such a wonderful, bright, intelligent young lady. and quite frankly uh teaching us a lot. I mean you've really given us a lot of information and insight on things um that we hadn't had before. So thank you so much. Thank you so much for those kind words and for the well wishes for the Chicago winters as well. Um I hope to see you all again very shortly.

044The youth commission showcase is actually tomorrow. So fingers crossed some of you will be there. Um, and yeah, uh, President Torres, we do have a member of the public who would like to say a few words online. Oh, great. Uh, Janice, would you like to let me uh move you over here? There you go. You're able to speak. Hi, Bethany. I didn't get to know you, but any youth that wants to be part of this educational system, I totally put my hands up and wrap my arms around you because we need people who really care about kids and I just wanted to put that out there tonight. So, thank you. Thank you, Janice. Thank you so much, Janice. I really appreciate that. And I know I didn't know you very well, but I remember that

045you would always come in to public comment and share your thoughts. And I really appreciate how much you care about, you know, the kids in the county and your passion as well. So, thank you so much. Thank you. And would anyone else like to add anything? Okay. Um, I will just say very quickly that um, yeah, I'm just in awe by you. Every time you come and just tell us like this is what I've done, I'm like, it's been two weeks. How were you able to accomplish all of that on top of school? Um, so I'm just so excited for the journey ahead for you and everything you're going to accomplish. And my family is in Chicago and I'm there about three times a year, so hopefully we cross paths at some point. So, thank

046you. Um, for item 6A, um, is there a motion to approve the minutes of the May 7th, 2025 regular board meeting as presented? Is there a second? Thank you. There's a motion to approve the minutes of the May 7th, 2025 regular board meeting made by Trusty O'Neal and a second by Trustee Gerard. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say no. The motion passes with a vote of 70 and the minutes of the May 7th, 2025 regular board meeting have been approved. Item seven is the consent agenda. The 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 of any member of

047the board, the superintendent or the public sole requests. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? So, is there a second? Second. Thank you. There's a motion to approve the consent agenda made by Trusty Gerard and a second by Trustee Alvaro. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say no. The motion passes with the vote of 70 and the consent agenda has been approved. For item 8A, Jeff Schmidt, coordinator, district improvement and support, will introduce Latrice Bennett, head of school, Oxford Day Academy, ODA, to provide the annual report from ODA. Coordinator Schmidt. Thank you. Good evening, Superintendent McGee and County Board of Trustees. It's my honor every year to introduce Latrice Bennett, the head of school at Oxford Day Academy Charter School. I know some

048of the board members recently went on a tour there, so we're very excited for her to share her annual part with us this evening. Miss Bennett. Good. Good evening. It's not afternoon. Good evening, uh, board president Torres, members of the board, Superintendent McGee, uh, that's joining us online. It's good to see all of your faces, even if it's sometimes annually. Uh, thank you all for coming to visit us about a month ago. Our students really enjoyed their time with you and you seem to reciprocate that. I was just telling um board member O'Neal that we sent you the chattiest students. So, apologies for that. But hopefully you were, you know, moved by what you saw um which is really just our mission and vision in action every day. Uh you got to see the day-to-day,

049the in and out of what it takes to do the work that we do. So, thank you for coming by and spending some time with us. I take it this button means it's forward, right? There are no signs. So, let's Yes. Okay. All right. So, this is just our year- end review uh that we do with you all annually. Our goals, our focus areas for 2425 were um around our satellite data versus our street data and the narrative uh that the satellite data tells versus the narrative that we tell really with the whole student approach. um our EL attendance and truency, uh continued academic interventions and developing highly qualified teachers, uh which for us, which really means building within versus recruiting out. Uh and so we do this through a means of uh CTC reach

050university, which is our pathways uh partner school. So just a little reporting on uh you know those focus areas for 2024 and look at the satellite data versus our street data. Um and our state data is still telling a very different story than what we're experiencing on our school site. Uh satellite data areas of focus is increasing the student performance in ELA and math. So that is really our our most aggressive focus right now moving uh into 25 26 and onward. uh what the streak data tells us is that the ELD newcomer truency continues to impact our academic uh progress and so we find ourselves in a very unique situation where we we do not turn students away from our school. However, uh we have this uh we've become this mecca for newcomer students which

051is really beautiful. But what that what tends to happen is uh first they come in with maybe fifth grade level schooling and they're 15. Um and then they stay with us for maybe a year or two and then they find themselves having to work just due to the economic uh need of maybe the person that has sponsored them to come to the states or uh you know their guardians quite literally telling them to stop school because there's no use and go find a job. Uh, and so we've we found that it's really starting to impact our data uh because they are still required to test because they're not within that six-month window of uh not not having to test. Uh they usually get here around 10th grade. And so that means they are then eligible

052to have to take our state uh state testing. And so while this is a challenge that we've been presented with, we are committed to not turning students away because of their um status in the states. And so we've just put our heads together to figure out more intervention uh for those students especially for economic need finding them summer opportunities of employment that will both enrich their experience academically as well as provide some type of an economic need uh for them. And so that's really where our focus has been right now. Uh and then our driving question for 2526 is how can we effectively address truency, attendance and retention while ensuring that students are making academic pro progress. And so we know that these three categories are affecting our data. Um and you know very transparent

053we have renewal coming up and so this is one of our main areas of focus in terms of getting that data to trend upward. Uh, and then our newcomer attendance and truency updates. I'm trying to catch up with my app. There we go. Uh, so our 2324 data highlighted the decrease in newcomer truency and then our 2425 data showed a continued decrease in truency with current trends down to 20%. Uh this was in large part due to us hiring a truency liaison that worked closely with our uh families that we hadn't heard from to create an academic plan that worked for those students who still needed to work but we wanted to see them back into the classrooms and she was able to get 15% of those truent students back into the classrooms and so

054that was a really big win for us this year. um 25 20 uh 2425 graduation rate impacted by the truency as well and then our dashboard data of course still impacted by the truency rate. And so again um it's just we we don't wish to turn any students away. Um and so our plan is to figure out how to meet the economic need of all of our students as well as the academic needs of all of our students. uh figure out how those two can merge together. Where we can be more aggressive with intervention in some areas uh as our content and you know instructional minutes allow versus summer programming um before school programming, after school programming and just looking at all those components to figure out a formula that really works for this specific

055demographic of students. Uh this is our continued academic intervention. So we still are moving forward with our uh four tier curriculum packets which is really nice that you all got to come out and see our model in action. Uh a lot of the times when you know folks come to campus we have to reexplain the entire instructional approach to um our learning for our students which is very different. Uh but we are still you know CCSS NGSS online curriculum. Uh we still have our ongoing ongoing response to intervention efforts for math and ELA for 9th and tth graders. It is embedded into their schedule. Uh we have ELD programming shift and rebuilding. And so we looking at the data and um reshifting and we'll essentially rebuilding our ELD programming um on a larger scale. And

056so, uh, if you take a look at our LCAP updates, you'll see that more allocations have been given over to the the shifting of our EL programming, equitable access to curriculum and content for all learner subgroups, and extended learning opportunities. So, summer learning opportunities, all of our students are mandated to be in some type of summer programming, whether that's recovery with us because they didn't have that great of a year, or enrichment uh, programming. Uh so a lot of them will be in interning at various uh organizations in the community uh some paid some unpaid and they really try to get the paid ones and I'm like hey you know this is this is a different kind of currency you guys you just go and you intern uh and a lot of them actually have

057acclimated to just going and interning uh to be able to have the experience uh to be able to put on their college resumes or um things of that sort. And so they are gearing up also our juniors for their in their year-long impact project that they have to do uh which is our version of community service where they have to partner with an organization and implement their um impact project for a year and kind of track the data on that and then present out on in their symposium at the end of the year. It's a graduation requirement and uh our current seniors are actually going to be presenting at their symposium tomorrow. So, they're all freaking out and texting me because, you know, they have doctor's appointments and they have this and like you knew

058about this all year. No excuses. Uh, so yeah, my phone's probably ringing as I speak. All right, so our ODA teacher pathway update, which we're really excited about. So, uh, we have a continued partnership with Reach University. Uh and we have a few students we have a few teachers that are on the um track to become fully credentialed by the end of next year. Uh so 2026 we uh currently now have two fully credentialed teachers um as a result of this partnership. Um and then we al also have a couple of uh social emotional learning coaches who aren't teachers but they are uh leaison between our parents and our students and our teachers and they work really closely with our students uh who also are in the undergraduate program with reach university to then become

059uh eligible for the credential. So, we really are building a pipeline of highly qualified as opposed to just grabbing anyone, you know, from off the streets that may just have a credential already. It's very intentional for us to be able to grow our teachers according to our instructional model. Uh, it helps them and it helps our students really acclimate to the model and really own it. And we've seen wonderful results from it, which we'll get into in a little bit. Um, but I've heard back from some of our from our some of our first year students uh that just completed their first year in their universities and they again just continue to tell us that our instructional model though very unique and may be hard to adjust to at the beginning of the first semester.

060Uh it is such an easy transition into college for them because of the way that the curriculum and content is presented during their time with us. It's the exact same that they get in college. And the most thing that they find valuable was the four years they were able to really practice their soft skills in terms of time management, self-management, when to study, how to juggle their due dates and all of their assignments because it's the same thing that they see happening in college. And while their peers are struggling in some of those areas, they actually uh they are, you know, excelling because they've had four years to really really figure out what their, you know, footing is in terms of their self-management, what works for them. We give them a lot of grace to

061find their footing over the four years. Um because we know that once that metriculation into college happens, we know it's going to be pretty seamless because that was our intentions. And so it's nice to hear that our intentions are actually realizations for them once they get to college. Um, and you know, I even had a student tell me like even if the content I struggled with in college, I was resourceful enough because of what I've had to do in high school, uh, to know when to go to office hours, when to find, you know, a study center that will help me with certain content. So the content being hard didn't really matter because I knew what to do in order to still meet whatever the goal was. And so that was really nice hearing and

062I was like, "Okay, how do I put that in, you know, data and get it back to everyone?" So yeah, we were just really excited that our teachers are continuing those effort efforts for our students um and really growing up in our pipeline and our um you know mission and values in terms of what we believe can happen for all students. just some continued extracurricular offerings. We still offer our sports because we know it's a big um draw in terms of bridging our community for our newcomers and our current students. Um speech and debate is continuing to take off and we really were able to delve into our Spanish debate this year which was really nice. I've been a big advocate for our debate league in making sure that we're able to secure bilingual judges

063for our students that want to participate in those events in their home language because it's the the most comfortable while they're developing their English. And so our debate league has actually been really responsive in making sure to secure bilingual judges for our students. And they've even now added Spanish debate as an event in our league. And so students that literally just come straight to our campus that you know may have been in schooling in their home countries um and are looking to be just as academically challenged as they were in those places are able to join Spanish debate very quickly and um acclimate into our academic culture uh pretty seamlessly which is nice. Uh and they, you know, for our future lawyers, they really love Moot Court. Uh and of course our internships that are

064all students are mandated to hold uh 11th and 12th grade. So these are community uh partnerships and engagement that we that are just ongoing um with the neighboring high schools. EPA kept tied really just establishing a continuum of care. We're not really into the I mean we're into the numbers game because everybody has to be. But in terms of you know hey if this doesn't work for you let's try it here. If if you have a student that's not working for you let's try it here. Making sure that whatever happens to the student they are somewhere and they are growing wherever they are. Uh really is our our um our goal. And so we established partnerships with the neighboring schools, especially as it relates to post-secary options for some of our students who do not

065want to go to four years, which is totally fine. Um really looking into CTE for them and uh establishing those pathways as well has been really helpful to do with you know partnering our neighboring schools in the community. Uh continuing partnerships with Kinata College for our dual enrollment and our concurrent enrollment. Um about 50% of our graduating seniors enter into college with already college credits, especially if they can if they go to school in California. Um our last validictorian, he's now double majoring. he's at Berkeley and he he only needed a year or two of a language to be able to complete his first um major because he went in with so many college credits which was really nice because sometimes Berkeley will not let you do that because they want you to take it

066with them but um yeah and so we always have this as an offering for our students and we really encourage them to push themselves to take college courses um and you know do really well in them so they get the college feel they know what to expect as they go into college. Um, and so they feel better prepared for that as well. We have continuing partnerships with the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, uh, Silicon Valley Urban Debate League, which is our debate league, and um, continuing partnerships with Stanford University, uh, Youth United for Community Action, Canopy, and Epicenter, so that it's a well-rounded programming experience for our students, uh, for whatever their desires are, whether it's art, STEM, um, you know, community work. And then here's some data for our class of 2025.

067So 83% of our senior class is on track to graduate. 31% of our ODA graduating seniors are newcomers. So while it is a, you know, something that we're trying to fix, there are some celebrations in terms of some of a lot of those newcomers, um, you know, being able to graduate. And for the second year in a row, our validictorian is actually a newcomer. So, it's pretty awesome. Uh 97% of ODA seniors are first generation collegebound. 98% of our seniors identify as Latinex, 2% identify as Pacific Islander. So, as you can see, according to our data, we really are working to meet a specific need of students, which, you know, we're happy to take on that challenge and make sure that we as a uh school site as well, we're being culturally responsive to all

068the needs of our students. For our post-secary options, 83% of our graduating seniors have two-year post-secondary options, and 78% of them um apply to four-year colleges with 100% acceptance of at least two of their universities. So when our students are A throughG eligible, which it it happens that you know students are by the time 11th and 12th graders, they're just making decisions for themselves that, you know, they just have to live with. But for the most part, uh, if a student is following our, uh, curriculum plan for the four years, they are A throughG um, eligible, but really A throughG competitive because we know that there's one thing to be eligible, but there's another to be competitive because the rest of California students are most likely A throughG eligible. And so, um, they have options.

069And what we're finding is that for them, college isn't really an option until it materializes as such. And so once they see the acceptance letter, that's when it really becomes an option for them. Um because you know economically it's just a hard time for our students. Um a lot of them are afraid to leave their houses right now and you know venture off you know even as close as Southern California. And so um once they receive those admissions letters um and then their financial aid packets, it becomes actual a viable option for them. And so we are just really dedicated to, you know, seeing this number increase and um, you know, have hope having them feel safe about their decisions that they're making even in this current climate. And then of course just some of

070the schools that they get into, uh, they really haven't changed too much over the year. Stanford's being really stingy with us. Um, we have yet to get a Stanford um, admission, but we'll keep at it. Um, but yeah, these are some of the schools. Uh UCLA is not on there, but UCLA as well. Maybe I did put it on. I don't know. And then we've got some new data, which is really exciting. Um this year is the first year that our uh first cohort of of seniors that graduated have graduated in college. And so we now have some retention data in terms of uh college retention and graduation. Uh so if you look at the bottom corner there, this is the highlighted celebrations, but I'm going to jump to the retention. uh 77% of our

0712021 cohort, they are on track to graduate from a four-year college in 2025. Uh the student you see here who allowed me to have this picture was our valadictorian that year and she's graduating from Berkeley tomorrow. So very excited for her and her family. Um we had a successful WASK midyear or midcycle review that just happened in May. uh 15% of our newcomer uh truent students return to school uh which I spoke to a little bit earlier and then two teacher candidates fully qualified through our um homegrown pipeline is also another celebration that we've highlighted for 2425. Um the other percentage of those uh students that graduated are either in um medical program uh one joined the military and um the others are in some type of CTE trade track. So um although college didn't

072work out for them, they are still in uh a program that is helping them with their career, which is great. I highlighted opportunities for 2526 uh as I mentioned before our satellite data versus our street data uh our EEL attendance and truency uh looking to really decrease that all the more and um retain those students and really provide aggressive intervention for them as they prepare for our state testing. uh strengthening operational and administrative systems uh and recruitment and retention. And I believe that takes me to my thank you slide. Uh any questions at this time? Are there any comments or questions from the board? Uh Trusty Benini. Um hi, thanks so much for the report. Um there's definitely some really nice highlights about what's going on. So that's good to hear. Um the truency issue

073is it's hard, right? U I was just thinking as I was listening to you, we were hearing about um some uh more ideas around that at a conference we were at this last weekend, but it is it is difficult. Um so you you were able to hire somebody to sort of help with that and and it's good to see it's on the upward trend. Are there other um plans in place to address that issue? Um in terms of the truency, yeah, so our truency leison on works pretty closely with our families um and is really responsible for creating a comprehensive plan for each student and family that works to get them back into this into the school seats. Um, and so outside of that, um, you know, as I mentioned before, we are partnering with,

074uh, various organ organizations within our community to try and secure paid internship spots that are able to pay, uh, like stipen based because a lot of our students don't have social securities um, in order to meet the economic need as well because just our data is showing that really the the pull away from school is the economic strain that they're facing as you know 15 and 16 year olds even though they're not the adults in the house um it is like a shared responsibility amongst the family and so whatever my feelings are about it it's just the reality that we've been presented with and so the the only action for it is to try to figure out a plan for that and so um yeah as I mentioned partnering with local uh community organizations that

075can offer stipen based um internships so that I can like sell that to the family because really it's it's not the students that I am trying to negotiate with. It's usually the guardians or the parents. And so being able to offer this package of, hey, this is an academic plan that we can provide for your student as well as they can go and intern here with a stipen base to help also meet that academic need. That's been our approach so far. Great. Thank you. Um, I have a question too about you said you're um like looking into CTE pathways and I was just curious what that looks like now and is it um how that coordinates or does it coordinate with your curriculum which is so unique and um independent kind of independent base. Sure.

076Sure. Yeah. So as you mentioned our curriculum or really our instructional approach is really unique um unique to the point where CTE although maybe not called CTE on paper or course you know code um is embedded very very much so into our instructional approach. So 10th grade and 10th grade on in the summer, our students are required to um find an internship program or some type of programming um usually in one of those highlighted CTE pathways that you'd find um to join in the summer just to have that experience as well because we are college and career prep. And so um they have to find an organization that they are interested in. It's usually in the fields of health, child care, um tech, um agriculture and farming. And so, uh they do that from 10th

077grade summers all the way through their senior year. And so, uh we are working with our back office folks to figure out how to code that uh for our students because they are receiving that CTE prep. It's just not necessarily officially CTE. Um, and so we're doing that work as well as working with Kinyata College to try and establish some type of pathway. Um, it's a little nuanced because we're so small. You know, we only have 110 students and so, uh, just some of those requirements in terms of, you know, having the CTE qualified credential teacher on on site and things like that can be a bit of a hangup because we're only working with about five teachers, right? And so uh because we're and we're small and so just you know trying to navigate

078all of that um as well in terms of you know offering that to our students and so yes it is something we're working on uh in various ways but really the main thing we're working on is trying to figure out how what we're already doing in terms of career tech prep uh is you know highlighted and actually recorded as such for our students u in the course codes. Yeah, that's exciting. Yeah, in terms of like giving them actual like you're saying actual credit for doing some of that work um or whether it aligns with A to G or all those things. Yeah, that's like the next step it sounds like which is super super exciting. Okay, I only have one more question um in your data and I haven't looked at any of the outside

079data or anything just seeing this. I'm just curious around your population of students if you have students with um 504s or students with IEPs and um what the percentage of students is and then like how how that um uh is you know how that looks at ODI. I haven't asked that question before. Just curious. Yes, great question. We have students with 504s, we have students with IEPs. Uh we again because of our instructional approach um essentially everyone has a customized learning plan and so obviously we are mandated by the state with IEPs. However, we find that our students uh they assimilate really well into our instructional approach because it is so accommodating. Uh and so our I our students with, you know, IEPs and our 504 students, they are accommodated for within our instructional model

080and approach, especially with our four tier curriculum packets. You know, they just kind of are able to access where they they fit. And so there's a lot of access points within our um curriculum and content for all types of learners. Um and so yes, our our students with IEPs, you they're unidentifiable unidentifiable because our um instructional model is so accommodating for all students. And so uh that is one of our highlights in terms of recruitment that we use because um you know our data shows that our students with IEPs have really succeeded uh they're in the four years just right alongside of their other peers. um succeeding because of the in instructional model was really able to kind of like highlight their intelligences as well as like accommodate for whatever that area of need is

081for them. Yeah, it sounds like um which makes a lot of sense. It's like inherently an an inclusive model because you're you're doing that. Um so that's that makes that makes a lot of sense. I'm just curious also just if there are um other services that students with those um IEPs or 504 plans might need that you are also providing um in in addition to yes we essentially just follow whatever is in the IEP in terms of contracting out for services whether it's OT or uh counseling which we provide counseling in house as well um but thankfully over the years that they've been pretty minimal because we're a single site LEA which means obviously we're providing all those things. Um but yeah, any services that's listed in the IEP were mandated anyway to do you

082know the um percentage of students who are in those bases those students with IEPs or type of four look the percentage of our students with IEPs. Yeah. 9%. Thank you. Yeah, Trusty Lev. Thank you. Nice to see you again. Different position here. Um, so 77% finishing college in four years is actually a very good number when we're looking at particularly the Cal State University system. So congratulations on that that students are able to take what they've learned and then finish up is really impressive. Absolutely. Um, I had one question. And so one of the purposes or two of the purposes of um charter schools are to sort of be innovation labs and then also to help improve public education generally. And so you're doing some really innovative interesting things. Is there a pipeline that this

083is getting shared with county office of education programs? Um is it getting shared with the districts in the state? Like are you having conversations with folks? Are people open to listening and hearing what you're doing? That's a weighty question. Yes. And um I think there's definitely room for more opportunities for that to happen and those conversations to happen. Uh as I mentioned, we we established partnerships with the partnering schools that are essentially all charter as well. So in their own little innovative labs. Um but we try to find you know overlap and you know best practices we share with each other. Um but our model is so unique that sometimes it frightens folks when they hear like some of the day-to-day of what we do. Um but yes, we've had uh various conversations with schools

084and I know uh my predecessors so folks before me, they've done a lot of that work in terms of um explaining or offering this instructional model to you know various schools in various states um and even various countries especially as it relates to our tutorial method that um originated from Oxford University and Oxford England. And so I know that that work is happening on like different tiers. Uh but for us in terms of like locally it really uh reflects with our partnerships of our neighboring schools um best practices and whatnot like truency would be one that you know or you could say chronic absenteeism that our schools and other schools are dealing with that. Yeah. So anyway, that was all I had to say. Thank you. Thank you. Other comments or questions from the board?

085Bethany or I just wanted to say thank you so much for presenting. It was really great to hear about the work that you do and especially all the opportunities that you provide for your students like internships, CTE, really just everything sounds like amazing work. Thank you. I appreciate that. Uh Trusty Adas, thank you. I also want to say thank you for the presentation. Um I think the work that you're doing it's like innovation and trying to find ways to support and also just the you know seeing that in the cohort of 2021 77% is you know about to the graduate it's it's a great number. So that's wonderful. Um one question I had about um the student population and demographics. I saw that the class of 2025, the seniors, you talk about 98% Latinx and

0862% Pacific Islander. Is that also for your 110 population of students, the demographics? Yeah, it's possible. Okay. So, with that, I have a follow-up question. Um, what is it like for family engagement or outreach? Uh, do you provide like uh bilingual? Is there other languages? Do you provide opportunities really for I'm thinking like empowering the parents to understand like the importance of education although I also understand economic situations right but like creating that kind of a a lot of the times I saw that also there's a lot of first generations a lot of immigrants um there could be that sometimes we don't see like the long term of what it's going to look like whether it's vocational or is a two-year college degree or four-year college degree. So, I just wonder about that family outreach

087and what is it being done in the school? Absolutely. It's a great question. Um, we do a lot of family outreach and so uh it's really important to us that our students are empowered and understand one their rights as um you know parents in the education system. Uh and we do a lot of work with our families um with IEP students um making sure that their parents also understand their rights and uh you know what services they are allowed to ask for and all of it. You know we that would probably frighten a lot of schools but we really want to make sure that our that our parents feel uh empowered. We offer bimonthly parent meetings where we really dive into uh what's happening in the school. We're very transparent with our stu with our

088students and our parents uh and so they have a lot of input about what happens in the day-to-day. We have our committee meetings. So, we have our ELAC, we have our um SSC, we have our parent groups that also help with the LCAP uh in terms of like allocations and you know, what they're seeing in terms of our programming and what can be improved. Uh we do parent surveys that we get feedback from in terms of school improvement. Uh and yeah, we just have a really open door policy with our school and so we do get a lot of traffic of parents coming in checking in on their students. Um especially we always encourage our parents to come and sit in on our tutorials so that they understand our instructional model. It's really important for

089our parents to understand our instructional model because it it has to be a continuum of care once the student reaches home. Our students like to in their first year at least like to say, "Oh, we don't have homework." And we and the parents always come in concerned and we're like, "That's absolutely not true. Please make sure you come to the first parent meeting where we explain all of this." um because most of the time they've missed it in the orientation. And so yeah, we are very very involved with our parents. It's one of the uh privileges afforded to us because we're smaller. Uh and so really everything is community. It's very tight-knit. Um we have seen a recent downtrend, however, in parent involvement, and it it is to because of the economic need that you

090spoke to um few sentences earlier. And so again, we're trying to find ways to still have those parents access um you know, our school programming and school meetings and things like that so so that they feel just as involved. And are this bilingual? Is there a need for Absolutely. Okay. Great. Thank you so much. Yes. And bilingual I I'm honestly I mean like there's little English speaking and so really it's like interpreting for the English speakers, not really for the Spanish speakers. So at this point Yeah. Sorry, trusty Alvaro. Thank you. Thanks, Lrice. It's nice to see you. I had a question about the the last one of the last slides. You say 15% of the newcomer truent students came back. So those students who were truent this year, not last year, and then they

091came back this year. Why? What brought them back? I think our our um ability to adapt to their needs and try and find a plan um that works for them and still meets their needs. And so a lot of the times um they just needed someone to understand that they had to work and you know they had to figure out a way to do that. And so we just sat down with the families and figure out a way for that to still happen and came with resources. um not a pamphlet that says go here and see what they can do for you. And so I think the interaction that we have again because we're so small we're able to sit down in those meetings and say hey I get the right now need is for

092them is for you to have money to meet rent but you got to look at the four-year you know plan of why you brought them to our school. And so we just have those very real conversations with our parents and the students. We ask the students what they want. We want the we ask the parents what they want and what they need and why they brought the student here. Um, and then we offer that plan to them and and it's been working. It's great because 15% is not a small number. Yeah. I mean, it's I I know that that's something you're working very hard on is newcomer truency and that's it's it's a sticky one, but it's nice to see that something, you know, is working bringing them back. Um, and I agree with Trusty

093Love. 77% of the 21 graduates now graduating. Yeah. for your that rocks. It's amazing. So, um, are you bringing any of them back to talk? Say that one more time. Are you bringing any of those back to talk to the kids who are in school now? Absolutely. Yes. So, we have established a pretty strong alumni uh network and connection. If you've been to any of our commencement ceremonies, there you're usually greeted by an alumni and they tend to run the ceremonies. And then our um prior year's valadictorian, they are responsible for actually uh being the master of ceremony for the commencement event. And so we yeah, our alumni network is pretty strong. Um our students come back and volunteer all the time. They do they run our college tours most of the time. So the

094ones that are local, so San Francisco State, Berkeley, the local colleges. Um our alumni are actually the ones that lead those student uh tours and talk to our students about their experience. And you know, I always tell them I always nudge them and tell them that like I'm not crazy and there's a method to my madness and just do the internship because it helps them in the long run. So they help me out a lot with our current students who like to complain and gripe about why I make them do what they have to do. But yeah, definitely they come back and and speak with our students. Great. because I have to imagine that they're an enormous inspiration to the younger ones who are wondering what why why do I have to do all this?

095Why is she making me do all this stuff? And then you see someone who's the validictorian at Berkeley. That might have some that might be an answer to why. Yeah, absolutely. Great. Congratulations. Thank you. Other comments or questions from the board? Um, any from the public? No comments from the public. Thank you. Um, I just want to apologize for not being able to make it to the graduation that's coming up. It hurts my heart, but um, I will try next year. I promise. I promise. I promise. Appreciate that. Thank you for all the amazing work that you do. Thank you so much. So, there is no action to take on this item. Um for item 8B, uh Sarah Notch, executive director, Center for Access and Engagement, Educational Services Division, will provide an update on Gateway

096School Programs. Um before I hand the floor off to her, I just want to acknowledge that um Executive Director Notch had a very busy morning planning our celebration and and being here. And I know we have the ALC capers with just appreciation for you and your time and your your energy and dedication. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Yeah, the floor is yours. Thank you. Good evening, Board President Torres, members of the board, and Superintendent McGee. Um, tonight I am bringing you a presentation um at the request of our gateway board subcommittee. Um, we were able to present this um a short slide deck to them in one of our meetings and they really wanted to make sure that everybody on the board could see it. So, um, we're doing take two but with

097uh fewer members today. The first thing we shared um was our partnership with each green corner and um we have a fellow coming in weekly and the fellow works primarily with our entrepreneurship business math teacher Janice Palazari who is a great custodian of our garden. Um and I know a few of you were able to go home with a giant um pallet of lettuce uh as as did I and it was delicious. So they're doing uh an amazing job. Um but it really gives the students an opportunity to experience some of the um the work that we do around sustainability and tie it to um business and entrepreneurship as well. So there are a couple of highlights of some of the things that they've done this year. And then we also provided an update about

098our pilot for um managing cell phones. It's it's a tricky situation. Um it's something that uh many uh districts are struggling with. Um and so we are piloting right now the yonder pouch and trying to make our our classrooms a self-free zone. Um the idea is that students will turn in their phone at the beginning of the day. Um we are trying to make this um part of our school culture and a way that we kind of build community and and think about some of the principles that we're hoping to um really instill in our students that it's uh a culture of learning and a culture of um respect for the community. Um, in the meantime, we are also providing incentives which are really um a way to honor our students for um following our

099school norms and our our values and uh to give them opportunities to work for something that um is uh of great value to them. So there's been um varying degrees of success. So uh as it is a pilot so that uh we'll have our information ready for the board policy uh we'll continue to bring you updates on that. Another goal this year was to enhance our library with uh materials that um have diverse representation and allow our students to see characters and stories that reflect themselves in their communities. And so there have been um both literary enhancements um with with different book titles as well as um equipment for um digital uh media literacy as well. So that's been a wonderful addition. Um we heard earlier about all of the amazing things that are being

100done at the Hillrest Library. So to be able to expand um our Gateway Library has been a wonderful um addition. This year we are wrapping up our pilots for the curriculum adoption. Um we piloted SAVAS for history and social science, TCI for history and social science and STEM scopes for science. Um we are going to make sure that we pass along um information so you can preview the content for the two that are going to be recommended to the board for adoption. Those are TCI and STEM scope. The features um that have been very uh positively received by students and staff alike are um the hands-on elements of the STEM scope uh science curriculum and the fact that the history and social science curriculum in TCI is told from multiple perspectives with multiple cultures represented

101um and a broader view of history and social science than has been presented in um in the past in different adoptions. So, they're excited to bring that to you and we'll make sure that we get that information to you this week so that you can start taking a peek before we bring it to you for recommendation to adopt. We also shared um information. We had Jonas Barber um with us for the board subcommittee meeting. He is in a new role as the um transition uh coordinator of transition services through a grant with OICR, the Office of Youth and Community Restoration. Uh OICR's name for this position is a workforce navigator. And part of what um he does is is help prepare our students for a transition um from our programs to wherever they're going next.

102And he does this through a lot of collaboration with students, families, and community partners. Um the OICR just um awarded another grant, the youth employment initiative grant to a local organization called Live in Peace. And so uh coordinator Barbara has been working with them um to ensure um seamless and cohesive support to the students. Um, I've not had the the um opportunity to visit Livein Pieces um facility yet, but I have heard that it is amazing and they're doing wonderful things in lots of areas of interest for our youth. Um, and the staff has been phenomenal to work with. So, it's nice to see um the expansion of the OICR and workforce navigator support. And then the final thing that we reviewed at the subcommittee meeting was our prototype updates. So through the design series,

103the gateway design series, um we uh developed several prototypes. So we have three here. I won't read them to you, but I'll give you a second to skim. I know you have it in your packets as well, but I'll go into a little bit more depth about where we are with each of the prototypes um at this point in the year. The first one is expanded partnerships with community colleges. This is really focusing on CTE offering um uh CTE pathway offerings and dual enrollment as well as our partnership with project change. So we are running several courses through project change right now statistics keys to success and ethnic studies. Um, and then through our round seven career technical education grant, we're able to expand our partnership with our community college districts even more. So, we're

104um going into a summer of planning our college expo days um having speakers come uh to our school and uh and share the work that they do and the opportunities for them with our students. Um and then we're going to begin exploring um dual enrolled work experience with our partners. Transition programming is going to be um started this summer. So we um have recognized the benefit that we could provide to our students if we had more robust transition planning that actually followed them um after they leave us as well. So we do a great job and Dr. Dr. Jimenez this whole morning was in um at Sonteo Union High School District having transition meeting after transition meeting with our students. But we would really like to expand it and make sure that as our students

105are coming to us, we're starting to think about what's next and help support them in that journey from the very beginning um of their time with us as well as provide supports and followup to make sure that the transition has been smooth. So, we're going to start to work on that this summer. And then the final prototype was professional learning and collaboration. And um that's really focused on our adult mindsets around um the mindsets of students and looking at um hands-on learning opportunities. So it was wonderful to see that the STEM scopes uh curriculum was so wellreceived. I think they've had a lot of experience um through connecting with our CTE opportunities to witness tremendous growth and engagement and excitement in our students. Um, so in addition to some of the CTE courses that we've

106been running, um, CTE 101, entrepreneurship, business and consumer math, and patient care, sports medicine, we have had our, um, our 15-day master classes as well this year. And, um, I know at the board study session, we shared some pretty exciting growth about our pass rates. Um our two most um uh challenging courses for students are typically algebra and biology. So running them through um CTE has resulted in some phenomenal um growth and pass rates as well as students um own perceptions of themselves as learners and their growth mindset, collaboration um and attendance. So, we're excited that um in year one of our implementation that we've been able to see so much positive growth and um with that, I will be happy to take any questions or hear comments you might have. Thank you. Are there

107any comments or questions from the board? Okay. Um are there any from the public? We have one speaker from the public. Uh Janice, let me give you um permission to talk here. Okay, you should be good to go. Janice, um did you want to unmute? Sorry about that. I I muted myself after you let me talk. Yeah, that's okay. Totally appreciate everything Sarah said. Um I I love that we're doing all this for current community. I'm struggling with a lot of things about we are successful because it's giving kids a lot of experience and stuff. Um I guess I need to talk to you guys offline because I love this program. I'm glad we're doing CT. I think were very successful in it but not as successful as I want it to be and I

108have a lot of high expectations for myself and I'm the part of CT so I guess this is why I'm speaking um we are doing stuff we are doing better for kids we are developing and we're improving I'm just struggling with how far we've gone And I just want to put it out there because I'm working my hardest on this and I want to be as strong as the county thinks we are. But I need to say that we're doing good, but we need to do what the county is saying. And I'm sorry I'm saying anything against what Karen is saying because I really do think we're successful, but I think we need to go a lot further than we are and the kids we work with are hard and they're getting a lot more

109from their education. I'm not sure if we're at the place where all the other schools are with CTE. I just have to put this out there because we are doing a good job. We have leadership that is helping us. I don't know if we're as strong as those regular high schools are, but we are doing right for our kids. And I'm not sure how to manipulate it so our kids get credit for what they are doing. Um because it's way more than they would be doing in their traditional high schools. But we're not at the traditional high school thing. And I know some of our teachers think we need to be teaching to traditional high school. And our kids aren't traditional high school. I'm sorry. I will say five out of our 30 kids probably

110can do what everybody wants them to do. Do the CS. I mean, go beyond. Our graduates are succeeding. I do have to say that. I'm just struggling with everything that's going on because we're doing the best for our kids. I'm not sure we are at where we should be. Um, but they're way further than they are. And when we get the kids in high into college at especially at Hillrest, they are striving. They are doing great. We have set them up and that's before Jonas Barber. We've set them up. He's doing a good job um with what he needs to do. Um I don't know what I want I'm trying to tell you guys, but um I just want you to know we are doing the best we can and I hope we are meeting

111the county offic's expectations of us. But no, our a lot of our kids aren't collegebound. as long as we make them successful can get jobs and do well and get into trades or get into college, we're all for that. Um, but no, that's a little bit less than what we are expected to do. But I am excited for our kids who can get that far and do what they're doing. And I guess I just need to tell you guys that because kids are striving at Gateway and everywhere else. I think people have way higher expectations of what they can do than where they are, but they are becoming successful. Kids, even when they get in trouble, Miss Palazari, we are um at the three minute mark. If you want to have one last one last

112thing, our kids are striving, doing better. I'm not sure if we're as high at a bar as what you guys think we are, but we are doing good and our kids are striving. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um, there is no action to take on this item. Um, thank you. For item 9A, we have superintendent comments. Superintendent McGee, do you have any comments to share? Yes, I have a few brief comments. Um, here, let me pull up my list here. Just want to begin by thanking um Jennifer Pera especially and uh the rest of the team in the superintendent's office. Karen Williams, May TR, Anton Sarah Hopkins, and all the others who um added to the two events for today, the end of school year event um that we did out at special services

113and then tonight's volunteer recognition event. It's a lot to do in one day and um uh the the group pulled together like a team but certainly led by Jennifer Pera in um in tonight's event which I think went very well. Um so thank you uh team for that. Uh what the board has to you know look forward to um for celebrations that are ahead are all of our graduations. They're just around the corner and that's the next thing that our school teams will be working to pull off for the graduation events. Um today we had a group of uh county office folks down in Monterey because uh next year the big uh curriculum and instruction steering committee conference which is a statewide conference for the the California county superintendent will be organized and implemented by

114the San Monteo County team. So, we're already organizing uh around that under the leadership of Deputy Superintendent Marco Chavez. Um that group was down in Monterey today visiting the the venue and really learning from the Fresno County Office of um education team that that did the conference last year, but it's a huge amount of work and um we're excited to be taking the lead on that. So, just wanted to let you know that our folks are leading there. And then finally, just a little bit of data um that was shared this morning in cabinet that um for the first time really ever that anybody can remember, we will be uh starting next year's school year fully staffed with PAR educators both in the court and community um setting and the special education setting. And not

115only do we have a full complement of um PAR educators hired, but we've also built a really strong team of substitutes, which is just making a huge difference for every everyday quality in our instruction. When you have um educators ready to teach every single day in the classroom, it makes such a difference. Um we attribute this to our comp and class study and the um the changes that we made with our um bargaining unit 158. Um the rebenching of the salaries we think has made a huge difference and really beginning to um support and improve our instructional program overall. So, just wanted um everybody to to hear about that good news. And that concludes my comments for tonight. Other than to say to um Bethany, um all the best to you, Bethany, at Northwestern, really

116enjoyed working with you over the last two years, and I look forward to hearing from you um as you delve into your college experience. Thank you so much. I'd love to stay in touch. Thank you, Superintendent McGee. Um, for item 10A, the board will discuss local control and accountability plan, uh, feedback from the study session and board priorities for the 2025 Sanonteo County Office of Education, LCAP, Associate Superintendent Shouse, and Executive Director Notch, or just Executive Director Notch as I see. Thank you. Good evening, board president Torres, members of the board, and superintendent McGee. Uh, thank you for this opportunity to follow up from our board study session um on I'm checking my April 25th. Um, we're really looking forward to hearing um your comments, questions, and feedback. I'm not going to present the deck

117um again. Uh but you should have received the um the presentation along with the resource packet in uh with board materials. Yes. Uh Trusty Bernini. Oh, I didn't get the pack the presentation, so I'm just curious. I didn't see it, I guess. Did anyone else get it? Yes, everyone got it. Okay. Um, so are we going to dive into comments and questions? Yes. Yes. Okay. Comments or questions from the board, Trusty Love? Well, so are you going to give us a summary of what came out of the survey that we completed? Sure. Oh, absolutely. Yes. Thank you for that. Um, we did have a couple of um respondents to the survey and some of the themes that came out, there were questions about um calling out specific student groups. So, the need to refer to

118um students identified as English learners, students with IEPs or students with disabilities and um a desire to just wrap our arms around all students and say this is what we do for all students. Um that is something that's required in the LCAP. There are certain things that we have to specifically call out. Um but I did want to assure you that um while we are required to specifically call out particular student groups, we are definitely um engaging in that um instruction and support for all of our students. Um there was another question about um the cell phone policy and how um how that's going. So I talked about it a little bit um in the or sorry the cell phone pilot. Um I talked about it a little bit in the previous presentation. Um we've

119had actually some pretty um varying for sure, but um but we've gotten some traction and um it's giving us some good data and it's giving us an opportunity to figure out um whether or not this is the right um uh tool for us to use um so that when we do develop our board policy. Um, but I know we have coordinator Greg Fry here who's been working with the um the staff and the um the students a lot and um I feel like we've made progress. So I'll let I got a nod from coordinator Fry. So, um there was also a question about um the importance of A throughG um courses in our portal and um why that uh is something that we're focused on um when looking at our post-secary outcome survey data. We

120don't have a lot of students attending four-year universities right away. Um there's two reasons we focused on that. Um I mean there's many, but I'll give you the top two. One is that um it increases the rigor of the instruction and we want to make sure that we're providing rigorous and relevant instruction. In order to meet the criteria for um A throughG eligibility um in the UCCcsu portal, it has to um show increased rigor. The second is um we want to make sure that in the structures that we're providing, we're not um inadvertently taking options off of the table. So whether we have students now or later um who may want to continue or would be eligible to continue on a um CSU or UC eligibility, we want to make sure that our designs maximize

121opportunities for students. Um I'm trying to think if there's anything else. I appreciated the feedback. I appreciated the um appreciation for the data that we've tried to bring to you. Um I think that might be what I can recall at this moment. Thank you. Um Trusty Bonini. Um so first I have a question because I know that when we had the study session um we didn't get through the whole presentation. So I'm still looking for the slides. I still haven't found them. Um, so I'm I see the link for the the um sorry the survey which I had responded that I wanted to have this conversation before I did the survey because I felt like it was premature because we didn't get to discuss it. But um so sorry I'm just wondering if it's possible

122if you can go through the final um LCAP goal. Absolutely. And then I'm Yeah, because I had I had during the we just didn't have a discussion, right? So, I had kept my notes which I have here for the all the goals and I had some questions. So, I'm just not sure how we're organizing this discussion. I guess that's what I'm asking for is some guidance on are we going to do that? Can we? And then can we go ask questions about each goal if people have them? If everyone else has questions. Yeah. Is that possible? Whichever is easier for I I will leave it up to what suits the board. I don't have notes on the last school because we talked about it. So, I have the notes for the other ones, but maybe

123it makes more sense to do the fourth one. Yeah. Let's do a quick recap on the fourth one and we can dive into get it. So, not like a presentation on the fourth one and then go back through them or have discussion and people I guess can ask questions as they have them. Does that work? I'm not trying to go by difficult. Just wanted to be able to have the discussion. But there I think they want just uh goal four. Yeah, goal four and then we can um dive into the questions for all the goals. Got it. Okay. If possible, please. Sorry. Look away if the quickly see. I just emailed you those two PDFs that were attached to the Which email were they in because I just I didn't see to the county office

124email just now. Yeah. Sorry for the flipping. Okay, go four. Sorry, let me just grab my notes here. Get in the right spot. Okay. So, goal four is around enhancing and improving advisory and technical assistance that we provide both to our our own school programs as well as to the districts across our county um for students identified as foster youth. Um this particular goal was um hoping to address uh services that would result in increased credit acral recovery, graduation rates, attendance rates um and post-secary outcomes um for students who have been expelled and identified as foster youth. So this is one of the additional areas that county offices are required to have in their LCAPS. You won't see this in um the the countywide support in district LCAP. So this is one of the requirements

125to um satisfy for county LCAPS to show how are we supporting in our programs and across Sonteo. So uh we were able to set a countywide baseline for ontrack rates of students identified as foster youth. So graduation um on track for graduation um which gives us a point of comparison um for our annual review. one of the conversations that um executive director um oh my goodness Ben I'm losing his last name he sits right next to me I hear him through my wall all the time pardon sorry it has been a little bit of a long day executive director Gonzalez and I have had lots of conversations about um these goals in particular as they're county facing u the way that they're written um so he um came into the year inheriting the goals and

126had some concerns about um the fact that the data is usually in a rears and once a year. So if we look at graduation rates while very important there's a lot that our foster youth leaison do that contribute to that um and a lot that they do more directly to contribute to the outcomes of students. So, this might be an area that you'll see um recommendations for um changes in our actions or metrics, not in what we're trying to achieve, but in how we're focusing on it and measuring it. But you can see the current progress for um on track for graduation across Sonteo County. Um and then that was actually the only thing we had as of this point for goal 4 because of the um nature of having to wait till the end

127of the year to get a lot of the data. Um I think we still went over the next steps correct about how we'll bring it to you. Okay. So it was just that and I'll leave this up. Oh never mind. Do you have a copy of it, Trusty Benini? Yes. Okay, good. Great. Of course. Thank you so much. Um, are there comments or questions from the board? Trusty Love, thank you for that. And, um, I did give feedback and so some of my comments are in there, but um, I was still curious about the Yonder pack. So, I think the largest infractions that came up had to deal with cell phones. Mhm. Is were those related to the implementation of the pilot or is the pilot addressing those? So, we should see those numbers go

128down. Um, I was just kind of curious about that. Thank you. Thank you for bringing it up. I do remember that um in your feedback. Um, cell phones have been a challenge for years um at Gateway. um and you know across several other schools in our county um it's a difficult problem to solve because it's not something that you can forcibly remove from a student. So it really has to be something that they're invested in um turning over or putting away uh for the right reasons. And so that's why we really are trying to approach it from a culture and climate perspective and thinking about what do we want our learning environments to look like. Um, I do not believe that the cell phones, not turning in the cell phones themselves were related to um,

129led to suspensions. I mean, I know they didn't only lead to any suspensions, but I don't believe that they were then part of kind of an escalation of events that led to suspensions, but I can certainly look into that. Um, but it's our our pilot of the yonder pouches is one way that we're trying to figure out what works in um collaboration and conjunction with our culture and climate um work that we're doing at the school site. Um, and students feel like they belong and that they're part of a community, they're more likely to engage in a way that supports the community. Chusty Lip. So the other um question I had um and maybe it's a comment um in some of the data that you had I think that staff reported um none was an

130answer to goals you have spent time focusing on and addressing and another staff person I think had the quote of it's really sad to have such great goals and the promise of something better for our students to be negative um be negatively impacted by staff decisions. So that just like ripped my heart out of my um heart, my chest that we potentially have staff who are not prioritizing this and not putting this work first. I don't I don't know how to what to do with that, but um you know, we're 100% here about kids and I'm hoping that staff are not getting in the way of our serving them. So, I guess it's more of a comment, just that little piece of data, but it was heartbreaking to see that. Thank you. Yeah, and we're

131what we're trying to do um everything that we get is a is tells us something. And so, um that really told us that we need to dig in and help support the teachers. We know that there are a lot of people who are um really going above and beyond. Um and so if there's something that is getting in the way of others feeling like they are equipped to implement, this is this is a lot of new. This is year one of a three-year implementation. It takes time. We start small. We scale up. Um we're not going to be in full implementation status this year at all. So, um, it's it's allowing us to take a look at the types of support we're providing and how effective those supports are because we we do truly believe

132that our our educators are here for the kids as I know all of you do too. And so, if there's something that's not working, it gives us this little question in our minds of how can we make it work better. Thank you, Trusty Gerard. Yes, I I really it's not a question. Um but it it's uh interesting um that the cell phone um you know has been such a topic with us. Uh I was at delegate assembly last week and we were divided into different pillars and the the pillar that I was in was totally devoted to cell phones which um I was very surprised uh when I got the information and uh granted that most of the people in the entire group were district people, but in the small breakout group within that group

133that I was in, there were four of us that were from county boards. So, it was really interesting to hear what they had to say and they are all doing the same thing we want to do. um they really want the cell phone to be away from the student during class time and it kind of varied um and I'm not going to say that uh the students were all thrilled but um the more that they promoted um this program with the students they were getting them closer and closer and closer to agreeing, well, yeah, maybe it's not such a bad idea. And some of them were doing the cell phone all day, and some of them were doing the cell phone uh until lunch. They could have it for lunch, and then it went back

134in the pouch or went into an office or wherever it was, they did it. But what also was very interesting um in the districts were the parents were the biggest problem not the students and the parents were having a hissy fit because they couldn't call their kid during school and um so and let them know what they were having for dinner. I mean some of the some of the uh examples just blew my mind. Why a parent would have to call their child during the day to tell them what they're having for dinner is beyond my imagination. But anyway, I just wanted you to know that this is statewide and it it's a a big concern and the thought is it's a better thing for them not to have the cell phone in class. So,

135it's just getting our students and clearly some parents on board with it. Thank you. Other comments or questions from the board? Trusty Bon. Thank you. Um so I'm just looking sorry looking back at my notes from the study session. So um I have a few questions. I'll try to be succinct. Um the first one I think it was the part the introduction. So it was before you got to goal one and you were talking about the student surveys and there was um so I was curious my first question first part of it on the surveys for the students was sort of um how are these administered when I know you also talked about like the average length of stay for different um aspects of that. So I was just um and I'm guessing this is

136not just Gateway, it's all Courtney Community, right? So um so like how how is that done and and is it you know student surveys are interesting because it's they're not perfect but they're they're good. Um so I'm just curious like what that looks like for the students. Thank you. Um it depends on the site. So for our Hillcrest survey it's our exit survey. Um and so there are and I will um extend my gratitude for the Hillcrest students um filling this out because there are a lot of questions and part of that is that we wanted to meet some of the title requirements for what we included in the survey. But really we want to make sure that we are reflecting on their um kind of holistic experience with not just the academics but the

137social emotional the transition pieces. Um so that is administered as as to the greatest extent possible when we know that a student is um getting ready to leave uh leave Hillrest. Um and so that happens kind of sporadically throughout the year. The um Gateway and Canyon Oaks have traditionally done um spring surveys, sometimes also fall surveys. Um so they administered the spring survey at one time um over a couple of days. Um, and we had a lot of teacher um, I'm sure teachers giving up some of the the time in their classes to make sure that that happened because we wanted as as um, many responses as possible so we could make the most meaning out of it. So it really varies sight to sight. Okay, thank you for that. Um, that gives me sort

138of an understanding of it. And then my followup like my second question on the surveys was there were um I noted two points which there were many but one was um high satisfaction with teachers which was great and then you were focused a little bit on the um neutrality of the um safety um uh re you know responses how students were feeling safe and things like that. And so, um, obviously, you know, that could I don't know the questions. I don't know if it what that's related to or if maybe it's broad or, um, specific. But my question that I wrote down was um um, how how will you like do we have do you have plans already or is it just like in process sort of investigate that? I think you mentioned like we'll

139have to look into that. Um, what what does that look like? Um the the great thing about the size of our program is that the students do have pretty phenomenal positive adult relationships. So the question was very broad. The question or the statement was I feel safe when I am at school and they could choose agree, strongly agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree. Um there are a lot of ways that safety shows up in school. It could be I feel like school is a safe place for me. um or I've experienced a lot of uh you know negative things in previous school experiences. So regardless of what's happening, I don't feel safe at school period because of the location. It could be peer um interactions. It could be um any number of things. And so our

140plan is to really um dig into this in a trauma-informed way with the adults that have connections with students to ask more um specific questions and get more information about how do you define safety? What does safety look like for you? The survey is anonymous, so we're not going to be able to follow up with individual respondents, but um we have community builders and closers every day. And so having these conversations um with our community will allow us to get information about how they define it and how we can help improve it. Okay, that's super helpful. Thank you. Um my my other question, my next one I think, let me just see. Nope, it's still before goal one. So, um, so my next question was, um, you made you had a statement around, um, the

141special education staffing and that it wasn't, um, sustainable, um, as it is now and that it would be addressed, uh, in the coming school year. And I was just wondering what um, if you can pro provide more detail about what that meant because that was just the statement. And then um how how does it need to be addressed? I guess I don't you may not know how you are addressing it yet but but can you tell us more about that? Absolutely. So looking at the data that we'd had from the past couple of years um we did have a 1.0 uh resource specialist across uh Hillrest and Gateway um and then that teacher um transitioned back to special services um and so we were looking at we had staffed it at a 1.0 know, but

142how many students were actually kind of per our our case load formula um were coming through Hillrest and Gateway. It's a little unpredictable because we don't necessarily know, but looking at what we do have, it seemed to be a much lower percentage than um what actually ended up happening this year with enrollment. So we had staffed it um in in what we thought was an adequate um percentage of a um portions a person's position and it has not been adequate. So we are going to go um increase that FTE percentage for next year so that we're able to um worst case scenario if they don't have a a large case load they're able to provide even more support in the classroom. So there's really um not a bad outcome for that, but um it's been

143challenging for our teacher this year and so we want to acknowledge and alleviate that with uh different staffing uh FTEES next year. Okay, thank you for that. Um sorry, I just have like two more. Um I can if um anyone else has qu my next one is about goal two. So um if anyone else wants to ask a question, I can do mine like when we get to chest. Thank you. I just actually hopefully this is a very quick question in the survey results from Gateway the student survey results from Gateway and Canyon Oaks realizing that one is a residential program and one is not and you're not disagregating it because it's anonymous. The question is if I have a problem at school I can always find an adult with whom to speak. Um 18%

144said no. They didn't they didn't agree at all. And I would think that would be very different in the two different schools. So I'm just I'm really interested in that particular answer and how that is playing out. Thank you for that question. I I think what um we've learned this year is that um it would be helpful to split out the survey between because the environments as you mentioned are so different. Um and uh we tried to make the questions we we updated a little bit but they're pretty much the consistent questions they've used um for the past couple of years and it's not as lengthy as the Hillrest exit survey u because we wanted to have completion rates but I think there's some room for us to look at how we administer and how

145we phrase the questions or statements so that we can get more specific data. Um, in the meantime, it's going back to that followup with um trying to look a little bit deeper into our communities and how they're feeling about certain things that stuck out to us as well. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Um, Trusty Bonini. Um, so thank you. Um, my next question had to do with goal two and um, it was about the PBIS, right? about the implementation and you had in prior meetings right talked about how um trying to increase the um responses I guess student recognition all of that and so um it seems like that was what you reported on right for that goal was that it was increased there was more student recognition and it seemed like more consistent which is

146great. Um and my question was really around um are you seeing noticeable outcomes for students because of that like that that's a measure of we're recognizing students more but my question is is it resulting in something more positive happening on campus or fewer um you know referrals I mean I don't really like that necessarily either but is there a positive outcome for students based upon this data I would say yes. Um, and we are also really focusing on pairing that recognition with behavior specific praise so that the students know like that was the good stuff like I loved that. Let's do more of that. Um, good jobs or I'm giving you a point or something like that um kind of start to feel hollow. And so giving feedback um and behavior specific praise allows them

147to um reflect on their own um presentations in school, identify positive and pro-social skills, and then when we pair that with instruction that's going to help them build that, I think that's when we'll take it to the next level. Um but again, this is a longer process. And so I'm really pleased to see um we've had multiple um redemption events and community building events and the students are are positively responding to that. Um so we're looking at um expanding it next year. Um and then we'll be able to track different metrics with that as well. Yeah, that's exciting. I mean I think hopefully you know that's what you see and I know we have this big project right where we're helping the whole region with this. So what obviously what would be great to see

148is the link to the academics or just like generally you know feeling better or doing better across the board even socially. Um okay I only have one more so thank you for your patience. One more question. Um there was you noted I think I'm still under goal two and I yeah that was my so um you noted that there um was an increase or at least a consistent use of the students support forms. I'm not sure what the I'm not looking at the slides. I'm just looking at my notes. Um so that you had um more uh data and input from the team. Um and you know um there in terms of the the incidents I guess that happened you know like whether it was the damages damage to property or um utilizing substances or

149whatever that was. Um, and so I'm just curious, um, not with details of course, but when you're getting this input, um, it goes to I'm assuming like Aries or goes somewhere where you're able to like share it and then how is that being how is the response to that sort of coordinated? I'm just interested in like how you're supporting the students with that and if it's like um all hands on deck like you know oh we we have this person who's helping with this or that and and it's that's sort of like million-dollar question is like how do you coordinate all of that and meet that specific student's needs but you you have data but are you able to do that in real time? So that's kind of my big question around that. Yes, I'm

150going to give the um answer that um my uh attorney friend always gives, which is it depends. And I actually really love that question because then I'm like, what does it depend on and what can we dig into? What we're finding that it depends on is the um immediacy of the situation. So, of course, if there's something emergent or safety related, the response is different. Um and we also um have different procedures across the three campuses. So there are um care team meetings at Gateway where they're reviewing the referrals and and they have um regular meetings to talk about what's happening with students and try to kind of dig into what the needs are. We have our um multi-disiplinary team MDT meetings at Hillrest which allows us to um also have coordination with BHRs and

151with um nursing and probation. And so, um, that's another kind of whole child approach. And then there are the staffings at Canyon Oaks for each of those students. Um, I think what stuck out for me looking at my notes from the um, that particular slide again goes back to the efficacy of behavior specific praise um, in order to result in explicit skill building. Um because the uh graph about the interventions used prior to referral were a lot of redirections but not not a lot of um uh that kind of the deeper ends of um social skills instruction or uh reteing expectations. So that's um that's where we're headed next. Yeah, that's really helpful. Thank you, Ava. Of course, other comments or questions from the board? Are there any from the public? Uh, no questions from

152the public. Um, oh yes, Trusty O'Neal. I first off, this is the first time I've ever really seen the LCAP, so I'm having a very hard time kind of digesting all of it. Okay. and and it's in a format that probably doesn't really click as good as I've seen, but I'm just focusing here on the initial walkthroughs. And there's one here. It says students are focused on highquality texts and then it goes ELASS science and it says no 73% were not, you know, focused on that. Then there was another slide in the initial walkth through where it says um 60% of the time no adopted materials are not being used for the lesson. Can you kind for a layman like myself, can you explain the because that doesn't seem like it's really good and correct

153me if I'm wrong. I could be wrong. I will admit that. No, I I think you're seeing some things that we were seeing as well. I do want to reiterate what associate superintendent Sha said. I know it's been a while. Um it is not a statist statistically significant sample. So we cannot say um through the number of walkthroughs that we have completed that this is representative kind of globally we've we've gathered enough information to say like yep this is representative of our community. What our intention was with this initial data was to get a sampling. So we know we can't address everything in the walkthrough um all at once. And so we were trying to figure out okay what are the areas that would give us the most leverage the like highest leverage points for

154starting. Um, I think as far as, sorry, pardon, excuse me. I think as far as, um, the adopted curriculum, um, my, uh, hope and expectation is that that's going to increase significantly with the new adoptions that we bring to you for approval. Um, I also want to point out that we have, and I know you know this, but we have multi-grade level classrooms and students who aren't traditionally um, at the same academic level as their their grade level. And so it requires a lot of crafting and support and supplemental materials. And so while yes, we want to make sure that adopted curriculum is being used more consistently and with fidelity, when we don't see it, it could be that it's supplemental materials that have been really targeted and individualized for that students particular needs. So

155there is some room for that actually is the right thing to do in that moment. And so, um, looking through the the results, we're going to, um, determine this summer kind of where we want to start. Um, and it may also result in changing some of the walkthrough questions. So going back to a earlier meeting in January or February, I remember asking you the question about the statistics and your answer was because the sampling is so small, that's what skews it one way or the other. So is that kind of the same answer? And then how do does our LCAPS compare to other LCAPS for similar type of schools in the state? Um let me answer the first one and then I'll answer the second one. So um yes, our population is small and so

156with our um like our dashboard data that tends to skew it or not be reportable. um if we get enough walkthroughs and we really want to make this part of what we're doing kind of regularly having administrators and other support staff go through classrooms in a non-evaluative way to gather data. If we get enough of those it will be statistically significant. So we can increase this um the reliability of this data um through just kind of repeated uh use. Um, as far as how does our LCAP compare with other county offices, I will share that the um the our midcycle review for Wasque um was conducted by I am forgetting her name, but she is kind of the director of um of Wasque and was so impressed with um our LCAP and our data um

157that she asked to share it with other county offices because gathering metrics um under the circumstances that we um that we have with our numbers and enrollment and the high kind of attrition and turnover rates um is a challenge for a lot of county offices. So based on what she's seen in her midcycle reviews and the way that she responded and wanted to share out um I think we're doing pretty well. So it would it be fair to say that because of our method of measurement and gathering, we are discovering the weaknesses and parts that need improvement in our program. I think that's fair. Data gathering. I think that's there. I mean, we have a long way to go on gathering data. That is something that we're, you know, it's a big shift. Um, I

158think honestly the thing that makes our ALCAP the strongest is that it was aligned intentionally with our school program strategic plan, which was a long robust process in partnership with our our staff and our educators. Um, as was the LCAP development. So, I think the community knows the community the best. Um and so being able to have that collaborative process is what I think um was a a massive um contributing factor to the quality of our LCAP. So everyone who participated in that process, the staff, community partners, families, um students are what made it so great. I say thank you. I know the survey you sent out. I actually signed into the Google doc and you were asking questions and I was like I can't do this. I Yeah, I could not do the document.

159So I apologize for that. I just kind of you know swallow I'm swallowing all this. I understand it's a it is a lot. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Trusty Boni. Oh, I just had a quick comment like I as I mentioned before um I noted that I was going to do the survey after this meeting so hopefully it's still open to and it will okay thank you I appreciate it thank you um there is no action to take on this item I hope you get some rest thank you um thanks thank you for item 10B the board will discuss and act on updates to memberships of the ad hoc subcommittees and representatives Superintendent McGee. Uh yes. Well, since uh the board selected um their committee members back in January, we have a new

160board member um trustee Arias. So, um I think the board wanted to give uh trustee Arius an opportunity to perhaps uh tie into one of the subcommittees for which there was room. right now. Um I've explained to Trusty Arius that um that when January comes around again, she can choose, you know, uh speak up about what interest she has as far as committees and in the meantime can learn more about what each committee really is working on. So, um I think um President Torres, you may have some suggestions about how to realign the um some memberships to to get trustee Arias involved. Uh yes, we have one um subcommittee which would be the board policy subcommittee and then we have a representative area of the SMC SBA um which would Yes. Trusty Pony. Well, I

161just wanted to um note I read as I read the agenda item didn't realize it was specific to Trusty Aras, which is fine. I understand that that's you know that she doesn't have assignments. Um but I did want to note that um I wanted to open if possible I wanted to have a discussion around the SMCSBA one because I'm relinquishing that because I'm the um incoming president of SMCSBA. Um, and I did want to note that um, uh, Trusty Love is, um, going to be, um, well, not not for our bylaws, but is has volunteered to be our, um, communications person, and she's not a representative. Um, she can still serve in the capacity, but, I was hoping that perhaps that might be where she you she ties into it, but it's not essential. I

162just wanted to have that discussion or ask. And Trusty Gerard is also part of the group. Yes. Because she's the county um representative. So it's just um a Yeah. Yes. She's not a area representative or the count Yeah. So she doesn't Yeah. Trusty Jart already has a space on the board. Yes. Right. Y for SMCSBA, you're already a member of the board because of your um role, the county position, the delegate role. Yeah. Which I also have. Good. Um, do we want to open that up for discussion um for the SMCSBA representative area? Um, Trusty Love, I don't know if you want to add any comments to that. Um, I think that it's actually great to have more of us involved in us in the county. It's a lot of association, trying not to use

163the acronyms here, um, than fewer. So if it works for both of us or um I will already be involved. So um for trusty aras I think that's great. Just more people is better I think. Yes I would agree. And then I think with um trusty love volunteering her time being there it's a little bit more like internal a bit and then maybe having trusty aas there would be more of an external um perspective. Yeah. I mean, I think as an operational basis for our for the SNCSBA, I think that um it's not an official like board role, you know what I mean? Because it's not an area rep and it's not a executive board and it's not a delegate. So, my interest was like making sure she's officially that. Now, the other way we

164can do it is change our bylaws and then we can add her that, but it's not in our bylaws right now. Yeah. But I would be happy to have obviously more more involvement. I want Yes. more of that. Yeah. Um Trusty Adios, did you want to add anything? Well, I'm just open to any opportunity to join any committee. So, whatever the decision is best, I'm um I'm available. Yes. Thank you, Trusty O'Neal. I'm I'm just kind of asking a question. is my previous stint on a school board. It was pretty much anybody could go to the monthly dinner. Correct. Of course. Yeah, it's membership dinner, but then there's always a board meeting, but well, not always. There will be going forward again. When are when I don't recall ever getting an invitation for the dinners?

165I don't know when are they held and um this year some of the dinners were cancelled. Um and so there were other events that were held like legislative um event and then the Kenz Awards but there weren't as many dinners. Um there will be quarterly dinner invite and then just for Yeah. Yeah. there weren't. Um, and then just for like reference, the hope is my hope is that we can talk about as a board, but that the board meetings would precede those. So, it would be easy to go to the board meeting and then go to the membership meeting. Um, which you'd have speakers or panels or what? You know, are they going to I went to the meeting they had on a Saturday for new board members. That was in Jefferson Union School District.

166Yeah. But are they going to be like on Monday nights, Tuesday nights, third Monday of the month? goal is again to return them to Monday nights and I don't have the we don't have the schedule yet because I want to make sure the board has input but um they were this past year well or the year before when we had them they were actually here um the the um superintendent McGee graciously you know said that we could use this facility um before that they were at CSM so I want to also you know um survey the board and figure out where they'll be but they'll consistently hopefully at the same place so it's easy and then there'll be calendar invites and such. Thank you. I just really kind of wanted for information that's all. Thank

167you. We'll make sure you know other comments or questions from the board Alvaro. just an invitation that if you would like to join us on the board, um, Miss Love and I are on the board policy subcommittee, which is not as ownorous as it has been in the past. It's more about now updating things that come in from council and that come in from um, CSBA statewide. And it's sort of like, okay, here's some new policies. Do they apply to us? How are we going to put them in there? and we that's what we're doing right now. It's just kind of we get we did the big heavy lift. We got everything up online and that's done. So if you'd like to join us with that, I mean it's kind of a deep dive into

168policy, but it's what we do. So you're welcome to to join us. And there's just two of us right now on that committee. Thank you for the additional context. Um Justine Love. Yes, I would like to second that. and you haven't missed anything because we haven't held a meeting yet since um we started. So um Trusty McGee, is there anything you'd like to add before we move on? Uh, no. I just uh uh think that would be a good learning opportunity for trustee Arias and um and we will be shaping a schedule for when that subcommittee meets and how often each year. Um I don't think we need to do as often as we had been doing. Um but uh but it's still when we meet it's uh it's significant work. So um I think

169that the group could use a third member. Thank you. Are there any comments from the public? Uh no comments from the public. Thank you. Um is there a motion to approve um the following updates to the membership of trustee direct question? Don't move. Oh, no. Sorry. We had a motion. Let me make the motion first. Um, is there a motion to approve the following updates to the membership of the ad hoc subcommittees and representatives? Um, appointing um, Trustee AAS to the board policy subcommittee and to be the SMCSBA representative. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Um, there's a motion to approve the stated updates to the membership of the ad hoc subcommittees and representatives. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. I. All those opposed say

170no. The motion passes with a vote of 70. And the board has approved the stated updates to the membership of the ad hoc subcommittees and representatives. For item 10 C, is there a motion to approve resolution number 25-39 implementing board policy 9250 to compensate Susan Alvaro for her absence from the May 7th, 2025 board meeting due to hardship. I note that board member Alvaro was unable to drive over Highway 92 the evening of the board meeting due to a road closure. So move. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. There is a motion to approve resolution number 25-39 made by trustee Gerard and a second by trustee Bonini. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no and I will recuse myself. Thank you. Uh the motion

171passes with a vote of 6. Um and resolution number 25-39 has been approved. For item 10D, when an ad hoc subcommittee meets or 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 Love. Thank you. Um the um advocacy subcommittee slashtaskforce on adequate school funding had a meeting this week and it was the second in our series of meetings um addressing inadequacies of funding for LCFF districts and those that flip. And we um had several people there and the purpose was really to look at how um what the impact of these inadequacies are on the students and the schools and such. And so we collected a lot of data and that was

172great and we'll have another meeting in June and thank you to um Trustee McNeel and board president um Torres for being there and for the staff. Um it was a productive meeting. Thanks Trusty O'Neal. Would you like to add? Um, I just wanted to say thank you to all those board all the districts that came is off the top of my head I counted I think there was about seven eight districts there which I think is a pretty good turnout you know and there were some that was flips and we had a good mix of trustees um a couple superintendent and the chief financial officers and so we are having the next meeting in June and then we start writing our report or whatever we want to call it at that point. Yes. And then

173a huge shout out to the county office staff um for Leo for I don't know where he's at, but thank you for going to set up the tech and then to the team for um providing food and just getting everything set up and helping to just lead and facilitate. Um any questions for the subcommittee? Any other committees that I'd like to report out? Trusty Benini. Um I would like to report out for the budget subcommittee. Um we did meet I'll have the date right here in front of me. Um but we met um to discuss um I think as a kind of an update after the board um study session in anticipation of the um budget coming forth. And so um we heard more about um some of the items that were presented. Um and

174I think what my takeaway from that meeting was to share is just that um the committee um I think all all the committee members requested that we have a little bit more information about some of the proposals specifically around um facilities. Um I did just I will note that at the beginning of that meeting I did make um a comment that there were questions that came from other me board members like um trustee love you had a number of questions right about at the sub budget subcommittee and so I was sort of wondering like why we it wasn't brought back to the whole board but I understand that like the use of the subcommittee right to sort of vet ideas so um I'm sure that if there are questions that um remain Hopefully when we

175see um uh the the draft then that those questions can be you know asked offline or they can be addressed in that first the first hearing. Um so you know from my perspective on some of the items um I think we asked for more information which I think that's you know probably coming um more um transparency into um like what other um there was a focus right on the the um sorry I'm losing my words the um the reserves and the use of some of the funds from fund 40 I think right um that need to be used for facilities if they're used um at all and then from fund 17 and so um I think there was a quest for more information like if there is additional like um desire to spend some of

176the funds are there other ideas around that I guess is is um what we were asking more things that are more um other other than in addition to or other than facil facilities whether there were student facing directly student um you know impacts that could be um gained from using funds. So, sorry it's late. Um but that was that was what came out of it. So, thank you for the information. Any questions or comments for the budget subcommittee or anyone would like to add on? Any other report outs? Are there any comments from the public? Uh no comments. Thank you. There is no action to take on this item. For item 10E, the board will discuss topics for future board agendas. Would any board members like to discuss agenda ideas? Now's the time. Okay. There

177is no action to take on this item. Oh, sorry, Trusty Benini. Sorry, I see your hand. Um, I did I did want to um ask for two things. One is we already have my the request on other topics about um trying to put together a joint meeting with the uh community college district trustees and um I've bumped into a number of them over the last few weeks and you know mentioned it and so one thing that came out of my offline discussions was it would be great to um try to organize an agenda around that. So my request for an agenda item is to um either have uh one or two or three designated um board members to have those initial discussions so that we can develop an agenda with some of the trustees from

178the community college district board. Um so that's my first thing and my second is I would like to um have the board consider I've made this made this request in the past and it had an outcome. is around the the SULPA's CAC. Um, and I would like to request that we have an agenda item that discusses how we might engage in recruitment of a community member or a family member who could be active in the CAC to represent our student community. um uh in the the role of this person, right, would be well as a CAC member, which I won't go into, but to um also be a a connection back to us so that we know what's going on at the CAC. Um and like a report out every now and then or maybe

179just sending us some information. Um and not to say that we wouldn't maybe also keep the person, right, who's been appointed from um internally, but that we we could have other appointees. So, I would like to have that discussion with the board um so that we're more um aware perhaps from that report out report back about things that are going on um you know that the board might want to know about. Yes, you triggered an idea um if potentially maybe we think about it first before we act. um obviously, but maybe if we have a subcommittee for the community college board or a representative to act as like a liaison to get updates or communication. Um so that way we if it's a subcommittee, it's addressed more collaboratively and that could be brought to the

180board or if it's something that someone takes on individually, uh I think could be something that could be doable. Just a thought. Yeah, I was thinking maybe it could be a subcommittee, but not necessarily like a fully like maybe it could be two board members and doesn't need to be three or could be three if three people are available depending on who's interested. Yeah. Yeah, that that was I think that's ideal. Okay. Yeah. And that would allow for more frequent updates as opposed to just random. Do you mean ongoing or for that meeting? Um I think what ongoing would be helpful just to further establish that partnership and collaboration. Um, I like that idea. Yeah, especially if you know there's different leaders um that change in and out. That way we know who like the

181point person would be. Um, any other topics to bring forth to the board? Okay, I didn't miss anybody. There is no action to take on this item. For item 10F, board members will comment. I will start off with Trusty Alvaro. Thank you. I'll make it real brief because it's getting late. Um, I will be attending Amy Wuliver, the superintendent of Laana Pescadero Unified, uh, retirement next week and I will present our resolution. I want to thank Ian Bane for putting that together for us and Jennifer for scurrying around in the midst of everything else that was going on tonight. She went upstairs and got it framed so that I could take it with me because the events in just a few days. So, thank you for that. And then also, I look forward to attending

182the Gateway graduation on June 4th. And that's it. Thank you, Trusty Aras. I also just want to make it brief, but I want to definitely say that I am very happy to have been able to be here for this volunteer uh celebration that you did today. Uh that was amazing. And also that I'm excited to be able to attend some of the graduations. Trusty Benini. Um yes, let's see. Um I already sort of talked about um SMCSBA. Um but I am um you know looking forward to engaging with our board more around that, right? And also the rest of the county. So that's that's upcoming. So, I just wanted to um express my appreciation, I guess, for our election of our new new board. Um, which will be exciting. Um, I think I know all

183the members that's um Liga Andrade Zenika will be vice president. Um, Greg Land will be secretary and Terry Chavez is our new treasurer, which is great. I'm grateful for that because that's a big job. and then um of course our entire um representative and and also um um Trusty Love amazing that you're willing to jump in too. So we'll all be there doing good work. So that's exciting. Um I wanted to um just on a personal note just share um that I celebrated my completion of my induction this week. I know that you were sharing yours from before. So yeah, I was really excited um being that I that's like a 30y year goal of mine, you know, um coming back to that when I I shared with some others that um it was really

184it says a lot about the teaching profession and the commission on teacher credentiing. And I really feel like the process of you know finalizing credentials and becoming a teacher like for me um and doing my administrative credential um at the same time but the whole process it was really more more difficult than like passing the bar exam and doing all of that like it's it's a very hard process. So um I just wanted to to share that it's very important and so many people working and we have such a so many teachers we need but we make the process really hard. So I just want to acknowledge that. Um also um I have two more things. Sorry. One is that um I was able to uh since I had the took the day off today

185I was able to go to the um the well the event this morning which was amazing celebrating all of our staff. So that was great. Um and then I uh was able to also attend the um behavioral health commission which I used to serve on their youth committee meeting and it was just great to have as our speaker um Mary McGrath um sharing a lot of information about the um the reimbursement process and how that's proceeding and how we're kind of leading on that and working with Santa Clara County for reimbursements for mental health services for students in our county. So um that was great. And then finally, um, there was delegate assembly last week and and so Beverly and I were there and there was some good news, but I'm just going to leave

186that for Beverly to share as our county representative about the that's it. Thank you, youth commission liaison. I'll try to keep this short as well. So first things first, I had a meeting for the commission on status of women and girls today. I am a part of the youth advisory council and today I went to or I virtually attended the state commission's meetings to update them on the youth advisory council's work. So far we've decided our three primary issue areas. They're firstly education and workforce development. Second one is safety and prevention and the third is health and access. And with these three issue areas, we'll just be developing policy proposals to present to the commission which has state legislators and um just members of the community really interested in advancing women's rights. And another thing

187was Alli's also a part of the youth advisory council, Ally Chan. So, that was really cool seeing her there. And tomorrow is the youth commission showcase. I'd love to see you all there. And finally, I just have a question. I was wondering if it's okay if I continue this role throughout the summer. Uh, Superintendent McGee, I I think that's fine. Okay. Um, yeah, we probably um should put that bring that back on June 11th of Bethany as a an action item. Okay, cool. Sounds good. And that's all for me. Good. I think you're in good hands. I think we all like you, so you'll be good. Happy to hear that. Thank you, Trusty Love. Um, thank you. I also attended the staff event. Highlight for that were the presentations by the principles and uh Dr.

188Jimenez about the school programs. I hadn't really seen that before. I really thought that was a really nice touch. Um, and then this event tonight, um, uh, having Marcus here, um, and honored just was the highlight for me. I mean, I love the room being full, but that was great. And his little brother coming up. Um, having one of our students was just again fabulous. I also want to thank um, executive assistant Jennifer Pera for all the work that she has done on this. I know from being near her one, she's been doing it, it's a lot. She puts a lot of heart into it. And so thank you for that, executive assistant Pera. And um and just finally, Amy Woliver is a great superintendent. Was a pleasure to work with her and uh she

189just always put her community and kids first and so I hope she enjoys her next act. Thanks. Thank you, Trusty O'Neal. Um not too much to say. I did the budget subcommittee. I did the task force subcommittee. I went to the event this this this morning and had another meeting at the historical society before that. So that was pretty much my day. So thank you, Vice President Gerard. Um thank you. I'll try and be really short, too. It's very late. Um but I just wanted to say congratulations to everyone that was honored this evening. Um it is so welld deserved and uh it seems like with all the work they do just a little certificate isn't really enough but um I I just want to really give my heartfelt thanks to everyone that participated whether

190they're a volunteer or children that were doing art and submitting it whatever it is um it's just amazing. Um, I will be attending all of the graduations and I do want to add my name to the Oxford Day Academy graduation and uh I'll also be attending the September 5th uh through 7th conference. Um, and I was at delegate assembly this weekend with an amazing region five group of people from Sonteo County. They're all just outstanding people and do so much uh for kids and for education. Um however, uh as far as county boards go, uh there's a lot to be desired. Um it's very clear that county boards are not a priority with CSBA. and Chelsea and I attended the region 14 caucus meeting um on Saturday morning and um it was very discouraging uh

191to say the least. Um it it just um several of the of the uh county board members there were very disappointed in the training that CSBA has given this year um in two instances. Um, and all of us were there for the CSBA breakfast um, where we paid a lot of money to go to a breakfast that was just for county boards and the speaker was just for district boards. So, it's just and they evidently the conference in May was the same thing. So, anyway, people were very outspoken and uh, I I I hope we're heard. That's that's really what I h I have to say. Chelsea, do you have I mentioned the fees. Pardon me. Do you want to mention the fees? What you about the fees? Thing about the fees. Oh, and one

192uh piece of really good news is that um CSBA will no longer be charging county offices that second piece of their fee. So, it'll Yeah. The one we didn't pay. We didn't pay. Yeah. Okay. Well, there were a lot of people throughout the state that did not pay it. Not we just delayed it. Well, yes. Or delayed. We delayed it and there were evidently a lot of other county offices that delayed it as well. So, uh anyway, that's the good news. So, thank you. Thank you so much. I will not be the one keeping everyone from their bread time, but I just wanted to say, Superintendent McGee, you already know, but you have an amazing team and staff just from the events that I've been able to attend this week and to our meetings till

193today. Just so thankful to to everyone. Thank you. Um, so that's it. I'll keep it short. Um, item 11 is the adjournment. The next regular meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 11th, 2025 at 7 p.m. And this meeting is now adjourned. Good night everyone. Good night.