SB Unified - Board Meeting - Tuesday, January 27, 2026

001Okay. Um, good afternoon. I now call to order the regular meeting of the Santa Barbara Unified School Board on Tuesday, January 27th. The time is 12:34. Uh, I mean 4:34, I'm sorry. Um, are there any public comments on close session items? Okay. Um, seeing that there aren't, um, we're going to adjourn to close session to consider the items listed on the agenda, including personnel, labor negotiations, and anticipated litigation as authorized under the Brown Act. Okay. Um, we're returning to regular session now at 608. And first, we'd like to have a presentation regarding language access. Thank you. We have interpretation available through Zoom. We have interpretation into Spanish and ASL interpretation. We want to start. Thank you. Okay. And I also wanted to announce that the board president isn't able to be here and I'll be

002presiding over the meeting. Um, the district is committed to providing language access for our community and translation services are available upon request. I'm sorry, the American Sign Language. Um, Dr. Maldonado, can you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? >> Please stand and face the flag of the stands. One nation under God, >> the board did not take action in close session. Um, and now we'd like to go to the student board U member report. >> Thank you. Hello. Good evening. A student walkout was recently hosted at Dos Pueblo High School where dozens of students left campus during school hours in the Free America walkout. The event took place on Tuesday, January 20th, the one-year anniversary of our current president's inauguration. Uh the event also uh hosted students protesting an array of pressing issues that

003our students are most passionate about. Other high school sites are also planning similar events in the near future as political tensions and fear rise within our school environments. In other news, this Friday, uh the student advisory council will be reviewing the applications for our first cohort of the scholars helping scholars program. We have over 30 applications filled out so far and we are hoping to have students meet in groups at their schools next week and then have them in our three school sites, the Sanora Community Academy, Franklin and Monroe within the next couple weeks. I'm very excited for the launch of this program and to share more good news about the program in future meetings. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um now we'll go to the superintendent report. >> Good evening everyone and welcome. There

004is a saying that guides us. When one hurts, everyone hurts. We know the recent news regarding immigration enforcement continues to cause deep anxiety for many of our students and staff as evidenced by the board members report, student board members report on the student walkout. I want to continue to acknowledge that the the fear and anxiety that exists and I want to continue to double down and be clear on where we stand. Santa Barbara Unified remains a place where every student is treated with dignity regardless of immigration status, background, or belief. Our schools are safe environments where families can seek support without fear. We are backing this commitment with action. Our family engagement liaison are working daily to connect families with legal resources, know your rights training, and more. We are also ensuring our staff is

005trained and ready to support our students through these uncertainties. to our families. If you are worried, please reach out to your school's liaison or front office. We are here to help and we are committed to walking through this together. Next, I'd like to provide an update on the junior high school cell phone policy. In an update to our often away all day policy, we're excited to announce that the p policy is now in effect in all uh day TK through 8th grade. Previously, the change was in effect as a pilot at Lacolina and Golita Valley. After positive feedback from both campuses, Lacumbra and Santa Barbara Junior High adopted the off and away all day policy starting after our winter break. I want to thank our staff at those schools who made this midyear adjustment. The

006most powerful lesson from the P pilot was seeing the change during lunch and passing periods. Without phones, students are lifting their heads and actually talking to one another again. I actually had the opportunity to cover uh Lacumbra Junior High for a couple of hours as a principal while the principal and his staff were in a training. And I also got to observe during lunchtime and was guided by some of the safety workers that are there that kids would typically not be moving at lunchtime because they would be sitting around with their phones. And uh as I walked I was like nobody seems to have a phone. Everybody was running around, moving around and generally talking to each other, looking at each other, walking together. So I have seen it in action myself and that was

007at Lacumbra. This policy ensures that school is not just a place for academic focus but a place for genuine human connection. Next, I'd like to share our collaborative spirit award being given this month to the Santa Barbara Junior High School 7th grade math professional learning community. Recognized for their exemplary collaborative spirit and going above and beyond to become the district's model for effective small groupoup instruction. This team uniting general ed education teacher, specialed teacher, and curriculum specialists doubled their weekly planning time to ensure deep alignment to support all learners. Their unified efforts have transformed seventh grade math into highly engaging, fun classrooms where students thrive. And by the way, I'd like to invite board members if you want to go visit. It is a It is something to observe. I can't I don't even want

008to try to describe it, but if you want to go see it, I'd love to take you to see that class. And finally, I want to recognize that January is school board recognition month. To our trustees, thank you. Being a board member is a volunteer role that requires long hours, difficult decisions, and a true heart for service. We are grateful for your leadership, your governance, and your constant advocacy to ensure that every student in Santa Barbara Unified has the opportunity to not just survive, but to thrive. Thank you for all that you do. That's the end of my report. Can we give them a nice round of applause, everybody? Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Maldonado. Um now we will go to uh public comments on n on n on n on n on n on

009n on n on n on n on n on agenda items. This is the time for public comment on items not on the agenda but within the jurisdiction of the board. The board may not take action on these items. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Okay. So, we're gonna have comment for two minutes. >> Correct. >> Okay. We are going to start public comment on non-aggenda matters. There's going to be two minutes per speaker. Um I'm going to announce the first three. The first three is I believe it's Erin Kavasos. The second is Faith Kingsbury. And the third is Deborah Reed. >> Erin Kvasos. >> Yes. Um, good evening. My name is Erin Kavasos and I'm a preschool teacher at Harding. I've been in ECE for the district for 17 years. First, I would like to thank

010the negotiation teams from both the union and the district for working towards a solution regarding meeting frequency, district um duration and location for our ECE staff. During COVID, our department added several different kinds of meetings to help our team collaborate and navigate this difficult time. Um but these meetings were all scheduled in our 8-hour workday. this is not the case any longer and meetings have been requiring travel time um going past our eight-hour day and um really a complete loss of our prep time every time we have a meeting. So by allowing virtual meetings cutting down only um uh to the required meetings by our contract with the state, we can preserve more of our prep time for our staff. As teachers, we all want our classroom to be inviting, ready, and inspiring. And when

011we lose one afternoon a week for district meetings, that's very stressful for us. That leaves teachers feeling less than prepared at an IEP or two and we lose even more prep time. So again, I want to thank the district um uh negotiation team for working with us and our staff and our admin because our changes support not only teachers but also our ECE admin. It's collaborative effort. So thank you. But I would also like to mention um that in ECE 0 to four years old, we use the arts to engage students in broader academics every single day. For example, in my classroom, music provides experience in rhythm, counting, patterns, rhyming, as well as exposure to broader vocabulary, and other cultures. The visual arts provide experiences in prewriting, shapes, science, could go on and on. Dramatic

012play. I'm going to run out of time. Basically, we use art to teach everything. and studies provide um knowledge that the arts provide opportunities for learning across academic areas. And I really wish that the the board and our admin would work together with our staff to make sure that junior highs and high school have all the arts available to all our students, especially our most vulnerable. Thank you. Sorry. >> Thank you. >> That two minutes is very fast. Faith Kingsbury. >> Hi, good evening. Um, I'm Faith Kingsbury, a Black Student Alliance coordinator at Healing Justice Santa Barbara, and I would like to thank you all for our third year partnership. Um, we are happy to Oh, I'm not speaking loud enough. This is better. Oh, Norris. Um, I would like to thank you for our

013third-year partnership and we're happy to announce that our increase in part participation is now up to 89 students consistently. Um, we are very prideful that our students were able to gain their mental health first aid certification and we're we awarded um 10 of our most consistent students with scholarships and we are hosting a spring conference to elevate and support more of our youth across the region with UCSB. Moreover, we will be hosting a trolley tour to honor Black History Month. This is important because Black History Month is or Black History specifically is directly being attacked by the current administration. Supporting black youth and their families are crucial. Um, sharing black history should be embraced all year. Before closing, it's very important to note how difficult it has been for students and families to process the

014violence happening in Minnesota um as we continue to see black people be erased. Uh I would like to say justice for Mr. Keith Porter who was harmed by ICE. That's all I have to say. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Faith, will you send us the information and details on the events coming up? Thank you. >> The next speaker will be Deborah Reed, followed by Joel Block, Stephen Hughes, and Robera Ortega. Deborah Reed, good evening. Typically, I show up with something written, and I realize that that uh inhibits my ability to make eye contact with you when we're having a conversation. So, I just trying something a little bit different. Um, I just want to take this opportunity to speak to you about the elementary school teacher prep time. Elementary school is the foundation of

015education for our students and any any house or structure is built on a solid foundation. And in order to ensure that those teachers have every opportunity to prepare lessons for their children, they have to have prep time. Every single one of us, whether we're preparing a meal, whether we're preparing to come up and speak to one another, whe whether we're preparing to a case in a court or to perform surgery, we all have that opportunity to prepare. When we do not have time, sometimes we throw things together at the last minute. It's not always our best effort. The elementary school teachers have probably one of the most important jobs as we're sending students up. I have I work at the high school when I have students who are juniors and seniors who are unable to

016read or complete basic math and we wonder where did we miss it along the way. Maybe if we ensure that those students have those skills dialed in before they progress through junior high and high school when by the time they get to us they will feel a little bit more invested in their education. And I often have students who look at me and say, "I can't believe that you want me to pass these classes and in order to get my diploma because for the eight years prior, I was just sent along regardless of whether or not I had mastered a skill. So why is it suddenly that I have to show proficiency?" So maybe if we can have them showing proficiency from the very beginning, that will instill in them that the notion that we

017do care and that we are keeping them and ourselves accountable. And in order to do that, we have to provide the elementary school teachers with adequate amounts of time to prepare for the students. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joel Block. Good evening. Behind you reads the mission statement. We prepare students for a world yet to be created. Unfortunately, due to the policy of unfettered open enrollment, the lack of seven periods, the use of free periods, the world you have created is one that perpetuates a white supremacist system, segregation of economically disadvantaged students, particularly at the junior high level, and disallows the ability of those students to enhance their education and prepare for the modern world by taking the high quality electives that other students have access to the teachers union and members of the public

018have made it clear that fixing these issues is a major priority. The response of the district personnel has been do everything they can to perpetuate their own power and limit involvement of the teachers and the public. The district has refused to negotiate with teachers on these issues, stating that they are not required to do so and will solve them on their own with maybe some input from others. The district may not be required to negotiate, but it is still the right thing to do. Although that seems to have little of any impact on what the district decides. And what is the school board doing? They regret and commiserate but do nothing. Regret and commiseration do not solve problems. Board consistently refuses to give direction to the district. And even when those few times directions are

019given, the board abdicates its responsibility to enforce its decisions. We just went through a long difficult process in which trust was lost. And the while the board speaks of taking steps to regain trust, the refusal of the district to negotiate the priorities of the teacher and the community and it's being allowed to do so by the board is a sign that nothing has changed. I urge the board to do its job and instruct the district to negotiate on these issues. Thank you. >> Thank you, Stephen Hughes. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Stephen Hughes. I'm the music teacher at L Kalina Junior High. Um I also work for Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. Uh, I also work for with the Nick Rail Band Camp during the summers and I help to coordinate the district's honor

020band program. So, all this to say, I know kids from many, if not most of the campuses in our district, and this is the time of year when sixth grade families come up to me and say, "Mr. Hughes, we are getting ready for seventh grade and we're in this neighborhood." And I say, "Great. You're going you're in GV. you're going to love Miss Nelson at the uh uh the music teacher at GV or you're you're in Lumbre. You're going to love Mr. Ortega at Lumbre or you're uh going to SPJH and you're going to love Mr. Windsor. And what I'm about to say is sounds like I'm coming after Mr. Windsor. It's not. He's a math teacher. He has a math credential from the state of California, not a music credential. He's teaching the music

021classes because there's not enough kids in the program to hire a music teacher to come in and do it. And in the same way you don't want me running your math programs, you definitely like it's it's a particular subject that has uh deep knowledge that doesn't just come out of nowhere. You have to work at in order to know what you're teaching, right? And I know he's working and doing what he can. It's 20% of his job and 80% is math. So when I talk to these kids in their families, right, I say, "Great. You're going to love your school." And I encourage them to go to their home school as much as I possibly can. But the truth is I said I helped to coordinate the honor band program. This is the first year

022in about 25 years at least that our honor band program won't have kids from every single school at SP Unifi. There aren't going to be kids from SPJH. No one's fault except the people who are making the decisions at the top who can't make these programs happen. We need a seven period day. and everyone said the district, sorry, the union would not negotiate over this. We're ready. We're ready to negotiate. So, I encourage everyone to get to the negotiating table at the union so that we can start to make this happen. All right. Uh, thank you. I know my time's up. >> Thank you, >> Roberta Ortega. Good evening. My name is Roberto Ortega. I'm a teacher at Santa Barbara Community Academy. I've been teaching in the district for over 30 years. And you would

023think that it would be easy by now, but it's not. Um, I'm here to speak about the need for prep time for elementary school teachers. So this is an example of our uh manual for English language arts which there are 36 lessons per module and our um math program. And this is just two of the topics. And so I made copies for all of you just a couple of examples of lessons so you could see uh what is involved in just planning for two lessons. So just for example for this math lesson I have to photocopy and cut out cards to make 10 sets for the students to be using during the lesson. I have to photocopy their assessment for the end of the lesson. After I give the lesson, I have to look at

024their work and then plan for intervention for the next day. We are given a pacing guide at the beginning of the year where we are supposed to be doing one lesson per day. And then we are given 45 minutes a week to plan for all of that. So this is only two topics. I also teach um science and ELD. We have to um plan for intervention groups. So I have other people coming in to help me. I have to make plans for them so they can work with my students. Besides that, I have to review student work, parent communication. I communicate with the parents about issues that come up. I do grades. Um we have to give midpoint notices. For an example, we that is happening now. The window opens on Friday for us to

025be putting them into areas that it closes on Tuesday. So is the expectation that we're doing them on the weekend. Um, and then I also want to point out at the beginning, uh, Dr. Maldonado highlighted the PLC at Santa Barbara Junior High and said the amazing work that they were able to do with double the planning time. Imagine what all of our teachers could do if we had more than 45 minutes a week to plan. Um, thank you. I hope that, uh, you are able to give the teachers more planning time. And I'm going to leave the copies of the um, plans. Thank you. I didn't announce the subsequent speakers, so I'll announce them now. Next will be York Shingle, followed by Rich Lashua, followed by Becca Wrench. York Shingle. >> Good evening. I'm York

026Shingle, SBTA president. Why do you think it's okay to treat people poorly? Uh, why do you think it's okay to treat our elementary specialists teachers like they aren't part of the contract? Why do you think it's okay to treat parents like they aren't worthy of communication? And board, why do you let them? In May 2024, Dr. Maldonado said, "The seventh period day is a negotiated item with SPTA. It's not something we can unilaterally implement." So now we're trying to do that and you've moved the goalposts. It's this kind of management that leads me not to trust you. You'll sit and talk for hours and hours. Then we jump through the hoops you've created and then it's something else. Your team could have come back with a proposal about periods of the day that didn't involve

027instructional minutes. But you didn't. You just refused. That's not effective leadership. The way this pans out is that you make a decision that supposedly takes our voice into account, but it's decided without our agreement. And then we have to impact bargain it. And I'm seeing how that's playing out for our elementary specials teachers. It's not good. We are wasting time and money to get them the basic agreements of our contract. And you're going to put us through the same thing with junior high teachers. And again, y'all are letting it happen. And once I'm um and once again, I'm up here saying, unfortunately, we expect this disrespect towards teachers, but I went to Demlac last week and saw just how little respect is shown to the parent members of that board, of that group. You don't

028know you should communicate big changes to directly to the parents of your leadership team. We hear a lot of talk about centering the most marginalized community members and then you let them be treated poorly and not prioritized. So educators aren't respected, parents aren't respected. How are we supposed to believe that this school that you're working to make the school district better when you don't support any of the people you claim to? Thank you for speaking. Sorry, Rich Flash. Excuse me. Almost three years ago, a bell schedule committee noted that restoring a seven period day at the junior highs would solve many problems across the board. However, it cost an estimated 2 million in today's dollars and the district paused. This change required the approval of both the union and the district and union approval seemed

029unlikely. Sadly, compensation tensions rose that year. As a strike loomed, the district did set aside funds for a seventh period, only releasing them in the 11th hour to offset the new salary increase. This is my 46th comment in three years addressing the current crisis. After realizing the increase would be a little over 10% of the district's annual underestimating of their income, the union agreed to it this fall and folded it into negotiations for this year. Two weeks ago, we were told the district would not bargain the seventh period because they weren't mandated to at this time. We have the money. We have the union on board, ready to work. The district has suddenly backed out with no alternate solution for the immediate nor long-term problems we're trying to solve. The only logical conclusion I can

030draw is this district isn't serious about solving problems. Leadership emphasizes respect, decorum, and leading our community as examples of civil adults. Yet, this is an act of colossal disrespect. It's a slap in the face to the students who've protested here, community members who filled this room time and again, begging for to save arts programs. And I receive it as a personal and professional insult. I'm a junior high teacher, so the good news is you haven't lost my patience. The bad news is you're in critical danger of losing my vote. As a parent and citizen, I can't abide by a board that sees and hears about inequity in a system, gets a solution handed to them, and instead chooses to kick the can down the road one more year, 19 years in counting. I'm presenting to

031you the means and opportunity to correct racist flaws that reward the wealthy by punishing the poor. There's still time to do the right thing, the best thing for our kids to give every child every chance every day. This is what we all claim to stand for. Access to all of our programs is where we start. Thank you for speaking. Two minutes is over. >> Let's go change the world. >> Dr. Dr. Mado, uh we're getting a lot of comments about the seventh period. Is it true that we're going to this is going to be a discussion topic for February? >> This is scheduled to be a discussion topic at the February 10th meeting. >> Thank you, >> Becca Wrench. Hello. I'm frustrated the district will not negotiate on issues like a seven period day at

032the junior high and high school dismissals. That affects me both as someone who works at the high schools while I have two high school students. Um this makes me very future fearful for future negotiations. I'm afraid the district will refuse to negotiate even more items. I had hoped the district had learned from prior negotiations the importance of working with SBTA for the good of our students, staff, and families. I really hope we can get to a place where we work together. I think that really requires the leadership of our school board. At this point, I'm honestly quite disappointed in the way in which I don't feel like direction is coming from you in terms of what's our but I think our dis the district negotiates with what the direction that they need from the people

033that we elected. Thank you. >> Thank you for speaking. The next two speakers are Shauna Ray and Marina Torres Gross. After that, we will have speakers with Spanish translation and so we'll get ready for that. So, Shauna Ray. Hello everyone. My name is Shauna Ray and I've been a teacher at the district for 14 years and I currently work at um SBCA. And I'd like to start off by giving you a number. I'm going to throw out $160,000. And let's just say that's the approximate cost of two credentialed teachers, a steam teacher and a general education teacher. And they've been asked to spend 45 minutes together with one essentially acting as an aid. Spoiler alert, that was me. This happened last year at several sites also when classroom teachers were asked to push into steam

034$160,000 possibly or even more. And I have to ask why. Why was that seen as a better use of time than actually giving teachers more prep time? There seems to be a notion that elementary teachers can't be trusted with prep time. Some think that extra prep time simply equates to the teacher making copies, being on a computer, just talking. But making copies is preparing for instruction. Robera talked about that already. Otherwise, my kids can't do the decimal mass sort from IM. Being on a computer means responding to emails, entering Dibbles data, completing required trainings, and filling out district surveys. And talking often means collaborating with parent educators, consulting with the psychologists, or communicating with parents. Elementary teachers simply have too much to do to waste time. I haven't even talked about the grading, the planning,

035accommodations, or differentiating instruction. Some say increased prep time is too hard to implement, but junior high and secondary teachers meet for PLC's once a month, while elementary teachers meet two or even three times a week. Even if some of those meetings were converted to prep time, we can meet our contractual prep averages, something that currently doesn't happen for all teachers, especially during conference months. We are preparing students for a future that doesn't yet exist. But to do that well, teachers need to be prepared, too. Please consider increasing our prep time. Thank you. Thank you for speaking. Marina Torres Gross. Hi, my name excuse me, my name is Bina Torres Gross. I am a product of Santa Barbara Unified. Uh, my 92year-old mother, she would slap me if she knew I was telling her age, went

036through Santa Barbara Unified. My grandmother went to Santa Barbara Unified. Um, my kids are the fourth generation to be educated through Santa Barbara Unified. They both graduated from uh Santa Barbara High and they have both graduated from college. So, um, my both my parents, my dad is now deceased, uh, were teachers for Santa Barbara Unified. So, I am a product all the way around of Santa Barbara Unified. I currently teach at Harding uh, preschool at Harding. This is my 11th year with the district and fourth year teaching preschool. I have a multiple subject teaching credential and I have the ECE units allowing me to teach in a preschool setting. People might not understand what it is exactly that we do with our students. We don't just play. Um like any any elementary classroom, we have

037a curriculum that we follow. It's called PreK on my way. We also have to provide observation and documentation twice a year for our desired results developmental profile. Each developmental measure requires at least three pieces of evidence. Um, general ed education students have 29 measures that we have to um fill and students with IEPs have 43 measures. time times this by three pieces of evidence and that's a lot of observation and documentation we have to do. Um we also have parent conferences twice a year as well as attending IEP meetings. Um we are the first in the line of educators to make referrals when early intervention seems necessary. We do a lot and we have two sessions that are three hours a piece. Um, we turn around, we finish the morning session, we turn around and

038we do it all over again for the afternoon group of kids. Um, we have no time to do our DRDPs. We have to squeeze it in wherever we can. And often this means doing them on our own at home. Um, >> will you please wrap up your comments? Two minutes. >> Yes. Um, so it's it's a very busy day. Uh I will show you this is our DRDP piece that we have to do. >> Two minutes is over. We do want to let other people see. Um >> would you please >> there's not very many people back behind me. So I will no I let me finish. Okay. So here's my DRDP booklet which is like my Bible and these are all the measures that we have to fill. Um, also my last I want

039to finish off in saying that in the last four years I have watched Adams, McKinley and Los Flores close its preschool classrooms. That's five sessions of preschool uh that families have lost. Preschool is cost prohibitive for most families in Santa Barbara Unified. Um, you might think we do not have room for both TK and preschool, but preschool No, I'm not done. I'm not done. You can write to the board members. >> No, I'm not done. But we have >> I have like two sentences left. I'm not going to argue. >> Please say your two sentences and be >> TK is not a substitute for the early learning that is done in preschool. Children need the time in preschool to develop and mature before they can head off successfully to TK. I ask please have some

040transparency for what our plan what your plans are for us as ECE instead of leaving us as teachers and parents and students guessing what's going to come next. Are you going to do away with us or are you going to keep us going? Thank you. >> Thank you for speaking. The next three speakers will require Spanish translation. The first person lead Victor Carmona followed by Arturo Valen Valentine and then Jasmine Ner. Do we have our Spanish Victor Carmona? Victor. >> Good evening everybody, members of the board, Superintendent Maldo and all of the staff and public. My name is Victor Carmona and I am a member of this community. plan the California English learners road map. My comment tonight is about the importance of the MLAC and DELMAC committees. Also, the information that's related to emergent

041multilingual students and the results that were that we were planning to obtain with the California English learners roadmap created in 2017. And in that plan, we learned about the history of why this was created. And it was based or it came from Proposition 58. San Francisco important information. So this plan which was shared with us during a convention in 2018 that was for families and members of these committees here at the district which we were very happy to be invited to in San Francisco, California. We learned about the strategies to improve the results for emergent multilingual students and English learners. And we also learned about the budgets that were designated for that topic and other very important information that's related to all of this. And I would like to mention that one of the paragraphs

042in the plan mentions the three principles and it mentions the importance of leaders like in the master plan and the committees of parent leaders like Emlac and Demlac. Autonomous members. etc. >> And I would suggest that we analyze along with parent leaders the importance of these committees, the MLAC and the DEMLAC which are in the statutes which are not subordinate to the district but are supposed to be autonomous. And this is something that is not happening anymore. And in this plan, which I already mentioned, uh it explains that the people in charge should be focusing on making sure that the goals are being accomplished, the goals that are based in the master plan, uh the suggestions to the members of the committee of this district, etc. Mr. Carmona, we are at four minutes. Is there

043a wrap-up statement? Would you like to write more to the board members about your thoughts? >> Okay, let me finish. I'm going to say the last uh paragraph. Um, what the thing that I would like to suggest is that we take the suggestion that was made during one of the public comments on April 3rd, 2023, which was to get an external independent agency to help us analyze the results given that we've had external agencies analyze results in the past. And so this topic would be no less important than all of the others that have been studied by independent organizations. Thank you. >> Thank you for speaking Aruro Valentine. Um, is Valentine Good evening members of the board. My name is Aruro Valentine and I am a member of the DEMLAC committee and I am here

044to address the events of January 22nd which represented a significant breakdown in transparency and parent participation. I want to highlight four critical points regarding the administration's conduct. The first point that I would like to highlight is number one denial. of fundamental rights. The administration explicitly denied our right to vote even after the committee had approved an amendment to the agenda. It was even claimed that this committee is not governed governed by the Green Act or the Brown Act, suggesting that the administration can operate without the legal transparency required by the state of California. Point number two, lack of due process. The removal of our elected co-president Jasmine Netti was handled without transparency and behind the committee's back. By deliberately omitting this from the public agenda, the administration prevented parents from having a voice. DEMLAC must

045function as a parent advisory body, not an administrative mandate. and Point number three, crisis of leadership. Procedural errors were dismissed as part of a learning curve. However, after three years in this leadership role, ignoring basic meeting protocols is a matter of professional responsibility. As noted by parents during the meeting, the administration has failed to build a genuine connection with the community using meetings as informal workshops rather than advisory sessions. Point number four, hostile environment. We have testimony from the SPCA PTA president and neutral observers describing the treatment of parents as aggressive and disrespectful. The fact that this occurred while the superintendent was present is deeply concerning and suggests a lack of accountability. >> In conclusion, >> Mr. Valentine, you're at four minutes. Do you have a comment to wrap up your what you're saying? >>

046In conclusion, California. >> In conclusion, Demlack meetings must return to their original purpose, a space for parents to provide meaningful advice and find real solutions. We request a formal investigation into these procedural violations and the restoration of the committee's autonomy under the California Education Code. >> Thank you very much. Thank you for speaking. The final speaker is Jasmine Ner. >> Okay. Um before Miss Ner speaks, I'd like to ask a question. Um Yeah. >> Uh, no. No. Um, I had a question as to what happened in terms of the um the parent that was the co-president and why why it was the case that they were um not able to continue as co-president. Was the child disenrolled or or what is it that happened? Oh >> yeah, I'm not I'm not interrupting your speaking. I'm

047addressing the points that u Mr. Valentine brought up. >> Right now I feel like this is this is I don't know. >> Yeah, you can you can go ahead. Um, >> yes. Can we get clarification? We have public comment on non-aggenda matters. When if the board members have questions, at what time or what point is it appropriate for us to ask questions? >> I think right after the comment that you have a question about. >> So, I agree. Uh, Miss Ner, will you please speak? >> Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I don't >> Oh, did you say the opposite of that? Well, I do I think um >> Okay, sorry. Director Muno's question, >> right? I was asking for clarification as to the change, you know, with the co-president of DMLAT. >> I

048can just respond very briefly. I'm not going to speak specifically about any situation, but I can tell you that um once an individual no longer has a child enrolled in a district school, the democlock democac bylaws that were adopted by that committee prohibit the person from continuing to serve on the DMLAC and the membership terminates. So, um no vote is possible. It happens automatically under the bylaws and that's article 3 sections three and five. >> Oh, thank you. Thank you. Who writes the bylaws? Is it the DELMAC committee that writes them? >> They approve them. Yeah. >> So, basically the DELMAC committee approves who can serve on demac. >> Yes. And it's also with reference to some of the um membership on the DEMLAC is conditional on membership in a um an MLAC. And so

049there the MLAC bylaws for the each individual school are also implicated. So basically you would need to be a member of an MLAC at a particular school and then >> Right. >> Okay. >> Yeah. We're not able to dialogue. Um >> yeah that's not allowed. No >> just to add that's why that's why we try to vote on that matter and that's why they deny our vote. >> They just say we can vote on that. Miss S, you have time to speak. Would you like to speak now? >> Yes, please. I'm gonna, you know, like just adjust for four minutes. Yes. Okay. This is This is okay. Um I know this is okay. No right in education can be considered guaranteed when we accept that others do not have it. My name is Jasmine Netti.

050I am the parent of a child in this district who is an emergent multilingual learner. I also previously served as a democratically elected co-president of DEMAC, the parent advisory committee created to ensure family participation in decisions affecting multilingual learners. I am here tonight with respect but also with clarity. I am not here to speak about individuals or personal matters. I am here to speak about process because when process breaks down, families lose trust and students lose protection. >> This is this is I don't know. Miss Ner, I'm sorry. We paused the clock. Can we pause the clock? >> We have We did. >> The mic is not on. Can you >> Yeah, it is on. >> It is on. >> I don't know. Something over there. >> We're hearing. Okay. Thank you. Okay, I'm sorry.

051Prior to the most recent DEMLAC meeting, district administration stated in writing that my role as co-president president had terminated automatically without a vote of the DEMLAC executive board, without action by the parent body, and without timely notice or information provided to parents. That administrative determination was later used during the public DEMLAC meeting to prevent the executive board from reviewing issues, making motions, or deliberating. During that same meeting, parents were given materials that differed from those previously distributed. I submitted a formal complaint to the DEMLAC committee itself, not to the district with the exception with the expectation that parents would be able to review it, deliberate and vote on it in accordance with the bylaws. However, that process was blocked kind of like my comment was earlier. A motion was prevented and the participation of the

052parent body was closed without a vote or discussion. At that point, it was stated publicly that the Brown Act and the Green Act do not apply to Demlech. And based on that assertion, the process was closed. I want to be very clear. DEMLAC is a parent-led advisory committee created by law. If parents cannot deliberate, make motions or vote, then participation is no longer meaningful. It becomes a formality. >> It is four minutes. Do you have a wrapup statement? Thank I got it up for two minutes. I'm sorry. My apologies. Today I respectfully ask this board for three specific actions. That the board formally review what occurred during that public DEMLAC meeting. That parent advisory committees be allowed to operate without administrative interference. and in compliance with the law. And that the rights of families to

053participate in open, transparent, and respectful processes be protected. As a parent of an emergent multilingual learner who also has an IEP, I know that procedures exist to protect students, especially those who are the most vulnerable. When those procedures are weakened, everyone pays the price. >> Thank you for speaking. That concludes public comment on non-aggenda matters. Board members, I do want to let you know that we have received the complaint to the DEMAC executive team. Um, and there is a meeting scheduled tomorrow night with Dr. Martinez, the DEMLAC executive uh members, and our general counsel to address that issue. >> I appreciate that information. Um, thank you. Will a board member who's on de is there a board member who's on demac? >> Yes, I'm I'm the one that's on the demlac committee. So, I can

054certainly be present. >> Yes, I'm the second board member. I would be happy to attend. That's >> tomorrow at six o'clock. >> And yes, you can both attend. >> Okay. Um, now we will go to board comments and correspondence. Um, if board members would like to uh share a comment, Miss Capri, thank you. Um, I have three things to talk about briefly. The first is a celebration about off and away all day at our junior highs. I think that is a huge accomplishment and I just really thank the principles, everyone who was involved in making that happen. um and also the tech committee and I think that this is really an example of parents, teachers, the district all working together very productively on behalf of students looking at what is the research that often away

055access to cell phones um is really negative for children and making a very positive change in our schools. So thank you very much. I think that is a huge shift and we just need to celebrate it. Um, so I'm very happy about that. Then secondly, I just want to talk about um, oh, Trustee Escobedo briefly mentioned that we're now seventh period is not a negotiated topic. So I'm just one board member. Um, but trustee Escobedo mentioned that on February 10th, is that correct? There's going to be a discussion item on seventh period day. I am 100% behind a seventh period day. I think it's extremely important and um now we can openly talk about it. So I I'm just putting that out there. And then the third thing is um prior to being on the

056board, I served on um the district advisory committee for Galita and also my school site council for um my son's school in in Galita. And so I really know uh the value of on a personal level the value of parent advisory groups and that they need to be true advisory groups where parents are able to set the agenda and have discussions. So, I am delighted and I really appreciate that we're taking the step tomorrow to have a conversation um including a a a a good group of people about how um parents on DELMAC can feel that they truly are the ones as an autonomous group who are who are um who are able to speak up for their kids. So, those are my three comments. >> Okay. Um, Dr. Bill, um, Trustee Caffrey actually said

057a few things that I would, you know, repeat, so I'm not going to do that. Um, the February 10th meeting to talk about the seventh period is really the way it should happen. There has to be more than just board members, district staff, and the SBTA talking about this. It needs to involve the principles. I would love for some students to be involved in this conversation. I personally, and once again, we all have our personal ideas of what the seventh period is. I know the conversation is to allow an extra period, so students who have to take intervention courses have the opportunity take an elective, but I'd look at it as an opportunity to offer our students more. Our DLI students coming from elementary schools, maybe being able to take an advanced Spanish course. um

058maybe teachers teaching a a course they would really love to teach that's not part of the usual subjects and just offering just a richer atmosphere for our seventh graders. So I think it's important. I do support it, but I feel that there needs to be a larger conversation about how and why and where this will happen. I am probably 12 meetings less than Rich Lasha because that I started listening to him when I joined the board and it has been a long conversation. It has been very confusing. I totally admit that. We went back and forth in 2024. Do we ask for it? No. It has to be negotiated. But the the conversation was confusing and in the end we just did not have the conversation. And we are now committing to having the conversation

059and talking about it and its implications and its cost and whether everybody is ready for it. So let's have that conversation on February 10th. I tell everybody to bring it. Let's talk about it. We've been asking for community conversations and this is what this is going to be. And it's going to be a discussion. We're not going to make it a decision because we want to allow people to have time to think and maybe it will lead to a decision at the next meeting if the discussion is fruitful. And so I think this is how it happens. It doesn't happen again behind closed doors. And we want we you know there are other people who have needs too. So we need to address that also. Okay. Um, now we will move on to item E1

060in the report and discussion agenda. I'd like to invite the staff to present on this topic. Um, and >> yes, that'll be Mr. Tedeski for uh the audit report for the period ending June 30th, 2025. >> I'm buying him some time to get up here. >> Thank you. Good evening members of the board, Dr. Maldonado, everybody. I know this is an exciting agenda item as we bring a very full uh financial report as we do every year in January. Um actually we have three reports and the process is we close the year June 30th and then the auditors begin reviewing all of the entries and all of the documents that we put together to create our financial statements. And so what we have this evening is one of the reports is our report on our

061audited financial statements for the district. Um that includes a financial statements, internal controls, federal awards and state compliance. We also have a report on uh each measure I and measure J, the bond um audits uh that are all accounted for in separate funds. And that involves a uh review of internal controls and other compliance and mainly compliance with a bond measure to make sure that the money is being spent as it should be spent. And for those who may not be very familiar what an audit is, it is a process where we have an external accounting firm ID Bailey. They come in and they basically first will um do a risk assessment and uh evaluate what areas well based on their audit guide that have to be looked at. They uh create samples of transactions

062to review because their goal is to provide a reasonable assurance that our financial statements are accurate in uh in all uh material ways that there's no material misstatements. And so that involves just samples. And so they are not saying that they've reviewed every single transaction that makes up these financial statements, but they do a very good job of sampling accordingly to make sure that they can feel good about the fact that our audit uh that our financial statements accurately represent the financial um status of the district. And in doing those uh tests of transactions that they go through all of the compliance work. Um they make sure that all the different programs are within compliance with the state guidelines. There's a state audit guide um that kind of leads the way through the process. And

063so after all of that work is done, they come up with these reports. They'll it'll they'll be available on our website. We have some printed copies. Hopefully the board has all received a copy. And part of our process here is we have an audit committee. And once the audit is issued, the report, then I meet with our internal auditor, Alana Matlick, who is a CPA on my staff, who does a phenomenal job working with the auditors, um, getting them all the documents that they need, working with them, um, for many, many hours to make sure. And so she sat in the audit committee meeting with myself and our two board members and we were able to go through the process um asked some questions and um and even there was a request to actually have

064a conversation with the audit partner which I believe happened. So that's always a good thing. Um and basically what we do is really the big important part for me is to go through any findings that may have come up during the audit process. And I'm very happy to say that we did not have any um financial findings, any material misstatements, no big adjustments. Um there was one um um item about uh the certification of structural materials was a little bit late. Um but we made sure that that happened on time this year and it's on our governance calendar going forward so that will not happen again. And so um through the report I will um request that people do if they are interested look at it. At the very beginning on page one is the

065actual audit report where they state that whether they have a problem with our financial statements or they do not. And I'm happy to say that our auditors did not. Um the audit went very well. Um as I was saying it's as of June 30th of 2025. So 6 months later. Here's your report. But there's a lot that goes into producing these um these audits and the report. I would like to refer people to the notes section that starts on page 27 because basically it goes through our organization and provides a very detailed explanation of the organization, our accounting methods and um a lot of information as it goes down the balance sheet through the different accounts explaining our bond measures. I mean even myself as the CBO I often will refer to the audit report

066to if I don't remember all the maturity dates on the bonds everything is all in there. Um there's also a report on page 91 that addresses their evaluation of internal controls and it's key um to remember they rely on our internal controls but they also state that there are always ways around internal controls and so internal controls are not perfect. uh but they do test them to determine how much uh testing they will do. They seem to be satisfied with how we are set up as a district. Um but they do say there are always possibilities of things working their way around internal controls. And so just kind of a qualifying statement there. And then on page 100, um I'm happy to say page 101 102 are blank pages which would have been filled with

067audit findings if we had any. So hooray for the staff here and that includes everybody um that's involved in compliance and accounting for things. And so with that and then the bond audits were the same. No findings, no material uh adjustments or anything of that nature. So that is my brief presentation on the report. I'm happy to uh take any questions and remind the public if anybody um would like a copy of these reports, they will be posted, if they're not already, to the financial um the fiscal department web page on the district website. >> Okay. Thank you. Um are there any public comments on this item? >> There are no public comments on this item. >> Okay. Um board members, are there any comments on and I'm sorry. Oh, go ahead. >> Oh, I

068just want I'm a member of the audit committee and I just want to say thank you to you. Um and also to um uh Miss Matlick. >> Alana Matt. >> Alana Matlick is correct. Anyway, for the immense amount of work that it takes um to do this process and also we heard from the auditor just how professional the whole team was. So, I just wanted to say thank you very much. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Scoed. >> I also want to give my thanks. Um, in my role as board president, I got a chance to sit with the auditor for an extended period of time to ask questions. She asked me questions. We spent, I think, 45 minutes to an hour going through the process, her findings at that point. Um, she asked me a

069lot of questions to talk about our staff. She also highlighted, I know I've brought this up before, that we, it is unusual to have as many CPAs on our staff as we do. And that it's a good sign for us. Um, and I think that plays out in this audit report in the findings. And I just want to say, uh, Mr. Tedeski, as a CPA, you're leading this team. And I just want to thank you for your work. and then Miss Hernandez who all obviously was a part of um financial stewardship last year. Thank you. >> Okay. Any other comments? No. Okay. Um so that concludes this. >> Yeah. It's not an action item. Just need to receive it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Okay, now we're going to go to E2, mental

070health and wellness supports. The discussion of mental health and Oh, thank you very much. >> Oh, thanks. Good evening. I'm going to review the mental health and wellness supports programs for Santa Barbara school district. This should look very familiar to you all with this is a culture of care program which is a whole child approach to our mental health services which helps us design and create a more just system for all students. You're going to notice that the first layer of our approach is sense of belonging and trusted adult. What this does that it incorporates every staff member in the uh Santa Barbara school district as a holder of the wellness program and experience for all students. This is the trusted adult framework which highlights five key components as what is a trusted adult in

071our school. This creates alignment across schools so that all students are experiencing similar um experience experiencing similar relationships with our staff members. Then we have our second layer which is our uh social emotional learning which we have our curriculum various grade levels. Second step is for elementary base education is for middle school and ripple effect is for high school. And for middle school and high school we have counselors that also do um social emotional learning lessons in in as needed with the topics that come up. Then we have um our instructional framework and if you look at the B that's where our social emotional learning strategies are embedded into our daily practices and our daily lessons. Then we the next couple of slides I'm going to review mental health awareness and mental health support system.

072Here I want to highlight the RISE mental health clinicians program which we have a mental health clinician at every elementary, middle school and one high school. We're piloting that program. We're also part of the CYBHI program. Um we are part of the first cohort for the implementation funding and we're part of the third cohort for the billing program. So in at some point our mental health clinicians will be able to bill for the services and we'll get revenue for them and that will help us sustain our mental health services in a long-term plan. Um, there we go. These are our mental health support roles in our site. First, we have our psychologists in our MS that offer counseling sessions to our students with IEP plans. Then, we have counselors that support with social emotional counseling

073sessions for our general population. And then we have mental health clinicians that uh support with shortterm therapy and also do referrals for long-term therapy and um any other more intensive therapeutic needs for students that may need it in our school site and we partner up with many of the community members. Then community partners wellness center coordinator is a role in the high schools. We have one position at each high school. Do PBLOS has had one for two years that has been funded through a generous foundation. Then we have San Marcos that has their position and they have Esteban who's amazing and has it going already. And then we have Santa Barbara High School who still has a position open and we're looking for the right staff member to fill in that position. And then we

074have our youth reach um workers that serve a small targeted population of our students that support students that have a little bit of lack of trust maybe in the school system, struggle to create positive relationships or positive uh experiences. And what they do, we have three for the district. What they do, they work with the students. They become the trusted adult and they start developing developing that trust so that they can transfer it to staff members. They also create positive experience in school and then positive exposure in the community. This slide is the one that we're super proud of. This is the data that shows our mental health clinicians what they do what they do and how much they do. Um this was last year's data. Last year we got 725 referrals received out of

075the 725. We have 537 students that were served with short-term therapy which in school and then we had about 238 that referred to community connections to meet their mental health needs that helps uh that got us to a 74% that we served our students. Now why is it 74? What happened to the other ones? So some of those scenarios what ends up happening is that they submit a referral. The mental health clinician goes through it and indicates what services they may need. Sometimes it's just like a quick check-in. They don't need short-term or long-term therapy depending on what their needs are. Those check-ins are they happen. They are being served, but they don't add to this load. The other scenario is that they go into um short-term therapy and then we we uh realize that

076maybe based on their needs, they should go through the IEP process. So then they go there for those services. Sometimes they get a referral from the school but then the parents don't agree with the therapy. Um our mental health clinicians do everything to educate and remove the stigma but at the end of the day they decide if they want to move forward with the services. Um so those are just various scenarios that can happen that kind tells you a little story of where we get the numbers. Okay. And then we have this school year's data from August to December. We've already served 37 we've already received 374 referrals and then out of those we've served 272 with short-term therapy in our school sites and 101 go to our community partners and we're still at the

07773%. Okay, these are the community partners that we work with and we refer out. I do want to highlight two that we work that are not on here. We have SB network and be well that support with grief counseling when we have a site need a school site need. And then lastly, what do our students say about our mental health and wellness support? If we look at the top question that talks about 87% of our students in third through sixth grade believe they have or feel they have a trusted adult on the school site, which is a great number. Then the questions below are more of a self-management. So they fall more under the social emotional learning um which is about 50ish 50ish average. But we want to keep in mind that this is the

078age where they're still learning how to navigate their emotions. So this is pretty age appropriate for that grade level. We move into high school and we still are in the 80. We have 81% of our students that feel they have an trusted adult in our high school and middle school, which is great for that age range to feel that way. And then if we look at their uh wellness scores, we're still around the 50th. I do want to highlight and I know it was mentioned that in our environ in our society and environment there's a lot going on and does create stress and that will be reflected in the panorama and how they feel. So I want you to keep that in mind. um what our society is going through will be seen here and

079will probably be seen in the next panorama. Lastly, this is more the strands of the so uh the mental health uh section and if you notice the emotions are more the difficult emotions to navigate. These are the third through sixth grade which also is pretty age appropriate. And then we have 7 through 12 which is has increased across uh the board. But I still feel even with these numbers that this highlights the importance of social emotional learning and mental health services especially during this time to continue this work so that we can offer um the best education and offer those mental health services and protect their mental health well-being so that they can achieve aca academically. At this point, if I welcome any questions. >> Um, do we have any public comments on this item?

080>> We do not have any public comment on this item. >> Okay. Um, board, if you have questions or discussion, Miss Beal, >> I have a question. Thank you for that presentation. You're welcome. Um, so I'm glad that we're offering these services to services to these students and it looks like from the percentage from what you said while it doesn't look like it's 100% it's because not everybody needs the services that you're putting into that percentage. So I I'm assuming or I'm hoping that you're tracking if it's really 100% like that there's been a response to these requests. Are you tracking that every single request has been responded to one way or another? Yes, we do have a tracking system and we have Dr. Amanda Lawrence who's amazing and does all the clinical supervision for

081our mental health clinicians and also keeps tracks of all of our students. So, yes, we are. >> Thank you. And then I have a second question and this is really a question that has been asked by almost every person who goes to an LCAP meeting. So, we have our panorama data, right, which is we're looking at that as an assessment of our of our wellness of our students and how they feel at school. And then we have the services we offer. So where is the question and this is really a student question that asks what is the gap? Are there is there something in our services that would improve that panorama data? Is there something in the survey? Like where are we how do we know to tailor our services? We can't make the world

082a a 100% happy place right now. It's not very happy. So people are going to feel bad no matter what you do. But what I would like to know as a board member and as a person who participates in LCAP, >> is there anything we can do? Right? And that's where I want to know where that question is being asked. >> So it's not I don't believe it's being asked in the panorama, but we do uh gather all of the data of our mental health clinicians and create patterns and trends as to why they're being referred. And when there isn't a service or we're not meeting the needs, that's when we look out to our partners. So right now, one of the areas that we do see is our the support for our newcomers or

083an EML. And right now we're in conversations with AHA, which is one of our partners to create a support system for them. There isn't anything right now specifically for what we're going through right now. Um but we do keep track keep track of all that and do get um get information so that we can adapt and adjust to the specific needs on the school site. Um I believe maybe Ken uh Miss Edison has historical knowledge as to if there's a question in the panorama that specifically addresses our services. Trusty Bill, can you ask that question again? I was multitasking. I apologize. >> I'm just trying to um see if there is a a place because I said this is asked at LCAP about not just mental health but all the things we offer that if

084there is a percentage that looks lowish. Are we able to answer the question that the services we have try to try to work in that area? As I said, we're not going to expect 100%. But we want to see if there's an area where we can bring the percentage up. And how do we ask that of students or families? >> Yes. So, um, in the panorama panorama survey questions, we have questions specifically about do you feel supported? They're not targeted to which level of support. So, there's a space for us to ask some different questions. What I want to offer to you is every year there's a new batch of kids added to the data, right? because of the kids are moving up from second grade to third grade. So that's a new experience. So

085every year it's a new batch of kids. When we get to the junior high school space, every year half the kids leave. So they're onboarding more kids. So how I want you all to look at the data is progress. Are we continuously moving in the right direction, which is up? We have our baseline data and are we responding to what the data says and you will know that because of where it ticks, right? We do it twice a year so we can pivot as uh Christina said in real time but there will never be a perfect scenario where those numbers will go 80%. Particularly around the how kids feel because how they feel is conditional what's happening in the world at the time, what classes they're taking at the time, what's happening in family at

086the time. If you recall when we shared the Panorama survey, um the thing that was working most for kids at the time was boyfriends and girlfriends, right? You guys remember that? So for us, the reason we do it twice a year is we're not necessarily looking for last year to this year when we did it in the fall. Do we see growth in the spring? Because those are the same kids experiencing the same supports in the same time. And then we're looking in overtime to say do we have a system and is it part of our culture now that we're constantly improving. So it's a it's a it's a little bit of both things to measure the current year currents and then do some comparison. There's opportunities to do surveys for our students and in

087our first year we did use a different tool where we were able to identify and students and parents answered um questions about their experience in mental health. so that we we measured growth by kids graduated out of therapy. And so there's some opportunities for us to reimagine how we do it. >> Thank you. That that answers my question. And if I understand correctly, it sounds like when we look at our data in the spring, that's where we're going to look for their growth and that answers the question right now as best we can. Thank you. Yeah, I also want to add that if we look at the data that we have with our current partners that we could pivot in the moment, not for next school year because then we do get different kids with

088a whole new set of problems. >> So, I have um a follow-up question to Trusty Beal because so I understand that our students are changing every year. The panorama data also gives us um percentile data compared to schools throughout the country. So I mean this is great. We saw an 8% bump in sense of belonging in seventh and 12th graders. So that we're doing something right. >> So that's amazing. And we are we also are at a low baseline. So basically like we're currently at the 20th to 39th percentile in the country in sense of belonging. So, I'm wondering like how do we think about um improving over time because it seems like compared to our cohort, we have room to grow. >> So, first just the clarity, >> it isn't across the country. It's

089across um districts that use Panorama. Oh, so that's the national. So, it isn't across the country. Okay. Just want to clarify that. >> Okay. So, I guess we are in we still have room to grow. >> Yeah, definitely. And then keep in mind that the mental health clinicians, this is their third year of implementation. Many of our programs we're seeing and evolving and we're adapting it to our students um of how we're going to do it next year so that we meet those meet those needs which that's the most important part, right? Meeting the needs of our students that need the help right now, but also hopefully you're going to see that reflect in the panorama the following year as we adapt our programs to the student needs. >> Yes, >> Mr. SCO or Carlos.

090>> I had a couple questions. First is in terms of I really appreciate all this data on the, you know, mental health support that we give to students who are already struggling um in our schools, but I was wondering if there's any steps that you know of that we're taking in terms of preventative measures. So before students start struggling, you know, how are we going to set that up? Um >> yeah, that's >> so that's the social emotional learning. That's where we are teaching them how to navigate their emotions of just addressing them what are difficult emotions, teaching them strategies, incorporating them to the daily lessons. Um, we do also have the mental health clinicians do and counselors at the middle school and high school do preventative classroom lessons that maybe pick a topic that's

091age appropriate that happens but also teach them the right way of dealing with those emotions or that activity or that strategy whatever that may be. Um, so there is that proactiveness as it's age appropriate. >> Okay. And then we I'm sorry. And then we do have the mental wellness center which is a more proactive approach where it educates all of our high school students. And then our high school students are the ones promoting that wellness um education activities and that works also with a couple partners in our uh community. >> Got it. Thank you. And then my other question >> was about the panorama data. I recognize that you were talking about um how you know the data may seem like you know um I don't know kind of low percentages in terms or high

092percentages in terms of you know when students are stressed or frustrated but that this is also the time when students are kind of going through >> those emotions when when people are going through these emotions. Um, is there a way to like I don't know um benchmarks we could compare student uh these these values to uh in terms of like >> like bring out maybe our um Latino community and how they voted or how they scored and our EMLs or is that where you were thinking? >> Yeah. And then that and then also comparing not across not just across time and seeing how we improve but to other you know populations of students. um maybe more general populations of of kids. Um to compare, you know, for an as an example, let's say 70% of

093uh students are struggling dealing with uh you know, worry or anxiety in class, but at that age level, you know, third through sixth, that is kind of where the benchmark is in a more general sense in the more general population. Is there any um comparison like that so that maybe that 70% isn't so worrying anymore because that's where the general population is. >> Well, I believe um C um board member Caffrey was comparing the percentage to other uh schools that take the panorama. We can also compare like uh grade level and race within our district. I thought that was where we were going. That might even be a good data point if you're focusing on a a particular population. We can pull that out and see how they're struggling and how they answered in a

094certain one. >> Yeah. >> Is that is that kind of where we were going? Yeah. Just to dig a little deeper, get into the weeds as to who is it really impacting and how is that 70 or 40 coming out, >> right? Yeah. Exactly. How much value we should place on this? >> Yes. Yes. Yes, we can pull that data. It takes a little while to pull it out, but we can do that. Go ahead. >> So, I'm gonna follow that thread. Um, >> is it possible? So, it tells us where we rank to um other school districts that are using Panorama. >> Is it possible to see the range of scores for the school districts that are using Panorama? To u Mr. Vasquez's point >> to understand if the highest benchmark for a school

095district who's in the one or like at the very top uh performing at the very top of the panorama surveys is let's say 70%. >> That would color our results a little bit more. I think most people look at these results and compare it to 100%. And that's what we're naturally aligned to do is like instantly you look at this and you see 50% or 60% you think that you think about grades, you think about failing grades and that's not necessarily true because as you pointed out >> this is a normal time. You're going through uh puberty and your interpersonal issues that you're having to navigate for the first time and um relationships. Um, so is it possible for us to see what the range of scores are for school districts that use Panorama? >>

096The information we have is the percentile and we're rating with that. What I want to offer is um we don't run those districts and we don't know their conditions and we don't know the things that they're establishing. I think and so but yes, we can look at that information, but I think it's more important for us to measure the impact we're making on our families and our community based on where our baseline is and that we keep making progress. And so we want to see high numbers in every score, not just around Panorama, but in all our performance for all of our students. It is helpful to look at it, but it's also helpful to take it in context of what that district is. Where is that district? Um what's the funding model for that

097district? What what students are they serving? What are the needs of that population? Um, I think we're on a a great way. We've built a a system to move in the direction. It's great to compare, but we're really focused on the day-to-day needs and so we're leading the current system and designing the future one all at the same time. Um, but we can bring back other information if you all are interested. >> Yeah, I think I I appreciate that. And I think really what we're trying to pull out is less about compare. it is a little bit of comparative but it's more about context setting for the scores right so I guess a different way of asking a similar question that's more I think focused on our school district is when you get the data

098for a new school year for a panorama survey can you give us a little bit of insight into how you approach the data and talk to me about we we have a new cohort every year we know we're going to have a new cohort kids leave our school district. We have new kids coming into our school district. As you pointed out, in the junior high space, we have turnover of 50% around 50% each year. So, talk to us about how you can look at the data and walk away with the conclusion of this is these are environmental factors that might be playing a role into the scores that we're seeing. Um, here are the successes that we have. Here are the areas of opportunity. Can you color that a little bit for us and pull

099out how you how you come to those conclusions? >> Yeah. So, it's multiple levels of it. So, there's the what the district is looking for as trends across the school because remember the district office is the point of intervention. So, when we see themes, it's how do we intervene? And then it's what the sites are looking at. We task them to look for two to three um um uh data metrics that they want to target that year. So, they're going to we can't do it all. We ask a lot of questions. We got a lot of data. We ask about how kids like math, how do they like class? Like we do a lot, which is great because student voice is the most important part of decision-m. So we look at it from the district

100lens, right? We have god access, I say to say what are our trends and where do we intervene at the district level. Then we ask sites to pick two to three areas that they're going to focus on um so that they are intentional about what they're doing for the year. That way they can pinpoint, oh, we pivoted and did this. This is why this data mark changed. Not that we threw everything at the wall, right? Because we got a lot going on. The great thing about the Panorama platform is whatever data point they choose to focus on, there's a whole playbook of things they can do, whether at the teacher level, at the school site level. So, we're like literally giving them taking time away from the planning and research and giving them if this

101is a strategy, you're going to focus on it. Sense of belonging was really big for us. The last two years we've been really focused on kids making sure that they had trusted adults and that they showed up to a school and classroom where they felt like they were seen, valued, and included and heard. And so we see that that is bearing fruit. And now we need to move on and pick some other things. So we look at it by disagregated data. We can disagregate by every data point that's in our student information system. So we have a combat well now it's not combating anti-blackness is caval, right? And so we can pinpoint and say how are our black students responding to belonging in comparison to all of all other students and subgroups. To the point

102that you were making um just a second ago about disagregation. Um we also look at grade level where at the different grade levels do we see either opportunities to intervene or some great uh bright spots. Um I want to highlight Roosevelt. They last year had over 80. I think that at the end of the year once the data finished they were about 90 something% of the implementation of the um second step uh curriculum. Well, what do we see in growth in kids also whether small or large is the skill sets that they have to manage as Christina was sharing. So we're looking at it as point of intervention. We're looking at it for bright spots so we can tap the the school sites that are doing the bright things and say share that with your

103colleagues. But we're also looking at it in comparison to our LCAP data. Right? We we say that we're going to be doing targeted efforts for targeted groups because not everybody needs the same thing to succeed. Well, we're able to look at our data that way and say, well, which groups are feeling supported and are those the students who are also achieving academically? So, we do a lot of data deep dive. There's a data point for every point of operation of this district in in there because not only do we um survey students, we survey parents and we survey staff and teachers. So teachers will say, "Oh, I know the curriculum." And our data shows that, right? Because our ed services department has done a lot of work around understanding the curric adopting curriculum first and

104then understanding it. But they also are reporting that they need support and help do manage my classroom. So that's a great place for us to go as far as mining for information on how we support students, staff, and families because those questions are correlated. So that's how we look at it. If students say, "I'm having a great day." and parent and parents say my kids love school then there's some correlation there but if they say I can't get my kid out of school every day and kids say I love school we have problems there's a conflict we need to be trying to dig a little deeper >> go ahead >> oh yeah and thank you so much um and so what you see in the positive responses those are kids who said for sure if

105kids are neutral that doesn't count as positive because we don't want kids to be on the fence about do I belong them to say I I feel like I belong or I don't feel like I belong. So so to us is not meeting the mark. So the data you see is the students that responded positively and there's a lot of talk across the district about well neutral should be considered positive. No, it shouldn't, right? It's either a yes or it's a no. We're working for a yes or a no, not a maybe. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. And I think that's really helpful for people to understand how you're using the data to and I hear you. we can't do it all because it is a big set of data. We've seen it multiple

106times. Um but that you're picking these really intentional parts of the survey itself to also measure against the interventions that we're using. Absolutely. >> And it's it's really important because I think people are wondering sometimes about how are we using this data to test the interventions and to make sure that we're seeing progress or we're seeing um student needs being met >> based on where we're making our investments. And I think this is a re it's really helpful to hear you both talk about how you're thinking about this data because I don't know that it's totally intuitive when you pull it up on a board memo for people. Again, we think about 100% and so when you see a 50% and it's shocking and you think, "Oh my god, something's happening here." But you're also

107taking into where are they developmentally, right? what is going on in the world and also what sort of um interventions are we using and are they working? >> Yep. >> So I I totally appreciate that across the board. My last question is um you talked about being able to disagregate the data. >> How finely can you do that? Can you do that to the student or do we keep it at the groups? And can you follow a student through to graduation as they move through our school district to see is their sense of belonging increasing or decreasing as they're making it their way through our school district? >> Yeah. So, we can actually drill down to the student and and groups of students. Um uh at the high school level, we we group students by

108counselor because it would be too much to group them by all their teachers. And at the elementary level, we group them by teachers so they can look at their whole class section. And then we can go all the way down to see has this student progressed since they've been in our system on whatever score we want to look at. For staff, we can't. It's anonymous. So the only it's whatever they report that we can query by, but for our students, it's connected to ARIES. So it's every data metric we have all the way down to the student. And so do do we ever get uh we have a single student, their sense of belonging is good as they make their way through elementary, they get to junior high, which happens a lot of the time

109they get to junior high and all of a sudden their sense of belonging is not there. Does that I'm maybe not the best example because that's probably not that rare, but um >> that's very very common. >> Yeah. But let's say there was another situation where it was the do red flags pop up for students that do have a sudden change in sense of belonging or some other metric that we're measuring in the survey. >> So we currently use as our as our data monitoring or a metric system um school litics uh um Panorama does have a similar platform for tracking and monitoring students. That's not part of our plan and our package. But that doesn't change that we can still look at an individual student to see where their scores have changed over time,

110which is what our MTSS teams do. If a if social emotional comes up for kids, they can go in and look to say, "Oh, well, let me see where this kid started two years ago and where did the change happen?" And then try and drill down to get to the cause like something changed in their life. But we don't use the the platform for its progress monitoring tool because that's a separate module. We use school litics and we also use um Aries and we have some queries that presents dashboards where it shows kids the levels of concern or where we should be intervening at based on whether it's red, yellow or green. So we do have another way to do that. It's just not part of what we use uh panorama for. >> Understood. Yeah.

111Thank you. Mhm. >> Miss Oh, I just wanted to say I thought the example of Roosevelt, Miss Addison, was really helpful and exciting that with implementation of Second Step, they're seeing a change in student behavior. So, that I love hearing about results connected to a program. So, thank you for that example. >> Um, so my question is basically about the sustainability of the program. you know, it's expensive to um to to provide these supports. And obviously, like the number one thing a child can't learn if they are not in a good mental um if they're if they don't have healthy mental health. Um and I I feel like at society level, we're really realizing that that school districts alone cannot fund this. So, I'm wondering about kind of the process for billing and the timeline

112and how much reimbursement we anticipate and um Yeah. >> Yeah. So, thank you for that question. So, we've been building our infrastructure since April of 2024 because we were informed about the potential for CBHI. I attended a conference in 2023, heard about it, and I shoot shot an email to Kim and Hilden. I don't know who else at the time. It's like, oh, this is coming down the pike. that was in 2023. Okay. Um and so what I would offer for you around the cost of the program is we have a duty to serve the whole child. So when we are doing our budgets, our budget should reflect our values of serving the whole child and not that it's an additional cost to do so. Right? I just want to highlight that. The reason >>

113free money. >> No, nothing's free, but here we go. Um, so what we planned for was we actually started we I I wrote the design for this program because when I started we were almost at about $5 million of contracts for serving students and every school site had a wait list and the wait list rolled over to the new year and the principles welcomed me to the district would fix this problem. Okay. And so we really looked at how do we maximize our resources and serve the most kids and still partner which is what we do but ensure that while we had kids as a captive audience that we were able to provide them the services in house. So we started this with four clinicians and interns and has scaled up each year. So to

114your your question about sustainability, we sought the grant for building capacity internally which we received in October of 2024 um to build our capacity and with that grant we buil put in place. Okay, so what are we going to need to do to be able to build if we're able to. So we did a lot of work around that. We got our clinicians uh all um medical approved. They all have their numbers to be able to bill. The board approved a contract for um our leader uh group which does our billing for us. We got a discount in that. Bless you. We got a discount in that for 4% instead of 10% of what they do for our services. And then we wrote a job description which was our wellness center coordinators because we knew

115that that also would be medical approvable for our CYBHI. So for since 2024, we've been building our system to try and maximize it and for sustainability. So, what are we doing around sustainability? In January of 2025, we got approved or in October to begin billing in January 2025. The actual reimbursement fee schedule wasn't finalized until October 2025. So, we couldn't bill from January because I'm sure like all of you know when dealing with a bureaucracy, there's what they say and then there's what they can make happen. So, we are now at a place that we have our folks approved. we are qualified. We've written job descriptions and alignment to those things that are billable and we have submitted our first rounds of bills. So your question of what is that reimbursement going to look like

116the same way they told us that in January we'd be able to bill but didn't approve the fee schedule until October, I can't answer that for you. But what I can tell you is once our reimbursements come in, we can then plan and project forward. >> Thank you. That's very helpful. And I think it is so exciting basically that the state of California is realizing that schools are a great place to provide mental health services because kids are there and um we have the expertise to do it and that they're providing funding. So I think that we've made a huge step forward and I'm excited about this. >> I am too. >> I guess my question is so the state bureaucracy didn't approve till October. Does that mean we can at least back bill from

117January? Because like on all their on all their websites it says that you can begin billing January 1. So can it sounds like it was their problem. You know what I mean? And I I just don't want to leave money on the table because it's millions of dollars. >> Well, don't I wouldn't leave money on the table if it was my personal account and I'm a good steward of public funds. So I'm not leaving on the table for us. I will tell you, we attend and are invited to weekly office hours about CYBHI because it's changing that soon, that frequently because they also has some dependency on federal dollars. So, as soon as we know something, if we're able to back bill, we will because we we believe that what we've designed for our families

118in Santa Barbara Unifi is topnotch and it's meeting the needs. So, it's if they give us a yes, trust and believe leaders will build all the way back to January. It's just that it's a moving target right now and I I don't work in that bureaucracy, but I I know we have our own bureaucracy. So, I can only imagine at the state level it's magnified, but as soon as we know better, we'll do better. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome, >> Dr. Bill. >> So, now I'm just going to make a comment. It's very quick. And so, um what uh Carlos said about benchmarks and so we're always looking at benchmarks, right? SAT scores, whatever, PE people getting into college. And so I it sounds like you have such an enormous amount of work, right?

119And I can't wait for AI so we can do that individual drilling down per student, not not have to do that work that doesn't really use brain, you know, just a graph. Anyway, um I do think that there there should be a practice in the district, I'm talking globally, not just about mental health, to look at benchmarks and if there is an outlier, and I'm not saying in the negative sense, in the positive sense, that we do a little bit of work looking at what they have in their system and learning from that. And I think that really talks about so many areas because I think um shared knowledge is good for everybody and it may not apply to us but having a practice of if there is an outlet because Panorama must give us

120benchmarks for some reason unless they just want to give us paperwork. I don't know. And so if we could look at outliers and like just quickly look at their district and say do they have the same set of supports? Do they have the same situation? are they completely different part of the nation where there's more poverty, there's more wealth, whatever. Maybe it doesn't apply to us at all, but do a little bit of that and bring a little bit of that back to us. Like, is it possible for us to do this interesting thing? Um, I don't know where that discussion happens, but I do think benchmarks have their utility. Not everything has to be looked at like in detail. Um, but maybe the outliers that are maybe getting to a really high percentage, how

121did they get there sort of thing. >> Go ahead. >> Sorry, this is just a quick thing going off Dr. Be just said um as you were talking about the outliers um outside of districts. I was thinking is there I mean in terms of outliers within our district as well like maybe one school performing better than another and then that same idea of shared knowledge going around is there any analyzation in that front? >> Yes, we meet once a month with the deans and the folks who are over culture and climate at the school sites and they share best practices amongst themselves. And I just have a comment, you know, not to um duplicate what's been said, but just a lot of appreciation for the information that was provided to us, for the hard work

122that you uh h you know, have taken on um and all the progress that I've seen since it started. Um thank you so much. And I'm certainly familiar with sitting in on the meetings and watching every week how they say this and you know how the bureaucracy is going to work. So, thank you for for monitoring that. Thank you. >> So now we will go on to the action agenda and um the res resolution for Black History Month. Okay. Um go ahead. Good evening members of the board, Superintendent Maldonado, members of the community. It is profound honor to bring forward this resolution recognizing and celebrating February as Black History Month. This resolution serves as more than just a formal acknowledgement and commitment to honoring the invaluable contributions, resilience, and heritage of our black community. We

123ask for your approval tonight as we celebrate the diverse voices that continue to shape our district and our nation. >> Uh thank you. Um yes, we have the resolution in front of us. Um, is there any board discussion? Okay, seeing none, um, may I have a motion? >> I will move to approve, uh, resolution number 2025-26-23 in honor of Black History Month. >> I second the motion. >> Okay. Um, all in favor? >> I Okay. Um, motion passes. We will go on to F F2 resolution on structured literacy and letters. So board members at the last meeting you asked us to bring a resolution to ensure that all our K3 teachers receive professional learning and letters as a part of our board priority to improve literacy instruction. So before you is the resolution. We also

124added a couple of documents to give you an idea of how we would implement these. These are of course adaptable documents, but in case there were any questions about how we would follow through, those are before you. And with that, I turn over the the item to the board for discussion or questions. Okay. Um, any discussion on this? Um, do I have a motion? >> Oh, I'm sorry, Dr. I just wanted to point out um I don't know if anybody's listening to this meeting from afar but um that we have this is um this right now applies to general ed teachers from K to three and that really is in response to the fact that uh teachers may have had training um and this is the target group to start with and we may expand

125our training in the future and this allows for some flexibility for teachers who may have had training that gives them proficiency in this area. The plan is not to make a lot of exceptions, but to make sure that all of our teachers can teach the science of reading. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Beal. Um, do I have a motion? >> I will move to approve resolution number 2025-26-24 in support of structured literacy and implementation of letters professional learning. >> I second the motion. >> Can I have a vote? All in favor? I >> I. Thank you. Um resolution passes. Now we will go on to um action agenda F3. Uh the second reading and approval of the board bylaw 9250, remuner remuneration, reimbursement and other benefits as amended by assembly bill 1390. And this is

126as the second reading the la in the last uh discussion that we had uh I didn't have any other edits that were given to us. So um this is before you for approval um or discussion or questions. >> Okay. Um is there are there any comments or questions? No. Okay. Um may I have a motion? I move to approve um board bylaw 9250 remuneration um reimbursement and other benefits as amended by assembly bill 1390. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I. >> All right. Okay. Um let's see. This the resolution passes. We will now go on to F4, the second reading and approval of board bylaw 9150 regarding student board member. And once again, this uh resolution allows for us to uh provide a stipen to our student board member. And at the

127last uh meeting, we also didn't have any additional edits. I think there was a question of it being retroactive to July and I'm looking to Mr. Tedeski. I think we said if the board agrees we could do it retroactive to July. So I would need that confirmation as part of today's discussion. >> You you need that as a part of the motion too. >> Okay. Then I will move to approve board bylaw 9150 student board member with approval to retroactively pay to July. >> Do I have a second? >> I second the motion. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I Okay. Um resolution passes. Thank you. >> Can I just make another statement? We did read in this resolution that as we go forward, one of the things we're going to ask is that the

128student board member provide his vote first and we know it's an advisory vote. So after this meeting when we do take votes, we will be asking for his vote first and then we will take the vote. Just wanted to mark that for our future meetings. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um now we will go on to the consent agenda. These items are considered routine and will be approved in one motion unless pulled for discussion. Um are there any items that board members would wish to pull? Okay. And I forgot to mention that we don't have any public comments as as one can see. Um may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> I second the motion. Okay. All in

129favor? >> I Okay. Uh consent agenda passes. >> Okay. Now we will go on to coming events. There um are coming events for February and uh that are listed on the agenda including um back to school nights for um San Marcus dos Pueblo and Laquesta um Alt Vista and Katal and let's see um and of course you know with future agenda items board members may request future agenda items to be added And our next regular board meeting will be Tuesday, February 10th, uh, 2026. And with that, we will conclude our meeting at 8:17. Sorry.