001Okay, good or good evening everyone. Um, calling to order the Santa Cruz County Board of Education meeting. We want to welcome all in person and virtual attendees this evening. Tonight, we'll have um, President Sanchez that will be attending virtually with the address posted on our agenda. U, we will be moving on to our agenda. Roll call. >> Trusty A Costa. >> Trusty Larson >> present. >> Trusty Roth >> present. >> Trusty Van Allen >> here. >> Vice President Williams >> here. >> President Sanchez >> here. >> Thank you for that. U moving on to the pledge of allegiance. If Superintendent Sabal will lead us in the pledge. If you are able, please stand. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,
002one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Um, we'll now move on to the approval of our agenda. >> Move. moved >> and second. Roll call. >> Trusty Larson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Roth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Van Allowan. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> President Sanchez. >> Yes. >> Thank you. and we'll move forward on to the agenda to a very special moment that we'll be having this evening, the swearing in ceremony of our Oh, no, sorry, my apologies. We've skipped ahead. >> This is all public comment is also special. Um, public >> We're just going to skip right over that. Public comment. This is an opportunity for the public to address the board regarding items on the agenda. The board president will recognize any member of
003the audience not previously placed on the agenda who wishes to speak on the matter directly related to school business. Each speaker on any specific topic may speak up to three minutes unless otherwise limited or extended by the president. The president may allot time to those wishing to speak, but no action will be taken on matters. If appropriate, the president or the member of the board may direct that a matter be referred to the superintendent's office for placement on a future agenda. Please refer to the item. Anisa, do we have anybody online or in person? >> We have one request for public comment um in person. Martha Blanchard. >> Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the board. I appreciate public comment. It is special. My name is Marta Balich. Last month, I appeared before you to
004report governance defects at the PBUSD regarding Brown Act violations. I informed you that I had begun submitting demand letters requesting cure and correction of those violations. The PVSD did not cure and correct the Brown Act violations within the statutory time frame. Accordingly, I have initiated litigation on the matter to uphold a vital public interest. Despite their response failure, the PVSUSD trustees nonetheless held a board meeting last night to approve a stale and moot response. There are many irregularities with that meeting. For starters, the board used a special meeting with drastically shortened advanced agenda posting. In addition, the board eliminated recording or webcasting of the meeting. Part of the board's action was to conduct a revote on previously approved agenda items that had been tainted by illegal remote participation of board members in prior meetings. For
005that step, the board placed 161 previously approved action items, items that had been considered and acted upon through over 30 hours of previous board meetings onto the consent agenda. that was for consideration and vote as one item. Not only that, but the board then used an agenda that channeled all public comment into one agenda item. So, the public was barred from speaking on each action item separately. When the meeting began, the board then contradicted the written agenda item by announcing that all public comments on active agenda items would then be confined to the single comment agenda item, but the public could comment separately on the consent agenda item. Subsequently, the board then announced the public was allowed to speak on the other action items individually. However, this announcement was only made after consideration of the
006individual action items had begun. By that time, however, it was too late for public members to submit the mandatory advanced speaker cards to the board clerk in order to be permitted to address the board. Throughout the meeting, members of the public were confused in trying to determine where and when they were allowed to speak. The entire meeting was structured as a sham bundle designed to overwhelm public oversight rather than conduct real governance. Is there any doubt this was all done by intent? There is a sorted irony in the behavior of the PBSD board. In the pretense of correcting their defects of public transparency, the board demonstrated their consistent behavior to continue committing those very same defects. Thank you. >> Thank you. Lisa, are there any other inerson or virtual? >> No. No other com request
007for public comment. Um, moving on to agenda number five, swearing in ceremony, the next very important um, event. So, I will hand us over to Dr. Sabah. >> I'm going to see if this microphone works. Just as I uh step over here, I'm going to uh step uh over here and ask that Vicente Genang Martinez and Ash Emmore please join me uh over here please. And if you wouldn't mind uh standing right here. So this moment uh if you wouldn't mind stepping just a little bit full. Thank you so much. So this moment is more than a ceremony. It is a commitment. By stepping into this role, you are choosing to use your voice to represent the students across our county and to help guide the decisions that shape their education. Your perspective is invaluable.
008You bring ideas, concerns, and hopes of your peers into this room, reminding us that every decision must serve students. You also bring hope for our future. Now more than ever, we need your voice and today you are stepping forward to show us the leadership and vision that will carry our community forward. So I'd like to ask you to raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. I, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support and defend >> the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> against all enemies, foreign and domestic. >> Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. that I will bear true faith and allegiance >> that I will bear true faith and
009allegiance >> to the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> and the Constitution of the State of California. >> But I take this obligation freely >> I take this obligation freely >> without any mental reservation >> or purpose of evasion. and that I will well and faithfully discharge >> I will well and faithfully discharge >> the duties upon which I am about to enter >> the duties upon which I'm about to enter. >> On behalf of the board and the county office of education, I congratulate you and thank you for your service. I look forward to learning from you in the year ahead. Congratulations trustees. We'd like to welcome our students onto the dis. Please join us at the on the dis. Thanks to all everyone who
010came to support these students as they take on this important role. Well, the board is certainly thrilled to have these two students here representing our students in the county. So, welcome. Um, I'm going to let you have a few seconds because next on the agenda is agenda six, student trustee reports. You may use this time to um have a welcome for yourself or any report you might have from your school or district. And we will start with >> Ven. >> Members of the board, Superintendent Sabal. Thank you for having me. I am super excited to have this opportunity to elevate and uplift youth voices and values. One of the things that I'm working on this year is really advocating for more access to mental health resources. The first step that I've taken in order to
011complete my goal is start an advocacy group at my school. We currently already have funding and support from the PBUSD district in just two days of operation. This Tuesday, we had a meeting with the principal of Baltimore High School to voice our concerns. Through the conversation through that conversation, we are able to schedule a follow-up meeting with some of the department directors of the district. In terms of community relations, my work with Empower Watimo and PPSA have been really important to me. Through that involvement, I had the opportunity to meet Superintendent Sabah and other student trustees, nonprofit leaders, and the mayor of Watsumo. I plan on using these connections to gather more insight into the needs of students in our community. Experiences like this show me how powerful it is it can be when students
012and adults leaders come together. My hope is to build more connections between adult decision makers and the student across the county. Finally, when it comes to student achievement, I truly believe that the key to student success is good mental health and well-being. Students can can only reach their full potential when they feel supported, cared for, and safe. I want to I want every student in our community to know that resources are there for them when they need them. Thank you again for this opportunity and I look forward to working with you and contributing to the work of this board. And now I want to give some like special thanks. I want to thank thanks my mom for always supporting me and everything I do. Um, I want to thank Maria Blanc for teaching me how
013to speak Spanish English. So, like I came very young to the United States and she taught me how to speak English and so without her I wouldn't be here speaking English. So, that's very special to me. Um, I want to thank everyone that's on Zoom. Uh I know a few people from Empower Watson and PPSA that are looking and watching this meeting and they really helped me like develop myself in advocating for youth and advocating for troubles that youth face in our communities and so I want to thank them for that. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty. I am honored to become this year's student trustee on the Santa Cruz County Board of Education. During this term, I will focus on putting students first, ensuring the academic, physical, and socioeotional needs of the students are met.
014I plan to have a hands-on approach meeting in person at schools with students, as well as creating an online website that will charter communication and ensure that their voices are included in the decision-making process. I believe in the importance of equity and inclusion. I've had my own difficulties receiving an education that works for me. And through this position, I want to ensure that everyone has access to an educational experience that allows them to thrive and grow. Everyone deserves to be who they are and to be respected and seen and deserves to have a seat at the table. Centi and I look forward to working together to protect the diversity and literature and accuracy and inclusion in history. There's currently increasing stigma on the around the LGBTQIA plus community right now and I believe that this
015is the perfect time to push back and celebrate and include these perspectives in our school's community as well as supporting those with uh mental health issues and making sure that they have the resources the resources that need it. In closing, I'd like to thank all of you for giving me this opportunity. I'd also like to thank Mr. Artiz and Superintendent Sabah for mentoring me in this position and helping me reach my full potential so I can serve my community. I look forward to working with you all throughout the year. >> Yes. >> Again, we are so excited to have you both on our board. We look forward to working with you. I'm going to leave it open to any of the trustees if they'd like to have a few say a few words or new
016trust student trustees. >> Any additional? No. >> Just welcome and I'm so glad you're here both of you. Thank >> you. All right. Um we're going to go ahead and move on to agenda number seven, board organization. And we have this here because we do have some ad hoc committees and some standing committees that we our new trustees are welcome to join. Um these committees include our agenda committee which is a standing committee. We have a budget committee, policy committee, community outreach and legislate legislative committee and um some ad hoc committees. So at this time we would take your interest in any of these and we can appoint you. I'll start with Trusty Martinez. Is there any particular that you would like to >> Yeah. >> Oh yeah. I wanted to do the budget committee.
017It was the budget committee. the community >> legislative >> community outreach and legislative and the policy committee. >> So just a point of order if anybody I know that some folks from the from the community who are here may want to make a comment. If you do, if you there's there are blue cards for you to complete and you would want to put this agenda item which is agenda item that we're on is 7.1 and you would be able to uh make some comments about uh our our our students trustees as as we're still on this on this item. So if if anybody I should have announced that earlier with the on the previous one. So um agenda item 7.1 would allow you to speak after this after this at this point. And Madam Chair,
018I just clarification from Trustee Martinez. You'd like to be on budget, policy, and community, and all three of them. >> Wow. >> Yeah. And student trustee Moore, >> I would like to join the policy committee and the community outreach and register. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, do we have those? Yeah. All right. Excellent. >> I'm sorry. What was the third one? >> Can you repeat the third one? >> Um, trustee Amura is for the policy committee and the community outreach and legislative committee. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Okay. Welcome to >> Just a point of clarification. Uh just a point of clarification, there is uh no uh issue or concern with meeting uh uh uh when there's more than three in a committee. Correct. When there's two >> Yeah, that that is correct.
019There's uh the students are are able to join any of the committees and um it doesn't affect the the requirement of not having more than three adult members on the committees. Got it. So there's no issues in having four. >> Okay. Uh, perfect. I think it sounds good. >> As the chair of one of the committees, I welcome you both and I look forward to working with you on the community outreach and legislative committee. >> All righty. Uh, perfect. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. And it seems we might have some public comment on agenda 7. >> Yes, Vice President Williams, we do have a public comment on agenda item 7.1 from Maria Isabel Leblanc. Maria, if you could join us at the podium. Yeah. Hello, good evening everyone. My name is Maria Save
020Lab Blanc and I was Vicente's English as a second language teacher at Elhorn Elementary and tonight it is my honor to be here to be able to share a few thoughts um that I wrote down about marvelous Vicente. I have had the privilege of knowing Vicente since he was a kindergartener when we first came into my classroom without speaking any English. From the very beginning, his perseverance and determination stood out. While most children spent their mornings on the playground, Vicente chose to come to my room, my classroom instead, eager to sit down and read a book before starting his regular school day. That quiet dedication spoke volumes about his character even at such a young age. Over the years, I came to Novvisente not only as a hard-working and motivated student, but also as a
021young man of great integrity. I will never forget the day he turned in a $100 bill he had found on the street without hesitation. That moment revealed what I had already come to see in him, an honesty and strength of character that are truly rare. It has been one of my joys of my teaching career to watch Vicente grow, to keep in touch with him over the years and to witness how he has carried that same determination and kindness into everything he does. Whoever has the opportunity to meet Vicente will be fortunate. He has a way of touching people's lives in a positive and lasting way. He is not only dedicated and compassionate but also a natural leader. Someone who inspires others by the way he lives his life. Thank you. >> We have an
022additional request for public comment from Jasmine Nahara. Good evening. Um, I came especially I'm the CEO of PBPSA and I've had the pleasure of watching Vicente and his mom and family attend many of our programs and activities and Vicente has been such an amazing leader for our empower Watsonville group. I couldn't be more proud and I can't help but feel the pride that's in the room with all of the family and loved ones for both of you. And thank you to the COE for uplifting and supporting youth to really allow them to have a voice in making change in our community. And I just couldn't be prouder. And I can't wait to see all the places you will both go. Thank you for your commitment. >> And are there any other inerson or virtual comments
023agenda? >> No additional comments at this time. Um, we do have the trustees, the student trustees that were appointed to committees at our committees, but I also wanted to leave it open um to our rest of our trustees to see if there were any other um additions to our committees because we do have the superintendent compensation review committee and the student trustee engagement committee which is a new um ad hoc committee >> and we do have two people trustee engagement committee. I think it's uh Trusty Van Allen and myself. >> Um >> uh I I want to clarify I want to clarify something with the uh the board in that uh we talked about the superintendent compensation review at our last meeting and I believe it was Twisty Roth and Trusty Williams that that signed
024up for that. Is that correct? >> That is correct. >> Okay, perfect. And the student trustee engagement, that one was a new one that came up. It was this idea that uh as the board, as us as the trustee, let's let's take some time to sit down with the students and really mentor. I think each and every single one of us can take that time to do so individually, but we really wanted to provide a little bit more of a structure to be able to to to do that. So going back to uh Trusty Larson and your comments um we also at the last meeting uh did a a committee from the student trustee engagement that was an ad hoc committee and that was specifically to deal with the uh interview process of choosing not
025only our student trustee but then also on the uh on the board vacancies. So because that one will be complete after today's meeting once we do uh assign and elect and appoint sorry uh a person to fill business vacancy that uh position itself would dissolve. So there wouldn't be a need for that anymore and trusty Larson and trusty van Allen you guys would be a part of that committee anymore. >> Does that make sense? Does that clarify? >> That clarifies it. Thank you. Okay, perfect. So, with that, uh, is there any interest? Is there any somebody that from the board that wants to step up and to be able to to to fill this role? >> Absolutely. >> There's going to be rush. >> I I think you can just speak up and then um
026roll over into that role, Mr. President and Madame Vice President >> and we can have three. Um, President um Sanchez, did you want that third seat? >> Uh, so just to clarify, it was Larson and Van Alli, right? That uh showed interest. >> Yes, that's correct. >> Okay, perfect. Yes, I would uh I would enjoy that >> and I think it's Yeah. Well, >> thank you. >> I might offer um Trusty Williams if you'd like to be on that committee. I'll step back for you. >> No, no, that's quite all right. Yes. It's it's a wonderful honor. I think we all would love to to work with them and we all will at some point, I'm sure. >> Your hand as well as back. >> All right. So, we have um Jesse Van Allen, Justy
027Larson, and Jesse Sanchez. All right. Wonderful. Um, at this point, we're going to go ahead and move towards um agenda item eight, our consent agenda. >> Is there a motion? >> Yes, I'll move the consent agenda. >> Second. >> And a roll call. >> Student trustee Guan Martinez. Um, >> student trustee Amore here. I'm sorry to clarify. So, this is a a vote um in support of approval of consent agenda. So, you you want to say I or yes. >> You don't want to >> with your mic. Get your mic on. >> Go back. >> Sure. >> Hi. >> Yeah. Sorry. >> Student trustee Gen Martinez. >> Hi. >> Student trustee Emmore. >> Trustee Aosta. >> Hi. >> Trusty Larson. >> Hi. >> Trusty Roth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Van Allen. Vice President Williams, President
028Sanchez. >> Yes. >> Great. Passes unanimously. >> Madam Vice President, just wanted to highlight the $6,000 contribution that came into the COE for Steam and the Science Expo. That's just great to have that community support. >> Thank you for that. Um correspondence. We had one that was submitted with our agenda packet. Benis, are there any additional that came after? >> No additional correspondences. Vice President Williams. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, we are going to move into agenda item 10 and at this moment and that will be our board vacancy. We'll now move into the agenda 10 board vacancy. This section will be conducted in an open session. And so please note that the copies of the applications and interview questions, the worksheet to take notes are available in the folders for our trustees. And I'm
029going to ask Dr. Sabah to please review the process for the county board to fill this vacancy through the appointment. So we have one applicant who will be interviewed tonight. She'll be asked six questions which uh she has had time to review in advance. Responses responses should be directed to the board. Each trustee will ask a question. Uh question one will be asked first by uh President Sanchez followed by Vice President Williams and so forth. After all six questions are are answered, the applicant will have the opportunity to make a two-minute closing statement. >> Excellent. Thank you. Um, do any of the trustees have any clarifying questions? Um, okay. At this time, let's see here. Are we going to we're going to do introductions. So, I'll start with myself. Rachel Williams, vice president. >> Bruce
030Van Ellen, trustee area 2, Santa Cruz. Greg Larson, trustee area three, >> Sue Roth, uh, Scots Valley, San Lorenzo Valley. >> All right. And I we will able >> Yes. Uh, Abel, trustee, uh, sorry, president of the board, uh, trustee area 7 representing. >> All right. And at this time, we would like to invite our uh applicant, Stacy, Kyle, to the table right up here, and we'll be providing you a microphone. See here. And we'll do the introduction. her introduction. >> All right, we're going to be starting with um the questions and I'll President Sanchez, you've got the first one. >> Can you uh skip me, please? I'm having issues with the question. Sorry, I apologize about that. >> Can you Did you hear that? >> And he was having trouble. Uh yes, I'm having
031issues with addressing the questions. Uh I'm asked to be skipped or at least uh be held till the end. >> Sure. All right. >> While I figure it out. >> All right. Um so the first question is, what do you see as the basic purpose of public schools? What is the role of the county board in the fulfillment of that purpose? >> Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Um, I think the basic purpose of public schools is to provide a free and appropriate education in a safe space for every student. The role of the county board in pursuing that mission is providing educational opportunities um and options for students who don't want a traditional school setting, listening to appeals from families about transfer decisions, and advocating for educational equity across the county's 10
032districts. >> Thank you. Second question is, what would you like to accomplish as a board member? Which of these accomplishments has priority? I come here tonight without a specific agenda in mind. Um, I'm stepping up um to apply for the vacancy now because I want to be sure that area 4 is represented by someone who is thoughtful, reasonable, and engaged. I believe I have a lot to learn in order to do the job well. And so that would be my first priority. >> Go ahead. >> Okay. describe your response uh to a parent or a friend uh demanding you take a particular stance on a hot button issue. >> Honestly, I don't think anyone who knows me would try to demand anything from me. Um however, if approached by someone who feels very strongly about
033an issue before the board, I would listen to their concerns and then seek out the information that I need in order to make my own decision on the matter. Thank you. >> Welcome. Pleasure to meet you. So, describe how you would balance all of the following when deciding how to vote on a matter before the board. Community concerns, student needs, state and federal law, staff recommendations, and your own personal values and beliefs. Um, of primary importance to me would be ensuring that the board is aligned to state and federal law, followed next by student needs. Having worked as a staff for a school district, I greatly value staff recommendations as they know their job better than I do. And then I would consider community concerns followed by my own personal values. >> Thank you for
034applying. Uh question. As a board member, how would you ensure you stay up to date on issues affecting the county office and specifically but specifically uh or public TK12 education generally. Regarding state and federal level issues, I expect that board members receive policy updates along with guidance from organizations and associations that interpret the policies for COE's and school districts. Um, however, my doctorate focused on educational policy. So, I and I worked for an education policy nonprofit for 10 years. So, I have the background knowledge to understand the process. I'm also very honest in acknowledging when I don't understand something and I'm not afraid to ask questions. Regarding local issues, I read the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Lookout Santa Cruz and have connections to people throughout the county that are engaged in their local school communities.
035If I were to serve as a county board member, I expect these people along with other constituents will keep me informed about pressing issues affecting their community. >> Thank you. Mhm. >> Um I'll go ahead and ask the last question. Um the position of trustee involves committing time to one to two monthly board meetings, meeting prep, serving on an average of two board committees. Additional time commitments can be significant. Include participating in training, serving as a dignitary at graduations, and other community events and attending regional meetings, conferences, and an annual board retreat. If selected, how do you plan to manage your time and prioritize these commitments to meet these expectations? Well, I have a lot of experience juggling multiple commitments. I'm a working mom of two student athletes and I ran a nonprofit on the
036side for 10 years. Um, and while the balance is not always easy, I have a wonderful village of people that support me and my family. U, my husband and children encouraged me to apply even though they understand sacrifices may have to be made. And since I work for myself, I have the flexibility to plan my own schedule as I need to on a weekly basis. Um, at this time, um, we are open for, um, public comment. Um, thank you for the interview and we'll open the floor for public comment regarding the interview process. Do any members of the public wish to make a comment? Do we have any >> information close? Um, yes. up this time. See here? Um, we will do that. Yeah, it's not the We'll do that. Do you want to do
037the close or close first? All right. Let's give you a couple of minutes and then if anybody would like to make a comment, you can put in a slip at this time. >> Okay. I've been very brief tonight, so I'm probably not taking the full two minutes. Um, I have worked in education my entire career. I am passionate about public education and providing equitable opportunities for all students. I am a good listener and an excellent researcher. I will consider the relevant information needed to make decisions. And I will always be prepared. I love to work as part of a team and look forward to supporting the good work of the county office of education, our superintendent, and this board. Thank you for your time this evening and your consideration of my application to serve as
038the trustee for area 4 of this wonderful county. >> Thank you. And Vanessa, do we have anybody any public comment? Okay. Thank you very much. Um all right, at this time we're going to move towards a board review and discussion. This includes our student trustees. So, um, at this time, uh, trust trustes, please take a moment to review your notes. Um, do you have any comments you'd like to share? Um, but as a point of order, we're not, um, going to be doing any direct follow-up questions to our our candidate here. And, um, or clarifying questions. So, >> yes, please. >> Well, thank you. And um I just want to say I appreciated your directness and hit exactly on what the questions are covering and you were brief and that's a a strong argument for
039you and obviously your experience and background well qualified interest in being here. >> Thank you. when I first heard from a mutual friend about your potential application and I was excited by what I heard and what I read in your application and heard from you tonight uh even brought that higher and I uh we'll see where the vote goes but I hopefully will work for you with you here or in some other capacity. Um, in particular, I appreciated your comments in your application and tonight about a focus on equity. That is a key role that I think all of us play and feel on this board and our superintendent certainly embodies that work out in the community on behalf of the entire office and having that be one of your priorities is very good. >>
040Thank you. I would like to say thank you uh for applying especially with the your background uh that you have been involved in education since four so five uh up through now is is uh incredibly helpful >> uh that you have participated with Live Oak School District in the capacities that you have I think will serve serve you well coming on to the school if you are chosen. Um anyway, I'm just grateful, very grateful that you >> Thank you, >> Jessica. Costa or Trusty Sanchez, any final comments? >> No. uh just want to say thank you for taking the time to uh take it into consideration. Um I've had the pleasure to indirectly work with um Stacy um at Harbor High and um I too like um Trusty Van Allen appreciate your very succinct you
041know responses direct to the point um and al also your commitment to the community and the students at different levels and so we certainly appreciate that and uh we appreciate you stepping up and applying for this role that obviously adds a little extra layer on to all of the roles that you have. So, thank you. We appreciate it. Um, any comments or comments from our student trustees? Yes, please. >> Um, thank you for applying. I was hearing you like your responses and I I saw that you're engaged with the community which very important that a lot. Thank you. >> Thank you. I appreciate your work in education. I feel that's like vital and being someone that hides like for all the education. You got to be aware of it. You got to have like roots
042in the ground. And also I appreciate your wanting to make sure everyone gets uh accessible education that >> Thank you. Thank you for those comments. Um at this time we're going to now move to agenda item 103 and um that is a resolution 2535 provisional appointment to fill vacancy on the Santa Cruz County Board of Education. Um this would authorize to make a provisional appointment to fill an existing vacancy through the next regular scheduled governing board election which is a November of 2026. So at this time um we will entertain a motion to for a provisional appointment to fill this vacancy. If there is someone on the >> I I would like I I'm not a fast speaker upper and these two beat me out all the time. So, uh, I would be honored to,
043uh, uh, bring forth a motion to have you fill the position of four, district four, uh, for the Santa Cruz County Office. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> And we have a second from Jesse Vanel. And we will do overall call vote. Student Trustee Guen um sorry Guian Martinez. >> Student Trustee Amore. >> Yes. >> Trusty A. Costa. >> Hi. >> Trusty Larson. >> Hi. >> Trustee Roth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Van Allen. >> Hi. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> President Sanchez. >> Yes. >> That is unanous. At this time we'll be moving to 104 swearing in ceremony. So Dr. Sabat to see you again. So, Miss Kyle, I uh I did want to share with the board that Miss Kyle came to meet with us to do uh her due diligence and
044learning about the position and met with several of the staff and and we got a chance to uh to speak about her commitment and her interest in in participating. And I would like to share that as as you well know serving on this board uh is at its core uh it's service for the children of Santa Cruz County and it's a responsibility to ensure that every decision we make advances equity and excellence and opens doors of opportunity for every student. Our schools are at the heart of our community where equity, learning and opportunity take root. They are the foundation of a more inclusive, just and hopeful future for all. And now with that spirit of service and hope guiding us, it is my honor to invite you to take the oath of office. Please raise
045your right hand. And I would say let's uh There we go. Yeah, I think right like right here. I didn't just Yeah, right there. There we go. >> Perfect. I state your name. I, Stacy Kyle, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support and defend >> the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> against all enemies, foreign and domestic >> against all enemies, foreign and domestic. that I will bear true faith and allegiance >> that I will bear true faith and allegiance >> to the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> in the Constitution of the State of California. >> That I take this obligation freely >> without any
046mental reservation >> or purpose of evasion. and that I will well and faithfully discharge >> and that I will well and faithfully discharge >> the duties upon which I am about to enter. >> the duties upon which I am about to enter. >> Congratulations, Trustee Kyle. >> Give a round of applause. >> We welcome you and have a seat uh ready for you. >> Of course. And uh with your permission, we're hoping that uh we would have an additional swearing in ceremony, a ceremonial one for trustee Kyle at the next board meeting and so that she'd be able to invite uh her family and friends to that. So welcome. >> Thank you. Welcome. for a moment. All right, with that we're going to move on to agenda item number 11, presentations and reports. Um this
047evening we will have um Leanne Reyes, deputy superintendent of business services and Melissa Lopez, director of fiscal services um presenting our 2425 unodudited actuals financial statements. >> Welcome Stacy. We're going to start off with some really light stuff and welcome to our two amazing new student trustees. I'm really happy to see you both here. I know that um business and financial items can be really complex and nothing could be more true than that when it comes to school business and finance. So, I'm happy that you're willing to uh join the budget committee. Um and I look forward to working with you more closely in that regard. However, um because it is so complex, I did a little cheat sheet for the two of you and I'd like to hand that out um before I start
048if that's okay. I was gonna say, um, may I request cheat sheets for next time for all of us? I think something that um you just said is really important to keep in mind, which is that education budgets are extremely complicated. And if you can get some grasp of the budget here with with all the local and state and federal money and private money and so on and all the different restrictions and requirements, then you will have a good background in budgets because these are among the most complex. And I've done business and nonprofit and government budgets and our leader over there at it and makes it comprehensible. a big thing, but it served you. >> Ditto. >> I might. [Laughter] >> But anyway, I hope this kind of helps uh just summarize, I'm hoping
049in like more layman's English for you um what what we're going to be talking about tonight. So, thank you. Um, you know, I always put up a thank you first of all because closing the books is an arduous task and it takes a lot of folks. And uh, we do have an annual kickoff meeting at the beach with our entire team. And we had this really cool photo of ourselves that we took and we thought um, you know, it'd be nice to have the photo, but it actually was um, grainy and kind of dark, the actual photo itself. So um, we decided to throw it in AI and see what it did. And actually, you can really recognize almost all of us. Um, in case you can't tell, I'm the old lady in the middle
050with a really long white hair, but this is our team. And of course, many many thanks to our internal business services team. So, today we're going to talk uh really about the entire budget cycle of an overview of the 2425 unudited actuals, the key differences between the last time we talked about budget, which was at the 2425 estimated actuals. um and how that differed from how we actually closed our books. Of course, the topic we all love to talk about, me especially, Gazsby 31 and its impacts and what's next. So, I brought in a new graphic tonight since um I wanted to kind of keep it a little more simple. And where we are uh on this little budget cycle wheel is uh in the dark green. We're at September and uh this is the
051next to the last stop for the 2425 budget cycle. The next uh section over on our wheel is that light green and that's when the annual audit will occur and that happens and will be delivered to us in December and that will then complete fiscal 2425. And it's always interesting um this time of year because we are always talking about budget and we're in different budget cycles in different years. And so this is we're about ready to wrap up 2425 finally, but we're still hunkering down the road to at the same time with 2526 stuff. So that's why I always kind of like this slide because it helps us know where are we and what year are we talking about. Um we kind of have a golden rule in the business department. Don't say this
052year, last year, next year. We have to talk in numbers. What are you talking about? 24 25 26 26 27. What are you talking about? And everyone else thinks, what are you guys talking? So there we are. We're almost done. Slide. Thank you. So um what we have here is a very highle summary. You do have of course all the detail in your board packet, hundreds of pages worth of detail. But um looking at this very high level, our beginning balance for our unrestricted budgets in that column A actually is referring to our SAX 01 spreadsheet that's in your board packet. We started off in our unodudited with a balance of $27 million. Our restricted uh budget came in with a beginning balance of 9.3 and we started the year with an estimated $36.5 million.
053it. Our total revenues and transfers in and contributions for unrestricted were 34.8 46.7 for the restricted or a total of 81.6 million. Our expenditures and transfers out were unrestricted 31.9 million, 37.5 on the restricted and 69.4 total. Overall for our unrestricted budget, we recorded an increase to our ending fund balance of approximately $2.8 million. An increase to our restricted budget of 9.2 or a total overall increase of 12.1 million, leaving us with ending fund balances. Boy, I almost said estimated. Say that all year long until right now. >> Our ending actual ending fund balance of 30 million for our unrestricted budget, 18.6 six for our restricted or a total of 48.7. So, um our restricted ending fund balance 100% of that is of course uh restricted. You do see some other different numbers and non-spendable.
054We normally don't see that until year end and that represents our accounts receivable that may be reserved or um in this case the 521. We'll come back to that a little bit more later. Um, but that's really has to do with our CASBY 31 issues that we have to state. So, as a reminder and for our new trustees, examples of programs that fall into our restricted budget would be routine and restricted maintenance um any final remaining amounts of one-time COVID related federal and start uh state dollars, which um we were really winding down on that, plus a variety of new state programs and local grants. As we mentioned to you, throughout the 2425 fiscal year, we've seen a significant increase in restricted funds, um, which are also referred to as categorical funds or targeted funds,
055including our amazing project ascend. I wish I we could talk on light about project ascend. It's such a a great program for students and youth and many student services funds related to our wellness centers. So, we do have the federal Panetta grant, our capacity grant, IP, um, that are all one-time but multi-year funding sources. And that's also what sometimes makes our books look funky at the end of the year because we haven't earned all the dollars that we've actually received. So, we have to like reduce our revenue for that. It's called unearned revenue. And then we move it over into the next fiscal year. So then we can continue to spend it over the lifespan of what that grant is. Included in our total expenditures for unrestricted is $4.8 million worth of contributions made from
056the unrestricted to the restricted programs as follows which would be the requirement for routine restricted maintenance. That's about $1.5 million. Our alted special education program the CL's program some magnet classes that we have for medical terminology information communication. technology so and medical and dental assisting programs. And then we also have set aside some dollars uh for the construction project that we talked about at our last meeting for the modulars to for the special education program replacement modulars that we're working on. If you go to your SAS form one, which is page two of the actual form, um you can see a detailed list of assignments with all that information in there. Okay. Um just a second. Next slide. Thank you. Um so this is our combined unrestricted and restricted unodudited actual results. The majority of
057the change now between our estimated and unodudited is really on the restricted side of our budget and as is reflected on the increase in increase to fund balance of 6.1 million. So looking at the chart that's in front of you again, what we're showing you here, the first column is what we estimated at the time that we were building out our budget for 2526. The second column is where we actually landed. And then the third column is what changed? >> Did you mean 25? >> I did. Did I say 25? >> Yes. I told you this year, next year or 25. Thank you. I said million one time and I would >> take billions. >> We'll take billions definitely. Um as the board may recall um the COE had established I want to explain a
058little bit more about that shift of 6.1 million restricted side. So as the board may recall the COE established a fund 40 for the purpose of paying for our tenant improvements and potential purchase of the 119 West Beach Street. Those TI funds have now been expended in fund 40, but any residual set aside or remaining fund balance was now moved back to fund 01 in the restricted budget, which accounts for some of this movement that you wouldn't have seen before. And the reason we did this was to keep our books, I'll say, less complicated or streamlined because we are in the process our pending OPSC application for the new construction and hardship funding you just last time. So, in so doing, we're setting aside our dollars now in the re uh a restricted side of
059our budget because we received some new guidance that once our application for state funding is submitted, OPSC will, excuse me, perform a review of our funds outside of fund one and outside of fund 17. So, that would include fund 35, fund 40, some of the other out longer funds that we have to determine if we could be eligible for all possible school facility funding. So, our state funding expert from HPD is unclear right now if OPSC would count against us the dollars we set aside for the potential purchase of 119 West Beach Street, even if we had them encumbered and set aside in a lease place, which is everything that we currently have. So, in an effort to be very uh conservative, we decided on the this advice as well to move any residual funds
060back into a very specific restricted fund 01 account. And that's why you see our restricted budget changing so much. >> Gazby 31. So in the prior years, I was really, you know, down being 31 and how staff show it. It was always just in our audit. I was really whining a lot about it. Um, especially because it was decreasing our ending fund balance. But what's happened this year is I think even a little more dangerous for folks who don't really understand what this GASBY 31 is about. So as a reminder, uh, Governmental Accounting Standards Board Gazsby Statement 31 is the requirement for us to record in our books any unrealized and I'm going to let that word sit for a minute. Unrealized gains or losses to the cash that you have on hand deposit at
061the county treasurer's office, which is our bank. So in this year the investments did well and now we have an unrealized increase to our unrestricted revenue. So this in turn and that amounts to $517,000 that I just alluded to. So, it's really important to realize that even though our unrestricted ending fund balance says 30 million, it's basically overstated by money we're never we're not going to see. It's not in our bank account. Um, and that's to the tune of a half million. Okay. So this is considered a material amount and we were um really kind of fighting against it initially because we always have had that but only in our audit not actually muddying up our our books which makes it kind of tricky for districts who are trying to enter into negotiations with their
062unions who may or may not understand this concept and everyone in the county is supposed to record as it pertains to them. So that $517,000 is shown shown on form one in the non-spendable category and we also had to record that on our fund 17 which is our reserve fund. The amount was a a bit less only 39,000. So um all of our other funds you're going to see some of those entries when you go through your board packet if you haven't already. Um, fund nine is subject to this 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, fund 17, and it's all in the non-spendable sections of fund one. >> So, it's kind of a bouncing ball of where do you record it and how do you show it? And it kind of the biggest takeaway from this
063one is it's not it's big. It's there on June 30th, it's gone on July 1st. Best way to remember it, it's there briefly. I make sure they reverse that entry at 12 a.m. >> Um, so everybody's good on that concept. >> Were you gonna say more about unrealized >> unrealized unrealized gain increase this time? >> Oh, I thought you said a second. >> Oh, um, it may be coming a little bit. I I mentioned it earlier about where we had it as a nonory. Yeah. And I think I mentioned it again a couple >> if I could if I could add something that uh that I've I've uh learned from uh from Isra about this is that this is because it's it's um it could create the illusion that there's funding available. So, uh, it's
064especially problematic when there is, uh, when there's a gain for districts and something that our business office works very closely with districts not to perceive it as an increase of funding to be expended and really just just uh funding that is going to be added and then and then removed. And so, it really is important for it to be isolated. And I think that's an important point that needs to be made. Um, so moving on to our next slide. Our unrestricted revenue then increased by $900,000 again primarily because of this Gabby Gazsby 31 market value adjustment. And also we had a slight increase in interest earnings of $71,000. Our unrestricted expenses declined by $2.7 million as department budget adjustments were aligned to final anticipated incumbrances and signatures that were all included at this point. So,
065um our services and supplies across all departments decline um in conjunction with one time also restricted revenues. Oops. on the um restricted revenue side of the budget. Uh our restricted revenue decreased by $5 million as a result of the unearned re revenue which I just spoke to you earlier about how we recognize that which we have spent in the fiscal year and then because it's can span over multiple years we match our revenue to what our actual expense was for the year. It's a very interesting concept to the new new people. Um, but we move those residual dollars back into our budget. You'll see those dollars coming back in at first interim. Why don't we budget for that at adopted? Because we haven't closed the books yet. So, we really don't know how much we're
066actually going to have. And now we do. So, that money, you'll see those revenues coming back in at first interim. Um overall again those major uh un earned revenues were as a result of project ascend which was about $1.4 million and also about $2.3 million for our behavioral health grants. Our restricted expenses declined by 3.1 million as um departmental approvals and final expenditures were recognized. So that also includes services and supplies across all departments as well as the 1.4 million in multi-year services and agreements again related to wellness coaches, wellness centers that will then be carried forward and recognized in the 2526 fiscal year. So to recap, the overall change to total fund balance when compared to the 2425 estimated actuals versus the 2425 unodudited actuals resulted in a net increase to total fund balance
067of approximately of of no approximately 6.1 176 618. Unrestricted change $1.2 million restricted 4.9 million. Moving on, our special reserve for other than capital outlay, which is our fund 17. The special res reserve for other than capital outlay projects. Fund 17 is now ending with $3.6 million. Again, as I mentioned, also subject to the Gazsby 31 adjustment of $39,000. The special reserve did meet the board requirement of 5% prior to this adjustment year end. So our final thoughts and next steps. We are finalizing work for our auditors. They come uh and visit us in midocctober. We're always so excited for that. They're super nice team though. So it it is kind of exciting. We're like friends, how are you? Um and they always ask us where's a great place to eat. And the audit will
068be complete in December. In addition, at the October meeting, form GAN will be presented. And then we are already hopping into uh not only preparing for the final phase of our audit but also preparation of our budget adjustments for first interim for 2526 fiscal year. And then we will as always continue with ongoing monitoring of revenue and expenditures as always. Um, final closing thought from David Ramsey, which is on the next slide that says, "A budget is telling you telling your money where to go." But right now, we're in the line with the last sentence, which is instead of wondering where it went. Now, we no longer need to wonder. We absolutely know where it all went and what it was spent on for fiscal 24 of Trustees. Thank you, Leanne, and for her staff
069who is here. Um, are there any questions or followup for Ben? All right. We're going to be moving into um item 12 uh public hearing. Um this is an open public hearing. We are now moving on to 121. I hereby declare open public hearing regarding the sufficiency of instructional materials by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. So um we're going to explain the procedure. So, the board is here to listen at this time and we will not be asking or answering any questions from the presenter until later in our meeting this evening. Uh, staff will make their opening presentation to the board regarding the sufficiency of instructional materials. Public comment and input will be received by the board from individuals wishing to speak. Each individual will be given two minutes. Um the public hearing
070will then be closed and so if you think you might be commenting or want to please submit that to Venice. So at this time we're going to hear from John Rice executive director alternative education. So you may now see thank you so much for being here. >> All right. Good evening board. Uh good evening Dr. Sabah. Good evening colleagues and all the folks in the audience here. It's great to see everybody. I want toend extend a warm welcome to our our newest trustees, trustee Guian Martinez, Trustee Amore and Trustee Kyle. Welcome. We're we're really uh uh grateful and lucky to to have you as as boards as members of the board supporting our community. And uh to to uh Trustee Amore Ash, uh we're really excited to to have you have your voice and and
071your support for alternative education. With that, uh, I've got a a pretty straightforward item here. I think we're asking that you adopt a resolution confirming sufficiency of texts and materials for core subjects in our school programs. This is an annually required resolution. And I can assure you with confidence that we do indeed have sufficient materials. And here are a few of the steps we took to make sure of that. All right. In May of last year, our teachers inventoried all texts and over the summer, we made necessary purchases to account for any losses. In addition to that, as school got underway again in August this year, we surveyed their teachers again, and if any were short of any text, we located extras and redistributed as necessary. We've also taken care to ensure that all students
072have access to Chromebooks and necessary technology at sites. And while each of our sites is unique and we empower our teachers to supplement core materials and uh to incorporate alternatives as as needed, we do have u uh several curriculum- based initiatives this year that ensure common materials across sites and programs. One is our new integrated math program. The second is an English language arts program and the third is an online learning pro platform that ensures access to all course material a student or a class might need. And if it's okay, I'll take just a moment or two to talk a little bit about each one of those. All right, let's talk about math first. We've adopted the Reveal series along with Alex by McGraw Hill. Reveal is a digital and textbook based integrated approach to
073math that ensures students across all of our programs are able to access the same common standardsbased accessible material in a similar format to what they might find in a comprehensive high school. But uh one of the things that's really great about this program is that it includes a full digital access to Alex as well. And Alex is an individualized and adaptable assessment and tutorial system that works with each student to ensure sufficient practice and scaffolding are provided to fill any gaps so that all students can reach grade level and beyond. With that, I I want to highlight our adopted English language arts program as well. It's called Reading with Relevance. And Reading with Relevance is a Bay Area local evidence and standardsbased literature program with social emotional components that guides students and educators through the
074process of reading culturally relevant, socially rich fiction and non-fiction literature and texts. The curriculum breaks highinterest, diverse books into a series of thoughtful daily lesson plans that culminate in final writing products. Each lesson in the unit is designed to support educators in exploring the social and emotional themes of the day's reading, inspiring students to read deeply, think critically, talk openly, and write reflectively about topics that matter. Thanks to the work from our own team here in alternative education, reading with relevance courses for English language arts credit have been university A to G approved and can count toward university admission. These courses also meet the new ethnic studies requirement. And some of the common texts for this year are are shown here at the bottom. Uh we started the the year this year with Everything We
075Never Had, a booku's first page lands the reader right here in Watsonville, California. And we'll finish with Trevor Noah's Born a Crime and March, a memoir by the late civil rights leader Senator John Lewis. Finally, I want to mention make sure that I mention our our main online learning program, Bright Thinker. Bright Thinker provides a comprehensive selection of middle and high school courses and materials for both classroom and individual use. These courses and materials can be customized and can be used synchronously like a digital textbook in the with the whole class and uh or asynchronously or individually like independent study. Different than most online providers though, Bright Thinker also caters to digitally averse students by offering the same exact course materials in physical texts as well. Most courses in Bright Thinker, including our new ethnic
076studies course, have also been A throughG approved. For all those reasons, I can provide pretty confident assurance that we do indeed have sufficient materials to meet all of our students needs. With that, I'd be happy to take any questions you might have and simply request adoption of this resolution. Thank you. At this time, thank you. Um, at this time, we're going to take uh invite members of the public who are present or on virtual that have any questions or comments. Are there any any say? >> Seeing none on Zoom or in person. >> All right. Thank you. Um, we'll now hear from the board. Any comments or questions? >> One question. I just read in the media over the last week or two that California's adopted or it's pending governor's signature a new science of
077reading framework. How will that roll out and affect our reading materials over the next five years? >> That's a good question. I think we'll uh we'll rely on uh we'll we'll wait to to review those materials and rely on the close the the uh close cooperation we have with our educational services division to to make sure that that we're we're truly understanding that and able to incorporate with it it within our our curriculum >> and I think uh the majority of the science of of reading is related to phonics development and phonmic awareness and it's it's really for uh introductory kind kind of early learning uh times. However, the kind of using a balanced approach that takes into consideration both a literature-based approach as well as for students who are developing their skill set using
078those those strategies is something that we've I think we've always done and I think we will be as as uh uh as director Rice is sharing, we're going to be looking at those to see if we can strengthen our our reading and literacy programs as well as our English language development programs. and we've taken some pretty exciting steps this year to strengthen those programs. So, definitely something that we're we're looking at. >> Thank you. >> Are there any other questions or thoughts? >> Well, I just love the book list, you know, and I'm I grew up reading generally for me um this the books that school offered were not the ones that I read. Um and I still have to watch out if I go to a bookstore, books leap into my arms, you know.
079So, anyway, this your list is really good. So, um, I appreciate it and glad to have you every year, you know, reviving it and adding to it and keeping the the mission. >> Thank you, Bruce. >> I agree. >> And the first thing I like. >> Thank you, S. Anyone has any questions? Uh, okay. If there are no more questions and comments, um, I hereby declare the public hearing regarding the sufficiency of instructional materials by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education closed. Thank you. And we'll now move into 13.1. Um the county board of education will consider approval and sufficiency of the instructional materials by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education during this next item 13.1 which is resolution 2536. Do we have a >> I'll second. >> And can we have a
080roll call, please? >> Student trustee Guen Martinez. >> Hi. Student Trustee Omore. >> Hi. >> Trustee A Costa. >> Hi. >> Trustee Kyle. >> Hi. >> Trusty Larson. >> Hi. >> Trustee Roth. >> Yes. >> Trustee Van Allen. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> President Sanchez. >> Yes. >> Wonderful. Passes unanimously. Thank you. >> Thank you, Terry. >> Thank you, Johnny. >> All right. Moving on to um item 13.2 2 in our new business prop 28 arts and music in schools. I'm going to pass this over to Dr. Sabah. >> Yes, thank you so much. Uh you know that uh when Prop 28 passed uh to bring arts and music to our schools, uh we recognized it as a as an exciting opportunity for for um all our schools. And this includes our adult
081uh charter program, our career advancement charter. And um so uh Miss Sony Sansen, who is Gera Sansen, sorry, uh who's our uh executive director of um our career and and adult learning services, is going to be sharing the plans for um the utilization of these funds uh for the arts in our career advancement charter for adults. Welcome. >> Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Sabah. Good evening, trustees. Um, special welcome to trustee Kyle and to our student a special welcome to our student trustees Ash and Vicente. Your insight, advocacy, and voice are valued and important. Uh, we're so glad you're here. And also want to welcome our Elnido teacher and students who are here in the audience in support of their um their I was going to say colleague, classmate um being here tonight with us
082all. So, welcome to you all. Um, I want to start this evening by expressing my gratitude to our board for supporting our adult high school diploma program. Um, and additionally for the collegial support here at the county office of education, Johnny mentioned educational services. Um, business is here and helps us with basically everything. And the collegiality that's shared in our student programs as well. um Johnny my my colleague, my friend. So, always like to start that way. And um so, Prop 28, as Ferris explained, is um I'm here to you have the report in in your packet. This I'll go through this quickly here on the first slide. Um we put photos in from our um how we used the money last year was um with a digital photography class for our adult students. And
083for those of you who are new or maybe don't know that much about the Career Advancement Charter School, um we are a charter for adult students who are earning their high school diploma or equivalency. Uh we have about 200 students now. We'll probably get up to about 250. Um we have locations in Santa Cruz and Watsonville at the adult probation centers as well as in the three locked facilities. Johnny and I actually both got to attend a graduation at Blaine Street women's facility and Roundtree medium facility this week. Um so we we offer services there and then as well at Sequoia schools at our new building at 119 West Beach where some of you have been out to to tour. Um and then here at the at the annex across the street. So um that's
084a little bit just a tiny bit about the career advancement charter. On the next slide, um this is an explanation of the requirements of what where the report is uploaded and then we we post it to our website. Um the requirements include the number of teachers or FTE, how many students served and um and how many school sites. So last year, as I said, we we offered a pilot digital photography class um at Sequoia Schools, which is our largest facility. Um and so we were able to spend some of the money. We didn't spend very much of the money. I should mention that the CAC is a non-classroombased independent study program. And so very different from alternative education. Our students who attend classes in the evening are there um voluntarily and looking for enrichment or
085um community. Uh we offer ESL. So we do have a student presence on campus in in the way of classes although it looks very different than what you might see on a comprehensive high school or even in an alternative um school setting. Next slide please. Uh this is what is in your packet. So just a a screenshot there of the report. It's a very simple, very short report. The narrative there on the left um for your review. Next slide. So how we assess how to spend this money. Um I have a hard time seeing that. I apologize. Um surveys are the main way. We also have a student advisory committee which is uh comprised of our adult students that um it's a quarterly meeting. So they're able to give us input there. Um we also
086offer or um have LCAP focus groups where similarly students are able to offer um their input. We have strong partnerships in the community. We will be working with the arts count arts council Santa Cruz this year with the help of Audrey Ceroda from our um curriculum and instruction department in ed services. And the students have asked that they do they want more access to enrichment opportunities. And though the photography class was uh the numbers were relatively low um there was sustained interest throughout the throughout the school year last year. Next slide please. So just a little bit about that class. It was offered weekly um once a week. We used some of the money to buy the items you see there which included Adobe subscription. We purchased some uh laptops and memory cards etc. Um
087students were also taught to use their phones in the photography class because not everybody has a digital camera and a MacBook at home, right? Um basic concepts of photography and editing techniques as well. Um consistent attendance proved challenging. So but it was uh we tried to make it drop in so not a closed cohort that people could come when they were available. Um, and that that can also prove challenging because some students will not have the fundamental skills that maybe were taught, you know, two weeks prior. Next slide. Um, I wanted to include for you a sample of something that uh, one of our students created. These are his children and it was a final product where they put a slide deck together of their their best pictures or their favorite pictures. And it so
088just so turns out that these photos of his boys are in our u early care classroom. So he photographed his children um playing in the center um while he was in class. And you know there were about five or six slides. I just decided to include the front one so you could see that there. And the next slide's a second example I believe. Yes. Of another student's work who took a different approach and you know captured nature um and yeah whatnot. Next slide. So um we will continue with arts instruction enrichment. Um we are also I don't know how much you all know about the makerpace initiative but that is happening for our adult students on Monday evenings as well at the sequoia site. Um so with that additionally we want to offer um classes.
089We we will also purchase materials and supplies as needed. Our first offering, I believe, is going to be a dance class through the uh arts council. So, we're in the process of of working on a contract with the arts council for this uh this school year. Next slide. And just a quick breakdown there. Um we may not I don't think we will spend all of the money. Um it will roll over. It carries over year to year. Um so for this year, the budget looks to be about $16,000. that's an estimate to offer um I believe it's a total of eight sections um six to 8 week sections that will begin in October and go through May hopefully a smaller budget for materials and supplies we don't have the restriction of the 80% being spent
090on staff because we don't have more than 500 students if you're aware of that piece. Um so our total there for 2526 around $21,000. Next slide. I mentioned that uh arts council and so dance, visual arts and music. Um we want to also not just offer at Sequoa. We're hoping to offer some um art classes here in the north. So we do have about 50 students coming to the annex currently and so we're we're growing over here. Um and definitely want to hire bilingual teaching artists. Many of our students are um bilingual speaking Spanish. I think that might be the last slide. Next slide, please. And with that, uh we rec we request approval of our Prop 28 annual report. >> Um I have a follow-up question. Um, are the programs are programs being offered
091concurrently like music and then you're adding dance and then you'll continue the the photography that sort of thing? >> So, um, we're not offering photography right now because the person who taught it last year is in a new assignment. So, he now is teaching for the CAC and, uh, I want him to focus on that. Um, he's also newly assigned to corrections and it's very different to teach in a locked facility. So that's where he's focusing his energy. Um, but we have the equipment and so that is a hope is to get that class going again possibly with somebody else. Um, but yes, we'll offer I don't know the sequence yet. It depends on the artist availability. Um, but we do hope to offer classes simultaneously in the north and the south if that answers
092your question. Okay. There any other >> No question. Just when I read the narrative that was in what you sent up to the state, just love the testimonials you put in there from the students talking about it grew their self-confidence, grew their connection with family, and grew their connection with community. That was hard to beat the pictures though, but that uh text we saw earlier was powerful. >> Thank you, Trusty Larson. else. >> I can help. Go ahead. >> Um, well, I really like the photos of the kids playing. It's just really like impactful to see like parents getting their education, but also having to like um help cuz like getting their getting their child care. Mhm. >> Pretty important for parents or adults um don't get their education because they have to take care
093of their kids or they have no one to take care of. >> Yeah, you're absolutely right. We're offering child care four nights a week currently at the Sequoia site so that they can do just that, go to school and have a safe place for their children. >> Um all right. Can we have a motion? Resolution 25 um-37. Oh >> no, it's below prop 28. >> I'm sorry, it wasn't resolution. Okay, so I move the board approved the prop 28 arts and music. >> Okay. All righty. See, don't go away. >> Now I know. >> Can we get a roll call, please? >> Student trustee Guan Martinez. >> Yes. >> Student trustee Amore. >> Trustee Aosta. >> Hi. >> Trustee Kyle. >> Hi. >> Trusty Larson. >> Hi. >> Trusty Roth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Van
094Allen. Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> President Sanchez. >> Yes. Great. approved unanimously. Thank you all. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> All righty. Um so we will be moving into agenda item 133 and I will for resolution I will pass this over to Trusty Larson. >> Actually um we're going to have the superintendent Dr. Sabah present. >> Okay. >> Yes. Thank you so much. Uh this is a um an opportunity for the board to honor a uh a person uh Larry Lane who recently passed away who dedicated his life to education and supporting students. I had the opportunity of working with uh Mr. Lane when he was a principal at Watsonville High School and I was the director of the migrant education program. Um he uh has had he had a distinguished career of over
09530 years in a variety of different uh uh roles in education and his his uh his commitment to serving uh and uh and education uh uh was latest his latest kind of chapter of that of that experience was with us as a member of our of our um our commission and um he has been somebody who um really cared for students. Um he received a teacher of the year award, a distinguished teacher award um from the California Council of uh of uh geographic education. And um when I think about um uh the contribution he has made and the number of lives that he's touched, I I uh just really grateful to uh to Larry Lane and and uh and grateful that he we got to work with him and as part of the personnel commission
096uh for the last few years. And so I'm really grateful to the board for considering this u this resolution on his behalf. And I think his family would would appreciate it as well. No comments. Um, >> also moved. >> Roll call, please. >> Student trustee Guian Martinez. >> Student trustee Omore. >> Hi. >> Trustee A. Costa. >> Hi. >> Trustee Kyle. >> Hi. >> Trustee Larson. >> Hi. >> Trusty Roth. >> Hi. >> Trusty Van Allen. Great appreciate it. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> President Sanchez. >> Yes. >> Nly. And we will move into item 13.4. >> Mr. Larson. >> Thank you very much, Vice President. Uh this starts on page 244 of the agenda packet. It is the annual resolution we bring forward in the month of September leading into October. Uh
097the only significant change to the resolution is the addition of the final whereas which is the one we've added pretty much since February um where we recognize the impacts that federal government changes in policy staffing and funding are causing on our communities that we serve and work with. Um the other change I do want to highlight is that the agenda item listing is correct. I will be asking for a friendly amendment to the resolution itself and that it should be October 12th through 19 18th in the title. So the agenda is correct but the resolution we need to change to October 12th to 18th to reflect the actual days. And I want to highlight a couple things that uh working with our collective staff today. We have roughly 50 employees at the county office of
098education who fall into the school administrator designation and we have 300 countywide. And this resolution honors and recognizes all of them. And since we're so blessed here at the COE with our great uh public administrator, school administrator staff, I was hoping the board might join me in a standing ovation for Dr. Sabah and the other uh school administrator staff. Well, I emphatically move with your friendly amendments. >> Thank you. I'll second. >> And a roll call. >> Student trustee Guan Martinez. Hi. >> Student Trustee Amore. I >> trusty A Costa. >> Hi, >> Trustee Kyle. >> Hi, >> Trusty Larson. >> Hi, >> Trusty Roth. >> Yes, >> Trusty Van Allen. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes, >> President Sanchez. >> Yes. >> 13.5. Trusty Larson. >> This is another continuing resolution that the community
099outreach and legislative committee brings forward for your consideration. No changes except for the additional whereas that I mentioned for the prior resolution. This one is in addition to our pride recognition that we approve every May for June because this focuses on history of our LGBTQIA uh 2S+ community. And we are using the same language that we adopted with pride uh for May in terms of being inclusive in our our language for this community. Um some local highlights, you know, we did celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride Forgiveness Community and that's particularly significant. We were early on and are continuing to integrate um as required now by state law through the fair act and the new history social science framework the inclusion of education into the curricula that's provided by our schools and encouraging all of
100our constituent districts to participate as well. And with the president's indulgence, since one of our new student trustees highlighted this as an area of focus in their uh service on the board, I would like to ask Trustee Amore if she'd like to move approval. I really appreciate this uh resolution because I feel like it's important now more than ever as those across the country are being sort of trying to be pushed back into the shadows and like sort of just seen very negatively and it's public and it's Just I think it's really important now to really make sure that we loud and proud support everyone. >> Yeah. >> And do we have a second? >> Oh, and second from Trusty Vanilla. >> And we'll have a roll call. Student Trustee Gian Martinez. Hi >> student
101trusteemore. >> Hi >> Trusty A Costa. >> Hi >> Trustee Kyle. >> Hi >> Trusty Larson. >> Hi >> Trusty Roth. >> Yes, >> trustee Van Allen. Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> President Sanchez. >> Yes. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you for the work of our legislative committee. And we will move on to item 14, superintendent report. Thank you so much, Vice President Williams, and members of the board. I'm uh it's my uh pleasure to uh share with you uh a a report sound here, but Not sure Nick if you're able to jump on the Zoom so we could share the video because it's not letting me share my sound. All right. So um I wanted to just start by by appreciating um our two uh student trustees. I got to meet with both
102uh uh both students recently with Andre Ortiz and um and I have to say uh these students are absolutely inspiring and um and such a reminder of the importance of the work that we're doing. Um and so I just wanted to start with that because my appreciation um I feel like I'm going to be uh learning alongside uh these these uh amazing uh students and and just grateful for for their ideas. One of the ideas that uh that um uh Trusty Moore shared was to create a studentfriendly version of the agenda. And so we took that idea and we uploaded the agenda that you reviewed and and uh using AI tools and we got to review it and it was explained in uh studentfriendly terms that made it much more comprehensible and that idea excuse
103me is is is recommending uh he uh he he's brought a an idea of bringing a creating a resource an online resource that would be available to all students. that would help them learn about um how to access information. Um and um and so I just want to I I I'm just really excited about the work that is before us and I'm so excited about about them joining our team and bringing their voices to the amazing work that we're we're going to be we're going to be doing this year. I wanted to start as I've unfortunately have done over the last few months which is with some some of the the the difficult news about some of the impacts uh on education as a result of uh federal action or by or action by the
104federal administration. But one that I wanted to highlight uh this month was about the recent cuts to our partner programs which is related specifically to um uh cuts to the Hispanic serving institutions. This is going to represent a devastating cut to Cababrio College for us uh locally as well as programs in Hartnell and other community colleges across California. These are programs that have uh that have been uplifting students who come from un underrepresented communities. Um we're talking millions of dollars um that are going to be cut in the next year. And um the the community is reeling from from the implications of this. Uh and um and so we are working with with those partners to try to to understand what the implications are and and what are the kinds of things that we can
105do to be able to um to support students in a way and not lose those those needed services. We are also in the midst of uh listening to ideas for the discretionary budget which is how federal funding is is expended for education. And there are lots of discussions about uh what that is going to look like for us. And so I did want to just bring those items to to the surface. Um I'll continue every at every board meeting providing a little bit of information just so that you're you're aware of any news um that that that are occurring. Now, one of the biggest concerns that we've shared with you uh shared and one that I am so grateful to this county board for its advocacy has been in support of our immigration community and
106you have um uh you have shared your your commitments with your um to your values and to our values as a community um to our our immigrant community who in many in many ways are living in fear because of federal action uh for for enforcement of of uh of uh against families because of their mixed immigration status. I wanted to share with you that that we have developed a new immigration resources page for the school community. Um if you remember we uh helped to develop a community-based resource which is the which is the um uh suzos.info info website which is for the community. But we created a resource for our school community that identifies the policies to protect uh students from our our immigrant community. Uh it shows here protocols and I I I apologize
107it's it's cut off there. Protocols for immigration action at at schools and additional resources. And so I was going to uh uh just walk you through a little bit about what the resource looks for looks at. U and um you'll see that there's a statement of solidarity. There is a link to policies that protect immigrant students. And this shows all of the legislation and uh legal framework that supports privacy and the safety of our immigrant community, including policy 511.5, which is a policy that many of our districts have adopted, which is the protection of undocumented students and um and other um other California laws that protect the rights of immigrant families and students. The second link is to protocols and training. And this is a the protocols of how to prepare or anticipate in the
108unlikely event of an immigr of immigration action on school campuses, things to do before um they uh arrive, things to do if they if they were to arrive on a school campus. The basic premise is this idea of public space versus private space. That there are as a school entity um our lobbies are our parking lots are considered public space but beyond that is our private space that require signed judicial order uh for them to access. So being able to focus on that aspect, that responsibility and utilizing that as a way to limit access to our students and to information is is kind of the fundamental uh part of the of these protocols. It talks about putting up signage to define public space and private space, identifying the administrators who would be the ones who
109engage with uh with immigration officials, uh steps that can be taken for communication, um helping families to complete uh childcare safety plans and and other uh preventative measures. And then there's protocols for immigration action, what to do in the moment uh if if if immigration agents uh attempt to access the campus and everything from uh the notification, the response, working with the their district office or the county office of education to verify if if there is a judicial order and um and other actions. And there's also some staff training that that is available and also some documentation of how to verify if a if a judicial if a document is a valid judicial uh order or warrant. Uh there are uh slide decks that are included in here and we're also going to be creating
110some videos that will help explain to staff the steps um in a way that that that they know uh this concept of private and public space and that they know who their administrator is. Um, and we're uh sharing we've shared this information with all our districts and in hopes that we can um also not only be prepared but also let our community know that we are doing everything we can to protect our students in our community. >> Followup question. And I apologize if it's in there because I haven't had a chance to read it, but many of our campuses are open campuses and um I know that this is, you know, for our educators as well as our community, but um educating our students and letting them know parking lots are a public space, etc.,
111etc. So, is that addressed in in their the fact that we do majority of our at least our high schools are open campus? >> So, Cal, correct? So, they're open in the sense that um that they're um that that there aren't gates around, especially our high schools in many cases. However, California law requires anybody to check in in the office before going onto campus. So, even though there may not be a gate in front of you, um it is a legal requirement for them to check in in the office before they enter the campus. So, um so that is something that that you know we've thought about. We've also other questions that are kind of the similar nature is what about after school? Um what happens in you know and and so we're we will
112be adding to this to these protocols to address these these kinds of questions to help clarify and to help prepare us as much as possible. Uh we're also encouraging schools to put up signage that says um you know this is this is school grounds. Basically it's it's um authorized personnel only. If you're not a student, if you're not a staff member, you need to go, you have to check in in the front office before you can enter the campus and that's where they would be intercepted to and uh verification of their documents. >> So, would there be funding for schools and districts to do those additional signage or is that would just be part of their regular budget or trying to work it in? Right? >> Unfortunately, there isn't additional um additional funding. There is
113some new legislation um that is uh that is going to the governor and uh for uh for his signature. Um I don't believe additional funding is included in that. However, things like notification to families and to staff and other components could be impacted by this legislation and and I'll bring a report back to you board meeting. >> Thank you. So, just a few administrative uh I mean a few COE updates. We had our administrative kickoff on September 12th. Thank you so much to those of you that were there. Um uh yesterday I attended a ribbon cutting of uh a new youth crisis center called Espiransa deante uh hope forward and it's a wellness center. Uh we're really grateful to the county uh for establishing this program and we're working in collaboration. Um, previously a a
114young person in crisis did not have a place to go. There was emergency rooms which were unprepared to support students and then students were being sent out of our county where they were far away from family members and the systems of support. This this uh youth center is for uh young people uh I believe as as young as I believe it was six and um up to the age of 17. And um and for they have both uh a kind of a crisis um uh program for eight young people under 24 hours and then 16 beds for a lengthier stay for for for young people. This is so needed. Um we've talked a lot about the mental health crisis and it's a beautiful space that's safe and inclusive and we're so grateful uh that we
115have this resource in our community. I've also wanted to share that um oh I already shared that new legislation is getting signed. We'll be sharing with you a uh an update um uh at the next board meeting with with and uh and possibly uh through email as well. I also wanted to share that our our two new uh student trustees are going to be part of a exciting student uh advocacy council which I think you've heard about before. We're inviting students, especially those who went to our our trustee academy, to be a part of a countywide council um to help us um gather information and and really advocate and and take action on behalf of students for that student voice, as you heard from our amazing trustees, to be uplifted. And so this is something
116uh new we're really excited about and it's going to be uh student facilitated and and um and we're just really excited about about this opportunity to connect with students and I just like the student trustee academy for me personally it's the opportunity to work directly with students best part of my job. Now, one of the things related to student leadership was that we recently were uh interviewed uh by PBS uh because they were really interested in learning about our youthled leadership alliance. And so they came and uh met with students. They met with me and and um I I believe Andreas and and other staff, but but um and really uh and took a lot of footage. And uh we were recently invited uh to Sacramento to see uh a version of their of their
117video that they produced that that highlighted their youthled leadership alliance. And so I'm going to ask uh Nick to take over the the the screen and um share this video uh with us because um I think it's maybe you could tell us a little bit more about it before you start us off. Uh Nick, >> of course. Thank you, Superintendent Sabah. And I will just share that we are having a technical difficulty with the normal way to share Zoom audio. So I think I have a workaround. We're going to run an experiment. If the audio is cooperating with us tonight, we're going to watch this incredible video. If not, we will send you all a link to screen on your own time. And it it also screened regionally in the Sacramento area last night as
118part of the Inside California Education Series on PBS KVIE and is also available on the PBS website. So, um, cross your fingers if if you would with me and and let's see if we have some audio >> the microphone on it. >> Let's try that as a workound. >> Turn off the mic and uh Sorry. I believe there's one. We might be out of luck. >> David of Alien effort. Apologies for that. We um we seem to be having a um backend setting with Zoom that's not permitting the audio sharing in the normal way. So, um apologies for um for the teaser with this video, but um it is it is something that I highly recommend that you go and watch. We'll make sure that all trustees and our student trustees get a direct link
119to it. And um it is also for members of our public and our staff here. You can watch it via our Facebook page where it's available um on YouTube through the PBS account. All right. I guess uh we'll have to uh leave it for some other time. I apologize for that. But uh we're really grateful to PBS and and and to the students. I think having uh being able to to see their voices. Alex at the at the Capitol giving a speech. Uh students participating and engaging in in a variety of different ways was was really exciting. And so um uh please check it out when you have a moment. And that is it for my uh my report. >> Thank you. And we know what we're all going to do when we get home.
120Um at least I know what I will doing. Um at this time we're going to go into our report. Our trustee reports is um >> Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. I just had I forgot to give go over the upcoming events. >> Sorry for that. >> Um so we have a we're uh the safe schools initiative is uh is again having the rainbow conference at uh at Watsonville High School and we're really grateful. This is on September 27th. Uh we're also uh supporting the uh the diversity center gala on October 11th and um and also on November 5th. Um the we're uh doing a screening of uh a movie called The Mask You Live In at the Green Valley Cinema. And also encourage you to if you haven't already to consider participating in the in
121the California School Board Association annual education conference. And that is it for our >> Not at all. Not at all. Thank you, Dr. Sp. Um do we have President um Sanchez online still? Okay. Yes, I am here. >> Would you like to give your report first? >> Sure. Yeah, of course. Uh, I'll keep it short. Uh, three things that I did this past month. The tour at West Beach Street. It was really nice to be able to see the facility and to be able to uh see where our students get to call their home. I'm really excited for the things that are going to come out of that place. Uh, very nice. definitely encourage everybody who can to go and visit it. Um, student trustees, I think that was my highlight of the month, being
122able to interview them, have that special meeting. Again, it's it's one of the toughest things that I think we do as a board, but uh very excited to have uh student trustees with us and and their opinion. And then the last thing I want to mention is the admin kickoff with uh Dr. Christopher Mden. It was very uh powerful. I think it it was very reflective and made me think and reflect as to my perspective and and things that I could potentially be doing uh better as well. So, uh thank you for the to the COE, you know, for putting on that program. I know that a lot of people appreciate and look forward to to to that every year. And that's my report. >> Thank you, President Sanchez. Um mine will be brief as
123well. Um we had two special board meetings this past month and also had the privilege of touring West Beach uh street facility. Very impressive. Um and if you haven't already, please uh make an appointment to go see it. And then attended the county conference in Monterey. Always um something new to learn um from both the presenters as well as fellow trustees. So um was always a privilege. So that's my report and I'll pass on to Nan. >> Seems like we've been here a lot lately and I've been enjoyed that and taking some big steps today in particular. So really happy about that. Um I have um not a whole lot of activity. Um, I missed the moderate conference because of a funeral of of my ex father, but um, I did uh, thanks to Greg
124get some follow-up information on the workforce educator workforce housing stuff and already made some additional contact our committee. Appreciate you forwarding those things to me. That's pretty much it. >> Um, okay. Well, having three exampl high schools um I've watched girls basketball um for Shoreline. And last Saturday, I had the privilege and honor of going to the um fundraising gala for the Watsonville Community Hospital Foundation. And HR1 is going to be impacting that hospital uh significantly. And so it was a a very uplifting, positive event with wonderful speakers where they honored two of their physicians and um beautiful sunset on the rooftop in Watsonville. So thank you. >> Great jumping in. Um let's see. I submitted my activities in writing, so I won't go through all of those. I did want to highlight the Labor
125Day that hasn't been mentioned. It was an exciting day. First, it was my first time visiting the Riante exhibition or murals on the Watsonville garage. My son actually has a little panel. Nice to see. and then the Labor Day annual union picnic followed by the community march and celebration which COE co-sponsored and superintendent Sabah was the MC of so that was exciting. um the Monterey conference, the county, there's two conferences. The school board's conference is in December, which is the 2,000 3,000 people. The county board members conference is 100 people, and you really make connections with people because you see them repeatedly. And it was just uh much better for that strength of community among school, county school boards. Really enjoyed going. Um, I did want to highlight that ACCBE, the Association of California County
126Boards of Education, which is a group just for county school boards, they're looking for a board representative. Um, so maybe the agenda committee could place that on a future agenda to identify a board member to be in that service. did want to highlight on the personal. I had the incredible joy and excitement and driving away sadness as our superintendent did of dropping our kids off at at UC Davis as transfer junior students. So, um, our vice president faced that a month earlier with her daughter going up to San Francisco. So, I think the superintendent and I faced it this time and it's exciting. [Music] as it is. I'll stop there move in starting today the wonderful beach and it's filling up fast. of this very special meeting as indicated running very very good addition to
127us and uh the uh kickoff >> kickoff and gore. I think I saw boxes of those if you're interested very very dynam tested over the past few years and the county office of education. >> Thank you. Um All right. Um, do we have any updates from our ad hoc or sending committees? >> All right. Um, all right. Um, item number 17, schedule of meetings and upcoming events. So our next um regular meeting is scheduled for October 16th and so forth in November 20th, December 18th. And before we adjourn, we want to thank all of our public who and staff who stayed through the entire meeting and for those who remained online. Thank you very much for joining us and meeting is adjourned.