001Well, um I'm calling this meeting to order and we have live simultaneous Spanish interpretation of the board meeting will be provided for those viewing online. And now we will stand for the pledge of allegiance. and begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All righty. Thank you. And now we're ready for a roll call. Okay. Uh Mrs. Alvarez Flores >> here. >> Dr. Armistad is absent. Mrs. Cardi >> here. >> Miss Man >> here. Mrs. Frost is absent. Mrs. Reid >> here. >> And Mr. Walker is not here right now, but he may be joining online shortly. All right. So, moving on to changes to the agenda. And we do
002have a change. Action item 20 um is going to be the res adoption of the resolution for application for waiver of education interpreter uh certification. So and um any now it's time for uh any board comments. Does anyone have any comments? No. >> Okay. I'll just say very quickly, I'll take my my time to acknowledge some of our um community partners who are directly helping keep students in their seats at school. And those um partners I'm referring to are uh the fund for Santa Barbara 805 undocu undocumental defense center karp children's project in the community in which I live. Um, all told, there's about 1,800 community members who've been impacted by ICE, uh, deported, detained. Those are family members, there are children involved. Um, and there's a lot of fear. And these agencies are are
003really meeting the moment and providing direct assistance, cash support in addition to support for families and, um, allowing kids to show up for school without, um, being fearful that they'll be taken away from their families. So, just taking my moment to shout out to them. Thanks. >> Thank you. Very important information. Appreciate you um mentioning that. And I would like to um take my time to gradu congratulate our esteemed board member Mary Beth Cardi for being recognized by the Santa Barbara Foundation as a person of the year along with Dorothy Large. So, it has been an honor to serve with you these last few years on the board and to see you in action. You're such a dedicated community member and your passion for education just shines through whether your work with the ora foundation
004are on the countless boards that you are participating in for the benefit of our youth in this community. It's an honor and a privilege to serve alongside you and to see you in action. So congratulations again. I couldn't think of a better person to deserve this honor and >> thank you very much for those exceedingly kind words. It is my pleasure and it is my honor to serve on this board with leaders like Susan and before her, Bill Cerrone and colleagues like you. Um I feel like we're on the right team and thank you. >> Gives me chills. Exciting. It is. And so now um as the time for public comments, do we have any public comments? >> None. None. All right. So now we can move along to the superintendent report. It over to
005you, Superintendent Salceto. >> Thank you. I uh was wrapped up in all of the celebration. So let me take a moment to get myself uh composed here. Good afternoon to the board and uh good afternoon to Mr. Walker who just joined us from our dual location. So glad. Yes. >> Yes. A great >> happy to be here. >> Great. Great. So you can hear us. All right, guy. Great. Good. And to um to our team here in the in the audience today, good afternoon to all of you. Happy springtime. Um, I want to echo congratulations, uh, Mary Beth Cardi. You know, we're we're all claiming you as our person of the year. Yeah. And, um, and so welld deserved. So, really excited to continue to celebrate you and um, congratulations and thank you so much
006for all that you've done to impact our our entire county and our community. So, really really excited. Yeah. Honored claiming our person. I also want to claim another um individual on our board who is a champion getting a champion award. He and his wife Molly. So Guy Walker and Molly Korea Walker as a champion for the family services agency. Um being awarded in May. I'm looking up to you here but I don't know where. Yes. So congratulations to you guy and Molly for the FSA award. And that um e event is happening on the evening of our May board meeting. So really exciting. Um congratulations guy and thank you. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. >> For the recognition and and the it's our honor to uh serve the community. >> Thank you. Thank you. And
007um you you have the rest of my report here in your booklet. um wanted to call out the um communications team for winning the statewide awards. They're on page two. Yep. Um awards of excellence, the highest award you can receive in three areas. The entire comm's team really does phenomenal work. I know you see it um every day. Uh Cammy Barnwwell is here in the room as our director of communications, but I know she would say it takes the entire team. And so um congratulations to the comm's team for and with with huge thank yous. Um today there in the auditorium there's a young artists and authors exhibit. Um it's a a partner city um uh presentation and the children's creative project is working with the partner city. Um and so there'll be an exhibit
008on your way out of SPCO. So you're welcome to walk through. Um it's between 4 and 6 o'clock. And then um at your places is an invitation for the education celebration. And as we know there are some conflicts. This is a season of many many events. Um at our May board meeting, we'll ask the board to act upon reimbursing um uh board members for attendings. But if you'd like to attend, please let us know and we'll make sure to get that table going for you. Um, otherwise I'm really really so proud of all of the um many uh uh accomplishments from the divisions and staff that are in the report. And with that, I'll see if there are any questions from the board. Um, otherwise I'll pass it back to you, Madam Chair. Okay. All
009righty. So now we'll move uh to the consent agenda. And before we do vote on it, I just did have one quick question on um item 10 for credentials and other certification documents. I noticed there were uh six teaching permits for statutory leave and I didn't know what that was and so I just wanted a little bit more clarification on that. >> Great. Let's take a minute to go to that. It's in section 10. And can you point me to where you're looking? >> Oh yeah, let me see here. Um so on the consent agenda it's and we can also table and come back to it at another meeting. So um in the board book it's it starts on page 24 >> where that's the credentials and other certifications and there's um so the expiration
010date for 2027 there's one two there um through the list of the names um if you go down for expiration date 2027 and there's probably like one two three four about 10 names and then there's two names that have that and then on the second page about five names down. There's another one >> talking about teaching permit for staff. Okay. Yeah. So, I'm going to look over here to my colleagues Amy Ramos and Gina Brana if you want to approach the podium and and share. >> Question. >> Oh, sure. I'll show you. >> Oh, thank you. >> Yeah. So they're on teaching permits for statutory leaves and what they are. >> Okay. Um I will probably need that to be able to confer with my no the um if we can come back to that
011and be able to answer that question unless Marty's here I'm going to take advantage of what those >> very much. Yeah. I know it's very arbitrary, but >> so the tips, that's what we call it, is a particular type of permit that's allowable when individuals are out on a statutory leave. So somebody, for example, might be out on pregnancy leave. You can bring some in, a substitute, on a longer term basis. They have to be um provided with concentrated training throughout that process and monitoring. >> Okay, perfect. All right, thank you for that. I appreciate it. I I was really I I've seen all the other ones many times and I was like hm good didn't know. So thank you again for indulcate the question. So now um we can uh go ahead and take
012a vote. Is >> would anyone like to make a motion to approve the presentation? >> I'll make a motion. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I so now >> we see guys hand too. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um and now we'll move on to the action items. So the recommended approval of the Santa Barbara County Education Office comprehensive pool. >> Oh, you broke it up. >> Oh my goodness, that was quick. Sorry, guys. Um that's what that beeping light was. Okay, so um I'll guess I'll say that again for all those watching us on video. So, action item number 13, uh, the recommended approval of the Santa Barbara County Education Office comprehensive school safety plan. So, uh, the superintendent recommends the approval of, um, the SPCEO comprehensive school
013safety plan for juvenile court and community school, special education, early care, and education. So, I'll hand it over to you, Superintendent. So, would you like to say thank you so much? I would ha be happy to and I'll invite Bridget to say a few words as well. Um it's an annual safety plan that we're asking you to um review and approve. We've updated it to make sure that we're um complying with all of the necessary laws, but also wanting to make it very practical for our juvenile court and community schools in terms of safety. Very important for us. Let me see if Bridget has any comments about that as well. >> I think you covered it. But I would just say that uh in the book you may see some redacted pages and those are
014specific due to tactical information that can be redacted from the uh plan. I will say it's a it's an large effort. It takes a big team uh Dennis Thomas our school safety liaison director Elise Simmons who are all aware with um of and our special ed team, our JCCS team, they all work on this. It was approved at our school site council at their February meeting. So it met the requirement of being approved by March 1st by uh the school site itself and it is a little unique just in uh from a district perspective because we have various sites that we're covering through this plan. So this is a complimentary plan to our larger emergency operations plan. So unless there are questions specifically. >> Any questions? >> I don't have any questions. It's just I
015I appreciate how well it's laid out. I I couldn't help but think um you know from being a nurse and you guys having all these specific codes documented in a specific way that it gave clarity to what the emergency was to cut down on cross chatter. I think that that was a great idea. But reviewing the plan it looked great. >> Agreed. Anything else? >> Okay. Thank you. So now um do we have a motion to approve? >> I will move to approve. >> Okay. Okay. Do we have a >> Second. >> Any opposed? All in favor? >> I >> Okay. Okay. It passes. And then we'll move on to board policies, reading, and adoption. So, yes. >> Thank you, Mari. Thank you very much. Take >> I don't know that it was green when
016we were talking, but it's green now. Um, so you have five policies in front of you that are presented for your consideration. All five of these are a cluster of policies that are relevant to recent legislative changes that have to do with immigration enforcement and the response to that. So they're all um in that same world. It came specifically from four different legislative bills that passed. The policies really complement something that we implemented recently which was SBCEO training for all staff. We developed um collaboratively so it was a big team of people working on this. We developed four different video modules. One of them is focused on just a general overview. Uh the second is understanding let me look for the understanding warrant types. The third is family support and caregiver affidavit and the fourth
017is on notifications and documentation. So those were rolled out and are required training for all staff. Um the general overview is required and some of the others are required for point people like managers and people who are going to be leading teams. The five policies that are brought to you today solidify the operations of SBCEO within those contexts. They're focused on safety plan development, which you just learned about, the protection of student and staff information, how requests for records must be handled, and proper response to immigration enforcement activity. One of these five policies, the student records one, is a revision and the rest of them are new to our organization. So, we'll just kind of walk through each of them briefly. highlevel bullet points of what they're about and then if you have any questions
018we can go from there. So the first one is the comprehensive safety plan that as you know it's a it addresses the development and annual review of comprehensive school safety plan for SBCES schools and in our case is specific to JCCS uh that you review and approve those plans annually to ensure compliance with state safety requirements. One thing I wanted to point out is in that heavily redacted document, which is challenging to read through the redactions, but there are two sections, sections C and H. Okay? >> Both of which have content that directly relate to immigration enforcement and the response to that as well. So, that has been integrated into that plan as well. Questions on that one before I go to the next one? And if I may interject, Mari, as you're explaining each
019of the board policies, we did want I did want to talk a little bit about the process for a moment. One is um related to CSBA templates and their board policies. So all of these five follow the CSBA template pretty exactly. So just wanted you to know that it's not a huge uh shift at all from the language that is recommended. So that's number one. And number two, just um wanted to ensure that you know we have a board policy committee and normally we vet all these through the board policy committee but in this case we thought that they were um they were timely. They need to be brought forward to the board. They're also very straightforward. We thought that it would be okay to go ahead and go to the full board for um
020either action today or for a first read and action next time. So just as you're thinking about the process and we talked with the uh committee chair Sarah Reid for that and so that's why we're bringing them forward today. So thank you Mari. Keep keep on going. Yep. >> Okay. The second policy is access to county education office records. So it outlines the public's right to access SPCO records in accordance with the CP California Public Records Act. It clarifies procedures for responding to those requests, including electronic communications and it ensures confidential student and personnel information continue to be protected from disclosure when required by law. Any questions on that one? Okay. The third one is the response to immigration enforcement. Do you want to speak to the the old one we had the 5,000? Okay.
021>> No, keep going. Yeah. Thank you. >> So, this is a new policy that uh was required by the recent legislation. It expands the guidance on responding to immigration enforcement um previously just focused on students to also including staff. So that's why it's under the 1,000s instead of the 5000s. It prohibits collecting or sharing information regarding a student's immigration status unless it's legally required. And it establishes procedures for responding to requests for student records, employee information, or access to SPCEO facilities by immigration enforcement officials. Okay. The next one is the revision and this one we had previously adopted. It's for uh specific to student records. >> Quick question. >> The guy has a question. uh is SBCEO and local and county law enforcement. Are we all on the same page or uh maybe I'll just
022leave it there. Are we all are we all on the same page? >> So, I can speak to the CSSP, the safety plan. That was a collaborative effort that involved law enforcement as well. Um, if you're speaking specific to immigration enforcement and reaction to that, there are pieces of it that yes, have been developed with law enforcement also. There are other pieces of it. I'm I'm not sure whether um those have been outlined specifically. So I I guess my interest is in making sure that there's ongoing conversation between SPCEO and local and county law enforcement that first of all I would hope we're all on the same page >> and secondly to the extent that we are not on the same page I would hope that there's ongoing discussion and dialogue. I I believe the
023answer to that is yes. Um yeah. Are you referring specifically to immigration enforcement activity on school campuses or >> Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Slash and ICE and all those things related. But yes, immigration is specifically what I'm making reference to. >> Guy and I I'll jump in. This is Susan. And um first of all, you asked such a brief question that can be unpacked in in so many different ways. Um and I think that that uh is really important that we discuss in terms of immigration enforcement and the board policies. for example, providing information or withholding information based on warrant type and circumstance all follow the law. So all of all of this is not in conflict with current California law. None of it is in conflict. In speaking with Dennis Thomas, who is a retired
024sheriff's deputy and now our um liaison, we are also on we are also aligned with the law. So, we're following the law and it doesn't conflict with uh even what he believes I I will say because I've spoken to him would be the right practices and best practices for law enforcement. So, I I feel really confident that this is a um an approach these board policies represent um following the law but also protecting bless you protecting the children and staff. not only protecting them from activities but protecting them from being liable for going outside of what the law might require. So I I really feel these are about protecting and and being very clear about what the law says and our practices are. I think beyond that um a a question that you're you aren't
025asking and I don't know that you are asking me to even talk about but I think that we all see other activities that just aren't following what it feels like these are you know codified formalized clear laws and I think that is a question none of us can answer as far as what is it aligned with the larger um like ICE enforcement but I know that in speaking with directly speaking speaking with the sheriff, speaking with the under sheriff, speaking with police sheriff uh chiefs. Um there is a very clear line for in the conversations I've had with them that they are not ICE enforcement. They are not representing ICE or um immigration enforcement. They are law enforcement trained police and sheriff's deputies who would follow these laws. So I know that we're in lock
026step there. How that gets handled I I can none of us can actually unfortunately and we said this before. We used to be able to say for sure we are here to protect all of our children and we of course are but what happens outside of our control is outside of our control. But these are I think these are really important board policies to have to clarify that we are aligning with the law >> and and so and and I don't want to belabor but first you you've somewhat answered at least in part what I'm looking for which is >> as a community uh we need to be make sure we're talking to each other and it sounds like either you are officially invited to sit at a table or you're making a way at
027the table >> to make sure that uh the county's position is being made clear. >> Yeah. >> Uh I would hope we are also doing the same sort of thing on the local levels for local school district. you know, while they ultimately have to have their own policies and so forth and so on, just the alignment and the ongoing dialogue I think is important to ensure the safety of our families um uh our students and quite frankly even law enforcement so that uh where we can mitigate conflict. I think it's important. So anyway, that was another point that I wanted to make. >> Thank you. Agreed. Thank you so much. can add one small thing to that as well. Um, in the im response to immigration enforcement policy, it does have reference to everything that
028we're required to do and what we would expect to happen under the law, but that if immigration officials were to go into non-public spaces anyways, that it's important that staff not interfere or impede in that activity. So it's maintaining that piece of not getting involved if it if it gets challenging. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> So we I believe we were on student records. So this is a policy we previously had. There are some changes to this policy. Overall, the policy addresses the maintenance, confidentiality, and security of student records aligned with FURPA and state laws. It updates um the updates reinforce that immigration or citizenship information may only be collected or disclosed as allowed by law. And it strengthens protections for digital student records and cyber security safeguards. So, one thing that shifted here
029from the old one was some extended language on third-party databases and safeguards for issues related to technology, AI use, cyber attacks, and breaches. Okay. And the last one is the release of directory information. This is a policy that governs when limited student directory information may be released and the rights of parents to opt out of such disclosure. So, it's focused on um military and college information being provided to those um entities and otherwise parents and 18 or older year old students being able to opt out of that. >> That's the general overview. Any questions on those? >> Any questions? All right, I think we're good. Thank you so much for going over that with us. Thank you. >> And Madam Chair, if I may, as you're um uh going to be asking for a motion.
030It may be that you are um ready to move and accept these board policies today. It may be that you want to bring them back for a second read. We realize that there's a little bit of a difference process here. Um, so that may be up to you, you and the board. But I did want to say if you were um going to adopt the board policies, I'd like to um suggest an amendment to one and and that is the second one in your book. It's um access to county education office records. And in the final paragraph, after reading this multiple times, even after submitting it to the board, that final paragraph says that members of the public would be granted uh to be able to examine records in the presence of county education office
031staff members. And that just isn't the practice. We often get public records act request. We will send them to the individual. they are not required to be here and present in front of us. So that would be an amendment that I would suggest that you strike that paragraph when adopting this record. So strike the whole paragraph. Yeah. And and by the way, in the template for CSBA, it was an optional paragraph that you could add in. We in looking at it, we looked at it one way and they thought, "Nope, this is this is definitely not a practice that we would uphold." So >> Okay. Great. So, we are looking for a motion to adopt um the board policies uh and to amend the last paragraph of the access to county education offer office records.
032>> Do I have >> I move. >> Second. >> Okay. Any oppose? All in favor? >> I >> perfect. So, it passes. >> If I may, one more interruption. Sorry. Thank you for the action by the board. Um when Mari presented to you the response to immigration enforcement, it's a she talked about the shifts. It is um board policy 1445 that you've just adopted. The shift was that it was a student um it had to do with students before and now we expanded it to staff as well. So now it's in the 10,000s instead of the 5,000s. So, in a future board meeting, we are going to bring forward the student one, the 5,000 to delete it from the board policies since this will uh now take precedence over that. >> So, just wanted to
033let you know it's coming. All right. Thank you. >> We'll be we'll be prepared. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, now we're going to move forward to item 15, reimburse expenses for board members to attend the Santa Barbara County School Boards Association annual dinner. So, our board will consider whether to approve the reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses for be board members to attend the Santa Barbara County School Boards Association annual dinner on April 16th um the 2026 at 5:15. Um do I have any questions about this before we make a vote? Okay. So, do I have a motion to approve? >> I'll move. >> Okay. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All right. Any opposed? >> Okay. All in favor? >> I >> Okay. The vote passes unanimously.
034And next we're moving to information items. So, um, we have 16, the update on the Olive Grove Charter School. So, Superintendent Sceto or sorry, Superintendent of Stu Student and Community Services, Bridget Public. >> Hi. >> Uh, so yesterday, I believe it was yesterday, you received a memo from myself through Anna Freedelland. And, uh, before I go into it, I just wanted to see if if you would like for me to review the memo completely. I I know it was short, so I'm not sure if everyone's had a full chance to read through them. >> Yes, please. Okay. So, I I I don't know if u Mr. Walker, you have a copy of the memo in front of you or not, but um to begin, the the memo was really in response to last month's board
035meeting. As you all know, uh that day I was in Sacramento at the State Board of Education meeting where Olive Grove Santa Barbara was, uh there for their appeal hearing at which the state board did uh renew their application and granted their appeal for a 5-year term, which will start July 1st of this year and run through June 30th of 20 31. and uh they designated at that meeting for the county board and county office to become the authorizer. So since then um in fact I haven't even shared this with Susan yet today but just today the state board minutes were posted a draft. So, we have submitted the renewal notification paperwork to CDE just right before this board meeting in fact um to uh state that we will then in fact be authorizing the
036charter school. So, that's just a formality that we needed to uh attend to. The memo sort of um addresses a few of the questions. I did watch the board's uh meeting from last month and took notes related to several of the questions that the board raised related to the authorization and what does that mean? And so the memo starts with a little bit of background about Olive Grove. Um as you all know Olive Grove uh Santa Barbara will be the school that we will be responsible to authorize. It is a TK12 school. It's a non-classroombased independent study charter that is located here in Santa Barbara. Um there are students I will say there was a lot of conversation last month about where do the students come from. They do come from Santa Barbara Unified mostly
037but also we have they have students from Galita and Hope. So some of the other local school districts. Um the school is operated as part of a nonprofit corporation. So, Olive Grove School, Charter Schools Incorporated operates the four school sites and one of the questions raised was uh about each school and are they independent of each other and they are. So, each of the four schools here in Santa Barbara County will have a different authorizer and are independent of each other even though they're underneath the umbrella of the nonprofit. So we think of them each independently and our responsibility will solely be for the Santa Barbara charter. Um, additionally just here in the background, something to note is that the charter corporation as a whole also has its own governing board of directors. And so
038they really set the tone. They monitor the fiscal oversight. They do policy development, program implementation similar to a school district board of governors or even the county board as you oversee JCCS. So that is their responsibility. The next step that we'll be doing is really developing anou a memorandum of understanding with the charter to sort of outline roles responsibilities um and clarify what our role as authorizer will be. that is in statute. So it isn't something that we're making up but it is designated in ed code specifically and so um I'll talk a little bit that really there are multiple layers to that I know know that was one of the questions but sort of just broad for right now broad category we'll be monitoring their fiscal health we'll be looking at their LCAPS so
039academic performances will be required to conduct at least one annual site visit um will have a point of contact for the charter school. So it is it won't be I will say just like a JCCS school but it it is still some um monitoring over the charter because they have their own system. Um and then I go into some key considerations which some of that I just actually covered. I'm right on track here. There were some other questions about fiscal sort of implications. Um the charter school will uh receive inloop property tax dollars uh combined for their total revenue from the districts that they have students from as well as some other revenue. So you'll see that reflected in the memo that that funding will come directly from CDE or from the state. That won't
040come through uh our county office. Additionally, for our responsibilities as an authorizer, we are entitled to a 1% um up to 1% sort of oversight fee. And uh when I looked at uh with our, you know, help of associate soups, Mr. Torres, we looked at the current revised budget, it was roughly this year at 1.4 million. So, we're talking about $14,000 uh on an annual basis. So, it's it's pretty nominal. Um, there isn't a lot of of revenue that will uh come with the authorization of that. And then just in terms of where we are in in next steps, I'll just end with that here and then take any questions you might have. Um, currently I've reached out to the superintendent there, Meg Ridman. Um, she's on spring break as many of our schools are
041and um have asked and so tentatively asked her to uh present maybe at our May meeting. So, we'll look at what her availability is, but invite her to come and meet the board and and provide a presentation. And if May doesn't work, we'll look to then June, I guess. Um, also looking at uh next month providing the board with the full renewal petition. Um, in the past, our board has had an opportunity on an appeal to review a charter school's petition and we know that this process you didn't get that. So, we'll provide you with that petition so you can read through it and and get the history and and all of the background uh related to Olive Grove, all of the detail, as well as the CDE's staff report findings. I'm going to supply
042that um to you based on their review of the petition and recommendation to the state board. And then my goal is to provide the board with a draftou um to review at our May meeting so that you would have a draft. Thatouou then would come subsequently in our June board meeting for your approval. We do want to have or need to have anou agreement in place um and by both boards have been reviewed and approved u before that July 1st deadline. So we are on a really tight timeline with that uh March notification. So that's sort of where we are at in terms of process. I know that this doesn't answer all of the questions that uh came up at last month's meeting. There are probably going to be many questions that will arise, but
043we wanted to at least give you a little bit as to where we are and what it means broadly as we continue to dive into it. I will just say myself um I had Olive Grove charter when I was uh superintendent at Los Leivos um and was responsible at that point to close that charter school and then it has since evolved and gone out um and become independent. So for me it's kind of coming a little bit full circle which is interesting. Um but also that you know I haven't had an opportunity to really brush up on all the charter laws and changes that are there. So myself and I believe uh someone from our fiscal team will be attending a conference in June um for charter authorizers just want you to be aware of
044that to come up to speed because this is a lot of new learning. It will take a team effort in terms of our role here as authorizers and um I know that was a question last month about you know myself as sort of point but it will involve you know a team here at SPCO as as many things do um to to become authorizers of the charter. So, at this point, I'll stop and ask if you have specific questions you'd like to try for me to answer today. >> Yeah. >> I'm just wondering if this is the beginning of the trend toward the charter support involvement. Yeah, we've always had a little like technical type support for our charters, but this is definitely the first time we've become an authorizer. And and I I know
045that um Dr. Salceto mentioned last month that this is, you know, new for our county office, but many of our counter colleagues throughout the state at county offices are already authorizers. So, um it it isn't uncommon for that to happen. And in fact, some have multiple charters that they authorize. >> Interesting to share that information. >> Um, in the past when Olive Grove was submitting petitions at each of the schools districts, they fell short. So, there were holes in their um compliance. And I'm wondering as authorizers, you'll be reviewing LCAP. That's an opportunity to really strengthen this program. I would think. >> Yes. >> Yeah. I mean, we will review their uh their documents. We'll make sure they're in compliance and and um following, you know, all of the legal requirements and laws and and
046looking at academic progress. And, you know, again, it's a five-year term, and so we'll we'll have regular meetings with them, receive those reports, and talk about it. um you know I I currently their dashboard data they they were a middle-performing school and the way that the criteria for renewal has changed since um AB1505 is that if it's a middle performing charter that they're eligible for that 5-year renewal. So it it in this case I will say that they met that criteria. um they're a it's it's interesting for me too just to as I kind of looked through their data um they're a small school so the number of students that they're testing sometimes can also look I'm just saying this from a different perspective they can look a little skewed it reminds me uh a
047little bit of like some of our like our cord community school there it's small numbers of kids and so I was looking just for an example at like I think their third and fourth grade test scores and they had one student test in those grades. So, it's really um it can it can I think that's just something to be aware of is that it isn't a large comprehensive school campus. So when we get those small numbers sometimes that in size really does impact scores and so but we will review everything and ensure that they're you know meeting their their markers that they have their goals in place and um have those difficult conversations if needed. >> Great. Um one other question since it's non-classroombased and independent where does it fall within our trustee areas or
048does it >> That's a really great question. I don't know the answer to that in terms of your trustee your specific trustee areas. Um you know the the campus I want to say I I I don't want to say because I I'm not sure if it's at the same location it was but um we can get the address. Yeah. >> Just wondering. >> Yeah, that's a great question. >> Thank you. >> Board member Walker, do you have any questions? >> Probably more of a comment. Uh, first of all, I'm sitting here smiling because I, you know, I I had been on this board for a while before I realized why do I know Bridget? And uh, so I recall when Bridget was at Los and uh, in the early days of charter schools in in
049the county. Um uh I remember Olive Grove being the second uh because of course school district have the first charter school. >> I would like to say and this I know this could go into future agenda items. >> I would love for us to have a robust conversation about charter schools. Um, you know, I think first of all, I don't think very many people really understand the purpose of charter schools or why do they exist and there's just a lot there. And then, you know, the administration of charter schools and who's overseeing and supervised and so forth and so on. And sometimes it's lost on us that charter schools are simply public schools that have special rules. Um but it it would seem again from our position it would be a good leadership role for
050us to take some leadership in the discussion about charter schools, why they exist. Uh you know where they absolutely maybe make sense and to some extent the unpopular conversation about sometimes why they don't make sense. Um, and it's great the the fact that Bridget has been involved with charter schools I think close to since the beginning. So anyway, that just a comment. Uh, again, maybe that's a future agenda item, but I think it would be great if we had a robust conversation on about >> other questions or you today. I I just wanted to say thank you for um answering all of our questions and providing this memo and and going over this information. It feels uh we have well not feels that we did have a very short runway um for this process and
051um it does feel like we're all learning as we go. Well, especially for you all because you're doing the, you know, um the the work and we're observing and and just trying to wrap our heads around the process as well. So, that really helps. And to continue to have um updates, whatever they may be, until that July 1st and and beyond is super helpful. I did have a question specifically about the fiscal impact going into that 1% um that um we're able to charge. In your estimation, do you feel like that annual fee um% >> uh the 1% actually um encompasses the amount of of time and effort and labor that is put into the work um to be an authorizer? >> Great question. um being an authorizer will be new. So, it's hard for
052me to estimate if that one person is actually going to equate to staff time. You know, we're we're really talking about staff time. Um my inclination is to say no, that it would not equate to the amount of work that will be required by our staff, but that is what the law allows us to charge. Um since we are not providing facilities for the charter. So um hopefully that answers your question. >> Yes. Okay. Um that's that's all I have. So thank you again. >> Thank you >> the presentation and we look forward to hearing more as time goes. >> Alrighty. So that brings us to the second information item. AB 1390 regarding board member compensation. And so we're going to have Associate Superintendent of Administrative Services, Bill Steve Torres, um speak about the bill.
053>> Oh, thank you. And good afternoon. Um so yeah, I'll just kind of give a an overview of AB 1390. Um the legislation as it states in the agenda item um is an adjustment to kind of a 40-year-old uh compensation rate for county board of education and school district governing board um members. And so what it does is increase the maximum compensation rate or stipen rate. Um and that's based on you know this adjusted uh cost of living and um inflation to get to the numbers that they've arrived at. Um so what I'll do is walk through just some of the numbers. um because I think that's the best way to describe what the impact of of the change is. Um it does take effect or it did take effect January 1st of 2026. Um
054and the maximum rates for CEOs for COE's and districts is based on their average daily attendance. So there's multiple levels for districts and there's multiple levels for COE's. So I'll just kind of give some quick number comparisons. Um for school districts, there's five levels um based again on average daily attendance. for the smallest districts. Uh previously, uh the maximum compensation rate was $60 per month. Um that's increased to $600 per month. And on the high end for our largest school districts or the largest school districts, we don't actually have any that fall into this range. Um but they're uh increased from $1,500 a month to $4,500 a month. Um for reference, our largest districts um they fall somewhere in the middle. Um, so our largest districts, their uh rates would increase from $400 a month
055to $2,000 a month. And so if a district has multiple board meetings in a month, uh, to get the per meeting rate, you would just divide the number of meetings by that monthly maximum. Um, and again, this is a maximum, so it's a up to that amount. Um, could the uh, board members be compensated? On the COE side, there's eight levels. Um, and again, that's based on average daily attendance. uh the maximum on the low end. So for the smallest uh county offices, uh it increases from $160 a month to $800 a month. And on the of the largest COE's, uh it increases from $600 a month to $3,000 a month. Uh we are a class three COE. And so for the class 3 COE's, uh the increase is from $300 a month to $1,500
056a month. And so um again uh same for COE's if there's multiple meetings within a month then um you would divide the number of meetings by uh the maximum for that month. Um so you'll see there that there's some considerable increases uh that result from the change in this legislation. Um a little bit about where we are in the county right now. um prior to uh January 1st, so prior to the bill being enacted, um our dis our school district's uh compensation rates range between uh $0 a month, we had a few districts that uh don't provide any uh stipend up to $400 a month. And that $400 a month is the maximum for our largest districts. Um that's why the range is within there. um since uh January 1st uh only a few of
057the districts have uh addressed uh or you know addressed the new legislation um and so uh their board member uh so only a few have increased or even addressed um the uh the increased rates uh in compensation um on the COE side um the class three and I'll just focus on them because that's the size that we fall into. Uh their compensation rates prior to January 1 range from $20 a meeting to $300 a month. Um, and again, $300 a month was the max for a class 3 COE. Um, since January 1, about half of those eight, there's eight uh county offices that fall into class 3. About half of those have addressed uh uh the the change in legislation AB1390. And of those, it ranges from not changing theirs at all, so they considered
058it and didn't change their rate um to some changing it at to the maximum um to some somewhere in between. So, and that's about half again half of the four uh or half of the eight COE's that have uh brought that kind of forward to consider. So, that's kind of the general overview. A lot of numbers, but um uh please let me know if you have any questions. >> And Steve, you want to say what our current the current rate is? >> Yeah, our current rate is uh $40 per meeting. And we did the per meeting rate as some do. Some have it listed per month per meeting because it's for calculation purposes. >> Perfect. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions? >> Okay. I think one addition, if I may, um what it doesn't
059address, what the law doesn't address are health and welfare benefits. So that we I think we've begun collecting some of that, Steve. Um but that isn't part of the law. So you're hearing about the stipens, but not necessarily about any other benefits that might come in any county. So just wanted to point that out. And again, thank you Steve for doing the background. Um, some some at zero, some at no change, and some at significant changes. So, you can see the wide spectrum. >> And, um, so, >> and I will add just quickly because you mentioned the health and benefits. What it also doesn't change is uh, travel reimbursement. So, that's still at the employee rate. Um so it just reiterates that but that didn't change from um the previous um and there's also language
060within the bill um that doesn't change from the previous legislation around um 5% increases annually can be considered by um by boards as well. So there are some things that didn't change but it's maximum that's the focus of the AP390. >> Perfect. Thank you. Um so we wanted to bring this to the board. Um uh a few months ago I had attended a SB uh CSBA meeting and this was a topic and um they had uh discussed some of the districts were looking into this. So, we thought it would be a good idea just to bring this as an information item with the idea of would we want to take this back to maybe policy um committee or have a further discussion or vote or how discussion um in the board meeting. So, wanted to
061get your thoughts on that as a board or if we want to just table it for now. Uh, I think the presentation was uh was pretty clear and that you have your notes from it. Uh, I don't know if it needs to go to a policy meeting. I feel terrible saying that being the chair of the committee. Um, but I feel like I would love to hear what everyone else says, not just the people in the committee. So, if we could get a poll of everybody, I think it would be a good idea to chat. >> Okay. I I just had a like all these little questions like where where does this money come from and I never thought about it before. So all those little kinds of things of what happens if it is
062increased what what doesn't get done on this other end or how are they affording these huge increases of I just never think of those things. So that could be a big concern. Thank you for reinforcing my point everybody. I want to hear all the perspectives. >> So, and I'm sure other things will come into mind, but that that is nothing that I ever really thought about before. >> You just get here and you serve. >> I've never even asked that question before. How much do I get? I just never asked. >> I'm not motivated to have a discussion about increasing it. It doesn't it's a stipen that's nominal and I don't feel any compunction to to change that but I can easily be you know outvoted. >> Board member Walker, do you have any thoughts
063on it? >> Yeah, I mean I I think all those are kind of similar in this. I mean, honestly, when when I ran for the board, I didn't know there was a stipen. Um, uh, you know, there's a part of me that would say it would be interesting to have a conversation about it. Uh, one of the things that sort of strikes me about all these type of things, those of us who choose to run for it, who and who were not motivated at all by a stipen, uh, it it does suggest I can afford to do this. Um, and so sometimes like this whatever this conversation is, it it's it's like are there good people out there who would be good serving the board, but the reality no compensation creates a hardship and so
064we don't they don't run. Um, and again, I'm not advocating for doing it or not doing it, but what I am saying is I suspect that the people who are currently serving are sitting somewhat from a place of privilege, meaning you can afford to do this. I can, you know, I mean, I can afford to do this whether it's a statement or not. Uh, and so if I vote yes, let's increase the statement, what does that feel like for the public? What does that feel like in terms of I think the question that Vita just asked is like does that have some impact on programs and services which my guess is probably not. Uh but I don't think it's just a function of uh I don't need the increase so I vote no. I think
065some sort of way we need to be looking at you know sort of future trustee folks and what does it suggest uh if you leave the statement as status quo anyway that was convoluted but that's kind of what my thought is. I don't think it's just a simple yes or no. >> Thank you for that. Um it sounds like maybe we have a discussion at a later meeting where it becomes a discussion item where we can um go into more depth um since this is just an information item right now. one to um board member Walker's point at the SBC um SBA meeting, one of the things that um some of the board members in the district mentioned is that they have small children and so they um it was it was helpful for them
066to have a stipen in order to be able to pay for child care or even if they're hourly employees to be able to um make up for the time that they're taking off of work. So that kind of speaks to that equity lens of who might be out there and the future that might be able to be a board member that can't now because they're they they're just not able to to take that time during the day during the workday um to be at a meeting. So um if that if it works for everyone else, we can table this for another meeting as a discussion item. >> Can I just ask one clarifying question? Um, Steve, you mentioned a 5% increase. Is this a decision that could be brought back year upon year, so if
067you didn't want to do it this year, you could vote or, you know, if there were new board members and this would be an this would come up as an annual decision. I'm just wondering about procedure. >> Okay. And to to clarify um in terms of the committee in not that this was what the board is wishing for this time I'm hearing that it would be maybe fruitful to have a full board conversation but it may be that the salary committee would be an appropriate committee in the future to be talking about salary and compensation for board members. So I I say that um in case in the future there's dialogue there rather than a board policy. I it kind of it goes to both ways but I think perhaps the salary committee. >> Thank
068you. >> All right. So um we'll table that for now and let's see where were we? So now we um have the other information item for the personnel report. Um do we have any questions about the personnel report? Okay. Um, so then we'll move to the information item for the Williams uh uniform complaint quarterly report and we have no complaints. That's nice. That's always a good thing. Um, then moving to action item 20. So for the recommended adoption of resolution for application for waiver of educational interpreter certification and the superintendent recommends the adoption of resolution number 2609 for the application for a waiver for educational interpreter certification and I think we've had these before this this has come up in our our um board meeting again before so would you like to speak to it
069quickly or >> right um thank you director Amy Ram almost actually presented last month on a resolution that the board passed and said, you know, there will be one coming soon. And so we inserted it here because it is here. Same um request um to to uh employ this individual while they're taking this exam. Yeah. But >> uh last month um I'm sorry Trusty Armistad isn't here but um she asked about how many interpreters that we have. So I thought since I was coming back to you I would try to have that information available. Um so we have uh 14 educational interpreter positions. Um seven of them are filled with um fully certified interpreters. So those are um staff who have passed the very rigorous certification exam um and they are fully qualified. We have
070uh one person who is serving um on a what we call a waiver. So we've applied for a waiver on their behalf. Um and then we have six vacancies. Um as I mentioned last uh last month um because that uh that certification exam is so difficult to pass. It's really a very narrow pool that we recruit from. Um, and that's why we have this whole waiver process. So, it's uh something that we recruit for on a continuous basis. So, >> I just had a quick uh question. Is there any way to train people or support them? >> So, part of the >> because we had to do that in our district. >> Yeah. Part of a team that helps out with all that. Part of what we have to um demonstrate when we apply um
071to the state board of education for a waiver is we have to um present what they call a remediation plan. So that um typically entails um uh observing a fully certified interpreter, having a fully certified interpreter observe the person who's on the waiver. um and and the whole point is to build up the person's skills so that they will be able to pass the certification exam. So yes, that is part of the process. Thank >> you. So now we'll um I'll ask for a motion to recommend the adoption for the resolution for the application for waiver of educational interpreter certification. >> I'll move. >> Perfect. And any opposed? Okay, we're going to go for a roll call vote. >> Okay, Mrs. Alvarez Flores, >> I. >> Mrs. Cardi, >> I >> Miss Man, >> I
072>> Mrs. Reed, >> I. >> Mr. Walker, >> uh, I But a question, which item are we on? >> Was item 20? >> It was added. Oh. >> Oh, the inter All right. >> So, so we added I'm sorry, we added this to the the um agenda. So, >> yeah, >> the the vote is I >> thank you. The motion passed. >> So, moving on now to uh future agenda items. We have a presentation by the LMPoke teen center um regarding the teen leadership advocacy council and their advocacy trips. Uh also we have a presentation by future for lump poke youth and information on the olive crest hope refuge. And I would like to add um I know we've talked about this, but I would love to have a update on the um playground area
073at the juvenile justice courts and what's going on with that um request for repair. >> We have the charter schools presentation. Top right? >> Yes, we do. Um just want to make a comment for future agenda items and the one that you just mentioned as well. So for May, we have the exciting announcement for teacher of the year as well as classified employees of the year for Santa Barbara County. So they'll happen in May and you'll get a chance to meet the uh superintendent for Olive Grove Charter School Santa Barbara, Meg Ridman, if she is able. So if she's able to attend, then we'll have that presentation as well. In terms of the playground area, um I did get a response just so that you know. Um and you know I think there were I
074think I had crossed wires u misunderstood or miscommunication of some sort. Uh they said the probation said that in fact the playground area is completely accessible and open for the students. It's the it's the um wrap around the fence area that needed to have the repair and that's actually now queued up to get uh uh repaired. but that the area itself has actually always been accessible and I did not have that understanding. >> Yeah. >> Right. So >> I thought they said they couldn't use it because it wasn't secure. >> That's right. So a tool or something ripping confidentiality. >> That's what I So I Yeah. >> Sorry. >> Yes. So that was the report and I would be happy to circle back and get more information for you but I did want to give
075you the update because we had exchanged that communication. >> Awesome. >> I our ears heard something different. >> I saw something. >> Yeah. Moment. Okay. So now I guess we're ready for the adjournment for the next regular meeting. Um do I have a motion to adjurnn? I second it. >> All right. All in favor? >> All right. >> Wow. This >> meeting we >> Yeah, we're we're doing it here.