2025-03-05 Board Meeting

001uh good evening the March 5th 2025 meeting of the San Mato County Board of Education will come to order as is our practice this meeting will be recorded um superintendent McGee will be joining us remotely this evening um 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 AB 2449 which enables remote participation by board members only under specific circumstances we use simultaneous interpretation in Spanish for those attending virtually through the end of public comment translation will continue further into the meeting if people are utilizing the channel thank you to our interpreters Anna Cruz and Kimberly lidios for joining us remotely for meeting attendees wishing to access the Spanish translation channel on Zoom click on the interpretation

002button 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 um before we go into the approval of the agenda um we do have an adjustment to item seven which are the interviews of candidates for San Mato County Board of Education vacancy and trustee Area 3 uh we originally had three candidates to interview we did have one withdraw so tonight we will only be interviewing uh two candidates um item 1B is the approval of the agenda is there a motion to approve the agenda so move is there a second second thank you there is a

003motion to approve the agenda made by trusty Gerard and a second by trusty bonini 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 of 6-0 and the agenda for tonight's meeting has been approved item two is public comment guidelines for public comment are available on the smcoe website and in board docs as well as on the table outside the boardroom in both English and Spanish if there are speakers who require Spanish interpretation our interpreters Miss Cruz and Miss lidios 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 agendized except

004under limited circumstances as permitted by law it is the policy of the County Board to refer matters raised in this forum to the superintendent for investigation Andor actions were appropriate sup um associate superintendent Marco Chavez do we have any comments submitted prior to the meeting uh thank you president Torres um we did receive one prior to the meeting from uh Mr Jose a Espinosa thank you superintendent South Bay Union School District um speakers are invited to make live comment and have three minutes to speak the board's executive assistant Jennifer Perna will keep the time and advise when the speaker has 30 seconds left please keep within the time limit uh to make a comment over Zoom members of the public may use the raised hand feature instructions for using this feature are provided as an

005attachment in the board packet and once the hand is raised please wait to be acknowledged um are there any members of the public attending remotely who wish to make a comment at this time um hi everybody I finally got on I apologize for the technical difficulties um I'm checking um I I think um we have four hands raised and I think you want only folks speaking to items not on the agenda is that correct correct okay so if if the item is on tonight's agenda you would put your hand down and otherwise I will call on folks in order um so first we have Grace sisi um Grace you may speak hi um my name is Grace Sobieski I am with the ocean shore School parent teacher organization I am the PTO president um of

006ocean shore which is in Pacifica School District I wanted to address this board to plead you all to please consider some sort of audit oversight um legal intervention something um our district is in crisis right now um our superintendent and board have um directed our um District to move towards collocation of our schools but we believe that this was done without proper um proper legal steps they have not um gone through the process of having parent input um and the the culture at our school and within the district has just been absolutely horrendous we just lost our principal um at our school he passed away unfortunately last week and I mean we the yeah the school climate at our school is just extremely poor and we need somebody that that can kind of provide some

007more um input and oversight I don't believe that they've followed proper channels um so yes I'm just pleading for somebody to kind of of step in and and help support our district because we're us as parents are not feeling hurt at this point Thank you thank you and then we have um Mary McCardle Mary you are cleared to talk hi good evening nice to see everyone sorry I'm sorry I have to turn my other phone down Janice on that one Miss pazari isn't able to represent tonight so I am checking in as a vice president of the smce EA and I just want to say hello and let you know we're here but we had a nice meeting today um with the light team formerly known as LMI where labor and management get together so

008our Union representatives and our management team met together um just to continue our and build upon our joint relationship ships and securing them and then the other thing I'd like to say is for the members who may come visit our site tomorrow we're really excited to see you and meet with you I know many of you uh routinely come to our site so we totally appreciate that and you ladies know who you are um but for the new members or anybody that's coming tomorrow we're excited to have you so thank you very much board president Torres that is all the uh speakers uh remotely great thank you just as a reminder 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

009the public wish to speak to a specific agenda item please use the raise hand feature when the item is announced or if iners submit a card in advance of the item for item 3A is there a motion to approve the minutes of the February 19th 2025 regular board meeting as presented um excuse me president Tes we do have some uh inperson speakers that's right um those speakers are actually speaking on the agenda item number seven you know the whole time I was I had great thank you okay thank you um good um okay um moving back to item 3A is there a motion to approve the minutes of the February 19th 2025 regular board meeting as presented thank you um there's a motion to approve the minutes of the February 19th 2025 regular board meeting

010made by trusty love and a second by trusty O'Neal is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no the motion passes with a vote of 60 in the minutes of the February 2025 regular board meeting have been approved item four 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 the board the superintendent or the public so requests is there a motion to approve the consent agenda so move is there a second second there is a motion to approve the consent agenda made by trusty Gerard and the second by trusty Alvaro is there any

011further discussion all those opposed say I I I all those opposed say no uh the motion passes with a vote of 60 and the consent agenda has been approved um for item 5A Kevin Bola Deputy superintendent Business Services Division will share the smcoe budget and local control and accountability plan our lcap development timeline Deputy superintendent Baltimore good evening board president Tories members of the board superintendent McGee we are providing this informational item in regards to our development of the 2025 26 budget and elcap um would note this this process is really already started uh we are in collaboration between program staff and our fiscal service staff talking about what next year's programs and budgets might look like um we're excited to see that the new budget will be developed in the new Erp software the

012enterprise resource planning software so that work will also continue um and we really provide this as information so that you understand that we are working and will complete the budget and the lcap on time to be approved in June so with that open any questions the board might have are there any comments or questions from the board trusty love um just a quick question since I'm not on the budget subcommittee I don't know the answer how will the board interact with um the budget planning or the board subcommittee rather I think not the board as a whole so we did have a board subcommittee meeting and I think there'll be a report out on that which is just um kind of a framework of ideas that we want to see potentially incorporated into the budget

013for next year um what is also required is that there is a public hearing related to the budget in the elap um that is a time that we do take input um from the board and from the community and then we bring it back at the final board meeting in June for Action so we do give ourselves a little bit of time that if we do hear from the board that there's something you might like see change or have input we can incorporate that before we bring it back for final approval any other comments or questions are there any questions or comments from the public uh no hands raised thank you there is no action to take on this item thank you um item 6A is superintendent's comments superintendent McGee do you have any comments

014to share um very very brief comments tonight um I had the pleasure of uh meeting with the new um interim superintendent in Cabrio Unified School District today I've actually met with him before his name is Dr Ramon miramontes but today we had a much longer meeting to talk about um the progress that's going on in Cabrio unified um they are uh Dr miramontes is um working on um building relationships in the community and um learning and listening to staff as far as uh priorities um there certainly last year were challenged um with uh a very tight budget so they're keeping a very close watch on their um development of their 2025 26 budget and um Dr Miram uh just in his background he um spent time at the Orange County Office of Education working under

015County Superintendent Al Maharis as the deputy superintendent um and uh he's found himself surprisingly up here in Half Moon Bay he F he feels it's a beautiful Gem of a place and he's really enjoying it so I think the district is um is doing well stable and moving forward um um and uh the other thing to report is that the California County superintendant held their very first educational Leadership Summit uh this week um all 58 counties County superintendents met in Sacramento um it is it is basically a legislative advocacy um event and day one they heard from various speakers um in leadership at the uh at the state and today they went out and met with their legislators and legislative staff um I had uh Deputy superintendent Marco Chavez representing our office and um he

016fully participated and brought back uh a report on the value of the of the effort so I think the county superintendant will um continue to do this uh year after year it is a way to show the power of our entire State leadership um in advocating for students and um supporting various pieces of legislation so that concludes my comments for tonight thank you superintendent McGee um for item 7A the board will conduct interviews of the candidates for the San Mato County Board of Education vacancy and trustee Area 3 for item M 7B the board will discuss and act on the appointment for the Sano County Board of Education vacancy and trustee Area 3 before we begin are there any comments from the public oh we do have hands raised we have um four speakers um

017remotely Vanessa I I apologize if I'm mispronouncing your last name Kyo you are permitted to talk that was a really good job superintendent thank you um good evening president T esteemed colleagues of the board superintendent McGee and community members my name is Vanessa Kyo trustee for the Sacramento County Board of Education I am honored to speak today in strong support of Dr Marco dzo and his candidacy for the San Mato County Board of Education Dr dzo is exactly the kind of leader our students Educators and Families deserve collaborative datadriven and deeply committed to educational Equity his impressive academic background in political science with degrees from UCLA and MIT underscores his analytical approach to governance and his current role as a faculty member at the University of San Francisco also reflects his dedication to shaping the

018next generation of our of our leaders but beyond his credentials Dr dzo brings a thoughtful inquisitive and principled approach to public service he is not afraid to ask the tough questions those that ensure our policies truly serve the students that we serve whether in his role on the San Bruno Planning Commission or as a columnist bringing critical issues to the Forefront he is consistent con he has sorry consistently demonstrated um a commitment to accountability and transparency his ability to build Partnerships and bring diverse educational Partners to the table is a testament to his leadership education does not exist in a vacuum as we all know and Dr dzo understands that strengthening our schools requires collaboration between Educators families Community organizations and local government his service on the peninsula healthc care District's Community Health investment committee

019speaks to his broader understanding of the interconnected needs of our students because academic success is inextricably tied to health well-being and opportunity Sano s County students deserve an advocate who is both Visionary and pragmatic someone who leads with Integrity intellect and un wavering commitment to equity Dr dzo is that leader I strongly urge you to support his candidacy for the Sano County Board of Education and thank you all for your time thank you um next we have Ryan Mery Ryan you may begin uh I'm absolutely impressed that you got my name correct so thank you very much um I'm not going to be as eloquent as Vanessa I'm going to tell you about things that are not on the CV of Marco dzo he has been committed for so many years to children in San

020Bruno um it's it's impossible to say all of the things he's done whether it's helping with reading in the Park San berau Education Foundation helping out children at the uh Public Library these are things that just are amazing about him and I've always been so impressed with not just his CV but just his absolute commitment as a human being to the betterment of our community so I'm hoping that you will appoint him to this position because I think you're going to be very pleased with what you've you're gonna get thank you so much thank you Marco dzo thank you um next we have Isa sandal donon um Isa you are uh permitted to talk hello my name is Issa sanal Duran um I am a student at the University of San Francisco and I currently

021want to speak today regarding trusty area the as the two before me have spoken upon um I wanted to mention Marco duraso again Dr Marco duraso in regards to being one of his students I have firsthand seen the mentorship that he has provided the First Rate teaching that he has offered he is very committed to all students he is very approachable in the aspect of doing so very reachable not only that but he has helped very many students get to where they want to become personally speaking he has helped me achieve my dreams of going to law school I really do believe that he would be a great addition to the County Board of Education specifically the San Mato County Office of Education I know he has done so much for his community both inside

022of school personally speaking he's done so much for me I know that means he will do so much for this specific Office of Education and I really really do hope that you guys can all consider his position for candidacy for trustee area three thank you so much for your time I really appreciate being able to speak and I it is an honor being here today thank you thank you Issa um next we have Juan Herrera uh Juan you may go ahead good evening board president and members my name is Juan Carlos Herrera first thank you for accepting me on your platform second I'm calling you to give you insight into my experiences with Dr Marco duraso I'm a career Air Force veteran having served this incredible country for 20 years I served under great leaders

023and some who had no business being in the military much less leading Airmen a great leader embodies knowledge advocacy patience wisdom strategic thinking and above all else cares about the people around them Dr Marco duraso is a natural leader After exiting the military I found myself back in school at the University of San Francisco and in Dr duro's classroom he knows the education system how to overcome barriers and how to Advocate on students behalf support matters I am now in law school at Hastings second year and I would not be here without Dr duraso he not only wrote letters of recommendation but also guided me through the tough grad school application procees I am one of the many people I personally know who have been guided and mentored by Dr duraso also little known fact

024Dr Doo plays Santa in the community I mean come on really who does something like this he cares about our community if you value the education of children in San Mato and I know you do if you value teamwork a teamwork environment and I know you do and an effective impr proven leader Dr Marco Ludo is your candidate thank you so much have a great evening thank you uh next we have Edgar Ryan Silva Edgar you may begin good evening everyone my name is Edgar Ryan Silva I am a student at the University of San Francisco and a resident of San Mato County I am a member of the undergraduate student Senate its finance committee and the student representative for the University budget advisory committee and am the President of the undergraduate Law Society at

025University of San Francisco I am thrilled to express my wholehearted support for professor dzo as a member of the Sano County Board of Education and trustee Area 3 having had the privilege of learning from him I can confidently say he exemplifies what First Rate teaching and mentorship should be he teaches politics at the University of San Francisco in a way where students are encouraged to think for themselves and invites them all to participate in constant dialogue in and out of the classroom Professor dzo isn't just an educator he is a true guide helping students reach their goals with encouragement wisdom and a genuine commitment to their success and service to their Community beyond the classroom Professor dzo is community-minded always ensuring that every student regardless of background feel seen supported and empowered his approachable and

026accessible nature makes it easy for students to seek guidance knowing they'll receive thoughtful advice and encouragement to address complex political issues and adequate access to education Professor dzo has already shaped so many Futures through mentorship and his personable teaching I have have no doubt that he will bring that same dedication to the County Board of Education we are so lucky to have such a passionate Advocate who places students and learning first I wholeheartedly support Professor dzo for the San Mato County Board of Education and am confident he will be a tremendous asset to our County thank you for your time thank you um next we have Juan Herrera uh Juan you haven't spoken prior have you I did I'm sorry my hand remained raised for some reason I apologize okay no worries um so we'll

027go to Bro Garcia hello uh my name um r uh sorry you should be able to talk now thank you okay hello yes hi um hello my name is BR Garcia uh again um uh I'm a former student of uh Dr Marco duraso I graduated from the University of San Francisco with my masters in 2024 and I'm here to pledge support for uh Dr Marco desso um he helped me so much throughout my grad school process in advising me through my thesis process uh his help was seconded To None his guidance was Second To None um without his support I would have I don't know how I would have finished that tough thesis uh getting through the topics uh finding ways to discuss and project the ideas onto paper uh and I'm just here to

028just support him and pledge my support for his position in the Sanel County Board of Education and um what else can I say um but yes and it sorry my bad uh anyways thank you so much thank you uh I see no more hands raised online president Torres thank you I believe we had two inperson comments we have uh actually we had two comments submitted in advance of the meeting um so may I mention those names yes um we had a letter of recommendation for Marco dzo from Joshua Mason who is a um who is with community-based violence prevention and that was forwarded to the board earlier today um we also had a letter um presented by Jose Espinosa um that was a letter in support of Marco dzo Jose is a superintendent in the

029South Bay Union School District in San Diego County um and those are the two uh public comments that came in prior to um the meeting and then yes we have um two cards for speakers we have um Linda Lee DWI um Linda you may approach the podium good evening you can hear me good um this is interesting this is the first time that I've actually spoken as a public as a public um I was on the Burlingham Elementary board for five years and then I went to the Sano Union High School board for the next 17 years so I have had 22 years where you are and so this is like a whole new thing for me so um I am here to support Marco dzo too and it's interesting because I was listening to

030everyone else I do not know him in the same way they do um I met him up at the College of Sano it's probably around two years ago now and um I I I was very impressed with him as a young man and as an educator so I thought I should reach out and just share what I think I also I'm an attorney so I read all your bios and looked at the board and looked at your jurisdiction and all the things you do because I wanted to kind of think about the fit and I think that's really important that the person really fit with the group as is and then you know to to quickly kind of become part of things so I came with a list of six things why Marco he's well

031educated and I think that's very important he worked hard for that and he didn't come from a big a group of Highly Educated people so he's brought himself up and I think that's very very important that's a good role model he has extensive teaching experience one of my kids was a um got his PhD at UC s Santa Cruz and he taught 19 different subjects as a grad assistant so I can appreciate what people do um you know I had a lot of phone calls and texts about all the things that he was trying to do so I can appreciate Marco's done because he did a lot of teaching down at UCLA he also has been at USF for five years that's a very good Landmark he you know he's he's getting into the tenear

032track and I think that's really important that he stuck it out where he is whether the good or the bad and it seems like there's been a lot of good from what I've heard he has a lot of energy and I was that's what impressed me when I met him at sateo he was like very energetic and excited and I I like that um he's eager to learn and grow and I and I I've been following him on LinkedIn ever since I met him because I wanted to kind of I know I just kind of wanted to get to know him better he's eager to learn to grow and public service and I think that's very important because we need people to come in and want to learn and grow and help us and guide

033us as we move forward the last thing and maybe to me it's the most important is he's an encourager and I think encouragers are very important to encourage other people and I've read a lot of different posts by students about how he's encouraged them and I feel like that's a characteristic that not lot a lot of people have it but he really has it and I think that's a very important thing that he would bring to this board so thank you for your time thank you and our um our last speaker card is khma salahudin kma you may approach the podium hello my name is kma slin thank you to the board and superintendent for giving me time I'm a former School Board member with the jeffson Union High School District for 12 years and

034past president of the Sano County School boards Association and as in that role that I met Edith Aras um I was putting on a program for parents of color who were special education parents and I was trying to put together a really good panel and I asked a few people who else could I have on it with myself and manuo who I think you're all very familiar with and everyone said you have to have Edith with on that panel she's doing amazing work and South City elevating the voices of parents especially parents whose language isn't first language isn't English and you know it's hard enough to speak special education but to come at that without um having English as her background makes it even so much harder and um as soon as I heard her

035speak on the panel I was like I love this woman and um stayed in contact with her um again Crossing path my son is a member of the Golden Gate Regional Center and our work as a board member on the Golden Gate Regional Center especially the advocacy work and I think this is really one of the most important points and I think our roles as Schoolboard members is to Make spaces so that others can lift themselves up so that others can use their voice and at the advocacy meetings that she holds uh at Golden Gate Regional for the clients of Golden Gate Regional to advocate for themselves in front of legislators and for my son to be able to be part of that process to be able to speak for himself and regardless of the

036outcome feel heard and while there's a lot of people here right now um I think our role as a Schoolboard members to think about all the people who can't make it to meetings like this and that is the that is the uh people and those are the uh folks that edth has spent almost her entire life showing up showing up to speak for and so um I've always wanted her to be in this role as soon as she stepped up and said she wanted to do it I was like girl I'm here to speak for you and I hope through um what I said and through the interview process you'll see how she would be a fantastic colleague uh for your current board members so thank you so much for giving me the time um

037and I wish you luck through this process I know it's hard to pick thanks thank you um we will now begin the interview process president for I just want to bring to your attention that we have two more hands raised in the in the remote Forum so I'm not sure if we Circle back or if we close the public comment s or to the board can we decide as a whole um take the public comments yes we'd like to keep it open Okay so two more hands raised uh first speaker is Eddie Flores and Eddie you are um cleared to talk good evening steam members of the SEL County Board of Education my name is Eddie Flores I serve as mayor of South San Francisco and previous president of the South San Francisco Unified School

038uh District board of Trustees I stand before you today to express my unwavering support for uh AIT Aras as a candidate for this board Adit is not just a leader she's a Visionary who has dedicated her life to Empowering Families and transforming communities her work for the nonprofit organization Familia tomando ation is a testament to her commitment to equity to education and opportunity for all as the founder and executive director of Familia tomando edit has created a Lifeline for latinx families in South San Francisco and in North County this organization connects families with vital resources for mental health support to academic guidance ensuring that every child has the tools they need to succeed Edith's leadership has been instrumental in breaking down barriers particularly for immigrant families navigating complex Educational Systems her ability to Foster trust

039and provide culturally relevant support has changed countless lives Edith's own journey is a powerful example of resilience and determination as an immigrant and as a mother she has not only achieved academic Excellence earning Advanced degrees in education and special education but has also used her expertise to uplift others and that's what we need in a a a board of trustee members her work has empowered parents to advocate for their children's education h and has opened doors for first generation college students to pursue higher education the impact of Edith's work is not just measurable in statistics but in the stories of families whose lives she has been able to transform parents who once felt isolated now have a community students who once doubted their potential are now thriving in universities and careers this is the kind

040of leadership that our County needs leadership that is rooted in compassion informed by experience and driven by a vision for a brighter future by supporting Edith Adas you are not just endorsing a candidate you're investing in a proven leader who will bring dedication expertise and unwavering commitment to the equity to this board I urge you to recognize the extraordinary value she brings and to support her candidacy wholeheartedly thank you very much thank you and we have uh one more uh speaker hand raised James Coleman um James you are free to go ahead all right thank you so much uh my name is James Coleman I currently serve on the city council in South San Francisco uh but I am commenting on my own individual capacity uh you all at board members I mean what an

041incredible board and Hector kamacho big shoes to fill and I just want to say that you know you have a a hard decision tonight just because of there's so many um talented and qualified candidates and you know Marco d Roo incredible man who has done a lot of great work in in Sam Bruno he's an educator himself but I do want to talk a bit about my experience with Edith Aras um I knew Edith uh growing up in South City I was born raised in South City Edith had a son I believe one year above me and a daughter one year below me and you know so many times in ponos elementary school I saw her volunteering at her schools um she was very very involved in her PTA uh she was a beloved volunteer

042um throughout my entire childhood and she's been a real superstar in South San Francisco uh she is a big advocate for disabled Community she has a very powerful personal story as you know a working mother um who put herself through grad school and and completed a higher education um and she also founded a a nonprofit to help get Spanish speaking families involved in advocacy in our schools and to really help all of our families in South City uh achieved academic Excellence um you know no you know without language as a barrier and uh you know with Edith you there's been so many people in in South San Francisco who've been asking her to to run for office to run for office uh you know before now and I'm so so excited to see her throw

043her hat in uh for the spot and I really hope that you um uh can can vote for her and and appoint her to the seat I think she'd be a wonderful fit for you so uh thank you so much for your time and I hope you have a a great evening thank you um all the hands yes that that uh there are no more hands online thank you we will now begin the interview process so on January 16th 2025 Hector kamacho Jr announced his resignation from the Sano County Board of Education at our January 29th 2025 meeting the board decided to make a provisional appointment to fill the vacant seat this evening the board will conduct individual interviews with two candidates each candidate will answer the same set of questions upon conclusion the questions

044from the board I will ask each candidate if they have any questions for the board when all of the interviews have been conducted the board will then have an opportunity for discussion and then we will conduct the selection process um a majority of the entire board for members is necessary to make an appointment if a majority is not obtained further discussion and voting will continue until one of the candidates receives a majority vote or the board chooses to end the voting in consideration of their fellow candidates the board has asked that candidates be seated in the foer until they are called for their interview names will be drawn in random order and at this time we ask the candidates head over to the foyer and wait until their name is called and then all board

045members have um a packet with the interview questions in their red folders so just as a matter of process president Torres we are closing the doors to this room just um so that we can respect the interview process but I do want to make clear if any additional members of the public would like to join this meeting they're free to come in through those doors we're just closing it for sound purposes so thank you thank you so much and we are now going to draw vice president jard um up first we have Edith adios good evening on behalf of the entire board I want to thank you for your willingness to serve on the County Board of Education as the representative for trustee Area 3 so during this interview board members will ask you a

046variety of questions at the conclusion of the interview you will have an opportunity to ask um any outstanding questions you may have um and let's begin our first question with um board member Alvaro thank you thank you good evening push the button and there there you go now you're live good evening um so we we're gonna take turns asking questions and I get to be first because my name is alphabetically first um I'm sure you're used to that right yes yes go with a in classes in school yeah um would you first of all thank you for um being willing to to put your name forward I I thank everybody who's been a candidate and I will thank them all again in a little while it's it's such an amazing thing for you to offer

047to do this would you please share with us a bit how your life Journey has led you to apply for this opportunity to serve on the board of education for trusty are three yes well first of all thank you for the opportunity and good evening uh to everyone it's uh I think your question about my life journey is such an is such an important part of who I am um I am an immigrant from Mexico I came to the United States when I was 16 so English is definitely my second language um with a single mom and two siblings it was very difficult when we came to San Francisco and feeling that need of uh how do we make ourselves belong who who is our community how do we find support or even just knowing

048that we're in a new country everything is new to us uh really led me to as I was moving into high school I actually got accepted at UC Santa Barbara and several universities and I went to UC Santa Barbara but uh part of uh part of that was uh dropping out being difficult to stay in college uh after like getting married having three children and my my first one uh having developmental disabilities so that definitely showed me how difficult it was to be a young mother and having a son who needed different supports uh and going through my other two also as they work growing up and having to be students who needed extra support for different not necessarily developmental uh uh disabilities but also other mental wellness and other needs it was very very

049clear to me that the best way to support students at that point my own children was advocacy so advocating because as I as a student I know that what changed my journey and to be where I am it was those who who saw me who had time to sit down with me who said you are important I was part of a Latino club and that's how I applied to the universities otherwise I would not have applied in being two years into the country so that stuck to me and then also like I said having a son who has special needs uh knowing that parents a lot of the times feel lost about who to ask who is in your circle of support uh where to go was very uh instrumental for me when we we

050started a support group in sou San Francisco for parents who had children with special needs but mostly again I think this journey of going through myself as a student then as a parent and then deciding to go back to school with three children that definitely Mark uh what made me think it's possible so starting the nonprofit really started with that idea that you know immigrants language barriers uh not coming from a a a a family who had the experience of being in college or had the ways or the means to to get other supports I notice that the community Itself by feeling that belong you know that you belong to each other and that you support by Partnerships with school district with the you know city council there was so many opportunities to to have

051families and just students or individuals Blossom from where their own potential because everyone has their potential but I think this journey help me to be where I am right now funding this nonprofit and also being at USF as a student for my um doctoral in education because I saw that in my life experiences so uh that's what really brought me to make the decision to to be where like going back to school I think education is such a key to changing our lives but at the same time also that again that community and that partnership and really seeing those that a lot of the times are unseen all right thank you very much okay I get to ask the next question thank you for being here thank you for replying thank you um so the

052second question is um what do you see as the role of the County Board of Education and how does it differ from a local school board I think how I see it is that the County Board of Education is really following the Strategic plan that you have which is amazing I think that those four goals uh defer from a school uh a um School Board in the city because what the samel county board is doing is supporting the goals that superintendent uh and the team of uh directors and other assistant superintendant are moving forward with the Strategic plan which is different than a local school district the local school district uh manages their own schools and their own decisions are made in there but the the samto County School Board uh has other what I

053see is like the differen is Sport the superintendent and the goals that are for the Strategic plan that have been already placed for what's the future going to look like for the the those that are really um overseen by the by the board which is different schools or programs that you have um than what the school district has thank you nice there we go um hi uh I've got question number three okay and my question is and I'm I'll ask it in two parts um what do you think are the critical issues that significantly impact providing a high quality education to students in Sano County I think what's so important for students in s County really is looking at having a view of very Student Center where seeing the student where they are many of

054the times it's it's what the difference that that it makes when we're thinking about the Partnerships one of the things that I see so important here is that United for youth initiative I think that's one of the that's one of the keys that shows how the the County uh youth is going to be supported through this this associations of like this samel County Board and other programs within the county because our students as we hear you know data and how we see how there is there is the education part but I believe without having that mental Wellness Wellness strength that we're supporting together as a whole as a whole student and also holistically thinking about what the family and the community has within the santel county I think is such a key to think about

055how do we bring their their awareness into the importance of education but also how do we we think about their mental Wellness how do we think about where there's where they are with whether is uh L linguistic barriers whether it's economic or social or gender you know we need to identify those areas where we want to put our time to really make sure that they're supported as a whole uh because students in samel County there's also the idea that you know it's important to not just have the what the the school requirements of like their reports or their outcomes in their grades but also how do we help all students to really succeed within within the needs that they have and many of the times it's even in a it's in a different way not

056necessarily when we think only about education but it's also how their their life is within an individual within their Community within people that they have as support in the community and organizations that help them succeed not just again in in school but as a whole holistically also together with with the families and communities and in this case my experience again in the um United for youth with nonprofits okay well I think you probably uh answered most of my second part but I'll uh I'll ask it and then if you have anything else that you'd like to add that would be wonderful sure um what efforts have you taken to address these issues well definitely participating I I have made myself as much as I can um in a volunteer basis I I uh started the

057nonprofit based on what we were seeing in our community in South San Francisco the need again of uh those students who many of the times because the families the language barriers uh made them not understand the system how to graduate from high school how to go to College how do even apply for financial assistance to be able to to go to school or go to ucational it not all the time has to be college but right what's important is what the student needed so starting this nonprofit really supported the students to see the opportunities that were out there um and with it we've been out in SEL County doing different um any type of summit and Conference and opportunity that we have to learn ourselves to bring back to to the families and students that

058we serve um is really a key and I can stress enough on the United for youth I'm very excited about that yeah thank you um first off thank you for applying and I have to admit this looks like those hearings you see in Washington DC I know I was goingon to go to the podium but then okay I'll sit in the head chair I need to but I hope we're nicer to you than they are appr okay thank you so I got question number four as I'm sure you can count so um what would you like to accomplish as a board member maybe a goal you might have what would be your highest priority and why and the third part is if you're appointed how would you go about advocacy to achieve those goals and

059your highest priority and one other add-on is you are part of a board so if let's say you want to do something but the rest of the board says no you know what I mean you have to respect that yes um so I'm sorry the first question was I'm Sor I'm sorry I'm part of a board I'm sorry I understand what would you like to accomplish as a board member okay and do you want me to give you the other two or do you want me to let you answer your choice no you can go ahead okay thank you so what would you like to accomplish as a board member what would be your highest priority and why and if appointed how would you go about your advocacy I think as a board member uh

060what's what would be important I want to go back kind of like at the last comment you made about making sure that is the importance of being a team right as a board uh I feel that it is very important to have conversations to understand each other and even knowing that we all come from different uh uh experiences from different background from different uh uh uh even um I would say priorities that we all maybe come to to the idea of serving in aard and for me I think the highest would be again my own experience of hearing the stories of SEL County students especially in South San Francisco makes me feel that I want to be part of that action and and being part of the that solution so very solution driven and taking

061action together because I think as leaders that you are here making decisions for for really what could be a change of a life of a student a change of a life of a family making decisions where um individuals who might have a different trajectory in how they're finishing their school how they're finishing um maybe their their journey and education but as a board I think my priority my thinking will be to find init you know doing initiatives together finding um you know the stakeholders who are they and how are we supporting the goals that as a Unity as a board um have already been established like the Strategic plan that you have um thinking about the whole child thinking about uh the the workforce teachers what can I say that I'm a teacher so definitely

062that and also uh the Partnerships with the Community Partnerships with those who are already doing the work because I think this work is not just done by one group as the SEL County board but can you imagine like in the SEL County like so many other groups together working towards the same goal of the outcome of the students how are they going to they're our next Generation they are our our next generation of adults and next Generations of people who are going to be making decisions so how are we supporting them now from making sure that they experiences our our value their where they coming from is heard um that we are supporting them in different ways and creative and and new ways that at the end again uh the outcome for me would be

063so important for each individual student to be able to have the opportunity to decide how they want to live their adult life with a very well rounded education experience mental wellness and uh having to really again make those decisions in how this initiatives or priorities are done as a as a group as a team of uh as a board thank you um board member love before you ask your question i' just like to remind the board that um we agree to the questions um ahead of time just to be fair and equitable to both candidates so we can make sure to stick to the questions that we outlined and agreed upon thank you uh welcome thank you for being here um my question for you is um this question focuses on your role as a

064board member in representing your trustee area if the board decided on an appeal or was involved in an issue you felt was not in the best interest of your constituency how would you reconcile your individual role as a representative of your trustee area with your role as a member of the board as a collective body I think that question really brings me again with um thinking about communication and about making sure that at this four meetings There's an opportunity to put things on a hold or to make sure that discussions has been uh done previous and during and and that you give more time to think about it but I think what you said about if I'm if my area and my thinking and my experience of living there um has made me think differently

065uh I would like to ask again to have that time to make sure that that decision that is going to be made um is done with probably being more open maybe flexible but understanding what other opinions and what other board members are thinking so that a definite decision or um or stand I could have uh for my area of um Area 3 as a trustee because I think it's important to have that individual kind of a thinking and experience where we live but it's it's important also to make sure that that decision is based on what we're hearing from others and really coming from that that part where we want to make sure that our decision is made by uh not just by maybe a passion we have or because we live in that area

066but really because we have been taken the time to understand to read about it and to also discuss and have communication with others and how that decision is going to to be done and taken yeah thank you so an important cultural norm of the County Board is mutual respect and collaboration both with each other the superintendent and the staff of the County office so how do you see yourself fitting into such a working relationship well I think again uh the way that I see myself fit is because I have been I almost feel like blessed that I have had the opportunity to to work with so many different like in the families in the community with uh um other nonprofits uh with the city council with school school district um my own experience as a

067board in the Golden Gate Regional it's it's such an important way to to see that you know again the decisions are being made in the reason why everybody is here I feel at the end is always the student it's always a student to be Student Center and and to think that everybody is making decisions and decisions are being taken but the position of the board and as I see the SEL County Board is also to um really um advice right and and to together uh come up with decisions because um the goals that been set up with the strategic planning I know that you know superintendent has that and we're here to as a board would be to support so that those are being moved forward and those are being done the way that they

068need to be taken as some of the wonderful I think those four goals that are there I think are the key really and and student center and is one of the the main ones that I I think yes um so to accomplish what you outlined what skills and personal qualities would you bring to the board that will reinforce a positive working relationship I think I'm very open to to teamwork mostly but also I am very hardworking I like to put myself in again I I apply I was asked to apply it and I'm very excited about the opportunity but I think that's one of the parts of me when I see or when I feel the passion about what is being done and the work that is being done I think that's one of the

069qualities that I have that I I like to be part of it and I like to support um communication also is very important uh part of me I like to make sure that we have uh you know to respond and to make sure that you know any misunderstanding or any information I need to pass or be or take you know it's important for me to be open to that and um I believe I'm very pathetic to uh life happens I think in a board a lot of the times you know there are situations where things might happen and I think be trying to be understand understandable about that um has made uh different experiences a lot easier because you feel you humanize the experience of what's happening and and I think that's something that I

070definitely bring I would bring to the board and being bilingual by cultural time is something that I also uh feel is important in my connection with with families connection with students and and other communities and organizations within samel County thank you so miss Adas our youth commissioner Bethany is not able to be here this evening and so I get to pretend to be Bethany for minute but it's okay because it's a question I would ask if I could anyway um how will you utilize this board of education position to accurately reflect the concerns of Youth in this County and maximize positive outcomes for students in this County I think most of all would be again I do have to go back into my lived experience as a youth when I came here at 16 and

071feeling completely lost I think I think that really gives me the idea of how our youth is going through and it might be different but at the same time I again I go back into humanizing the the moment where I feel it would be important if I were to have this position to to understand the youth from where they're at a lot of the times uh we might see you know students youth being being recognized for what they're doing and uplifting them a lot of the times we also might not know other areas where they need support but finding ways to uh be participant in in those um even uh opportunities of being invited to to places where they're um where they're where they are the youth and also just really thinking about how how

072important it is to to think about the areas of being bilingual being bicultural having you know their gender and identity and being really focused in how youth might be asking for help or not is going to be something that I would like to bring uh into account if the need of being present where they're requiring the presence of someone who is a trustee in the board or how how they would might be able to really asking for help like being able to be there if when they ask for help and then the ways that they might ask for help all right thank you very much um so now we've reserved some time here at the close of the interview to hear any questions that you may have so do you have any questions for the

073board at this time I think uh one more than a question but yeah it is a question I would really like for any of you to share the highlight of you being in the Sam County Board of ucation what was the like this important thing you experienced being here who wants to take that on that's a tough one she's pointing at me you want me to take it y I think what I I'm thinking back 30 years here right so you got to give me a minute I think what amazed me and struck me the most I I thought I knew what coming onto this board was about I did my homework I interviewed everybody and I thought I understood what the governance team was and I think I kind of did but what I

074didn't realize was how important our work was right at the level of the individual students that we served you know going into juvenile hall for a graduation and I learned how to wear waterproof mascara I'll tell you that much going into our special needs programs of which we had we have many for ceremonies or celebrations hearing from the students themselves what the programs we brought to the table meant to them so to me that was I mean obviously there's there's been other things but you want to know the one big thing that was it definitely thank you so much yeah would you also like to add I can um so I think um being on this board um is really for me it's really um the most important place to be to serve students in

075our County and I think that one of the the highlights for me is just knowing that if I'm passionate about an issue that I can highlight that issue um I can talk to you know my board in meetings and deliberate and offline if it's not you know violation of the brown act things like that but um that that I feel like I have have the ability to help steer us in a way that um aligns with my values and with um the things that I care about a lot and I have a lot of um uh alignment I would say with your um your focus with students with disabilities and and special needs um I too have a a child who who has some issues like that and so um being able to learn more

076and become a better Advocate on not just a local level but on a state level ortion level and being really intertwined with the issues that are going on um that's that's where I find my joy thank you thank you for sharing that wow so inspiring well I think um I wish I could say I had one highlight um I've been around a long time and uh but I think if I really was going to say a highlight it is the ab ility to do the things that we can do for students and that changes you know um as we go through um we find many many many opportunities to serve the community and to serve students and we serve the uh the students that nobody else really is interested in I hate to put it

077that way um but that's the way it is we serve the students with special needs we serve the students that are in trouble with the law we serve the students that have mental health issues not that there aren't mental health issues all over there are but we have we serve a special focus of students and and so to be able to be on a board that can develop and along with the uh superintendent and the county office prr programs um that can enhance and serve these students is invaluable and you know we have to look at Equity there's so many many many things that that we have to look at constantly um as we're doing our job as County board members and every single one of us has our own special little niche that's in

078our hearts but the bottom line is we need to serve every single student and make sure that they're getting an equable ed education and are heard yes thank you thank you for sharing that uh would anyone else like to answer I've been here two months I've been here two months so the Highlight was when I get to the meeting on time and figuring out the traffic okay that's a good highlight you know but I was um on a local school board for 14 years and so I have a lot of good memories um for that and um what we we remodeled six schools on time on budget wow we um I'm real happy is that I was instrumental in getting the 4 Farm in Pacifica started on the school property and it um and subsequently

079San Francisco and daily City's 4 AG closed and now bring their s their kids down there and they you know they raise their barn animals and everything and because of they were there the community garden also started at lindar school and it's a whole ecosystem now the stuff from the animals is being used over there and it's just like and they found an aquifer for the water at that school so it's just that kind of like one of the things I remember from my local school boards wow and I was you know and again I'm quite happy to get here on time with the traffic cuz I as Jennifer told me I travel the furthest of any board member okay thank you for chairing wow thank you um do you have any other questions I

080think that will be all I just yeah got inspired for what you all share right now and and again I just appreciate the opportunity even to be sitting here with you and being interview um and and I think that's my my only question so thank you um this concludes your interview um we thank you again for your willingness to represent trustee Area 3 on the County Board and we appreciate the opportunity to get to know you better and um whatever the outcome is of this evening's deliberations we encourage you to continue your advocacy um and all of your work with the families with the students and the schools in the county thank you thank you um are we ready for our next candidate yes we're ready e good evening um on behalf of the entire

081board I want to thank you for your willingness to serve on the County Board of Education as the representative from trusty Area 3 so during the interview board members will ask you a variety of questions at the conclusion of the interview you will have the opportunity to ask us any outstanding questions that you may have um and let's begin with our first question from board member Alvaro thank you good evening thank you for being willing to put yourself forward for for this candidacy thank you um my question is if you would please share with us how your life Journey has led you to apply for the opportunity to serve on this board um thank you for the question and um before I get started thank you to everyone for the uh opportunity to interview tonight

082um it it's really a question of why as I shared when I initially applied I feel like there's an echo am I speaking too close to this sound good um as I shared when I applied um I was a child of an immigrant mother who came from Mexico um my mother has a a sixth grade education um she came to the US for economic opportunities but correlated to that are educational opportunities um fast forward the story I graduated high school Under a 2.0 um so I was at the moment where I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life um I thought about going in the military I had a job making pizzas at Little Caesar's pizza and I was making $435 an hour um I was frustrated I was disillusioned I was

083upset and I didn't know who to be mad at uh I was upset with myself but I didn't know who who else to be mad at um I was encouraged to go to Junior College um I went there and amazing things happened um there was resources available for me to succeed um there was opportunities for me to develop the skill sets and the interventions that I lack K through 12 it was challenging because I tested into um the lowest level math I used to have a little book that the pages came out of that the math was probably equivalent to what a third grader would have and I remember being embarrassed carrying the book around so I would go work on my homework secretly because I didn't want anybody to see me with the book

084um and then I had academic success and I felt good and I ended up going to University of California but as I stepped back I realized that the congratulations you know I owed myself a congratulations for working hard hard but it made me think holistically of how those things happened and the fact that resources were available the fact that um there were standards and curriculum and interventions for students who were coming to the institution with remedial English and langu English and math skills the fact that there was money available to make tutoring labs and keep them open six days a week that wasn't by accident there was a collective body that got together and said how do we make sure that the students who come to our institution have the skills to pursue vocational opportunities

085or to transfer to a four-year University or get an AA degree and pursue jobs that they're interested in so that was a strategic direction that was provided by a governing board that was a policy that was set by a governing board there was resources that the governing board allocated to make sure that strategic Direction was facilitated by available funding so it made me think about it made me proud that I was able to accomplish that I have ambivalent feelings about being an outlier but the more time has passed I realized that there was a lot of entities and a lot of collective effort to make those things happen it wasn't just one individual so I you know I I remember graduating and um the first thing my mom told me was you know congratulations you'll

086never have to cook and clean for anyone right you'll be able to kind of chart your own course and when when I was at Junior College the question of why I I remember receiving a a $2500 a $2,500 scholarship and it that felt like a million dollars to me at that time uh I think I bought a laptop I paid tuition and I bought some books with it and the the college said the funer so they had a lot of great relationships with uh philanthropy is as well so the the college said the donor would like to it was me and 10 other students the donor would like to meet with you and have lunch with the 10 students that were given scholarship so we went and we had lunch with this individual and what

087she shared with us and there was not a dry eye in the room after she shared her story she told us that she had survived the Holocaust she was 6 years old and as Allied Forces uh Germany surrendered and as Allied Forces liberated the concentration camps she was 6 years old and she was malnourished she um lost Consciousness uh she was on the verge of death and that these Allied Forces with the US had liberated the concentration camp and because she had lost Consciousness um her her body was in a a pile of other deceased people and a US Soldier saw one of her limbs move and realized that somebody was alive in that pile so he pulled her out and she survived and she got immed immediate medical attention the story that she shared

088though was that at 6 years old she was given a new lease on life and it made her commit to doing good things for other people so she told all 10 of us uh you're going to get your degree you're going to do amazing things uh I'm I'm assum assuming that you'll reach whatever dreams that you have in store for yourself but don't forget to give back to other people as difficult as it may be as hard as it may be uh as timec consuming as it may be and that story is 26 years old and it's always stayed with me so I as a father and as a community member uh my kids have a very different live experience than I have but I've spent the last 20 my 20 years of my life

089in service I've worked organizing parents uh I a student gave it away it's supposed to be a secret but I am the San Bruno Santa Claus uh I'm not the Santa Claus that hangs out at the mall I'm officially the city of San Bruno Santa Claus um and I ride around on the firetruck for three hours rain or shine um I've been an appointed official in the city of San Bruno for 10 years I've volunteered with the Education Foundation but all those things and all those services are the question of why how much you give give to you can't anymore and make sure that you're setting things leaving things better uh than you found them and that's really kind of the the the abbreviated Narrative of why I'm here and why I'm interested in serving

090in this capacity thank you I'm just going to ask a really quick follow-up question as I was looking through your your uh experience and um community and business activities I maybe I missed it but I was under the understanding that you were working with the California Charter Schools Association are you working with them or no no I spent four I could expand uh my current and only employment is University of San Francisco where I'm a full-time faculty member in the department of politics and I did spend four years doing advocacy work with the California Charter School Association but I don't work there anymore okay I was just curious because I didn't see it on the page and I thought well maybe I made a mistake so all right thank you very much of course okay

091um I have the second question thank you for being here um what do you see as the role of the County Board of Education and how does that differ from the role of a local school yeah so the the County Board of Education and I I think of um you know I think of policy countywide I think of providing strategic Direction I think of allocating resources in order to to facilitate that strategic Direction I think of a County Board of Ed concerned with and focusing on special educational students and special needs uh there is a relationship that rests with the county that doesn't rest normally with the Local District and it has to do with Charter appeals uh so you know I I look at the county as doing things on a larger scale making

092decisions about how funds are allocated local and federal funds are allocated at to school districts um at school districts I see more localized activity they have their own elected bodies they evaluate and hire and sometimes dismiss their own superintendent um they set policies for their district and school levels so there's definitely different organizational capacities um but I see the county as an entity and a board that provides strategic Direction at a county level and provides the funding to to facilitate that strategic Direction and sets policies that are geared to the needs of our students and families on a a large scale kind of holistic level thank you welcome second time I did that tonight um thank you for being here thank you and um my question is is what do you think are the critical

093issues that significantly impact providing a high quality education to students in samto county and what efforts have you taken to address these issues yeah so that's a very thank you for the question and that's that can be you know that can be a dissertation topic um you know when you're thinking about the achievement Gap a lot of folks don't realize that the achievement Gap Gap starts very early on it doesn't manifest itself in high school it doesn't start in Middle School it starts when kids sometimes I would argue when kids are still in the womb it has to do with parents Social Capital it has to do with parents educational level it has to do with parents linguistic ability it has to be it has to do with the way parents navigate the educational system

094when their work obligations allow it so I think there's definitely an achievement Gap that's rooted and and definitely related to sces um you know I I teach a course I'm teaching a course now on on juveniles it's called Juvenile Justice and we look at some literature that that's pretty Sinister right you think about the school to prison pipeline there's there's literature that says by third grade you can look at a child's math and reading scores you can do regression analysis and you could pretty much predict whether as a society we're going to have to incarcerate that person that child when they're an adult right so there's these interventions that start really there's these needs that start very early on um we all know there's a housing crisis and a lot of our families can't afford

095to live here I've worked with students who were housing insecure I've worked with students who were living in a one-bedroom apartment with eight people in there I've worked with students who were sleeping at the park overnight because they had nowhere to go um you know my my wife wife from the Bay Area had a you know you look at pictures when they're 8 years old and everybody's around the the birthday cake cousins uncles all those people can't afford to live here anymore right or you have families that are living um and I don't know the legalities of this but they're living in the East Bay and they're living far away and they're making these long commutes just to provide some stability for their kids um there's a lack of resources or there's inequity in resources

096I'm from San Bruno I ran for City Council in 217 and the relationship between the school district and the city council was one that I thought was important to the point where I was getting messages saying what are you running for school board or the city council are they different they have different roles and functions but at the end of the day they're entitled with the best interest of the community and part of the best interest of the community would be the children of the community we have an elementary school in San Bruno and the sh of YouTube and Google that has a summer program that my wife volunteers for that they have to share technology because there's not enough iPads for every kid yet we have corporate entities in the city that make hundreds

097of millions of dollars and our worldwide so it's multifaceted it's it's a lack of early intervention it's a lack of social capital it's a a lack uh or low limited parent engagement um it's a lack of interventions at critical stages in the educational pipeline that manifest themselves and then we're then people are asking how come they're not going to college what what's the graduation rate that's an important metric but that story I believe starts when that child is either in the womb or they're in prek or by the time they're in elementary school so you know and then we're thinking about even College in the cultural capital of navigating College like I I love my students um do I think that I'm worth $85,000 a year probably not but that's what the cost of tuition

098is at a private university but they're doing what they're supposed to and then they get through college and then they're burdening with student loans so the the pro the problems are multifaceted but my advice to students and I know you're asking me about the the challenges despite those things I think young people and in particular at promise young people their life is always qualitatively better if they obtain an education and that includes a college education even if they got to get the debt I tell them you have to go I got into law school I'm worried about the debt just go go because you your family and multiple Generations will be better served because you obtain that education so the problems are multifaceted but at the end of the day I still with all my

099heart believe that education is an equalizer and it's changed my life my my mother was a custodian she it was an honorable profession but she pushed a mop in a broom six days a week I get to show up on campus and talk about literature and discuss books and answer student questions that's that's growth from one generation right so those things matter but they're definitely real challenges to getting students to where they need to be as adults thank you thank youo thank you for coming um question for what would you like to accomplish as a board member and it's three parts do you want them individually or do you want them all at once um let's do them all at once I'm I'm feeling eager what would you like to accomplish as a board member

100what would be your highest priority and why and if appointed how would you go about your advocacy um what would I like to accomplish I think on a large scale um the retical scale I want to disrupt the scota prison pipeline I want to make sure that we're intervening early and we're interviewing intervening frequently and we're providing students the opportunity to have some kind of option when they finish high school they want to go to college I think that's fine if they want to trade I think that's fine too if they want to go to the military that's fine too but they should be in a position to have options not a lack of options right so when when you're thinking about lack of of intervention when they're young family unable to support them housing

101insecurity low sces um limited language skills um probably Eng linked to disciplinary issues that's what the Scot of prison pipeline is so they're getting in trouble and they're getting expelled and they're getting suspended when they're young and those things manifest when they're early when they're older and then as a society we have to incarcerate them right so there there's a reason why as a society we spend more money incarcerating people people than we do educating them because that's a policy problem so to me it's like how do we disrupt a system where we're incarcerating so many of our young people we're not sending them to college and then they're leaving our institutions with a lack of opportunities how do we disrupt that system highest priority is you know TK Elementary intervention if they're behind in

102grade level in fourth grade fifth grade when they're going to middle school they're going to be behind when they go to high school so when they're in high school when the people start asking them about college they're 3 to four years behind in grade level they're not going to go Community College is a great option I'm I'm a testament to that but that intervention has to start early I I I did a lot of Youth Development we took the kids on field trips to Stamford and Berkeley I think it's important for kids to see these universities I think it's important for them to go into the college store and buy some gear I think it's important for them to Envision themselves at a university but if they're four to five grade levels behind where they

103should be those things are pipe dreams at that moment because the intervention didn't happen early on and the resources weren't placed strategic Direction was not given and the resources weren't allocated to get them on track early on it's really hard to do that when they're in 10th and 11th grade so I think disrupting this kind of pipeline that funnel students into so many different places other than where they should be academically is what I want to achieve and it's probably the highest priority to intervene early and intervene often and provide high quality resources high quality curriculum great teacher training and development great external Partnerships philanthropy to really be Innovative when I ran for Council I got told stop talking about Google right why why do you keep bringing Google up as if those Partnerships belong

104to individuals those Partnerships belong to the community Google we I'm on the Planning Commission Google and Facebook they have a uh more so Google they have a huge imprint in the city so that those benefits should come to the entire city not specific Gatekeepers so like what what can they do to help the schools what do they want want us to name one of the schools after somebody put the name up there if that means that they're going to provide 21st century technology to the kids let's make it happen does that mean that the kids aren't going to be sharing iPads and in a class that's about robotics put the name up there let's develop that partnership let's make it happen for the benefit of the kids and the families so my highest priority is

105early intervention and I think at um the last part of the question was about advocacy if appointed how would you go about your advocacy direct engagement direct need direct requests to fulfill and help partner with some of the Urgent needs facing the kids of this County connecting with elected officials you know as I as I shared when I applied some some folks in the community don't think there's a problem in education some of them say my kids have already aged out why is it relevant to me the school looks like it's fine things like that they're great but they don't know the data they don't know that they don't know the fact that a majority of the kids from specific sectors of the city are leaving our elementary schools and not at grade level so

106those stories has to be told that work has to be done those meetings have to be requested Ed in brokered and have to be creative about how you know I don't have to say this because everyone here knows it how is it that we live in the in the midst of wealth and our schools are underfunded how is it that we live in the midst of technology and we don't have enough technology for the kids that's a policy disconnect right how is it that we we we live in the hub of innovation and the kids don't know how to code and they don't have the resources to learn those skills that's a policy disconnect so how do you work and put the effort in to align that policy with the county strategic plan with the

107desire of a collective board and how do you really leverage those benefits for the benefit of kids there's a lot of work to be done but I think it's a multi-step process to do that thank you um thanks for joining us tonight thank you this question focuses on your role as a board member in representing your trustee area if the board decided on an appeal or was involved in an issue you felt was not in the best interest of your constituency how would you reconcile your individual role as representative your of your trustee area with your role as a member of the board as a collective body that's a great question um you know I've been an appointed not an elected but I've been an appointed official in the city of San Bruno for almost

10810 years and it started with being a commissioner on the traffic it's traffic safety and parking committee um and in complete transparency somebody said you know if you're running for Council you should you should serve the community and get to know people um I didn't win the race but I spent five years after that on that commit that committee um then I was appointed to the Planning Commission and we know we've made some decisions high stake decisions on real development in the city and there's been folks who think we need more housing there's been folks who think we don't need anymore there's been folks who are concerned about traffic um and I've gotten my share of upset hostile messages I approved the development with with the board not just myself and I remember getting a

109message saying two words on Facebook Messenger sell out and I wanted to follow up on what that meant how do you how do you sleep at night I said well I consider the data in front of me I listen to my peers on the Planning Commission I listen closely to City staff's recommendation I thoroughly read the report on that particular date the report believe it or not was 930 pages every time I kept opening the file it kept crashing the computer and then you know as yall know we get them on Friday and we have to read them by Tuesday um I listen to the public comment so those processes are there for a purpose so that we have equal opportunity to express how we feel and we're in a position as a collective body

110to hear everyone out and then after all that I listen to my peers and I place my vote in the best interest of what I think is the best interest of the city so my my response to that comment is how do you sleep at night I said like a baby because I made the best decision with the information I had best decision in the interest of the city of and all and I listen to everyone but I can't be persed by a small minority I have to hear the entire thing it would not it would be a dear election of Duty for me to commit myself to something without reading the report or without hearing the city staff who does so much work to prepare a recommendation for us so I've been there um

111I've had you know I've been with the recipient of different comments but as long as I feel that I'm doing things that are in the best interest of the County uh best interest of the city I means families and students and in alignment with what my colleagues on the board believe yeah just like a baby because it was in the best interest of the community thank you um an important cultural norm of the County Board is mutual respect and collaboration with each other with the superintendent and the county staff um how do you see yourself fitting into such a working relationship I you know I I when I um it's a really good question and I think you I think somebody has to Humble themselves a little bit when they join a a collective body

112um there's a lot of wisdom and a lot of experience on a collective body when I join traffic and safety I didn't understand the the um the engineer studies I had trouble grasping you know people came in and said hey the traffic's really quick in front of my house I want a speed bump I said give them a speed bump right I want to please the community and then an older more you know uh experienced commissioner would be like wait wait wait whoa whoa whoa whoa like you can't do that you got to read the engineering study we got to hear what the engineer says we got to understand the history and sometimes people want speed bumps and then six months later they come back and say take out the speed bump and I'm like

113I don't believe you and then it happened right so I think what I'm saying is that you have to the next person that sits on this board uh for lack of a better word is the rookie you have to understand the wisdom that's part of the board and at the table you have to get a collective sense of decisions that have been made over many years um you have to rely on your peers on the board to help you not go astray right I heard a concern I heard a request I was like give him the speed bump and not so fast you're you're you're making a mistake just hear out the process of why we can immediately satisfy that need because we might be doing more harm than good so I I think learning

114you know how to navigate those things learning how to quote unquote write the bench a little bit and really rely on the wisdom of folks who have been doing this for a long time is important I think hearing different perspectives and being mindful of the wisdom and the experience that really informs those perspectives and at the end of the day I you know I've also been on on the losing end of you know 5 to one votes at the end of the day I just remind myself folks are here because they care they care about the development in the city they care about the traffic issues in the city and it's true then and I think it's true tonight I think everybody here can could be doing something else right now but they're here because

115they care about what they're doing so there can be disagreements there can be differences there can be different votes but at the end of the day we're collectively trying to do the best for the city and I feel like that is enough for me to understand and really accept folks who disagree and vote in different ways and also doing it respectfully like I've learned a lot from the people that I've served with in different communities over the in different committees over the last 10 years I mean we've had um uh police officers on there we've had um a Planning Commission we've had Architects I'm not an architect but I was able to learn from the people who do that kind of work 40 hours a week so I think understanding being humble I think being

116coachable I think being vulnerable I think being willing to learn and I think willing being willing to be receptive to the amount of collective experience that's already on a body when you come on board I think are all important things and I think at the end realizing you know if this team is working to do the best what's in the best interest of the community I I'm I'm I'm down to be part of that team any you know seven days a week and in order to accomplish that what skills and personal qualities would you bring to the board that would reinforce um everything that you outlined and our positive working relationship you Prof uh president thores you're asking me the hard questions um I I think a sense of empathy I think collegiality I think

117being receptive to differences um I think being a good listener and making sure that you're prioritizing you're listening above and beyond your speaking um I think understanding that folks you know are always there's always going to be occasions when folks are looking at the same thing and seeing different things because of their perspective and their experience and you know at least I say our identities in life like I've had that experience where I'm like we're looking at the same issue and they're on the opposite side but really you know understanding that that's a real strength and not a limitation of that collaborative effort right thank you I get to have a second turn because our youth commissioner Bethany xia was not able to be here this evening and I am delighted to take her question

118because I know this is important to her how will you utilize this board of education position to accurately reflect the concerns of the youth in this County and to maximize positive outcomes for students in this County you know I really value that question because of the work I do and a lot of you know I spent over 10 years in Youth Development in LA in San Francisco running after school programs um as a professor at USF I I don't know of any other Professor who puts their cell number on the syllabus right I'm part of that generation where if you want to reach me real quick send me a text and if I'm in the moment I respond to it I think when you're trying to you know gauge and take a a temperature check

119and a post check on a youth voice you have to be in dialogue with youth you have to be among them you have to be in their space you have to be at their activities that also means that and I do this with my students you have to be mindful of power and hierarchy and minimize that as much as you can you can't come into their space and you know and and always wear the hat of the expert you can't come into the space and always tell them what's what by default you're going to share that because of I I will share I will own that because of my age and my title as a professor but at the end of the day are you attune and engage with young people are you hearing what

120they're saying are you spending time where they spend time not in you know even even coming into my office it's a power differential I'm there with the professor title with the books on the wall and they're sitting at my desk it's already a power differential that's not equal so you have to spend time with him we're we're we're we just finished a great piece of literature um in the class I'm teaching about the school to prison pipeline the bulk of the methodology of that book it's an ethnography and I tell my students what does that mean it means that this researcher spent six to 12 months with young people in Oakland to observe their lived experiences in education with with the police with one another so you have to spend time with them right and

121you have to think about your status you know everybody a lot of people at a university they they want to always be the smartest person in the room and sometimes that's really helpful but when you're trying to engage young people it's really hurtful so you have to understand their perspective and you have to be a good listener and you have to understand what their concerns are what their fears are what they respond to because a the the the data on after school will tell you the best place for young people after school from the hours of 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. are with an adult when they're not under the supervision of adults they experiment with drugs they experiment with sex they victimize other people or they the victim of somebody else but there's also role

122models that are not positive for them so how do you fulfill that role in a positive way with young people they have to trust you they have to feel heard they have to feel seen I have students right now based on um specific executive orders that have come out of Washington DC that say that there's two two genders who say what does that mean for me I don't identify that way who speaks for me who speaks for my insecurity right is it is it problematic for me to request for pronouns to be used in my name no it's not right so you only understand those if you have genuine relationships with young people and that doesn't mean you know there was a there was a bosada in December and I went and I hung out

123for an hour and then I left that's good but that's not enough to build relationship with young people genuine relationship is an actual engagement and actual dialogue and I think in community work uh for better or worse than the Planning Commission and um and the work I do in the city it can't be hard to reach because in a moment of Crisis these young people are going to text you and ask you help right they're not going to email you they're going to ask for your help so it's a variety of things but I think being to summarize being genuine being approachable being mindful of power differentials that can be offputting to young people and really investing in relationships with young people the same way that we do with other folks in the community I

124I think what is what really amplifies amplifies that voice for them thank you thank you thank you so now now um we have reserved um some time here at the close of the interview to hear any questions that you may have for us um so do you have any questions for the board at this time yeah so um thank you for the questions it's great uh great opportunity to be here before you and I I respect um all your experience and the different things that you you do for the young people and the families in SEL County uh my question is one about just passion um I I'm a passionate guy as I've gotten a little bit older I've turn toned it down a little bit and you know I I know service is difficult

125um there's been I I know football season is over but there's been nights when we had a Planning Commission meeting and there was like a football game on and then I was like ah why do I why do I do these things right I could be at home with my wife and my kids and my dogs but I made a commitment to serve the city like so and it always intrigues me with different people that have served for many many years you know how do you continue to find that passion right how do you continue to fuel that incentive to serve other people and for the most part I I know on and the different kind of appointed bodies that I've been on for the most part it's thankless right you do good things kind

126of goes unnotice when people are upset at you you'll hear it but I I guess I would would like to pose to anyone how do you continue to fuel that passion to serve how do you find you know you know qualitative ative emotional compensation for very difficult work when it's so easy to identify all the things that we need to do all the things that are wrong all the things that we need to really think more intensely about addressing like how do you come home and then come back out the next day and say I'm going to continue to do that I'm going to continue to work toward that so it's really a question about passion it's a question about drive and at the end of the day like how do you commit yourself to

127doing um essentially the work for the families and the students and seil County who wants to take that one on you are presently on this San Bruno Planning Commission cor cor if you are appointed will you resign yes all who would like to answer um Dr zodo's question all right I'll take a shot um it's kids and it the job is never done and I think every time we see a success um it just gives us that much more passion to work harder to reach the ones that maybe weren't a success but hopefully somewhere down the line they could be and I always say things are constantly changing nothing has ever stayed the same I've served under six different superintendents and every experience has brought joy and passion and sorrow and Heart Break um because

128of who we're dealing with we're dealing with our special students that we care about and as long as you have that love and care for those kids and those students I think you're always going to be have that passion absolutely um I loved that question actually because um I had to do some reflecting today because there's a concert of my favorite artist in San Francisco that's happening right now um that I bought tickets for not knowing of the date but I had to take a minute to pause and realize it's not about me um the work is for the students like uh Vice President George just mentioned and filling that seat for the duration of that it's going to be filled is more important because it's going to impact how we work and how we

129are serving all of the students in the county um and that's why I chose to be here and that's just it's a constant reminder of even when the days are hard um it's important work and it needs to be the right people at the table doing it um I would say that from my experience being here on this board um serving on commissions um being on a School District board there's a type of a person who really exudes the care for the community and the values and it's those are the people who serve those are the people who choose to step up those are the people who um serve for very long periods of time um or um get excited about other passion projects and and start them or try to do a lot of

130other things um I might be more in that in that category trying to you know like where can I make a difference so I think it's um it's like a state of mind and it's a it's it's where you draw your own passion and your why and I think like we've probably expressed through the questions and you've certainly expressed um Everybody sort of has their own perspective on it um but you don't make a decision to serve in this capacity if you don't have a lot of your values aren't at the base of what you're doing and you really want to change things so I think for me that's what it is and um that's what I've observed in my colleagues and I believe that might be true for many um elected officials and have

131appointed officials throughout absolutely throughout our County and Beyond thank you just alvara yeah it's a good question I had to think about it for a while this may not be the best week to answer that particular question sure but um because sometimes I don't know I just don't know but I think what has kept me going all this time is is all the things that my fellow boy members just said but it's also being able to reflect periodically on some successes you know we we heard this situation and we were able to vote in a way that supported that family and we know what happened from there which was a good thing or we were able to to push forward a program that was really on its you know last legs and and things good

132things happen and to be able to reflect back on on some successes and say well you know if I hadn't been on this board would that have happened without my big mouth um that helps me get through the times when I wonder what in God's name we're doing here so I I hope that answers the question it does thank you trusty L do you want to add well um I'm relatively new on this board um and hadn't really thought about running for something I'm very involved in other community types of activities I worked at the County office for a long time very passionate about children and giving every child an opportunity to succeed that's our future that's our community but I also see an important role for Civic engagement because that's how you keep a

133democracy functioning by people stepping up and expressing their opinions and um volunteering so this is another opportunity for me to do that I had to give up my position at the County office which I cherished but this is just another opportunity for me to serve the county and the community and I thank you trusty thank you trust' do you want to add I would say I been an elected office 24 years and I was also appointed office for about five years before that so I enjoy public service and just kind of moving up to a county level to be a learning curve and I want to there's stuff I would like to see done here and and I that's basically it thank you thank you do you have other questions for us um I have

134a lot of questions but I think that's it for now so all right thank you um so this concludes your interview um we thank you again for your willingness to represent trusty Area 3 on the County Board um we appreciate the opportunity to get to know you better and whatever the outcome is of this evening's celebrations we encourage you to continue your advocacy and all of your work with our fam students and schools in the county thank you for president thank you everyone thank you um so now we'll have um all the candidates back in the room um I want to T thank both of our candidates for the excellent job that they did evening sharing their views on education and County Board service they definitely made this decision difficult for us um while we

135wish we could appoint both of our candidates um we do need to select one individual to represent trusty Area 3 so is there any discussion before we conduct uh a straw poll of the board members top candidate no discussion okay so I will pull each board member to name their Top Choice uh after which the board will engage in further discussion um trusty Alvaro do you want to start us off um Miss Aras trusty bonini Dr jza trusty love um Edith Aras trest onio Edith um vice president Gerard Edith um mine is also Edith um would someone like to put forth a motion to select an appointee to fill the board seat representing trustee Area 3 trusty Alvaro I'd like to move that we uh elect or appoint rather um Edith Arius to the position

136of truste Area 3 is there a second second sorry uh there is a motion by trusty Alvaro to appoint Edith Adas to trustee Area 3 um and fill the vacancy seat and a second by truste Gerard is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no uh the motion passes with a vote of 60 and I am pleased to announce the appointment of Edith Adas to the Sano County Board of Education so on behalf of the entire board I'd like to thank all both candidates who stepped up to pursue this important role and congratulate U Miss Adas and welcome her to the board for item 8A the board will discuss and act on the draft board governance handbook superintendent McGee yes thank you um president is so um

137there was extensive discussion at the last board meeting about um the uh intent of the board to really improve the climate around their school visits um I definitely heard you loud and clear our team wants that also of course and we will be continuing to work work with you to ensure that visits are um go as smoothly and easily as um we can manage and um I did change the language in the very last part of the handbook around school visits um to reflect a little bit more flexibility in how the board might schedule those um um they can the the um staff will schedule set visits during the year at the beginning of the year so the board can have them on their calendar and then as um circumstances arise through the year where

138a board member may want to stop in at a school site because they're going to be say at the County office and out of work for for a minute and it's an opportunity to to pay a a more informal visit um the governance handbook simply states that you would reach out to the school program leaders to schedule that um in advance and it doesn't have to be days in advance but um if we can make it work we will make it work for you um and the rest of the handbook uh is as was last uh last board meeting and I do want to say that um I I think the board has done a really fantastic job with the governance handbook I think it turned out um clear and concise and um I think

139it will provide good guidance for all of us as we go forward um if you um approve the handbook tonight we will take it over to our communication patients team get it ready for like uh a public publishing mode um trusty love had also suggested that we try to create like a placemat or a one pager that can be part of the board packet so you have it right in front of you during board meetings so we can try to accomplish that as well once you've approved the document um I'm happy to answer any questions uh I guess the one other thing I would add is that um the last board meeting President Tores suggested that we do consult the principles which we we did our um our school leaders uh had conversations with each

140of them to hear more about their um perspective on it and they support um the scheduling of the meetings of the uh visits through the school program leaders so so I feel like we've checked all the boxes that the board requested and I I would um recommend approval tonight thank you are there any comments or questions from the board trusty Alvaro thank you thank you for making these changes they feel a lot more comfortable to me um I just have a very simple logistical request if we approve it tonight could we ask that where it says vacancy and appointed trusty we actually put in a name so that this document goes out with all of our names on it yes of course um I believe that we no longer have a vacant seat so right

141we get to fill in a name yes all right thank you I believe after it's officially sworn in right or she sworn in what's that the powers and duties of a board trustee get conferred immediately upon appointment but we will have a swearing in before she can res um take on board duties so oh perfect congratulations chesty banini um I have a couple of requests for minor changes um to language because it's not grammatically correct um so there are only two and then I have a comment about the um the school visits um so on page five in the second paragraph um the first sentence reads as a board trustee we hold the interests of all the children in trust and that is not grammatically correct so I propose that we change it to board

142trustees hold the interests of all the children in trust so that it is I think we just didn't catch that um so that's my first um modification proposal and then my second is the fifth bullet point under the major roles of the County Board include um it's the one about our appellate uh role and I would like to add the word school after Charter um because I think it should be there um serving as an appellate body for expulsions interdistrict transfers maybe plural and Charter School petitions renewals appeals um maybe that's a a series instead of just a slash and space so anyway there just clarifying that last section um would be transverse plural sorry just change it and Charter School petitions comma renewals comma and appeals um trusty bini what page is that on

143six page six okay thank you the fifth bullet point in the first section okay well I would also specify Charter renewals I don't know just to Charter School petitions comma renewals comma and appeals yes um and then my qu my comment um in Quest around the school visits um section is in um the third bullet point so I um I'm okay with the changes generally so I'll just read it um board members shall contact County Office school program leaders directly to schedule additional visits as desired by individual board members additional meaning in addition to those that are fixed fixed in advance um the next sentence says once scheduled these additional dates will be offered to the full board to attend um also doesn't have a period but um this is not that I'm opposed to

144having if someone schedules a date that it be offered to others but in the instance that more than four board members wanted to attend it would require posting and I suppose maybe it could be an emergency posting I just don't want it to be impediment to having a uh if it's possible to have a a a visit scheduled on a short time frame that this would make it not possible so I'm just looking for um potentially that to maybe just be conditional um or something or maybe just not include that but have it be like protocol that you know you're going to let people know of the visit um but not that it would change the opportunity for the visit if it was possible to go because of a posting requirement if more than a

145quorum of board members wanted to attend so I welcome comments from the board but I don't like that sentence um I would like um Lisa to provide some more contacts if she yeah and um thank you trusty Alvaro she just provided me with a copy of the upcoming events for board attendance and I do see that um Thursday March 13th we have sched scheduled for board members Alvaro Gerard love and O'Neal um to visit the an Campbell Center this is a more than a quorum of the board which would require agendize um so that's something for this board to consider um as far as having more than a quorum attending we under the brown act you would have to agendize that and then it would also have to be available to members of the public

146should they wish to go um and listen to any discussion that may be had among board members while on that visit so there's some maybe some conc concerns around um you know not necessarily wanting to disrupt the school environment by having what is essentially an open meeting um on the school grounds during that visit so that's something to consider trusty bonini there was um maybe two years ago I don't know how long it's been now that we did start agendize all of our visits even if they were not a quorum you know because somebody could maybe change their mind but we just wanted to cover the Bas so um your points are well taken as far as it being a public meeting and being disruptive and all of that but um I think it's appropriate

147to schedule the meetings actually um it's just that in this instance of an additional meeting that isn't pre-planned my concern is that it could um make it not possible so if I have you know realized oh I have this time free and it's in two days and we let the board know um I maybe we say that it could just be uh less than a quorum of attendees that could could attend if it's something that's you know so that the the meeting wouldn't need to be bumped I'm just trying to make it as flexible as possible for those of us with limited schedules do any other board members have comments trusty love um yeah I do think that once scheduled these additional dates will be offered to the full board to attend is completely fine

148and if we can just agree that if it's the meeting is in two days and four people want to go maybe somebody graciously backs out because that may pose a problem with noticing um but I do think it should be offered because you know if Susan or trusty Alvaro couldn't make it and now she's like oh yeah I can make that one that's great as opposed to now she doesn't know about it so she can't go and now she's going to get a request and set up a separate meeting right so we I think it's more efficient to do it this way possible trust Alvaro there's the one concern I I I would Echo the one concern I have is for instance here's a good example on the 13th there are four of us scheduled

149to go to and Cal Center and Gateway no problem we are also scheduled to go inside Hill Crest we can't have a public meeting inside Hill Crest so I that's my that's my question about that one I mean how do we how do we conform with the the brown act and say okay we're gon to publish it as a public meeting and then go inside a locked Hall where the public isn't allowed so I I do I do have it isn't going to happen often but it clearly is going to happen so I do have that question trusty banini um another possible solution would be to say that our school visits will have a maximum of three people attending and we would just have to schedule them more frequently or have those inter meetings because

150I hadn't actually thought about the points that um that um Lisa raised and I feel like that is a concern and also it's a concern potentially more so for Hill Crest so um yeah that would be my position actually that all all visits should be less than AAL trustees trusty Gerard well I I will comment um when I was President we had a meeting and or rather a visit where we had I think five people and um quite frankly I didn't even think about the brown act going inside to Hillcrest but we did go into Hillcrest and what we did was we adjourned the meeting at Gateway um there like a regular board meeting I mean we um called the meeting to order like a regular board meeting and then we went and made our

151visit and when we came back we adjourned the meeting um so we made it a public meeting in that we went through a formal opening of our meeting and and uh then we close the meeting but I I like I said I didn't think about the brown act quite frankly and we all went so we and then at the end we closed it so theoretically there could have been someone from the public there that could have come if they wanted to it was posted and it was considered a regular board meeting trusty love um when you said you closed the meeting so did you it became a closed meeting or just ended the meeting no when we were all finished okay we came back and then formally closed the meeting so could a meeting at

152Hill Crest it just having a meeting here tonight we opened it went through the procedure to open the meeting and then we said okay now we're going to go and um visit and then when we came back we all came back to the same room and I adjourn the meeting so could that be a closed session the so that's where I think we run into to some issues because there are very specific instances where you can have close session under the brown act and going to do a site visit unfortunately not one of those exceptions well it wasn't a closed session yeah no I understand like you it wasn't a closed session we never went into closed session so that was my point is that it was posted as a board meeting excuse me um

153and we conducted it as such so um but the I don't know what we would if someone from the public came I guess they could have come along but I'm I'm just saying that's how we handled it so I would advise in any future visits that we do not have more than a quorum attending where members of the public cannot go because that is a violation unfortunately um if if you were to close and then take five members into Hillcrest where the members of the public cannot be there um then that poses some real problems around um discussions that are had among board members because this is a matter within your jurisdiction um so I have some concerns around that procedure it wasn't closed before went to I'm just saying that wasn't the order but

154your point is taken I mean it was your initial point right we were just lucky there was nobody there yeah yes so on there's been a couple of occasions over the past several years where this has sort of come up there was a site visit and I looked at it and said okay there's four people signed up now and I just simply dropped out not that I particularly wanted to drop out but I realized this was going to become a problem if I didn't so yeah again I don't know how you limit the visit maybe you just say we're going to limit the visit to three board members and um if there's more people interested we'll arrange another time which I know is a is a pain in the neck um but I don't I

155don't have an answer because this one will be a problem if we have an open if we post it and we have an open meeting at the first two visit sites um then we have a we have a situation when we go to Hill crest I have a question for Lisa um because I also think well first let me do this and then I'll ask my question um I also do think too many people at once can disturb uh their learning especially just thinking of our student populations of the places we're going into um would it be possible if cuz on that day for instance there's three different sites I know this might be like additional work for the county office which I don't want to do but I'm just seeing if it's a possibility

156if we kind of split up like divide and conquer and would that be an issue with the brown act or any other so if you have say two going to one side and then to going to another site then that is that is fine because you're not convening a group of folks uh in the same place where there could be discussion around matters that are under the board's jurisdiction so if you were to divide and conquer that's completely fine truste um Gerard okay so if we split us up we would be okay say we had six people that wanted to go and so we had two people that were uh with us as guides so to speak and we took three one where to say Glenwood or I mean not glenw um oh my god

157um Gateway well if we go to Glennwood I guess we can but nobody will be there um anyway um and then the other three to Hillcrest it we'd be fine yes so it's the issue that arises is when you have more than the Quorum together in one place where there can be discussions that are had outside of the the hearing of the public um I'm going to actually say on behalf of county office staff that perhaps trying to do that at the same time on the same day might be really challenging so maybe we want to think about scheduling in such a way that there's staff available to take you on smaller group visits like that had two people come yeah that's what I was trying to avoid but I TR is it a possibility

158if that's something that we would need to do but I will actually I'll withdraw my name from uh the meeting the visit on the 13th just so there's not an issue and there'll be three people coming because I just visited not uh recently so that way M Alvaro and miss love and Mr O'Neal can can go because I know that that uh it's more important that they go than I go trusty O'Neal um was actually going to say you you're kind of like dancing angels on a pin having three people over here three people over here and somebody in the bleachers I I agree with just make a policy no more than three trustees do a visit and I was going to offer to cancel and I'll go with Edith when our new trustee comes

159well you go you go no no no you go it's important I'm happy we'll make another hey we always like to go make a motion that we have a policy in this that no more than three trustees on a visit because that's what we're talking about even if we're splitting um before we make any motions I think we need to finish the discussion and conversations um just to make sure we get all the perspectives and can I ask point we can make a motion if it's not agenda other bodies in you make a motion a second and then there's discussion and that I believe is what is what brought what Roberts is is so is the policy here discussion and then a motion it's motion second discussion so procedurally we do not have this action

160item agendized for tonight to make a policy decision so we'd have to okay yeah come back on that thank you uh trusty banini so um going back to my original request um that we modify the language for additional visits so once scheduled these additional dates will be offered to the to up to two additional board members so note noting that it would be a maximum of three board members I think we could also add language to the second bullet point that points that out at the end of the first sentence that we have a maximum of three Trustees for each visit and I think the rationale included like to be in compliance with the brown act sure in case they're asking oh why is there a limit it's already stated there bety Alvaro yeah and

161I think that I I don't know what a word with because I don't really care somebody else can do that but in the first bullet point where it points out that visit should not be disrupted to school staff etc etc that's a good place to say that's why we're not taking more than three people so clearly yeah I think that would be a great if there's more than three then we divide it up and do another day some other time uh any other comments banini um so uh is there can you confirm if there's a consensus that we add language to those two Clauses that we can propose in the motion that we make for approval um does anyone disagree with adding that into the handbook okay seems like we're in consensus um superintendent McGee

162is there anything you'd like to I don't think so I have taken notes and um you know per uh trusty bini's first two recommendations which were really just like edits um perhaps the board could um approve the handbook with the stated edits that we discussed um as the motion but um I we can make you know we can change the language um in this and if uh attorney Cho are you saying that we need a to bring it back to AG gendi a limit of three on a board visit or is that one of the edits that can be included in the final draft Yeah considering that we've had open discussion around clarifying the language of the visits I think we can just incorporate that but I I I don't know does the board want

163to see the finalized language before are we happy with kind of the the gist of where we're going with this truste that would be my question yeah if the trustees are fine with that so well I would say I would say that the um hopefully the answer to the question is that um we don't need to re agendize the board um the pur proposed governance handbook to make a modification to the current language around visits right it could have been any change it doesn't matter that it was this change okay um it's just happens to be this change so I would propose that we um uh agree that there we accept that there could be language added in the final version that would either say a Max of three or that a quorum would not

164be um present at any of the meetings means and I'm okay with whatever language that is and I'm willing to make a motion yes and also the brown act compliance piece so that it's clear for members trusty love I don't know oh we had agreed that like the editing was going to take place in the Communications office so there will be other edits to this because it's not part really clean as it is so do we need to just generally give them some it's okay for them to go in and do a copy edit without our having to review every edit yeah I think this the whole proof reading issues and just checking for grammar that's all fine we can do that afterward so I think if as long as all the board members are

165happy with um the substance of the edits that we're going to be doing I think you can move ahead with approving today great um were there any other comments that you had trusty bonini no um other comments or questions from other board members um I just wanted to say thank you to superintendent Mickey for for um reaching out directly to the principles and getting their perspective so we had that Insight um to help us make our decision that would benefit everyone um so so thank you for your work on that um are there any comments from the public uh no hands raised thank you is there a motion to approve the draft uh board governance handbooks with the stated edits that we discussed I move that we approve the um dra the governance handbook with

166edit as stated is there a second second thank you there is a motion to approve the draft board governance handbook with the edits that we discuss made by trusty bonini and a second by trusty Gerard is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no uh the motion passes with a vote of 6-0 in the draft board governance handbook has been approved for item 8B uh 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 the trusty banini um I'm reporting out on behalf of the board's budget subcommittee um the the budget subcommittee met um we had our first

167meeting last Thursday on the 27th of February um um I was in attendance uh trusty Gerard was in attendance and um trusty O'Neal was not able to attend but I understand he's received the materials from the meeting um from the county office um superintendent McGee attended Deputy superintendent Chavez and Deputy superintendent bolma um the agenda was focused on six topics ranging from um informational items about the development of our 2526 budget to to topics that would eventually require our board to take some action the six topics um included the budget assumptions for the 20 2025 26 budget um which uh include using interest income from unrestricted fund 17 for operational purposes um second um seeking a new lease for the Rollins Road property third um research uh the purchase of a new building that could

168be a new home for for the Gateway Community School uh research the most effective approach to acquire an existing um uh apartment building for educator housing should that be a use that we might consider um and of for funds um and then prioritizing sta staff housing construction at Camp Jones Gulch as part of the 25 year agreement with the why um the Rollins Road lease will be agendized for the next board meeting um on March 2025 and uh the the budget subcommittee will continue to meet with the um Administration to prioritize and coordinate the next steps um especially regarding those projects that deal with real property and I just wanted to clarify that the fund 17 um there's also um wasn't mentioned in um the recap but there's also another fund and if I may

169ask um Deputy superintendent bolma can you remind me which fund the other one is uh yes fund 40 oh 40 um which uh we account for the proceeds from the former Redevelopment areas in that fund and it does need to be used specifically for facilities right and so there are um there there are many funds there something around $50 million in that fund 40 and somewhere with interest and income around 80 million in fund 17 so that those are the funds that we are referring to in this so I just want to make that clear and that is all thank you were there any other subcommittees that met and would like to report out trusty love uh thank you the um legislative subcommittee met yesterday and uh trustee um subcommittee member O'Neal was there as

170was you uh Commission leaz on z um unfortunately trusty uh Tores was not able to join us but you he did received the notes and um we were also joined of course by superintendent McGee um associate superintendent Tammy Moore and um self associate superintendent young and um we had a great discussion agreed on a few things um that we take back to the board um at some point but um in alignment with board policy 1160 and the the uh County Office strategic plan the board subcommittee recommends the agreed on these recommendations to develop an annual legislative agenda and advocate in Partnership uh with the county board at the local state and National level um doing that jointly with the superintendent um changing the name to advocacy subcommittee which is more consistent with um some of

171the the language in the in board policy 1160 uh fold the school funding subcommittee into the advocacy subcommittee change the name of the school funding subcommittee to the school funding um in Sano County task force reflecting that it's very action oriented and maybe shortterm has a goal and uh truste um O'Neal can talk more about that um develop a set of advocacy priorities including the legislative agenda for the board consideration um at a future meeting conduct research and develop an action plan for the school funding in Sano County task force um and which the the advocacy committee would bring to the board for consideration before going too far out on that and then we'll meet twice a month and bring regular updates to the board wow how long was that meeting um a lot that

172got done trusty banini I have a question um so did you say that you're proposing to roll the new committee into the ADV committee and create a task force within that is that what you were describing yes as opposed to having two separate subcommittees where we're both sort of same two of the same people on them and that we also want to avoid the situation where this committee is out here advocating with legislators and doing something over here and then this one's doing something that we speak with one voice and that voice is actually together with the county office and superintendent as per 1160 that it's this committee really should should be a joint um effort of the County office and um the board um trusty O'Neal did you want to add to the report

173for once in my life I'm speechless will know that's R um are there any other subcommittees or um related assignments to report out on um are there any other comments or questions from the board yes um I had a couple items one I attended the read aloud at valamar school today I got to read to eighth grade usually I get to sit in the little chairs like first through third but this time I was great it was kind um 8th grade um I also um after some discussion with um superintendent McGee um through my employer Ry Mueller um he sent me an application for to apply for the samel Foster City School District housing um it's a committee I guess they're exploring housing and given all the experience I have with staff housing you know

174for the last 14 years they my boss suggested I apply so I applied I have not got a call back yet and if I go there I would not be representing board trustees it would be as um lye of SEL County so I just wanted to say that and then I also wanted to ask and I don't know if this board does this um if we could adjourn in memory of the principal in Pacifica that passed away very suddenly he was in his early 50s he had worked I knew knew him when I was on the school board he had a real kind of neat English accent he taught for fourth grade um the kids were very close to him they liked him it was very um then he became an assistant principal and then

175he became a principal at Oceans Shore School in Pacifica and he was with the district for 17 years him and his wife were pillars she of the community she owns a yarn shop which has become quite a staple in Pacifica for people people that you know to be arts and crafts and gather and gossip and have fun so Anthony and and Corton also known as Tony um I'd just like to adjourn in memory of him as a school educator um thank you I believe those were your board comments yeah yeah okay thank you um board president Torres may I intercept for a second yes are are you going to board comments now um there's something else we're still uh we just need to wrap up the um receiving the reports and making sure there was

176no public comment before moving on to board member comments okay if I could jump in before board member comments they'll let you finish up on that item okay great um are there any comments from the public in regard to reports from the ad hoc subcommittees or Representatives uh there are no hands raised thank you um there is no action to take on this item um up next for item 8C we have board members commenting um but superintendent McGee um I will let you go first yeah thank you um so I had a very um strange entrance to the board meeting tonight with messages um from Zoom that I've never seen before I actually have a personal cell phone and a work cell phone and both uh were giving me the same message plus my computer

177so some kind of weird IE over here happening and I apologize for being late um because of that I was a little bit uh disorganized when I got to my superintendent's comments and you all know that I am not great at birthday messages but I do want to Circle back to the fact that we have two March birthdays in in our in our team um this month uh our executive director of P3 and early learning Marshall Moten will celebr celebrate her birthday on March 7th and then um trusty bonini has a March birthday and she will celebrate I hope on um March 13th so happy birthday to executive director Moten and to trusty benini um I didn't want to miss that information before you went on to your comments um May I also speak to

178the a board adjournment yes um so truste O'Neal typically we prepare that in advance and um the board can decide to adjourn in memory tonight but if you waited until the next board meeting we would write a a a closing script that we then um print out very nicely and send to the family um so it's kind of a just a little bit of a process and it would be a little bit more formal if we could do it on the March 19th board meeting sorry learning curve yeah no no worries and and it doesn't have to be that way um but just uh I think the families usually appreciate the uh the tokens that we send as a um as a momento okay I think um for the next board meeting we can adjourn

179in their memory and honor thank you thank you um so now we're moving on to board members comments um trusty Alvaro okay thank you once again if you start with an a it's the way it is so uh and I'm still going to be one Alphabet letter ahead of you so there you go um I just want to thank once again all of the candidates we we had nine people come forward for this seat that is just astonishing to me that nine people were willing to throw their hat into the ring especially at a pretty difficult juncture for education so congratulations to miss Arius I'm really looking forward to getting to know you and working with you and uh thank you to your Sidekick there it's nice to see her too the low the very

180low energy khma you she always comes in she's kind of yeah um I also wanted to thank shelene Peterson I hope I said her first name right because um she's been helping me straighten out the records with Vector training but there's an important thing I wanted to pass on to everybody she verified for me that the two-hour trainings can be broken up so you if you don't have two hours to sit through the ethics training or two hours and two hours to sit through the um harassment training you can do what you can hit the pause button and come back to it at at another time as long as you finish it and then whatever answer the questions or whatever you're supposed to do there so they she got in touch with them and they

181got back to her and I was really appreciative of that and then just a quick get well soon to our Congressman Kevin Mullen Kevin is suffering from a pretty serious infection that happened after he had knee surgery recently I think he had a torn meniscus and then it developed a pretty bad staff infection and you know somewhere up there his dad is smiling down on all of us um Congressman Mullen flew to DC with his IV attached to go into Congress and make sure that our Voice Was Heard and I don't can't think of too many people who would be willing to do that for us and so I just want to say Get Well to him and thank you to him that's all I have trusty banini um I just have um a couple

182comments uh first I also wanted to thank the many candidates who applied for the trustee Area 3 position and I want to welcome we look forward to having you sitting here with us um and then I'll just um put on my SM csba hat for a moment um remind our board and anybody who may be watching uh or wants to share we have our legislative brench coming up on the 22nd of this month it is here and um that will be a really great time to um start some of that advocacy uh we will have um uh Franchesca segra um doing our moderating and she's a she's a journalist so she'll be um you know really getting ready to ask some really tough questions we've already set out a a um a list but um

183we've also also shared it with the legislators so they'll very prepared and we want to hear from them and we want to um be there to to be to advocate so that's March 22nd and then also I just wanted to report that the um the application or the nomination period for both the Kent Awards and the Emily Garfield awards has closed and we have multiple um nominations for both and so um we're going to be in the process of reviewing though shortly and doing site visits so that's very exciting and that event is on May 2nd so save the day right trusty love uh thank you just want to uh welcome Miss ARS appreciate all the effort you put into this and excited to work with you um at your disposal and to thank um

184Dr duraso as well for applying and putting all the time in and coming before us appreciate that um and just grateful that we had the great subcommittee meeting and thank you to Deputy superintendent mark o Chavez for jumping in um this evening in case we needed him so appreciate that thank you that's it um trusty O'Neal anything you'd like to add I said my piece thank you at the wrong time trusty Gerard thank you congratulations um we're absolutely thrilled to have you join our board and uh don't worry we'll have you jumping in with both feet soon than you think so um it'll be wonderful to to have you thank uh congratulations and um I also do want to thank all of our applicants it was amazing um that we had nine people that were

185interested in applying so that was wonderful um I also uh wanted to say that I attended the PTA Founders Day luncheon last week uh where they honored our former board member uh Hector kamacho Jr um and it was just it made me so proud and Patricia was there as well um to be there to honor him because he is just an extraordinary person and they did a beautiful job um of honoring him and uh talking about all of all of the things that he loves and is involved in and so uh it was my pleasure to be there and uh just wanted to uh let everybody know that they did Good by our guy so um that's what's important um I also uh will be reading as well this Friday at bashore school uh and

186uh those little chairs are killers to get up on but they always have you sit on one so we'll see but anyway I'm really looking forward to going and ironically enough uh one of the gals that lives two doors down for me teaches there so um I hopefully I'll get to see her as well and um just to uh give a shout out to accb like I try and do every meeting um we had what I thought was a very successful training session Monday night for new board members on the appellant role um of County boards we talked about expulsion hearings and interdistrict transfer hearings we're leaving charter schools for another time but uh trusty love was there and um I'm so proud she's attended both of them that we've had and and uh that

187makes me really happy and we're working on the next one and we have two more events from ACCC uh be coming up so go on our um website and see what we have to offer so thank you thank you um Ed felices V I'm really excited to um for you to join the board and working with you and getting to know you more um my brain is fried so I have no comments tonight um for item nine we have our adjournment so the next regular meeting will take place on Wednesday March 19th 2025 at 7 p.m. and this meeting is now adjourned night everybody e e see say your just that be help that's