May 15, 2025 County Board of Education Meeting

001Good afternoon everyone. Welcome. I would like to uh open the session for the May meeting of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh thank you for your patience. Uh and really happy and glad to see each and every single one of you. So, we're going to start by asking those who can to uh please stand up as we pledge allegiance to the flag and our superintendent Sabah will lead us. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank [Music] you. Next up, I have a report on the close session that we just had. There was two matters that we looked at. The first one was

002an interd district transfer appeal hearing uh number 24-2501 and on that matter we as a board uh made the decision to deny the appeal on a vote of 6-0-01. The second matter that we discussed was a litigation matter and that one we did decide to move forward with a class action lawsuit. Mass action. Sorry, that's a M, not a C. Okay. And that was our close session. All right. So, moving along the those that are following us on the agenda, we are on item number seven, the approval of the agenda. Second. First and second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Thank you. Next, we're action number eight, public comment. This is an opportunity for anybody in the public to address the board on any matters that are not on the agenda, and

003we ask that you limit your um comments to three minutes. Do we have anyone in the comment that would like to address the board? Yes, President Sanchez. We have a public comment request from Omar Delingas. Diegas. Diegas. Um, you can step up to the podium. Good afternoon. I'm a little nervous. Um, bear with me. Uh, I'm here to speak about the I'm from Parl Valley Unified School District and I'm here to speak to Mr. Ferris. Um, concerning our district, our district is suffering right now. Our district has been suffering from bullying, has been suffering from injustices, has been suffering from uh a prior school board that has uh mistreated the community and has left the new school board with a lot of problems to fix. Um, I'm sure you know and you're aware of what's

004going on in our district right now and and our community needs healing. So, I'm here to ask, you know, you've heard a little bit about what's going on, but where were you 19 months ago? In the past 19 months, when our community was being bullied by the old school board, when the old school board was bullying our student trustee, when they were we were being bullied in the crowd by district employees, when they were wearing inappropriate uh gear, offending our LGBQ community, offending our immigrant community. Where were you when all this was happening? And it wasn't until recent that you got a letter from a few people that you decided to come into our district to try to do something and responding to that letter. Let me remind you that that letter that those people

005that uh complained about some remarks and their feelings were hurt. Those were the same people, Mr. Ferris that were 30 years ago in our in our school at Apttos High School when we were there that were trying to segregate our students, our Chico Mexican-American community back to Watsonville. And I'll say his name is Doug Kaplan and his little gang that he has going on. You know, same people that were trying to segregate our community. And there's still trauma that needs to be healed from that whole 30 seconds era. Where is the apology for Mrs. Allison for the CR contract? I ask that you please look into our district and and bring resources to heal the community and to heal the school board so that we can move forward to serve our students. Thank you. Do

006we have anybody else that is uh wants to address the board? And seeing none on Zoom. Okay. If there is no one else, we're moving along. We to number nine, consent agenda. Questions, comments? If not, looking for approval. So moved. Seconded. Okay. Uh we'll do the second from Williams and the first from Larson. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Passes unanimously. Item number 10, correspondence. Did we receive any correspondence? None. That was all correspondence received has been included in the packet. President Sanchez. Perfect. Thank you. Number 11. Now, uh student trustee reports. I'm going to ask uh Trustee Hopkins to begin with uh a report. I don't have much to report this month. I've been pretty busy with finals and graduation, but students at Cottage School went on a field trip to

007San Francisco to explore the Academy of Sciences Museum. They also went to the oldest fortune cookie company in the United States and learned a lot about the history of Chinatown. Thank you, Trusty Marcus. Yeah, I don't have too much either, but uh a lot of students around the county are pretty busy with AP tests. That's a a big thing. And then graduation is coming up, too. There's going to be a lot of those and those should be pretty cool. Thanks. Thanks for sharing. Moving along, we're in section 12 now. reports, discussion and presentations. And we will start with uh educators and community partners of the year for 2025. And for that one, we have uh Dr. Sabat as a presenter. Members of the board and members of the community is such this is one of

008our one of our favorite activities that we do every year. We get a we get an opportunity to reach out to find out uh from all of our amazing educators and community partners and uh different uh classified and certificated folks uh counselors as well administrators, managers. Uh we asked for nominations for educators and uh uh of the year and community members of the year and we have received uh hundreds of nominations this year and it makes we have a very we have a committee that goes through all of these different wonderful folks and reads their stories and we get to identify a few folks that we get to celebrate and bring before you today. And this year was, as it always is, very difficult for that committee to be able to come up with with

009these special folks. And I have to say that when I think about the how committed these folks are to our community, to our students, uh they really represent uh the heart and soul of a lot of the work we do in education. And they're so inspiring. The first person that we're going to be celebrating today is a teacher of the year. And um I got to work with Miss uh Brooker this year uh and getting to know her as one as as she is the adviser for the the Black Student Union at Peavey High School and also um she uh helped uh she was the person that really got not only Peavey High School but the entire county involved in a very special activity that I think many of you were able to to participate

010in which is the Ruby Bridges walk to school day which was absolutely amazing and I don't know if you got to see the photos if you weren't a part of those. I met Miss Brooker at the Black Rad graduation that we helped organize and uh she was she was there as a speaker and she her story is amazing. Miss Brooker is an education specialist with over 30 years of experience including 18 as a classroom teacher. She has ser served in diverse roles from para educator to union negotiator. She's collaborated with NASA and professional tutors of America. She's recognized by NASA, the Solano County Black Chamber and uh Sonoma State. Uh Miss Brooker now teaches a Pey High School where she advises uh the school's first black student union. And she refers to her students as

011brilliant scholars um who thrive through creative identity affirming projects. Uh she's known for her warmth and humor. She builds strong connections and is a champion uh that uh champions the power of educators as community bridges. I uh when when I saw the nomination and the selection of Miss Brooker, I I was just so inspired because I feel like everything she touches uh she brings joy and um and absolute beauty to everything that she's a part of. So, uh, I'd like to ask Andre Ortiz, who was a person who nominated Miss Brooker, to come on up and share a little bit about the reason why, uh, she was nominated for this award. Thank you, Dr. Ferris. Um, members of the board community, um, I just want to say a little bit about, um, Miss Mink Brooker.

012Um, I first met Miss Brooker at the beginning of last school year uh through my work um as student leadership and engagement coordinator. And one of our leadership groups is our countywide black student union whose main mission, one of the main missions is to uh unite all black student unions across the county. Um, as soon as I stepped into uh the her classroom, um, and the meeting that she was conducting, the BSU meeting, um, I could feel the strong connection that she had to her students, um, and the way that she really cared for them. Um, and the way that her students received the information and wanted to be in her class. Um, it's such a joy to go there. every time I I you know I I visit her during lunch there's such a

013big group of students that is there um because that is a place where they feel safe and Miss Brooker makes that happen. Um Miss Brooker is one of the most positive people that I have ever met in my life. Um and I truly truly appreciate that. Um because you know as we all know things in our world in our society can get very heavy. Um but no matter what it is, no matter what's going on with current events, no matter what the situation is, the challenge is um Miss Brooker has a wonderful way of seeing things through a positive light and she shares that with her students and I see her students absorbing that. Um and you know, as somebody that that grew up in a family of educators and being around schools all of

014the time, um Miss Brooker truly stands out as one of the best teachers I've ever seen. Um, and it's it's I mean look at all of you know her students, all of the support that she has here in this room. I mean that's a testament to the impact that she has on her community. And you know fair uh Dr. Sabah you know talked about the Ruby Bridges walk. Had it not been for her pioneering that event at Paharo Valley which draws hundreds of students every year by the way um we would not have had such a successful event at both SoCal and Santa Cruz High. So, she's truly creating reverberations throughout the county. So, thank you so much, Miss Brooker. We like to ask Miss Burker to please join me. So, Miss Burker, we'd like

015to present this award. It really is a small token of appreciation for all that you do for the for the students in in our community uh as Santa Cruz County Teacher of the Year. Wow. Um, I'm going to be short, I promise. To you, thank you all, each of you. I don't know you personally, but thank you very, very much from the depth of my heart. Dr. Sabah. The first time I met him, his first words were, "Oh, so your mink brooker Izzy speaks so highly of you." This was another student. I had no clue. Had no clue. But that's how I met this gentleman. And now that I look around and I see so many people who I've worked with, a couple of my students are here. The president of our Black Student Union

016is here. My BFF is here. My daughter is here. And there are so many educators who were here who helped me to be the person that I am. I am in a wonderful school district and yes, we've got some issues, but who doesn't? And my dad always taught me, either you're going to be part of the problem or part of the solution. And I'm just letting you guys know as much as possible, I'm going to always strive to be part of the solution. Many of you all don't know me, but I'm so touched by those of you who do know me, and you took time out to come here. Thank you, pastor. Thank you, Sister G. President of the teachers union. Thank you. I don't know all of you, but you need to know my

017heart right now is full. My cup runth over. And I'm dare gonna say everyone who is in here, I love you. Yes, I do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Picture. Oh, can we miss you? My people please come up. I know. It was a full room, but it wasn't standing. Wasn't standing for everything. I know. I know. Oh my god. Wow. She knows the whole crowd. She was being Yeah, she was being honest. The next ASBW. So this is a very special year and uh because we were we selected not one but two teachers of the year and Mr. Posit uh when we read their their uh nomination and also heard about about the impact that he's having at Scots Valley High School for students, it was it was absolutely inspiring.

018And when we reached out to the school, they just said absolutely he is one of the most amazing teachers they've ever seen. He began teaching in 1992 after working in the night vision goggle industry. He has taught physics and all levels of high school math in King City, Carmemell and Scots Valley. Since 2009, he's been at Scots Valley High teaching physics and international balorate math HL and serving as IB and WAS coordinator. His work has earned multiple honors, including the IB Educator of the Year, the California League of High Schools Educator of the Year, and the Scots Valley Chamber Educator of the Year in 2016. I'd like to invite a former winner of the educator of the year, Christy Danner, from Scots Valley High School, who I believe was counselor of the year one year.

019Um, let's give a round of applause for Christy Danner. Miss Danner was the one who nominated Mr. Mr. uh Posvit and uh would like to share a few words about about the nomination. I thank so nice to be here to um to recognize Mr. Pastit. That that's a terrible picture, John. Sorry. I don't know what you're thinking. Okay. Um, it's my great honor, and I say this with a deep mix of admiration, appreciation, and just a little heartbreak, to stand before you today to celebrate one of the finest educators not only in our district, but in all of Santa Cruz County, Mr. John Pastit. Uh, this year, John was named the Santa Cruz County Teacher of the Year, a title that is both incredibly welldeserved and frankly long overdue. But today, we also gather to

020recognize another milestone. John is retiring at the end of the school year. And while we celebrate all he has accomplished, we also acknowledge that SVHS simply won't be the same without him. John has been a part of our high school since 2009. And I think we might have started the same year. In those 15 remarkable years, he's left an indelible mark on our students, our staff, and our entire school community. Um, I actually had the entire staff help me write this. um this speech because and they all included a little a little piece of themselves into it. A brilliant mind in physics and math, John has helped students see the world through the lens of logic, curiosity, and wonder. He is without question one of the greatest teachers SVHs has ever had. He inspires students

021to take agency over their learning and has mentored not just students, but all of us, and I'm talking about from the whole staff, to be the best that we can be every day. While he's an exceptional teacher, John is so much more than that. He's our go-to problem solver. He's the only one that knows how to use a bell system, right, John? Our student data system guru, our IB leader, and yes, our fearless cast project wrangler. That's an IB joke. He is the reason many of us are still standing. Just ask the new IB teachers. Everything John touches curriculum systems was coordination just seems to work better. One of his colleagues called him an organizational genius. Another called him a renaissance man. And more than one person has called him high voltage. I don't know

022what that means. And if you've ever been in a meeting or a classroom with him, you know exactly why. John doesn't do anything halfway. He's allin. Whether it's helping a colleague troubleshoot a spreadsheet at 7:00 a.m. or biking to school in the rain or gently guiding students through complex cast projects with patience and insight, he's humble, kind, witty, and wise, a consmate professional with a keen sense of humor and a generous spirit. His compassion s shines in every interaction. His dedication and care for students and colleagues is second to none. We all count on him every day. One colleague said, "John is the reason I've made it through the year." Another said, "He is irreplaceable." And another summed it up beautifully. SVHs will not be the same without you. Even our superintendent, Tanya Krauss, said,

023I quote, "John is one of the best teachers I've observed in my 27 years in education." That says it all, right? John, your impact goes far beyond lesson plans, data systems, cast reflections. You've helped shape a school culture that values excellence, thoughtfulness, and heart. You've set a high bar, not just as an educator, but as a human being. As you head into this next chapter, know that you leave behind a legacy that will live on in every student, including my own son, actually, who you've taught, every teacher you've mentored, and every one of us who's had the privilege of working beside you. But from from all of us at SVHS and across the county, thank you for everything. We will miss your brilliance, your dry humor, your calm presence, your unmatched professionalism, but most of

024all, we'll miss you. Thank you, Mr. Posit. And then I'm going to take it away so you can say a few words. Well, thanks. I don't don't know what to say about about all that. Um, but thank you much. I'm really honored to to get this award. I certainly wasn't expecting to either. Uh, I wish I could match Miss Brooker's speech. There's there's no way I can't do it. And I wish I'd send a better picture. But anyhow, thank you a whole lot. I really do appreciate it. You know, that's uh I've gotten a few awards over the years, but I think this is probably the the peak of all the awards I've gotten and all the tributes that the staff wrote for me. Well, I'm surprised. Thank you much. We got a picture Oh,

025she's stepped up. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. She's on her right. Okay. Just going to give uh Sylvia a moment to get back in. Yeah. building. I know. Wow. The tension. All right. So, uh when sometimes when we get these nominations, we get lots of nominations for some folks from multiple folks. And this year we, uh, Sylvia Alba got lots of nominations from from from several folks. And I was really touched when the selection committee selected her because I've gone to work I when I started as an educator as an instructional aid, Sylvia Alba was already working as a migrant education teacher in PVSUSD. So, I've known her for over 33 years. And she began her career as an instructional as a bilingual aid in 1985 and um and really has dedicated her life as

026an educator to the migrant education program. She's worked at uh at Paharo School before it was Baharo Middle School, Watsonville High, which was her alma mater, and she co coordinated the outside work experience program. And I would say that of the thousands of thousands of students that worked in migrant education, all those students knew about Celia because she was the one that could help them um get the work permits, get the job, and would support them as as they were uh doing that that those jobs during high school. She organizes college visits, cultural trips, collaborates with counselors to support migrant students and English language learners um and helping them to achieve success. She enjoys hiking and traveling with her husband and her three children, all of all of whom are Watsonville High School graduates. Uh,

027Sylvia is somebody who um has so much heart um for our migrant students and I have to say um watching her uh the the the kindness and the support that she offers students whether it's helping them with work permits whether it's helping them with thinking about their career plans or just being a an an ear for them as they uh share about the challenges that they're facing. Sylvia Alva has been there and has dedicated her life to supporting these students. It's really an honor to present the counselor of the year award which includes migrant uh resource teachers like Sylvia Alva uh with this award. So please give a round of applause for Celia Alva before you say a few words. So, I'm I forgot to do the official part of this, which is on behalf

028of the county board of education and the county office of education, we'd like to present this award to you for your years of service and dedication to the students of our community. Congratulations, Celia. Thank you. Um, so I did have something written up of course I left it in my purse. So I will try and follow the two excellent um presenters that were here earlier. Um so first of all I really want to thank um the board um nominate you know that I my um co-workers my colleagues at Watsonville High School that nominated me and the selection from the board. Um I really appreciate this recognition. Um yesterday I was a counsel at a counselor meeting and I I you know I mentioned that every single counselor that was in that meeting deserved this award.

029Um everybody that works with students um you know we all put in 200%. And we we don't do it for the money we do it for the passion of of working with with the students. Um I have a lot of people to thank. Um but I I would say one of the people that really stands out and the reason that I'm where I am right now is um Dr. Pon Nava. He was a migrant director when I started working at Pearl School, which was formerly a K8 school. and he encouraged me to apply to my grenade. Um when I was in the the classroom as a bilingual ed because coming back to my hometown Watsonville, I was like what am I gonna do? Um and he encouraged me. I got in working with migrant education.

030He actually um he said I'm sending you transferring you to Watsonville High School. And I did not want to go to Watsonville High School. Um I loved Watimo High School but at that time it was like oh I I I cannot go loved it. I wholly really appreciate that he did that. And then eventually Mr. Dr. Ferris Sabal was the director of migrant education. Um I did meet him actually first when he worked for migrant as a pupil. Yeah. As a instruction. Yeah. Instruction. And um oh I always remember when Rachel who's who's here she was months old um Ferris and students were at my house because we would do fundraisers and we had this banner uh in my driveway and they were we were all painting. I don't know if you remember that. So,

031there's been a lot of really good memories with my good education, all the people that have worked that I have worked with, Watsonville High School counselors. Um, you know, I'm not going to say everybody's name, but thank you so much. And I greatly appreciate everything, my family for always being there. Um, I have always appreciated my husband because I have dragged him on many field trips, overnight field trips. I don't know if he remembers, but Rachel and and my our son, I think Rachel might have been four and Jonathan was like two and I needed a driver. It's like, "Honey, you're going with me." So, we drove the students down to LA on a field trip. So, thank you. Love you. Thank you everybody. The people really need to think of the students. All right.

032So, we're going to uh present the award to the community partner of the year. And every year we identify an organization with that really shares our mission to serve students and to advocate on their behalf. And it's funny because I happened to introduce them uh today at at when they presented at at Sunrise Rotary, Santa Cruz Rotary and and they did an outstanding job there. So XA Academy is an amazing organization. It's a nonprofit that was uh founded by Tim Sylvester and Barbara Meister and um they started working on bringing math experiences and math learning to students with math circles and they brought the idea from from from uh from Silicon Valley's math circles and um they started hosting sessions to inspire students to uh develop and expand and really learn and have fun with

033math and Um and then they uh uh the academy also held six uh Julia Robinson math festivals, hosted AMC8 and Math Kangaroo competitions and um they helped eight students reach the national uh math camps. Now during the pandemic they launched a robotics team from their garage and I think this was because they were looking for ways for uh to help their son keep keep engaged and and excited about about school and learning and eventually uh formed a team and u started learning about uh mate ROV which the underwater competitions for robotics. We ended up partnering together recently starting a couple of years ago and and um and X Academy has expanded their reach across the county. Um there's over 140 students from 15 schools that are participating and learning about robotics. Um and three of

034the teams qualified uh for the uh for the world championship last year. The Heesus Robotics team, which is part of X Academy, as you remember, placed third in the World Championships for Mate Robotics. And um and this year, another team is headed over uh to Michigan to Lake Michigan uh in June to compete and and they're aiming for gold this time. Uh, so please, uh, I'd like to, they were, um, actually nominated by Kate Fels, who is, um, from PBSD and, um, and I'd love for Kate. Is Kate here? Oh, Jason is that's right. Sorry, got confused. So, she she they were nominated by Kate Fields, but it was actually Jason who's going to share a little bit. And Jason is away um with family right now, but uh he was he wanted to zoom

035in and say share a few words about uh about X Academy and and and the amazing work that they're doing. Thank you, Paris. Hello, everyone. Uh trustees, community uh and uh administrators at Santa Cruz County Office of Education. Uh again, I apologize for not being there in person. I would love to be, but very excited to uh share the awards. uh for the X Academy. Uh you may not know this, but we have a hundreds of high school students who have the title of CEO, CTO, CFO, and software engineers with company names like Barry Botics, Astesus, and Angry Otter. Thanks to the X Academy, these young engineers are not just role playing. They're building real solutions, taking real risks, and learn the most valuable lesson any tech leader can. How to learn from failure. from

036motors not working to water getting in their underwater robots performing tasks that are done on a regular basis to study our own Monterey Bay. That kind of authentic hands-on experience doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of partnerships like the one we have with X Academy. It's an honor to recognize X Academy as our Santa Cruz County Office of Education's partner of the year. Starting a small circle for math enthusiasts like their son and then a small robotics club. Through our ongoing partnership, this has grown exponentially. X Academy has been more than a collaborator. They've been a driving force in building programs where students lead, create, and persist. Their support has helped us launch and sustain initiatives focused on stamina, creativity, and relevance in learning. From the work in math circles that deepen understanding and

037joy in mathematics to their innovative support of math and computational thinking, their impact is wide and deeply felt. A standout example of their commitment is the growth of our mate robotics club. Over the past two years, these clubs have reached more than 150 students in basically every high school in our county, giving them the tools and the trust to design, build, and compete with underwater robots. And just this year, X Academy helped take it a step further, joining forces with local a tech company FarmNG to teach students how to build an agricultural robot, connecting students directly with industry, purpose, and the future of sustainable technology. Exit Academy doesn't just support programs, they nurture students agency, helping them fail forward, dream big and build skills that stick, plus building students social opportunities. For many students have

038sometimes find it difficult to find ways to engage in school extracurricular activities. These are the students that can come to these activities and create social engagement strategies for them. Uh so I'm it's a pleasure to celebrate X Academy today. And I do want to uh speak. Kate Fe creels as Ferris mentioned is a teacher on special assignment for technology at Caro Valley Unified School District. Actually uh nominated X Academy for this award. So uh Kate has a small little token of of content for you to hear. Xacademy does amazing things. They help kids think differently and realize their potential by hosting math circles. They bring together kids from all over Santa Cruz and Monterey counties to foster a love for mathematics through collaborative problem solving and discussion. With the robotics program, they prepare teams of

039students to compete in worldclass competitions and they dominate. Most impressively, they bring these opportunities communities that have historically been underrepresented in the fields of mathematics and robotics. They raise money to provide scholarships for their programs and they come out to community events to demonstrate the robotics and get them in the hands of our students. Barbara Meister and Tim Sylvester have volunteered at several events that I attended. Kate in Watsonville this year, setting up robotic arenas and even swimming pools to demonstrate both the RO and underwater robotics their teams work with. Their dedication is remarkable and we are so fortunate to have them as a community partner. I'm so thrilled. Please join us all in celebrating X Academy and thanking them for their vision, dedication, and unwavering partnership to help mold our future engineers, innovators, and

040inventors of Santa Cruz County. We are deeply grateful and truly excited for what's ahead. Congratulations. I'd like to ask Tim and Barbara to join me. And by the way, this is one of the company's shirts I'm wearing. So, I had to just wear this robotics fastest shirt. It's awesome. So on behalf of the county board of education and the county house of education, we'd like to present this award to X Academy as partner of the year for all that you have done for our community and our students. Congratulations. I get the first word. Leave Tim to get the last word because this whole idea was his crazy idea to begin with. I just came along for the ride and really got sucked right in. But it's been a real joy. What I'd like to do,

041um, well, one, just in acknowledgement of of this partnership, what I'd like to do is share with you, you know, we couldn't do this without the support of other parent mentors, only a few of who are here tonight. Um, and what I want to share with you a quote from a student. So, we were also asked um by Kate's colleagues at the Parro Valley School District to work with them this se last semester to help re uh rei ignite their afterchool robotics teams. They used to compete in the competition too and this year there were three of their teams, one from each high school competing. And at Parro Valley um high and I look forward to meeting more of of that team um that we actually went into the classroom on Tuesday and Thursday, a

042freshman introduction to engineering class uh and Tim Madson who is a great friend of of ours. And when Sarah Blanchet, the teacher, asked them for their sort of the how do how's this experience for you? What really stood out for you? This one student said, "What stood out for her was when I when I went, if I'm just going to read her her statement, I was asked to make a t-shirt design for the team. I was really nervous at first because no one really asked me to do such a thing. And I'm normally the kind of person that puts myself down easily. But when Tim asked me to make a t-shirt design, I couldn't say no. So it was a wonderful experience that I think I really that I think really built my confidence because

043as a person who loves to draw I always think I wouldn't be well suited to do anything that involved art or to be creative which was honestly a really cool thing for me to have had that and I thank Tim for that opportunity and I share that with you because that is just one little example of what this program is really about. So Tim's all about the tech side of thing. I'm all about the human development um the development of of of kids and their potential and when we bring in adult mentors and have even just a very little simple power experience we we don't even know what impact we're having on these students and so I share that quote just as as evidence of of the ways that you know one small interaction between

044an adult and a student uh what that can do for them and so um I thank you for this partnership it's been mutually rewarding and uh looking forward to to doing more. Um, thank you. I'm I'm humbled. Um, the the last two years of partnering with the COE has been uh really inspirational. Um, like we said, we started out with 10 kids in our driveway for the robotics program and 140 50 kids today. And um one thing Ferris didn't mention was that a year ago Jason and Ferris talked me into being a teacher at Sequoia High School. Um and um that's Wednesday morning. That's the my favorite part of the whole week is hanging out with the kids at Sequoia High School. Um and in the last two years I've met so many people from

045the COE, the teachers, the students, the people in the community. It's it's been very um inspiring. and um um I just really appreciate everything you've done for us and gotten so I've gotten so much out of the program. Um, and it's amazing to watch kids like my favorite example, Bennett, who Bennett three years ago, he's very quiet kid, came uh he was recruited by a friend of his and he brought his even quieter dad and they have been there every weekend for the last three years. And Bennett is an amazing engineer and um I work at Joby and look forward to the day he comes to work at Joby with us. um he's going to go off to Germany to uh do aerospace engineering. But um uh there's just so many other stories like Bennett

046since like watching these kids grow become engineers and um it's rewarding to give them that opportunity and and again the support from the COE and Jason and Ferris is just unbelievable. Thank you. want to invite up our mentors and students. Bla1, Kurt, Josh, you two. Alicia, you too. Have to block out the boards. Okay, one, two, three, closer. Got it. All right. So, moving on uh to our classified employee of the year. We have um somebody who we've gotten to work with as well here at the county office of education, Jessica Serna Castanella. She is a first generation college graduate and a former English language learner who brings prof uh personal and professional commitment to supporting all students, especially bilingual and newcomer youth. For the past six years, she has served uh the Santa Cruz

047City Schools in roles focusing on family engagement, student wellness, and culturally rooted programs like Hoving Noble. She is a Santa Cruz uh native. She continues to champion equity and access for multilingual families inspired by her own family and community. And we've gone to work with Jessica in different capacities supporting our family engagement program. And um I one time I uh she was helping out at Harbor High School and um we had this event and they we decided um since we didn't have as this it was all about going to college and we had some students that were there completing Saturday school and uh Jessica brought the students in um and they weren't as excited about being a part of a workshop as you'd imagine if since since they weren't there for that reason but the

048respect um they had for her and that that was shown between Jessica and students. Um, and just that the care that she showed those students and um, and and was just you could just see how much she cares and how much she supports students at the schools and really plays so many wears so many different hats in her support of students. And I'm going to ask um, Harbor High School principal Amariah Hernandez to please join me to say a few words. and um uh Amariah and um Chris Monroe the superintendent were the the ones who nominated uh Jessica. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Spock. Yeah. Um it is a huge honor to be here talking about Jessica this evening. As a former teacher and now principal, Jessica is the dream student, right? She is the

049one who went through Santa Cruz City Schools homegrown kid who now comes back every single day and gives to her community. And I think that is why we are all in this field. That's why we're in education to help foster and bring that to life. And when I see Jessica in the front office at Harbor High every morning when I walk in, I just it's sunshine for me because it reminds me of every day why I do this job. She is the most incredible young woman. She has worked at Daviega Elementary, Brans of 40 Middle School, and now is at Harbor High. We got to steal her over this year. Um, she serves our most at risk community. She serves our multilingual students and our title one students, many in the same, but also a

050high focus on our newcomer students. At Harbor, we have a large number of newcomer students and every single morning, every single day, our office is just full of kids coming in to connect with an adult, and that adult is Jessica. She is a wealth of knowledge and resources. She models respect. She cares about the students. She listens to them. She seeks support for them. She takes them by the hand, 17-year-olds, and walks them back to English class and says, "This is where we're going to sit today, and I'll stay in here with you." She does all of these incredible things with kindness, with love, but also with high expectations. She wants them to do well. They know she wants them to do well and she holds the bar. She is the model and it is

051incredible working with her and it's been incredible to watch her grow up. And I'm very excited because she also has just started becoming or making the move to become a math teacher and we are very excited for that transition when it will happen. and we know where she'll have a job. So, I it is just such an honor to be here with Jessica and her family tonight. This incredible young woman, Jessica Sernaka, please join me. Jessica, on behalf of the County Board of Education and the County Office of Education, I'd like to present this award as the classified staff member of the year for the county of Santa Cruz. Thank you for all you do for our students and our community. Tell me about your Thank you. I'm speechless. I wasn't expecting this. Um I

052want to start off with Ferris. He scared me when I got that text that he said, "Please call me." Um so many things in my head. I was just like, "Oh no, I missed an event. What happened?" So when I talked with him, he told me what that I won this nomination. So, I was relieved, but um also really surprised. I wasn't expecting this. Um and I want to say thank you to my parents, my family, my neighbor that's here, my everybody that's here, everybody I work with. Um especially the families and the kids. Everything I do is for them. Um and like uh Amariah said, everything that we do every day, that's what I do. You know, they're always there with me. And that's um from going from my moves from elementary, middle school,

053and high school. This is the group that I like the most. So, this is I love going to work every day. I'm happy because I'm going to the beach with the newcomers tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Um, and I'm just really grateful for the community for working with the COE at events. I'm getting to meet Dr. Sabah and then the rest of the team. Um, I'm really grateful for everything and um that I'm back working at my schools because I went to those schools as well. Um, and thank you for to Miss Monroe and Amariah who nominated me as well. Well, thank you. Can we have Jessica's family join us for a photo, please? No worries. Wow. And last and certainly not least, we are going to be celebrating Amy Hendrick Farre. Amy as

054our as our administrator manager of the year. Amy is the food and nutrition director for Santa Cruz City Schools and she has been working in school food services for over 29 years. She has transformed nutrition programs in three districts and founded the Central Coast Purchasers Cooperative in 2006, which now serves 22 districts and over a 100,000 students with healthier local foods. She's known for her leadership and innovation. She's a trusted advocate for sustainable school nutrition and she enjoys time with her family outside of work. And I have to say that I've had the opportunity to to our li you know our work uh lives connected in in a variety of different projects. And Amy is just she brings so much energy and so much passion to the work. Um and uh cares so much about

055students and and she she is so focused on figuring out creative ways with the limited resources that we get from from the state and the and and the federal government to be able to to offer nutritious options for for for our young people. And um she also makes the most amazing cookies. I'd like to ask Leanne Reyes to join me and also Heather Thompson to join me here um and uh and to speak on behalf of uh of Amy. Good evening everyone and welcome. It is my distinct pleasure. I will try not to cry. Amy's a very good close personal friend of mine also on top of being the first person I met when I got into education. So, it has a very special place for me to have this honor. Um, as Ferris mentioned,

056Amy has had over 29 years of dedicated service uh for nutrition services and education. Amy uh exemplifies what it means to have what's called the servant's heart. As the director of food and nutrition services for Santa Cruz City Schools, Amy has profoundly transformed school nutrition throughout her innovative, equitydriven, and community centered leadership. Amy is widely recognized for designing and implementing cutting edge nutrition initiatives that go far beyond traditional food service. She does blender bikes. Who would think you could make a smoothie by riding a bike and take off a few pounds at the same time? She's introduced farmers markets run by our students through a community-f funed grant. She launched a collaborative with our life lab and live oak school district which resulted in having hired registered dietricians. Dietricians I can't talk today. Dieticians and

057also my favorite thing the Charlie cart. You probably don't know what that is but it's actual a mobile teaching kitchen for classroom cooking and for food literacy. So you can just push right into the classroom with that. She's secured two rounds of farm-toschool grants which totals over $200,000 which brings fresh and oftentimes organic local produce to the schools while supporting nutrition education and harvest of the month. I'm going to tag team with Heather for a minute. Amy also established a California grass-fed beef program where we source high quality meat uh from the central valley within 400 miles. um under her leadership, she also prepared for changes in the federal standards regarding nutrition and uh two years before she needed to do so, she uh made sure that the menus consisted of whole grain foods and

058uh reduced sodium and she did this two years ahead of schedule. So, bravo for initiative. Um, also her team achieved a 43% uh reduction in added sugar in elementary school meals from a real variety of ways. Very solution focused, Amy. And um, Santa Cruz City School District has also been recognized in five focus areas as America's healthiest school uh, by the Alliance of Healthier Generations. Very impressive. So, Ferris did mention briefly about Amy's involvement in the 2005 launching of the Central Coast Purchasers Co-op. And just to add a little more to that, it helps facilitate the bulk purchasing of everything from milk to cleaning supplies. It also then increases overall cost efficiency um and access to local produce from our local area. Amy is equally passionate about staff development and so social emotional well-being. Um

059this past summer she planned, organized, and recruited uh many of her fellow colleagues for a fiveday professional development workshop where they not only learned new menu items um incorporating bulk grains, couscous was one of the things I remember uh and also worked hard at elevating food quality across districts. And my favorite part of the story is they got to eat what they cooked. So, they had new breakfast items, new um menu items with regards to lunch around salads and healthy sandwiches. Oh, I'm not done. Sorry. I have a tissue for you. Maybe I need to get over it. Also as chair of her the Santa Cruz City School District wellness policy committee, Amy continues to advocate for whole child approach integrating mental, emotional and nutritional well-being. She expanded the department from about 22 staff to

060about 50. uh in four years she also hired a nutrition coordinator who really supports the special dietary needs of students and addresses also scratch cooking. Uh and then under the universal free meals, uh student participation has doubled and that means a lot more people are not dealing with um uh insecurity around foods. Um and the department has been maintaining a positive fund balance year overyear. That's super important. Where's Jimmy? Right, Jimmy? Super important. Okay. So, um, in conclusion, uh, Amy ensures that no student or family is left behind. She definitely has a heart for community support, and that's why in the beginning I said she's what we would really refer to as someone who has a servants's heart. Um, she coordinates Calresh outreach, supports Second Harvest Food Bank, uh, distribution sites, promotes smarter lunchroom, the

061movement for that. Um, she somehow still finds time to cater Santa Cruz City Schools board meetings. She still sometimes managed to pull off student barbecues at the high school, like a real barbecue. And somehow she manages to cater some of our COE meetings with the legendary breakfast burritos and of course the cookies. Right. That was supposed to be group the cookies. Anyway, lastly, go ahead. you bring and the the last couple sentences, Amy Hedrik Farre is a visionary leader, a nutrition equity advocate, and a beloved community servant. Her tireless efforts have elevated not only the meals served in schools, but the overall wellness for students, families, and education educators. Thank you. Please give it up for Amy Hendrickk Bar. So on on behalf of the county board of education and the county office of education,

062we'd like to present this award to Amy Hendrickk Far. Uh you know, and I'm going to she's not only administrator manager of the year. I'm going to I'm going to steal this. champion of student nutrition, wellness, and equity. Let's give it up for Amy, please. So, normally I am the chief bottle washer and not a public speaker. So, um I apologize. Um I just want to say thank you and I'm going try to keep it together. Um when I started my career in food services, I had no idea that it would lead me to where I am today. And um actually Sue Roth was there from the beginning um back in Scots Valley when I started oh so long ago. Um and and I can't even imagine that I am here standing in front of

063all of you getting this award. It's very humbling and very honoring and um all of those wonderful things that that they all shared. Um, some of them I actually was like, "Wow, I did that." Um, but honestly, I could not do them without the team of men and women that work so hard and so thanklessly, um, in our departments, not only in Santa Christie schools, but in food services across our county. And so, um, I honestly am accepting this award and I'm very honored, but I am accepting it on their behalf. Thank you. facing. Oh gosh. Take your glasses off. My glasses are off. Give him your phone. He'll get pictures. Okay, we got a lot of phones, so Catherine Frost, please come into the group. I got you right here. I'm so proud of

064you. I'll take the video still on the video. This will be this will be the one. Wait. Are we out? So again, board, thank you so much for for uh allowing us to make this an important part and such a such a wonderful celebration for these amazing folks and this amazing community. Thank you so much. Yeah, let's do one more round of applause for our educators and community headers. You really do make our schools what they are and I want to personally thank each and every single one of you and everybody that uh puts their time and effort into investing in our students future. Thank you. Thank you for that. All right, moving along. We have item 12.2, the Santa Cruz COE Youthled Leadership Alliance presentation. And for this one, I believe uh Nick Andres

065will be leading. Thank you, President Sanchez. And I'm going to introduce the stars of our show in just a minute here, but wanted to share a couple words. And also, you know, every year we're like, what could follow the educator of the year awards? there's what what could we possibly do that could that could stand up to that and you know there is one thing and it's the presentation that you're about to experience which is the youthled leadership alliance and as as most of us know the youthled leadership alliance was founded in 2020 under the vision of superintendent Sabba and your board to create platforms for student voice and inclusivity for students across high schools across Santa Cruz County now it includes seven topically focused groups you're seeing students from many of those groups here

066tonight and we are going to in this presentation, hear a little bit about what each of these groups have been up to this year, which has been an incredible year for the Youthled Leadership Alliance, including um earning the Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association, as we know, as well as the United Way of Santa Cruz County partner of the year award just last month. So, I'm now going to turn it over and it is really my privilege to introduce Andre Ortiz, our student leadership and engagement coordinator, who for the past two years has done an outstanding job of facilitating the youthled leadership alliance um and ensuring that it's accessible to students across our community. Andreas, um thank you, Nick. Uh thank you, Dr. Sabah, members of the board. Great to see you

067again. Um and uh yes, so as Nick said, uh we're going to hear from many students of our youthled leadership alliance. Um I'm not going to list all seven of the groups because we're going to um hear a lot about each group as we go along. Um but I did want to um take a quick moment to just acknowledge our group facilitators, many of whom, not all of whom um but many of whom are in the room with us. And they do they really are like the glue that um holds these programs together. They work so tirelessly every single week and they often work on top of other responsibilities, other jobs that they have um within and without outside of our organization. So if you are a YLA facilitator or co-f facilitator, can you please

068stand? Um yeah, I I couldn't do this work without them. Um so uh yes before I bring up our first group um I just wanted to say so we have many of our students from our groups here this evening um we also have a lot of students that couldn't join us this evening because they're all dealing with uh finals um but for those that couldn't be here um they have sent in videos and so I've embedded those in the um in the slide deck there so when we get to those we'll hear from them digitally um but yeah all right so um with that let's go ahead and jump into our First one, um, I'm going to invite up a representative for our youth artist taking action group, which is co-f facilitated by myself and

069Audrey Seroda. Um, and we are going to hear first from uh, Rammon Kimeo Era. Um, and then we're going to hear digitally for a brief moment from uh, Stella Taylor and Alexa from uh, PCS. Um, Ramon, you want to join me? Hi, good evening everybody. Uh I am Ram Narraa. I'm a senior at Aptas High School and I'm part of youth artist taking action or YATA. Um yeah I guess the next slide. Yeah. So we've been working on many activities during the year from like art um art workshops and big tables at events. I think it's the community what was the name of like did uh community celebration. Community celebration. Okay. At the uh community center. And then we've also been working on this mural for Santa Cruz County, just kind of representing all Santa

070Cruz County. It's actually below you right now in the basement. We're been working on it right now. You might see it if you go out through there. Uh we've been just kind of it's in progress, but we're hoping to work on it tomorrow and like a few next times this month. Um yeah, we're trying to hear some of our designs just kind of what the ideation and stuff. We're trying to connect like different ideas of like what Santa Cruz County is just kind of like minding like Watsville and the ocean and all like the nature and all of the things and kind of just landed on the final design that we're working on downstairs. And yeah, so um next slide. Here's some of our other members from you sort of seeking action. Yes. There we

071go. And for youth artists taking action I'm Stella and we're a part of it stands for youth artist taking action. Right now, we're working on a mural um celebrating Santa Cruz. We put together all our ideas about what the Santa Cruz County meant um all places in Santa Cruz like Watsonville, Scots Valley, and well, Santa Cruz. And so we piled the ideas together and we uh combined them to make a scene worthy of Santa Cruz. [Music] Well, the lighthouse in Santa Cruz was our main inspiration since that's like a big part of Santa Cruz and that was a common idea in a few of our designs. So, we decided to include it on we live near the Santa Cruz Mountains which has a lot of trees. So, we like see trees around us so we

072have to include it in our mural. The um Santa Cruz community is full of bright ideas and inspirations and I feel like the sun would represent that. [Music] Um, I would say art is important to students because it allows us to be creative and express our opinions in a stylized format that we prefer. Thank you. Okay, so our making this mural was not a easy just smooth path. Definitely a lot of challenges. In fact, at first we were originally going to draw this idea or paint this idea on the electrical boxes outside the COE, but PG&E was like, you can't do that. So then we were going to paint the outside the COE on the walls, but then we learned that they're going to paint over those walls in a few months or I think

073and so we couldn't do it there. So finally we um were able to secure spot put um these wooden panels as you seen earlier and we're going to put these inside the COE so you all can enjoy it when you're here. And sorry I just said my notes here. Um, and yeah, I mean there's a lot of reversions. There's like for designs we've been combining and stuff. So, it's it's definitely not been an easy process, but I mean, we're getting there. And yeah, um, guess the next slide. Uh, this is our muralist who's been helping us, Jessica Carrasco. She's um exper member I think for Baj Valley Unified School District and she's been the one who's helping us kind of organize and plan this mural and so yeah the future of Yata. So what I'm

074graduating this year so I won't be ina anymore unfortunately but I've learned a lot. I've learned about just how important it is to kind of work with a community and like be part of it and kind of just be next to people in the community. Just how like the fulfillment that brings and how it's an essential part that we need to do. Also how like art is really important just to kind of unify people as well in the community like on our like art booths that we had at um events like the um you'll hear about later but the youth environmental um summit or youth for environmental action summit we like a lot of people would just come there because they love doing art. It's like something that's very I guess human that I think

075is a great unification for a community. And I mean I've also learned a lot just about public speaking because I've been like going to events like this also at the youth and adult partnership summit that I went with and to present um while LA and Yata and all those groups and where I've just been I wasn't much of a public speaker before and now I've been able to develop that skill a lot and yeah I've just learned a lot just about also project management with all these murals and stuff we've been doing. It's it's not an easy task to just say like, oh, we're just going to do. No, you have to plan now all the steps and all the things you're going to do, all the materials, time periods, all the things like that.

076So I I think I've definitely learned a lot about that in my three years in YATA and um now and now that I'm graduating like I guess but what I hope for YATA is that they'll be able to do even more bigger murals, more prominent locations at activities and events that can even connect even like more with the community and like be an impact. Yeah, that that's I hope that we can like really use this group to take action with art. Um, and yeah, I think that just some the like I guess on a final note, I really want to highlight the importance of our education just because art is a very just important thing for anybody, for students, for humans, for all of us. And it's just you you can't have an in a

077school environment, an education environment without or it's kind of a something a glue that kind of ties all the things together and it's an important part just to holistically develop all your ideas to express yourself to um express who you are, your humanity just it's something really important that I think we undervalue like I mean something that I been happening recently is in PSD they're at least at my school they're trying to cut a lot of the art classes and stuff like cutting seventh period and stuff. I don't know if it's not next year but the following year they're and with cutting period they're going to probably fire many of the art teachers as they're being slipped earlier this year but I mean that didn't go out but it it likely will happen next year

078and also CTE classes but it just art programs are often targets for the first ones to get cut when time for budget cut comes. So, it's something that I think is very important in our county that we value how important art is for what we are as a district as education. Art is an essential part of education. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ramon. Um so for our next presentation um I'm actually gonna um take the lead on this one. So I want to talk a little bit about our youth mental health leadership council group. Um now this group was started um a couple of years ago um with the help of a grant between uh the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Monarch Services. Um and the grant ran out at the

079end of last school year. Um and so Monarch tried their best to keep it going um because you know on both sides we really you know care about this issue and we want to provide this um this outl this outlet and this uh leadership group to our students. Um but halfway through the school year um it became clear to them that they no longer had the capacity to keep it going. Um and we did have a stu we had a few students that were regularly coming to meetings. Um, and so the other two kind of dropped off when we lost our facilitator. But then we did have one student, Natalie Sto, who I met um during our student trustee academy um last summer. Um, a wonderful student. She attends St. Francis um uh St. Francis

080Private School and she joined the group because she recognized that at her site there were um there weren't as many resources um to support students who are dealing with uh mental health issues and who are experiencing mental health crisis. Um and uh they didn't have the structures there and um you know she said that that they didn't have the personnel that was trained um to to deal with that. they they were dealing with it as best they could, kind of peace meal with teachers that were willing to take it on and open up their classrooms. Um, but she wanted uh to join the group to advocate for uh for that cause. Um so in March um we had the opportunity to um have her join the youth panel at the Celiano Symposium. Um and so

081I prepared her um to be on the panel. Um we went over uh the presentation. Um, we did that in um in partnership with United Way as well because several of their uh Hovindosano students were a part of that panel as well. Um, let's see here. Oops, wrong way. And so, uh, for if you look at these pictures, so Natalie is the student all the way to the right there. Um, and she did a terrific job. Um, I spoke briefly, um, on on another part of the panel. Um, and for me being up there as an experienced adult, um, it it is kind of an intimidating environment. Um, but Natalie took it in stride and and handled it and she she did it very well. Um, so I'm going to play a video. Um, and

082then this is a video that Natalie sent in talking about her experience and and um, talking about why she joined uh, Youth Mental Health Leadership Council. I'm an 11th grader at St. college preparatory high school and my passion and mental health from personal experience with me and my peers mental health being within my school system which would ultimately drive me to ensure youth that youth voice is being heard and representative of mental It's important that we prioritize students mental health as depression and suicide rates increase among teens. However, in general, mental health should always be a main concern in order to support you through this developmental stage in their lives where they are finding their identity and are more emotions. In school, students struggle with the stigma surrounding mental health, feeling ashamed, and begin to

083form this mentality that there is something wrong with them. Being trapped in this mental turmoil, many keep these feelings to themselves and hide it from their agere. to reach out as adults. Consistent effort in forming a healthy bond with establishments. Asking questions like how are you feeling and providing a welcoming environment can build a sense of trust and vulnerability. Fre is a great way to show your care and empathy for their feelings. You should feel heard and understood, not ignored and shut down. No matter what, always make the effort to show respect and tenderness to not just symptoms or serious. I would have the opportunity to speak at the symposium as a member of the panel. It was an amazing opportunity for me to be representative on youth voice with so many other inspirational speakers.

084However, despite being hundreds of administers, advocates, teachers, etc. who were in support of improving the mental health of students, I found the audience rights of mental health. A symposium to address mental health crisis felt more like a forum protest in preposium. I would Andreas Ortiz on answering questions I'd be during our presentation ideas and forming an ide heard or struggle to get my point across. Being a youth advocate, I'm always going to come across a variety of audiences with different views and responses. So, it's important I straightforward and passionate in what I want to say while also being open to a variety of perspectives by the audience. This experience would expose me to a variety of organizations and programs who help to support me in my health, specifically the issue of Currently working with the

085anti vaping and anti group program. I hope to bring my new knowledge and experience into next year's symposium and be a consistent advocate for youth addressing the societal issues. Thank you for your time and I'm very grateful that I was given the opportunity to speak to you guys even though Um there we go. Um now before we move on to our next leadership group, I just wanted to um underscore um that she's now working with our tupe program. Um so at the end of the Calciano Symposium, as pretty much as soon as we got off stage, she um like tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Andres, um are there any more speaking opportunities like this?" Um, and I immediately referred her to Heather Thompson. Um, and so she's been working with Heather um,

086and and the Tupe program and and their work over there um, for the past couple months now. Um, so I look forward to working with her again next year. And then in terms of the uh, structure of the group, so you know, we've had several challenges. Um, you know, every year we get a lot of interest about this group, but that stigma um is always there. Um I think both with adults but really with the students you know they they know they see these things happening among themselves among their peers um but but there is that stigma that still exists. So um looking forward to next year uh an amazing partner has um has emerged in United Way um and a lot of the work that they're doing with Hovvenos. Um, right now we're in

087the preliminary stages of uh planning and and creating a proposal um to partner together to extend some of their work further north and then broaden it out um where it exists uh in South County and Watsonville as well. Um and so through that partnership, we're hoping to find uh not just a facilitator um but uh to implement a strong structure that will uh sustain the group uh for many years to come. So th those are our next steps as it uh as it pertains to youth mental health leadership council. And so for our next group um our next group so this group uh is very much in its infancy and so uh you know while LA you know we're always trying new things and we're always responding to what students um you know what they

088want to do. Um so this year uh early in the fall it came to our attention that um you know there might be a need for uh a leadership group that had to do with um the ever evolving technology and uh artificial intelligence um that we're you know constantly being bombarded with right and and teachers and educators and students even are grappling with the question of you know how do we use these tools in the classroom and how are they going to fit in at school on campus and within and education policy. Um so uh with the partnership of uh Stephanie Sumarna who I'm going to invite up to the podium uh to join me. Um we created youth empowerment through technology and innovation or Yeti. Um so this was a pilot year and so

089uh Stephanie is going to join me and talk a little bit more about how it went. Do you want me to flip for you? Sure. Okay. Okay. Yes. Hi. I'm Stephanie co-f facilitating Yeti with Andreas. And like Andre said, this is a new YLA group this year and we really wanted to hone in on that student centrality of being able to activate student voice and student leadership in the area of technology. Like Andre said, I'm sure you're aware there have been a lot of changes and advancements lately, especially in the area of AI. And so we wanted to provide an opportunity to have students sort of dive in and provide their perspective around those changes. So because this was a new group, uh we wanted to give students different opportunities to sort of dip their

090toes in the water and get a little bit of an experience. And so Yeti was structured slightly differently than some of the other YLA groups. We hosted three sessions and students could choose to attend one or attend them all. And the first one was called cracking the code and it was really sort of an introductory session into what is AI, what are some of the different tools that exist and how can you use them. The second session was focused on AI and music and it was called AI jam session and students learned how to use artificial intelligence to generate their own music and we were lucky enough that this particular session we partnered with Santa Cruz works and Doug Ericson his son is a musician who leans on artificial intelligence for his marketing. So he

091came in and worked with our youth for that session. And then our third session was focused on AI artistry. And we gave students an opportunity to explore different ways to use generative AI to create visual and graphic art. On the next slide, you'll see some images that were created during that AI artistry session. So during one meeting, we worked on self-portraits. On the left hand side, you see um a self-portrait that was created by one of our participants, Avery. Avery is in middle school. And then in the middle, you also see another image that was created by Avery. In one session, we worked on imagining what our dream career would be and then designing a logo for that. So, Avery really loves baking, so Avery created a logo for their baking company. And then we

092thought we'd have some fun in our last session and we challenged the students to redesign our logo. So moving forward we could have a new Yeti logo um and hoping to have stickers printed soon. But the last slide is what we voted on as a group as our favorite logo that was generated. Uh, like we said, in addition to cracks of code and the AI artistry, um, my personal favorite was that middle session, the jam session hosted with Doug Ericson where we had the students digging in and creating music. Are we going to play this song? I don't Okay, it's a Yeah, it's probably really long. It's okay. We'll save your ears. It's really cool if you want to go back and listen. Um, this is called Feline Fury and it is a hard rock

093song all about cats. Um, and then we also created album art to go with our songs. So, uh, this student, Peter Davidson, who's in middle school, uh, created the song, the lyrics, and then the album art to go along with his Feline Fury song. Give it a listen later. uh because we are just wee bitty baby yetis and we're in our first year, there are a lot of opportunities for growth that we're really excited about. Um there has been some talk in the national space about providing funding for AI learning and so we're hoping to sort of keep a breast of that information and see if we can tap into that for Yeti. Um, also we were really excited because the students dipped their toes in and now they're ready to go deeper. Like a

094big request from the group was, "Cool. I want to learn how this is working. I want to see what I can do um in terms of expanding my knowledge." So, we're excited for what to do next year. Also, um we're hoping to capitalize on potentially some funding to buy some more um premium access to some of the software so that students can play with some more advanced tools um and finding ways to sort of refine and enhance the program to minimize student drop off. We had a lot of interest in the beginning and then of course as things get busy um struggled with attendance at the end. I think on the last slide we slide we have some No, that's perfect. Um I was trying to think of what the next one was. I remembered.

095Okay. We're thinking forward to next year of doing something uh longer and more sustained. The three sessions were great for our first year, but I think moving forward it be it would be nicer to have some continuity. Um and we know that there are some opportunities that exist that we could build on. In the fall, there's the Congressional App Challenge, and we're really excited about the possibility of ways that we can mesh Vibe coding, which is coding supported by AI, with the Congressional App Challenge to get students the opportunity to use AI to support them in developing their own apps. Um, and also Santa Cruz Works, who partnered with us for that music session, hosts an hackathon each spring called Cruise Hacks. and we would really like to get Yeti supporting um high schoolers in

096Santa Cruz County participating in that cruise hacks challenge. So, super excited to share with you this evening and to come back next year and report on our growth. Thank you, Stephanie. Um so uh our next group is actually one of it's our oldest um youthled leadership alliance uh group. It is a youth for environmental action. So I'm going to invite um Sylvie and Mason to come up to the podium and tell you all about their year. Um hi everyone. I'm Sylvia Kaiser. I'm a junior at Atas High School and this is my third year being on the YA leadership team. I'm Mason Leopold. I'm a junior at San Lorenzo Valley High School and this is my first year on the leadership team and we're representing a couple more people who couldn't make it tonight as

097well. Um so to begin, what is youth for environmental action? So, we are com we are one of the youth club leadership alliances and we're a group of high schoolers across the county who are interested in climate change and would like to make a difference locally. Um we do work on the county level but we also work at our separate schools for uh environmental sustainability and justice. So over the years, our activities have included waste education, communication with both staff, superintendent, and students at our schools and connection with custodial staff as well. Uh especially this year, which we'll explain a little bit, and community partners and ventures as well, like our annual summit. Um, and this year we have representatives from the PBUSD, SLVUSD, and Santa Cruz city school districts. And we were founded in

0982019. It was one of the first of the Y LLA groups and it is facilitated by our amazing AMD Sandage. If we could go to the next slide, please. Yeah, sorry. Get him. So this year specifically what we've done uh is all centered around the theme of waste. Last year's survey that we put out uh that tended to be a large concern was both the cleanliness of the campus and the method of waste disposal that we have enacted. Uh it outco competed all other environmental concerns for the students. So uh in that vein we focused on this and we spoke to our individual district boards. Um, Sylvie spoke at the California Environmental Literacy Initiative. Uh, we had some articles in Lookout Santa Cruz. We had an interview with KSQD. We did waste audits at three

099different schools, which we'll have more of later. We put out our annual YEA survey. And we had our 2025 summit at Camp Coin and Conference Grounds. Since it's SLD, yeah, next slide. Yeah. So, here is our audit results for SLV. We took uh waste audit is a fancy way to say we rooted through garbage. Um we took this data after lunch. We went in the main quad. We have three stream waistbands at SOV. So uh compost, trash and recycles. And we used this um sort of data collection sheet which would show the um various number like percentages of contamination percentages of what was actually supposed to be there. So, as you can see, um, we have 61% contamination in our landfill bin, 60% contamination in our recycling bin, and 21% contamination in our compost bin.

100So, there's a lot of progress for uh, using the bins correctly and making sure that we put things in the right place at Sov. Um, one of the most jarring things at Sov was the amount of um, food that could have been completely preserved. Food share is completely unopen food and we had in the landfill um, 2 pounds of that. So that was very upsetting and shocking. It was completely, you know, unopened, uneaten. To reiterate, um, we have some issues with recycling for the students, uh, not knowing exactly what to recycle, and I don't blame them. It can get confusing at times. So that could be a place of progress in the next year. Uh, and as you can see, we have a more detailed breakdown of what exactly we found. And we learned that

101you reusable utensils at Sov could cut down much of the waste, but we do have compostable utensils. And so these are just metrics for progress at Sov. And if we could have the next slide please. So this is one we did at SoCal. Unfortunately there were no compost bins available for us to take data from. So it is just from landfill recycling. Uh these were also taken from the first quad. And while it may look like there is a lot of correct recycling happening, this was unfortunately because there was very little recycling in the actual bins. A majority of things that were supposed to be recycled ended up in the landfill, which had an 80% contamination rate. And like Mason was saying, the food share was almost uh five pounds of unopened food that could

102have been eaten, but wasn't. And there is no compost for these food scraps to go in either. Um the total number of food items in there total to 20 uh separate items. and the amount in all schools of uh singleuse utensils was very high. So that is definitely something uh to look at. And if we could go to the next slide, this was the waste audit from Aptos and it was also taken from the main quad. Um the compost bin may look like a positive or actually sorry negative. It's 100% contaminated but this bin was nowhere near the quad. students do not have access to it. So, it is not an accurate representation of what could be happening on Aptos. This was taken from behind the schools. Um, we're not even sure when it was

103last used. And unfortunately, there was six pounds of food that was unopened and completely packaged that was in the trash that could have been reused but wasn't. And as you can see on our breakdown, there was a lot of recycling in the uh trash. And when we looked at our survey results when asked, students didn't know what could go where. There seems to be a very uh big lack in communication of waste separation because students are having a very challenging time and the waste streams that are in current high schools are not near the levels of sustainability that we would like to be seeing. Um if we could go to the next slide please for a more posit Oh, there's some of the pictures. That's what it looked like. It was pretty nasty. Um but

104that's what's in That's what the inside of a high school trash can looks like. And uh next slide, please. Pass over for better note. So our 2025 summit, our summits are one of the highlights of the year in youth for environmental action. Our theme this year was action, motivation, inspiration, and positivity. Those are just kind of our key themes. Um we it really was centered around our project this year, which was called the trash pact. So it was analyzing waste and trying to find ways to become more sustainable in in terms of uh waste management at our schools. So we presented our waste audit data u from the three schools and we opened up the floor to any other schools who would like a waste audit. Um our schools that students from the schools that

105came also brainstormed what their dream green schools would look like. Um sort of synthesizing what they've already got done with what they'd like to get done. Uh we had a very successful community fair with local organizations and businesses. Uh they attended and they had booths. Uh some highlights were Watsonville Wetlands Watch, the Bird School Project, Eat for the Earth. Those were some of the booths we had. And then we have some photos from this last year. There's us giving [Music] this. Here's the year before. This is a bit of a tradition. Here's 2023. And then this is just kind of a general like laundry list of all of our achievements that we've had as our time during our time as uh youth for environmental action has existed. So um we have presented at the CISC

106symposium um and we have presented along the senator and other community leaders at the Democratic Women's Club conversation about climate event. We created videos to amplify student voice and we uh continue to distribute our countywide high school survey and continue on on the next slide. Um, we have met with our district green teams to provide student perspectives and we have members on those as well. We've also presented to the Santa Cruz County Board of Education and at our own school boards. Uh, we've taken part in the schoolboard academy which is a leadership training over the summer and we have present I presented to the California Environmental Literacy Initiative in April. Um all numerous members have spoken on K squid as well as inside education to share about our experiences with the team as well as

107events that we've planned and that we hope to plan. And our most recent achievement was conducting the three waste audits at the high schools to measure the current waste management uh in the future. We as a team would I mean it's our overarching goal to get compost successfully implemented and working at each secondary high school because there is a very clear need for it and there is just such a disparity right now between waste management. Another big thing that we're going to focus on the in the future is providing a source of climate optimism and climate positivity because we live in a crucial time where changes can be made. uh not all hope is lost by any means and a lot of the results from the survey showed that students were very like hopeless and

108apathetic towards the cause. Some of them even adding little notes at the end saying we're not going to make it until 2050 which is upsetting. And so as a as a community we want to just make sure that students know that we can make a change that they can make a change and that there is like a optimistic way of looking at this that might even make us more effective as climate justice people. So thank you all. Great job, Sylvia and Mason. Um, terrific. Um, okay. So, um, uh, before I invite our next, um, student group up, um, I just want to say a little bit about our queer student union. So, um, we, uh, so this is the first year under this name. Um, this group went by a different name in the years

109past. Um it went by the queer and trans youth council. Um this year we were fortunate enough to partner with the diversity center. Um and uh we have our two facilitators joining us behind me, Zach and Maggie. Um say hi. Um Zach and Megie have been doing wonderful work with uh the students this year and um the students are going to tell you a lot more about it, but I just wanted to highlight that that wonderful partnership that we've been able to cultivate. Um and we will um be collaborate well we'll be hosting them um this weekend for queer prom um that they put on every year. So that will be at uh Sequoia schools. So if you're uh not doing anything and you want to stop by, I encourage you to stop by. Um

110all right. Uh I'd like to um invite up to the podium uh Sloan, Alex, and Everest. Um come on up. Hello, my name is Sloan Peterson. My pronouns are they, them. I am a freshman at Santa Cruz High School and I joined QSU because I am passionate about preserving the queer community that we hold so dear in Santa Cruz. Sure. Hello, my name is Everest. I attend Harbor High School and I go by any pronouns and I joined the queer student union because I just felt like I wanted a place to really belong and just support people in the LGBTQ plus community as a member of it myself and as somebody who has several friends in the community as well. Hi, my name is Alex Tras. I use he and they pronouns. Uh, I go

111to Delta Charter and I joined QSU because I was here last year and enjoyed being able to make this change and also to be able to make change for the better and show other queer youth that they can do it too. So, we had multiple great achievements this year and one of them was that we developed a survey to queer students. the first launched survey from the QSU and this survey is about the experience of not only queer students but students in general and how they approach other queer culture. We also presented on a panel at an LGBTQ plus symposium where all of us shared our personal experiences and how teachers can be better allies towards students in this desperate political time of need. We also went to advocacy day at the Capitol where Alex

112gave a press conference and we both got interviewed, me and Alex, by PBS. Lastly, we represented our LGBTQ plus community individually. Like I said, the press conference, getting interviewed by PBS, I did a speech at this year's fifth annual flag raising. And Alex, once again, names mention a lot. He's impressive. was an awardee for the queer leadership award. Next slide, please. Oh yeah, clap. Okay. This year um we have our main focus was our survey which was 31 qual 31 qualitative and also some qual quantitative questions. Um regarding school climate, bathroom and locker room access, safety at school, and stuff like the environment crib are surrounded in because that's really important to gather because we can make guesses at schools, but really having the survey data to show like how students are really being treated

113is really important. Uh the survey was distributed across the county and is still we still have pending um survey schools that we're trying to get to fill it out. So we still are getting more results. Um so far we have 128 responses. Um some data we've gathered so far is that 30% of students identified as gender gender diverse, 60% of students identified as white and 60% of students identified as LGBTQ plus. Um, we found that only 48% of LGBTQ plus students feel their teachers use their preferred name and pronouns and only 17% of LGBT students feel that gender neutral bathrooms are easy to access. And unfortunately, the lowest statistic was 16% is only 16% of students agreeing their school addresses bullying whenever it occurs. However, we also have some positive experiences to share. Almost 90%

114of students agree that they are tolerant of LGBTQ plus students. 92% of students agree that they respect the gender into restrooms on campus. And 67% of students felt comfortable wearing clothes aligning with their gender identity at school. And a quote from us was, "It was really powerful hearing everyone's insights. So many strong points that gave our teachers a new perspective. Things like the left-hand metaphor really helped explain how we assess information differently. The closing was especially strong when students shared how deeply teachers can impact LGBTQ plus youth, especially in terms of life or death. It just felt perfect. This quote was referring to the LGBTQ plus symposium we we attended. To further clarify, the lefthand metaphor was used to for us to uh con contradict the argument that there are way more queer students now

115than ever because it's trending or x y and z, which is simply not true. You'll also notice that there is way more left-handed people now more than ever. And why do you think that is? It is because people back then were burned at the stake for being left-handed. People back then were persecuted for being gay. They were hate crime and a ton of other atrocities. And then now that we have less of that and a more open mind despite our, you know, current federal situation. Sorry, take a moment for that. Um, we still there's still as much LGBTQ plus representation as there was back then, just less more people are coming out just as more people are coming out to be left-handed rather than right-handed because people are no longer being ostracized for it. Here's

116a photo of us at uh LGBTQ plus advocacy day which is we attended um in Sacramento at the capital. We went and we walked around buildings or walked around the capital and spoke to assembly members and senate members about uh bills that we believe they that should hold their vote as well as bill two bill anti-trans bills that we felt should not hold their vote which were eventually put down. Uh, no. And then back one. There we go. Thank you. Um, my highlight from this event was that I got to advocate personally for bills using my own experiences which are valued as a queer youth in order to because we were some of the youngest people there and it was very special for a lot of legislators and senators to hear from the youth and

117get kind of a raw perspective on what's really going on with how we're treated in schools. One of a highlighted experience I had was walking around the capitol. It was pretty cool to see. Um, walking around Sacramento was definitely interesting as well as the advocacy part of it. It felt um, it felt good to be able to have a voice. This is where we continue to show pictures of our group. We were in a group with several other queer individuals and we got to again advocate using our own personal experiences for bills that we believed should pass or should not pass. And we chose the ones that were most important to our hearts and used our experiences to further push those ones and push away the two anti-trans bills that got shot down. First you're

118doing I'm doing 70%. You can do 600. You want to change around? Okay. Sorry about that. So, our closing thoughts are mostly we wanted to talk about all we've done this year and all we've achieved and how we are going to push that into next year. So, as from our statistics from the survey has shown, only 17% of students feel that gender neutral bathroom is easy to access. This is a serious problem. I myself has have experienced vandalism and misuse of genderful bathrooms which makes it not only harmful for queer students but for everybody. Everybody just wants a place to peacefully go to the bathroom which is a very very human thing to do and that is being compromised. Schools need to do better at this. We need more. We need better bathrooms. We need

119better security systems for that. And next year, we're hoping to use this survey this year as proof that this is an issue and next year devise solutions. Thank you. Oh, got one more. We're not done. Sorry. I know you love hearing us talk. Um, one of the other statistics was mentioned. it was that 16% of only 16% of uh students thought that their their uh staff and teachers properly addressed bullying issues, which may sound like a jarring statistic, but as a queer person, that's not surprising to me. I read that and I was like, "Oh, yeah, that tracks." Um cuz that's definitely a problem I've had before many times. I think that's another thing that we really need to work to do better on is properly addressing not just bullying, the bullying of queer and

120trans people, but the bullying of everybody because no one wants to be bullied. We all want to just learn things most of the time. And once again, that is a serious issue. As some of you may know, we have had multiple suicides in this area this year from several students. And it has been very disappointing. And it especially with our current political climate, it is now more important than ever for for students and teachers to grow a strong bond and for teachers to learn how to be allies so that we do not have higher suicide rates of students. Great job, Sloan, Alex, and Everest. Um, okay. So, next I'm going to talk about um our countywide black student unions and several of our student our black student unions at the individual campuses where they exist.

121Unfortunately, um uh some of our members couldn't make it tonight and our facilitator who I'm going to talk about uh a little bit later um he manages the Monterey Regional Airport. So, um he couldn't make it. Um okay. So, uh, one of the main missions of our countywide BSU is to is to bring together the campus BSUs that exist throughout the county and then to build BSUs where they don't currently exist. Um, it's a big lift. Um, so DJ and I have developed a plan to do so in phases. So this first year um with him at the helm as uh the facilitator for the BSU um we've been able to go through phase one. Um so this shows uh the BSU clubs at Pave High, SoCal High, and Santa Cruz High School. And those

122are the three oh and uh SoCal. This was their first year um on that campus um which was a process that we started at the end this time last year at the end of last school year. Um, so one of the biggest things that we were able to coordinate it to coordinate with all three of these uh BSU clubs, which I think was a really big step in uniting all of the clubs, was the Ruby Bridges uh walk to school day event, which we touched on uh earlier when celebrating Miss Brooker. Um she really was the driving force behind this event. um had it not been for her um it would not have uh it would not have allowed me and DJ to expand on it at SoCal and at um uh Santa Cruz High.

123So uh this was an event that was uh attended by uh Dr. Sabah. Um, we had several hundred students that met across the uh across the free freeway bridge there in the parking lot of the AAA and then we walked across uh the bridge very symbolic and walked up to campus and then once we arrived in the quad at the campus uh we had several more students that joined us um for some speeches that were given by uh both Miss Brooker and Maximilliano Barera who uh is the president of the club over there at EB High. Um this is the SoCal High event um that you know this was their very first uh activity that they organized together with the help of uh myself and DJ mainly DJ um DJ attended this event as I

124was at uh PV High with Dr. Sabah um but they were um very excited and pleasantly surprised that they uh were able to get several of their peers to join them on this on this march. Um and then this is the event at Santa Cruz High as well. Um theirs was a little bit different. They decided to do it in the middle of the day. Um they have an open campus over there and several of their students go off campus for lunch. Um so what they decided to do was organize uh with their peers on their way back to from lunch um the Ruby Bridges Walk and uh that's them along their path there. Um, one of the things that we do yearly with our countywide black student union is we organize a trip to

125um the Black College Expo in Oakland. And this year we were able to have students from um all three clubs um Pave High, SoCal High, and uh Santa Cruz High as well. Um last year we only took five students and they were only from two schools. Um so this year was a huge improvement. Um we had uh we had two vanfuls. So I believe it was like eight eight or nine students. Um but we they had a great time. Um and so if you see that picture on the top right hand side there, that's Izzy. Um Izzy is a student that works with Miss Brooker. Um she referred to Izzy uh earlier during her speech. Izzy was able to be accepted um uh as a part of the Black Honors College at Sacramento State um

126on the spot when we attended. So, uh that was like one of the uh really cool highlights of the trip there. Um actually this past Monday um so that's Iris right there on the left. She is uh the vice president of the SoCal Club um at at at their campus and she was one of the founding members. She came to us uh this time last year um asking for help on how to create their own BSU. Um so this year DJ and I were able to uh really DJ was able to help them. That's him on the on the right there. Um help them to create their structure, create their bylaws. Um and they just held their first elections for the leadership for next year's uh group as well. Um but I had them as

127guests on the inside education radio which I co-host um once a month. Um and uh we talked about, you know, everything from, you know, what uh the BSUs at the different campuses have been able to accomplish this year, as well as the many challenges, unique challenges facing uh black students here in Santa Cruz County. Um wonderful experience. They did a great job. Iris Iris is a pro. Um okay, so next I'm going to show a video. So um this video, uh was sent into us from students from both SoCal and Santa Cruz High. um their leadership there and they're going to talk about some of the things that they did um highlights for them and um their vision for uh uniting uh the the BSU clubs uh more often next year. Hi, my name is

128Ivory Woodson. I'm a junior at Ohio and I'm the president. So, as you may know, this was our first year as a club. Um, and we were able to put on a lot of different things. Um, and it was a really good first year, I think. Um, we had a really turn out and we did a lot of different activities. We did the BSU basketball tournament which was just a schoolwide basketball tournament that anybody can play in um and they competed for prizes and stuff and it was super fun. Um another thing that we're about to do actually is our end of year potluck um where people are just everybody's going to bring some food and we're going to chill out at the park. It's gonna be super fun. But yeah, we had an awesome

129push out of my to get rid of our activities and truly show that I am not a lot of black students in our schools and it's just really have us closer together and build a better community. My favorite part is when we had the barbecue with SoCal High and some kids from ATAS as well. Um I thought it was a pretty good idea to like try and connect the BSUs from schools. So then not only will we have the kids from our school but also kids from others make a big student union for all schools. I think it would be a pretty good idea to just include other schools in the events that we already like the barbecues or just normal field days. I mean, we do go to Oakland sometimes, so maybe if we

130can get that coordinated, that would be pretty nice. I wanted to uh thank the Santa Cruz County Board of Education for allowing us to do what we want to do and supporting us throughout the whole year. Thank you. Hi, my name is Ivory Woods. Um, so, uh, just to kind of touch on that last point that, uh, Craig left us with, which is, um, uniting the black student unions across the county. So, you know, in phase one, well, at the end of last year, it became clear to us that one of our challenges was that the students at the campuses, um, a lot of them didn't have really strong structures in place. Um, but the other main problem was that they didn't know who we were. Um, and there was this kind of lack of

131trust, right? When you don't know somebody, you're not going to trust them. Um, so DJ and I really did a lot of, um, grassroots, um, uh, activities with the students at their campuses and met them where they were at. And through that process, um, we were able to fortify their structures so that they're getting activities under their belts. they're collaborating with each other um at their own campuses and they have clear leadership roles um and they know you know they have a chain of communication right um it's just now at the end of this year that now that they have things secure at their sites they have the ability to look up right their nose isn't doesn't have to be to the grindstone anymore and they can look up and see oh there is this

132other club at um at soel that that we can connect with that's doing the same things we are there's a club at PV High filled with wonderful allies that we can connect with. Um, as they mentioned, uh, they organized a barbecue between the clubs of SoCal and Santa Cruz High. Um, and they were very adamant adamant that they wanted to do this on their own. Um, so DJ and I just kind of let it happen. Um, and they did it. They did it. And, um, it was such a success that they were able to bring some students in from Aptos High, whom I just met with on Monday. Um, and they uh are interested in starting their own BSU club at Apttoas High, which was one of our goals at the beginning of this year.

133Um, so the really cool thing about all of this is it's coming from the students. We didn't tell them to organize a barbecue. That was just something that they came up with on their own. We've been letting them know like, oh, there's a club at SoCal High. There's a club at Santa Cruz High. They're kind of doing the same things just to, you know, just to put it out there. Um, and it it it the idea to connect with one another through a barbecue at a at a community park, like the symbolism of that um is just really really beautiful and it was really awesome to see. Um, so next year we're looking forward to establishing that club at Apas High as well as a new club at Mission Hill Middle School. Um, and Mission

134Hill, that that's going to be a really important one because it feeds directly into the Santa Cruz High School club, uh, which is the oldest BSU in the county. Um, but if we can start them at the middle school level, um, establishing that network of support for them, then moving into uh, high school, they not only have a leg up in terms of knowing some people in high school, but they have a network ready to receive them. Um and then you know we look forward to eventually in the years to come extending that uh through partnerships with Yumoja at Cababrio and uh the BSU at UCSE as well so that you know we can have a nice pathway from middle to higher ed. Um uh existing clubs getting stronger. We look forward to that happening.

135Um bringing the campuses together. So this photo is actually um a photo that was taken at UCSC. Um, so one bullet point that's not up there that I really really want to get to is um part of the work is not only uh getting to know the students and meeting the students where they're at, but it's also meeting their families and getting to know their parents and getting to know their community organizations that they already trust and feel safe with. Um, one of those being uh the Black Health Matters Initiative. Um, so we've been doing really really great work thanks to the partnership with Angela Chambers, um, who was able to organize that event, um, to go see, um, a presentation by, um, uh, a community member that was able to give them information on,

136um, uh, black leaders throughout history who are not, uh, talked about in their regular curriculum. Um, so that was a really really awesome experience because not only did they get that historical information, but they got to see UCSE um and and kind of feel that that other need of college readiness, which all of the clubs are really really passionate about. Um, and then lastly, you know, one of our uh goals for next year is to continue to support the campus adviserss. um by meeting the the campus clubs where they were at, we quickly saw that the campus adviserss um you know they're they're regular teachers and so they are taking on that responsibility of being advisers in addition to being a full-time teacher. So having the presence of DJ there, having the presence of me

137there in hisstead um was really really helpful and something that we saw that that the teachers, the adviserss really appreciated um the support from from our organization as well. Um and I believe oh there's one more thing. Uh quick plug um we have our annual um black graduation ceremony happening um not this weekend but the weekend after. Um Saturday, May 24th. It's going to be at London Nelson Community Center from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Um, and uh the this year uh we're going to have MC's from the uh SoCal Club, the uh Santa Cruz Club, and from the uh PCS club as well. So, if you're not busy, please come join. And that's all I got for BSU. All right. So, this brings us to our last but definitely not least um group uh youthled

138leadership group uh our multilingual youth taking action which is uh facilitated by uh Litzy uh Litzy where there you are. Um Litzy is a uh wonderful facilitator. It's her first year facilitating the group. Uh she's also graduating in a couple weeks from uh UCSE. So, congrats. Um, now I uh it's my privilege to welcome um our student trustee uh Ruben Marcus to the podium to talk about his involvement the past two years in the multilingual youth taking action leadership group. Come on up, Ruben. How's it going? It's it's interesting to be up here as opposed to over there. So, uh, I'll keep it a little more brief, but, uh, Multilingual Youth Taking Action. Uh, it's a relatively new group. I think it's only a couple years old. I've been involved for the last two years.

139And the the main mission of the group is to advocate for the appreciation and the education of multilingualism throughout the county. So that looks like uh promoting multilingualism among members of the group, providing a space to share about uh common experiences and share unique experiences involving multilingualism as all our group members are uh multilingual and then also working on initiatives to promote multi multilingualism throughout the county. So one of the big things we do with this is uh we play a key role in organizing the world languages showcase. Uh for the past two years it's been at SoCal High and uh it brings together students and teachers from all over the county from a lot of different schools to share uh research projects and poetry in different languages. And it's a a really cool event

140that's definitely been gaining more traction in recent years. So uh yes, we also part of the group was uh designing the graphics for this showcase. So we created a flyer and then also a certificate that we gave to all the students that participated. Uh I also had the the amazing opportunity to be on K Squid Radio uh interviewed by Andreas Ortiz about the group and uh we just talked about fundamentally why multilingualism is so important to promote in the community. uh things like breaking down breaking down stigma that uh that surrounds people with multilingualism and how to actually promote them, promote members uh of the multilingual community and uh you can go to the next one. Yeah. uh at the at the World Language Hocus this year, uh me and Vera, the other uh main

141student in multilingual youth taking action, we got interviewed by Inside California Education on PBS. So, that was a pretty cool way to just showcase the uh like the amazing uh like studentled initiative that this county seems to have. I think one of the the big unique things that this county has is the the youthled leadership program which allows students to actually be very involved in their community and addressing problems that they identify and making things happen and it's been a great privilege to be part of that. So, uh for for the future and uh we're definitely going to keep working with the World Languages Showcase. We also plan on also uh maybe work reaching out to schools and curriculums work uh working and getting student input on multilingual curriculums in schools. also maybe working with

142uh peer tutoring services at schools to promote uh multilingual tutoring services and uh just working with other groups in the community. And yeah, uh thank you. Um, so that that wraps up our Y LLA presentation for this evening and um I just want to say thank you so much um for all of your support um Dr. Sabah and board members. Um and I also want to thank our facilitators one more time. Um thank you so much. Um and and I also want to thank the students. um the students, you know, they they they have a full plate as well and they're doing all of this good work um on on their own accord and and what great work it is. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Comments from the board and Larson. Oh, thumbs

143up. Yes. I just want to say I am very impressed with all the presenters. I when I was your age, I could never do that. Speaking in front of a board and speak in front of people is very nerve-wracking is one of the biggest fears. So, the fact that uh you guys were here and did that, very impressed and we look forward to seeing all the great things that you that you will accomplish. So, thank you for being here. Thank you for giving back to your schools and making them a better place. Thank you. of it. Oh yes, R. You don't know it's and I'm speaking to the students. You don't know how much further ahead you are leaving high school this your age group and going out it you you will be the stars

144on either in your jobs or on your campuses. So, um, it pays off to step forward and learn the traits of of leadership and be involved in movements that count. Thank you, Ben. Allen. I just want to share the what others have said and um to me this meeting tonight trustees um combined with honoring the educators of the year and hearing from our students um it really to me illustrates what is so good and so positive and so important about the education system in Santa Cruz County that we stand up for our students. We support the people that teach them and keep the schools running. And we do it with uh ex what I consider to be a really strong sense of belonging for everybody, everybody in this room, everybody in these clubs and in

145the schools. And that's so important. And this would just be a SW thing um to acknowledge. And then there's this additional dimension which some of the speakers mentioned of where is our country at this year and some of the progress that we have seen certainly in my lifetime in in issues about race about gender and so on are now under attack again. And so all the more reason why I am so pleased at the student leadership that emerges in our county because we are in a fight and it's not over and we need to keep making progress. we also need to protect what we've already accomplished. And um your leadership, it just totally warms my heart and inspires me. So, thank you. Estrada, uh yeah, I wanted to speak a little bit to the QSU.

146Um just on a personal note, just like like Sue said, like you guys are so far ahead of other folks. Uh, I'll say for myself personally, I grew up in San Diego. Um, as a queer young person in high school during 2016, so, you know, similar environment, you know, uh, I understand how you guys must feel um, in a lot of different ways. Um, I also went to the LGBTQ plus um, advocacy day in Sacramento when I was in high school. Uh and that was an amazing opportunity and I'm so happy that you guys had that opportunity as well. Uh and I I will just say that having community all these groups really build a strong sense of community even if you don't stay in touch with folks which I'm sure you guys will I'm

147sure everyone will stay in touch with everyone uh that you you know the these connections that you're building right now are really really important. you're you're really growing amazing skills. Uh I was when I was in high school uh very low income and having a community and having a purpose and being in a leadership position was really helpful. I went from having literally straight C's. I had a 2.3 my freshman year of high school to straight A's. I'm going to law school uh later this year. I'm going to the University of Pennsylvania law school. And I just want to let you guys know that it's so possible. And I didn't even know what a Democrat or a Republican was when I was when I was in high school. And just like the opportunities that these

148groups provide you and you know, you just continue the momentum. Uh you all are going amazing places. Continue your passions. And I'm just so happy to be part of an organization that really values and gives a platform and an opportunity for you all to build community, build these spaces. And I I think leadership and having this opportunity is really invaluable. And I hope that it inspires you to do amazing amazing things and change the world for better because I mean you're already doing it right now and I've seen a lot of you in many different spaces over the last few years. So can't wait to see what you guys do next. Williams. Um, I'll just say plus one, plus one, plus with one. Um, but also an a thank you to Andres and to all

149the facilitators who are putting in the work with our students who are there, who are available, who are mentoring. Thank you for the work you do because um it takes you as frontline individuals just to be available for the students and these particular clubs and to the students. We learn so much from you. I mean if we don't hear from you what we're doing right, what we're where we need to improve, that's the only way we learn and we grow to help you. Um so thank you for sharing. It also gives us so much hope. We this is the these are the these the best days. I mean I think Anakabuki, you know, just the awards and hearing from our youth. So thank you and keep up the great work. Thanks. Since everybody's jumping in,

150I'll just say I'm so excited to learn tonight because I'm new on the board how this has grown over the years from the original to seven now. And I just think all of you following your passions to make a difference with students from around the county with support from the COE is exciting and that can propagate out to everybody else's passion. Going to the personal story, what got me involved in middle school was supporting my teachers on strike and that got me involved with economic justice and then I became a teamster out of high school which is how I paid for Stanford. So it all becomes a succession that builds upon And so I just encourage you while you may have a classmate AC across the hall tomorrow who isn't in environment or isn't in

151the career student union or isn't into tech, what is their passion and how can this propagate to get another seven groups to keep Andreas even busier because that's what's exciting and will change the world is we all find our passions working together to make a difference. Yeah, go ahead. Dr. Zaha, I I just want to also add to to the gratitude and the appreciation our students, you inspire us. You're the reason you're our why. You are you're the reason why we do what we do. And um and your presentations today and all the hard work uh throughout the year. uh continue continue to inspire, continue to lead and uh we're just have been honored to be a part of your journey. So, thank you. And Andreas, congratulations on all the great work and and inspiration

152and all our wonderful um all the mentors and facilitators. Okay. Can you top that? I don't think you can. But, uh thanks again uh everyone for attending. Uh we're going to move on from the that section of the meeting to item 13.1. Yeah, that's a good idea. Can we take a photo? Yes, if if we could um pause for just a moment and take a photo. And if the entire board would like to to join us and all of our um student leaders, facilitators, Andreas Ferris, we perhaps could take a photo right here. Let's do it. We go around. How do we do it? Are you the whole room? Yes. The whole room. The governing board. The governing board. The whole room. Go to the back. That's what I said. Oh, it's the wrong Do

153you want to be in the picture? Are you sure? Are you sure? Come on. Great job. We'll let the room is Mar. Good luck tomorrow. Feel like they're every day. So, for one more uh trustee to join us so we can continue. But I appreciate you guys' patience. Troy, I don't think I know any That was it. Strangely. Okay. So now we will move on to item 13.1. I hereby declare open the public hearing regarding the career advancement charter petition for renewal. Tonight, the board is here to listen and ask questions at this time and will not be taking action until June 12th, 2025. Staff will make their opening presentation to the board regarding the petition of the Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter, also known as CAC school. Then CAC representatives will present their

154overview. Public comment and input will be received by the board from individuals wishing to speak and each individual will be limited to three minutes. The board will have an opportunity to ask the presenters clarifying questions. Then public hearing will be closed. We will start with Dr. Marsha Russell, associate superintendent of schools. You may now make your opening presentation. Thank you trustees. I come to you today as the designated county office of education charter oversight manager and my role is to provide just a brief overview for the public as well as our trustees on the charter renewal um process that is now governed by more recent ed code that was established under AB1505 in 2020. Uh so next slide please. The graphic that you see on the screen here just shows the life cycle of a

155charter school from initial uh charter petition through closure of a school. So um we're going to share with this process with the um CAC charter that we're talking about today. Um we're at this step number four that you see on the left renewal. So charters can be authorized in this case up to five years. And so we're now at the phase where CAC is due for its renewal process. And that circle continues um every five to seven years in the renewal process until the charter closes. Next slide please. So just to share a little bit about the charter renewal process that occurs with all charters across the state. U I've highlighted in bold here some of the key steps. The first is today that a public hearing is held uh to hear the charter renewal

156request as well as public comment. After this public hearing, COE staff and the board charter committee that we have here at Santa Cruz COE research any concerns that were raised in the public hearing and we thoroughly review uh the charter renewal um petition that was submitted to us. and and we determine as a committee whether they meet that criteria. The next step is that the board charter committee provides a renewal recommendation to the full board of trustees and to the charter at least 15 days before the renewal decision meeting. And then we have the renewal decision meeting which will occur in June. And that is where our board of trustees will vote to approve or deny renewal. And that new education code that I described has very specific reasons um in which charters can be

157denied and other reasons cannot be counted. So first it's if the school is deemed low performance by the state. That's not the situation in this case. The second reason is if there are fiscal or accountability concerns that arise. And the third is for a charter school to fail to serve or accept all students. Next slide please. So the renewal timelines based on education code and the dates that we have for the CAC charter renewal is the charter first submits the renewal petition that occurred in this case on April 22nd within 60 days of that date. We're required to hold the public hearing. So we're certainly doing that well within that time frame that's required within 90 days of that original submission. we are required to hold the decision hearing. We again will be well within

158that requirement because we have that hearing uh that decision hearing scheduled for June 12th. And then uh we are also required with that charter um board committee I mentioned to post our findings and recommendations 15 days prior to that June 12th decision hearing. So, we will be meeting and posting that decision um recommendation as well as the report by May 27th. And then uh if denied, the charter has the option to appeal within 30 days by submitting a petition uh to appeal both to the county office of education board of trustees as well as to the state board of education. Next slide. And then this is a a typical um board meeting renewal process. The public hearing which we're holding today is for the petitioner, the charter to provide testimony to the board. The purpose

159of that as designated in ED code is for the board to determine the level of support for the charter to continue by teachers, employees, parents, guardians, and the community. It's also for parents and staff of the charter will often participate in brief public comment and the board may limit that comment time but equal time must be given. Additionally, um the authorizer charter oversight staff members shares the renewal agenda item. You're seeing that now. Uh the charter leader shares the charter renewal request. You'll see that in just a moment. uh charter parents or staff or students may share. That's the option of the charter. And then again, the board must give that equal time. And one final note is that parents who may also be staff at the school need to share any role that they

160represent when speaking, whether that's as a staff member or as a parent. And next slide. That is the brief overview on the current process. and I'll see if there are any questions before turning it over to CAC to share. All right. So now I will turn it over to CAC to share their presentation. As you know, this is a program for adult students. And so, um, those are all pictures of graduation and different events happening around campus. Next slide. for this petition renewal. What is included in that lengthy report that um we worked we worked hard on that report. I'm very proud of it. And um what it highlights is really the our our ask for continued authorization. It is a five-year cycle as uh Marca pointed out and we had a mandatory two-year extension

161from CDE because of of COVID. Um so here we are at year seven. what started as a little program of about 40 students is now at about 250 today. Um we hope that through this process you're able to see the success that we've had academically uh for our students and then also as as part of this organization. There are updates of improvements, things that have changed. Uh we we didn't go far from the original charter and yet there are there are some material revisions that we'll discuss. um also to show our commitment to compliance and accountability working closely with with business and with um ed services and all meet to meet all those government governance requirements and then also to share with you a little bit about our future goals and where we're headed. Next

162slide. So a quick history I know there's a lot on that slide. Essentially, as as Farah said, um 2017 is when the school opened at five locations. Um we expanded shortly thereafter to the Blaine Street Women's Facility and then the Probation Success Centers, first in North County and then in Watsonville in 2022. Um we will also be providing services at the 119 Beach Street location in in the fall of this upcoming school year. And um as I just said, our enrollment and ADA have increased significantly. So what was in the original charter was a projection of um 211 student enrollment and 139 ADA. And at our mid-year LCAP report, we're at 330 for enrollment with a ADA of 208. So quite a big big jump there. Um, another shift is in our history is that

163we went from using everything that our alternative education partners used to developing and finding our own curriculum for adult learners u more developmentally appropriate. And we also started a Spanish literacy program in in collaboration with the Mexican consulate and the city of Watsonville library that Jesus was a big part of getting that going. Um and also we've expanded to offering a lot of different options for our students. It's not just a check-in checkout. We have child care. Um we've started doing group orientations and uh a newest our newest onboarding foundations class which um we've served just this year about 85 students and 75% of those students are still still attending which is that's what we wanted to increase retention. We just got that data yesterday. Another exciting thing is that our WASK accredititation, we we

164um earned our initial WASK accredititation in 2022 and just complete our first self-study with a a full visit just last month and have shifted our focus to really support students wherever they're going post postsecary um with that high school diploma. Could be community college, could be vocational training, advance advancing in the workforce and civic engagement. Next slide. So, as I mentioned, some of the things that are different, um, definitely the program growth, and I would say that this isn't like a big focus of ours. We're not out, um, hanging flyers and trying to bring people in. PE people find us. Jesus has a lot to do with that. We get a lot of sisters and theas and cousins and spouses um, who see a loved one participating and then they want to be a part

165of this, too. Um and so yes, our enrollment has more than doubled and um I'm having a hard time seeing that slide. If you want I could cover it since I was on it. Uh so one of the so as you can see this is about the material revision and these are requirements for us to specifically point these out as part of our process because these changes are significant in nature and require kind of a uh your approval of as part of the renewal process. So, another area was uh curriculum and instruction model. Some of the enhancements u to uh to what we're offering students in terms of digital literacy and and other kinds of supports. Uh new facilities. Uh we're going to be opening up a new facility at 119 West Beach. Uh we've

166also added some facilities that weren't in the original charter location like uh probation centers in Watsonville and so on that are included in there. And one of those that was identified natural bridges as well as Cababrio College have been are actually were never opened and so those would are being removed. They were part of a our original thought process but they didn't end up materializing for different reasons. And then as uh Sonia already mentioned the enrollment trends significant increases in enrollments do do are considered material revisions and so we're uh project we had uh up to uh from 271 to 361 and 2324. So these are big big increases in in in enrollment and um and then of course um uh just the broadening of of the expectations and kind of the the support for

167students into into higher ed. So all these all these things have really been enhancements that I really want to credit Sony and Jesus um for for just really taking it to the next level and um and it has been a very organic process that has really led to a great deal of success for for our students in our community. um our our vision and mission statement is represented there and mostly on this slide. I just wanted you all to see our team. Uh this is from winter graduation and so what started as a very small operation has has really grown just like our our student community has. And so we've kind of just been quietly uh working hard and bringing in more students and um really celebrating a great deal of success. Both our vision

168and mission are both very student centered and focused on again meeting students where they are and helping them get to that next step. Next slide. Our program, I think most of you know, I'll use this as an opportunity to give you a quick overview. We do serve students age 18 and older. All services are free and across the county, uh, including in the three locked facilities here in Santa Cruz County. Um, students attend weekly progress track check-in meetings and have the same minimum requirements of 20 hours of school work and uh, we seek to graduate students who are are ready for whatever is next and we let them define that. Um, the requirements are there on the left. We have a 180 credit requirement. Uh, next slide. And here are our locations, our community sites

169at Sequoia schools and here at the county office. As I mentioned, the three locked facilities in our county at Roundtree, Santa Cruz, Main Jail, and Blaine Street, which Ferris and I got to visit last week and check in on our new culinary class. Thank you for going. Um, and then our two probation sites in North County and South County. What's not there yet is the the new site that we'll be opening in the fall. Next slide. I'll go through these quickly. This is Sequoa Schools. I think most of you have have been able to spend a little bit of time there. It's where Jesus spends all of his time. and I spend lots of my time and it's absolutely my favorite place to be. Um, and you can see we have a class going down

170in the bottom photo. Um, we have we serve over a hundred students out of this site and this is where we are able to provide child care as well as those evening programs. We have a baking class and a photography class, ESL, etc. Next slide. Uh here at the annex, we've turned um a really odd big office slash too small for a conference room into this little CAC learning center. And currently three teachers are operating out of there with a nice round table up top where students can work. We have Chromebooks, we have snacks. Um it's worked out really well. And anytime you're wanting to take a little walk across the street, we'd be happy to show you around. Next slide. And this is a photo of our North County Probation Success Center computer lab.

171Um where clients, they don't have to be students. We serve uh adult probationers who adults on probation who need support with um job searching, resume writing, whatever they might need through the computer lab. And then we also provide high school diploma services as well as equivalency services if students are avail uh interested in the high set. Next slide. As mentioned, we provide child care four nights a week from 3:00 to 7 at the Sequoia site. We also link students mostly through referrals to mental health counseling. We are in the process of hiring a full-time clinician for next year in partnership with student services. And we also have two transition specialists whose primary role is to meet students upon entry and help them transition into our program as well as what comes next. Uh for many

172of our students that's dual enrollment that is um continuing at Cababrio College, vocational training or entering the workforce. Next slide. Quick photo there of our early care center. Um I we've served up to about 18 littles on Tuesday and Thursday nights are our most our busiest nights at Sequoia because we have plazas baking or culinary and ESL and so those are definitely our busiest nights and uh the they have a lot of fun and it's a it's a bilingual classroom as well. Next slide. Just a quick snapshot of our most recent cal calendar schedule for semester 2. Um I know that's hard to see, but on the right you can see the different things that are offered currently. Um including digital literacy that's off offered periodically as well as the the culinary. Um we have

173a math support group and on Thursdays we've been doing our foundations onboarding class. Um that I don't it is on there. Yeah. So, we're done for the year, but we had four cohorts this year. Uh, next slide. And some of our partners, uh, Department of Rehabilitation, we work with them closely, workforce development board, um, the goal consortium, which is the adult ed consortium for for Santa Cruz County. Uh, Cababrio College for sure. And these are some of the things that our transition specialists really uh, coach and support our students with. That was a fast presentation. Um, and really what I what I want to what I want you all to know is just how how grateful I am for your support, how proud I am to be able to do the work that I get

174to do every day. Listening to Andreas, I'm like, he has a pretty cool job. And uh, so do I. I I have a pretty cool job and to to serve the community. Um it's it's been it's a highlight of my career this this project this little school that has you know grown greatly um and getting to serve alongside my colleagues. So, with that, I did want to um we could pause for questions or wanted to let Jesus share a few words. And we had some students who wanted to um be in attendance, but the timing didn't quite work out and they stayed on campus um to zoom in and then, you know, we we finished programming about 7:45. So, um they have gone home. But Stephanie Via Lopez, who is one of our partners, has

175some comments she wanted to share on their behalf if that's okay. And I don't know what the timing is for that. I would say please uh I think it would be great um for for the board to hear succinctly but thank you. Oh sorry for me. Yes for Jesus. Um thank you. Yeah just um board members thank you very much. Thank you for supporting this program. I just want to um acknowledge you know the the the highly value of the CAC and not because I'm just saying it's because of the students the students who who go to the CAC they always say you know this is a great program we've been trying other programs we've been trying adult education and because we have we have students even coming from Selenas from uh from Gilroy or

176from other places that they hear from the program so thank you very much for your support and so our tourists always tell us that they love the the program because here they they feel that they matter. They feel that we support them. We we see them and we try like um Sony was saying and and Ferris as well, we try to um fit the their needs in education. Uh either if we have a student that it's learning English or a student that only needs five credits of economics at government, we we we help them to finish that um high school diploma. And then eventually when when when they finish or about to finish, we have those those two counselors that they they um do the transition uh they're transitional specialist. So they help the students

177to continue with the next with the next goal. And it's just um I love this program, you know, it's it's I've been I start here with the program with only uh it was only one teacher and myself and now you see passing seven years and now we have um I don't even know how many our stuff. Yeah. several stuff. But yeah, it's be um we often say, you know, in our program that um we teach to the heart. We teach to the heart and and we and when we do that, the minds the minds follow. So all of our students they um they feel that um you know they we care about them and eventually you know the the the learning it comes naturally because they feel comfortable and and all of our teachers um

178the staff it's it's it's it's um we we have one one common um purpose which is just you know telling the students that this is um a place that that they can feel comfortable and they're going to meet their um their successes and and continue with their life and either getting a training or go to Cababrio or like myself, you know, I was also a a student that I I graduated from one of these programs from one of um not a traditional high school and they give me the support um at the micro education program where u fisa was the director and I went to Cababrio then San Jose State then I did my masters my bachelor's and and now I'm here you know giving back to the community. So thank you very much for

179um for listening to me first and thank you Sony. Thank you FZ for letting me like work with the students like this is my passion you know to to work with the students helping them grow it and and and thank you for supporting the CAC. I just have to share quickly that um we had a student advisory meeting last week and the all the students expressed their gratitude to Jesus and um one student shared that our school is Lasa de Esparansa which is the school of hope and um I I had to share that on on your behalf and Stephanie's here. Hello everyone. Um, I'm Stephanie Via Lopez and I'm a project coordinator in career and adult learning services. Um, and I want to start off by thanking Sony and Jesus for their leadership and

180dedication to our school community. Um, I'm very lucky to work alongside you guys um, in supporting our students. Um, I'm very happy to be here tonight to share some words from a few students. Um, they were present with me a couple of hours ago at Sequoia schools. They were a bit nervous. They're very sorry that they can't be here tonight to share these words directly with you all, but I'm going to go ahead and share um some excerpts of what they what they wrote to share with you all. Starting with Sonia Ernnandez. Sonia was actually part of our first um cohort of foundation success program which um began in early um 2024 when the school year began. And she wrote, "Hi, my name is Sonia Hernandez. I am very happy to be here today and

181very happy to share my experience with you guys about CAC. I love this program because everyone here makes us feel very welcomed. Just to start with that, this is a program of opportunities. I am very happy to be a part of it. I like the fact that the teachers are very flexible and helpful with everything. I was very nervous but at the same time happy and excited to come back to high school to finish my credits and to get my high school diploma. I found out about CAC through a friend and her sister. The program is amazing. There is a lot of opportunities in every single class. Working with teacher Jenny has been very good experience. She's awesome. Also, Jesus, Stephanie, and Satali and all the personnel in the building are wonderful people. I started

182working on my credits in the middle of October and I finished them by the end of February. Since I was only missing a few to get my high school diploma, that's what made it easier for me. All the support I was getting from everyone from the CAC program was wonderful. I really appreciate all the teachers that stay here at the building late night to help all the students in the program. Thank you everyone for all of the support and the opportunities that comes with it. Thank you so much for everything teacher Jenny Jesus Stephanie Sitali and all the other teachers as well. And then another one from a student Iet Sanchez. Um, I started in the CAC around February of 2024. CAC is important to me because it is flexible with my schedule. It is

183also important to me because it gave me the opportunity to get my high school diploma. When I found out about this program, I was very excited. I found out about the program through research online. I went to Sequoia Schools and spoke to the front office where I scheduled an appointment with ASUS. At the orientation, I met with Asus and Stephanie. I had a very good experience at the orientation. They were both very welcoming and helpful. When I was signing up for the program, I was very nervous, but they were genuine, super welcoming, and I was excited to start, especially with both of their advice and them explaining the program to me and how it worked. My teacher is Miss Jenny. Working with Miss Jenny has been very, very amazing. She is very understanding. I prefer

184doing paper homework and we meet up once every week. We talk about my homework. She always has open open doors if I am stuck with my homework and need support even if I am not on the schedule. I am able to come to her if I need any help. She has explained to me the process of the credits and when I need more improvement. It's been a good experience. I was struggling with the reading, but with Miss Jenny's help, I was able to learn history in a way that was better for my style of learning. I also go to culinary arts with Rinda. She's truly an amazing teacher. She's very understanding and I have learned how to cook and prepare a lot of different foods with her. My favorite food that I've cooked with her

185Chinese food. I also take advantage of the child care that is offered at Sequoa schools. The teachers there are amazing. Crystal and Fatima are always very sweet and great. I also get to do the desserts and cakes with Verda on Mondays in Panadri Desal and there is also a garden that she takes care of. Her class is very positive and community oriented. I appreciate the teachers that are here late at night so we may participate and I may graduate with my high school diploma. Thank you guys. Thank you Steph. Thank you all for uh sharing with us. Now we will move and invite members of the public who are present that would like to speak on this matter. Is there anyone from the public who would like to speak regarding the CAC petition for renewal?

186You just heard I just heard. Okay, seeing that there is none, I will now open it for questions and comments from the board. Do any trustees have any last questions or comments? just a comment and then two small questions for now or later, but they're pretty small. First, just um when I joined the board, I had no clue any of this existed. Not something I even knew that COE did. And then it was at one of the graduations when I think I first met Ezone, I said, "Wow, this is different." And then to go to the Wasp launch and to be sitting with some of the students with Sue just really opened my eyes. and then to read the materials yesterday and today and really appreciate the material revisions because that's an incredible success story,

187you know, and that's just to highlight everywhere you can and the revived report. The slides just really make it uh so clear the victories in six sport you're having. It's also personal for me because my dad didn't get his high school diploma till as an adult learner before he got his citizenship. So it's kind of thinking wow touching back two small questions I think I'm excited all the growth in population it's not like it's coming from other schools these are people re-entering correct learning community and that's all net benefit for our communities I just wanted to make sure that's the right assumption that is correct trustee Larson thank And then second wasn't from the materials. It was one of the early slides you you the whole notion about meeting the students where they are you

188know for going to college going for their career. There was a third one I forget but then the fourth one was civic engagement and I wanted to understand what that was because that captures my heart. What's that piece of it? Sure. So for us, what civic engagement can mean is really being participatory in the community, getting involved in similar to our youth this just before us, right? Um how can they contribute perhaps taking citizenship courses if that's what they want to do and also learning how to be advocates for their own children? Um helping them with their school journey, being part of that process with their with their own children. uh being those role models. Yeah, thank you for sharing. Any other questions or comments, Roth? I know this. What is the difference between the

189adult education program of Watsonville in Santa Cruz and this program? I know we are a charter. They're a different organization, but we really don't compete. No, I'll start and then you can jump in. Um, so like you said, we are a charter and um, our funding is different than adult education. We I I like to think of us as the alternative education, adult education. So many students do go um to adult education and and have success there. And for some of them who need something different, who need more support, who need more more contact, more um, we offer that. We We really build our school around relationships and connection. Um, and so I think that students who need something different similar to our alternative education students, uh, we're able to provide that. And then there

190are there are other differences that I don't I don't know what you want to add to that, Ferris. So, we're part of a collaborative which is um the the California Adult Education Program Cape. Um and it's a collaborative where the funding for adult education comes uh to Cababrio College and then there's this this collaborative where it's distributed most of that funding goes to the Watsonville APA Santa Cruz uh adult education program. Um so our focus is as a charter is on high school graduation whereas the um the adult education program is they may they graduate maybe 15 students a year we graduate about 60 oh 60 I thought it was more than that uh 60 students between the two that's a conservative number it's probably more like 80 I would say yeah I thought it

191was more like 80 I think we're going to have 60 at this graduation but we also have the the the mid the midyear graduation. And so our focus is high school graduation and transition to higher education. And so the services that we offer don't stop after graduation. The students get a lot of support to continue on. So we see we see ourselves as partners. Uh we also recognize that there is a huge need for this. when you look at the numbers of people that don't complete um their high school diploma every year, we're still even with the hundreds of students that we're serving, we're still not reaching the great majority of folks. And so we may compete a little bit when it comes to high school diploma with programs and uh but generally speaking, we

192complement each other. We our folks often send students to the Watson adult education program and some and uh folks also come to us sometimes when they haven't been successful in that other program. Um and um and but we also feel like we there's the need is so great that it's the more that are doing this this work the better. Go ahead. One other thing you and maybe I misurd you, but that there at the juvenile uh lock facility. Do you have like a computer lab or Oh, that's at the probation success center for adult probationers. Yes, it is in a locked facility. No, no, it's right by the courthouse. Other adults in trouble can come in and use Yeah, the the probation success center is meant to be like a one-stop shop for adults who

193are on probation. And if they need high school diploma services, ed services, then we're there for them. Um, they can also get clothing there, bus passes, food, and use the computer lab and also work on their high school diploma if they're interested. And then this will be at both locations. Yes. the the downtown north county Santa Cruz one is it's more robust. It was it was open first and it actually has probation on site probation officers. In Watsonville it's a little bit different. There's not there are not probation officers station there. Um but similar idea and meant again to be that one-stop shop for for adults who need those services. Great. Yeah. Thank you. And I I did want to clarify that this is only for adults. So no, no, nobody under 18, right? Other

194clarifying question. So there's the petition renewal and then there is the material revision and those will be two voting items or I believe that uh since we integrated them in together, the material revision information is actually incorporated into the into the renewal document. And so, um, I'm not sure if they will will need two separate actions when that when June 12th when you make that decision, but the document, there won't be a separate document. It'll be one document. And I did want to apologize that the original document that was sent to you um was not the most updated one uh that was resent to you and reposted uh earlier today um that had the material revision information included. Okay, perfect. If there's no other questions, no other questions or comments. No. Then I hereby declare

195the public hearing regarding the career advancement charter school petition for renewal closed. I want to thank Dr. Russell, Dr. Sabah, Miss Cara Sansen, Mr. Reus. The county board of education will consider the petition for renewal of the Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter School at our next board meeting on June 12th, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. Great. Thank you so much. Now, I would like to give a shout out to Melissa Lopez and and Beck and Becky Ore who are here who are also been instrumental in in supporting this process as well. Thank you for for the late night. And Sonia and Cassus, thank you. You're rock stars. Okay, moving on to new business in action 14.1. We have several uh resolutions. We're going to start with 25-16 recognizing LGBTQIA2S+ Pride Month with Greg Larson. I

196will be quick on both of these since the board has dealt with them in prior years. Uh the first one is recognizing Pride Month for the month of June which follows on the heels of Martin or Harvey Milk Day that we did uh for this month and the progress flight is pride the pride flag is already flying but it will continue through June and the only three revisions this year was working in the recognition of the queer youth leadership award event. uh we've added that as one of the sources of our energy. Second, the um federal concerns that were expressed tonight that we've all expressed before and recognizing that makes this public recognition and action all the more important. And then third, just as we try to expand others as we did with the Harvey

197Milk flag raising to encourage all schools and districts to embrace flying the pride flag for this month. And those are the only three revisions we're recommending. And we'll move approval. Oh, was that a motion? No. Second. Okay, we got a first and a motion. Can we get a roll call vote, please? Trusty A Costa. Vice President Estrada. Yes. Trusty Larson, yes. Trusty Roth, yes. Trusty Van Allen, Trustee Williams, yes. President Sanchez. Yes. Passes unanimously. Next 14.2 resolution 25-7 recognizing Junth Junth with Greg Larson. Similarly, this comes forward from the legislative and community engagement committee as has been recommended in previous years and adopted unanimously targeting Junth as the um best known historical date for the end of slavery in America and a recognition of the need and celebrating black American freedom, resilience, and cultural cultural

198contributions to our community. Again, there are no changes to this one except again for recognizing the federal policy staffing uh and other changes that are making these issues more challenging for our African-American community. And with that, I'd move approval. Is there a second? Okay. Questions, comments from the board? If none, can we get a roll call vote, please? Vice President Estrada? Yes. Trusty Larson? Yes. Trusty Roth. Yes. Trusty Van Allen. Trustee Williams. Yes. President Sanchez. Yes. Passes unanimously. Next we have the first reading of the board policies 2000 series specifically focusing on BP0415 equity with Trusty Williams. Good evening everyone. We'll try to make this rather quick, but um we are bringing before the policy uh for uh equity BP0415 um and in light of some re our recent developments including you know roll back

199of DI initiatives as we all know across many institutions um and there's significant impact on our communities. We wanted to bring forth a a few policies that are sort of um that we'd like to um bring forth sooner rather than others. We have several policies that we need updating on, but these are the most relevant that we wanted to make a stand on. Um so, um the first one is equity. Um you know, recognizing individuals, um who have different needs and circumstances, um in order to be successful. So, we have the first one for you. It was in our um in our packet. Um I would like to have a discussion on the possibility of adding um individuals with disabilities um the LGBTQIA to S plus as part of equity um and working that in.

200Um I have some language that could change that. We could with these um these policies we this is a first reading which means we have a discussion. we can provide any changes or we can just accept them as is and and approve them. Um with this particular one I'm uh would like to discuss the possibility of adding disabilities those with disabilities and LGBTQ. So kind of open for discussion comments. Lararsson question comment. Uh, Ben Allen. First, I want to just say that I've been worthless as a committee member for the last couple weeks. We just turned in our petitions today for the affordable housing measure. So, I appreciate Rachel's work. Not a problem. Um, and you say and Nick. Um, uh, well, I I'm open to your amendment and do you want to read it

201now and get it in the record and then Sure. Sure. Um it would be um adding students of I believe it's paragraph three students of color andor diverse cultural linguistic socioeconomic disability or LGBTQIA2s plus backgrounds to ensure that equity is the intentional result of the county board decisions. The board shall consider whether its decisions address the needs of students from the racial, ethnic, LGBTQIA to S+, disabled, and indig indigent communities and remedy the inequalities that such communities have experienced in the context of history of exclusion, discrimination, andor segregation. And um that's kind of reinforced by what we heard from our student leaders and feeling like some of their needs aren't being met equitably. So um I'm happy to provide that in writing um at any easier that way. I would support that as a Are

202we making motions tonight? I guess for first reading we still Yes, you can. You can accept the change and you can get a first and a second and we can vote or we can bring it back next month for the formal. Wave for the second waving this. Yeah. I had clarity on who made the motion. Oh. Um, Greg, did you make the motion? Um, I will make the motion to move forward with this as the first and second reading. And I'll second Okay. Accepting the amendments. Second. Yeah. We have a first and a second. Can we get a roll call, please? This is a a voice. Um, President Oh, it's a first reading. Never mind. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. I any opposed passes unanimously. Thank you. So this is first second

203reading correct waving the second reading. The second next we have uh board policy is 5141.52. So suicide prevention 5145.13 response to immigration enforcement. Okay. Again um a couple of uh policies that are very relevant um in our community right now. Um, this is mental health awareness week. Today I'm wearing green and two way raise awareness. It looks like somebody else is too, but maybe with um, you know, it's never easy uh, topic to discuss or imagine um, but alas, our community unfortunately has experienced um, some devastating losses. Um and so I know we are all committed to supporting these policies um thoughtful strategies towards prevention to respond to our students and the needs that they have. Um and policy development involves um us putting um our words into action on paper. And so um this

204policy um includes um some additional strategies implementation of you know trauma-informed procedures to support students with mental health needs, access to services and staff training. Um this basically includes some recommended changes and additions from the CSBA. So um there's anybody that has a comment or I would move to Larson. Sure. Just wanted to make sure we're but there's some additional work here. I think it's work we're already doing basically you and your staff Paris and it's important work and so I just wanted to make sure it's you have the capacity to to fulfill these policy um I'm sorry or did it come from in terms of the response to immigration enforcement. Well, on both suicide prevention, suicide prevention. Yeah. So, we're our our I would say that the the the direction that's included in our

205policy is very much in line with the work that we're doing. Um the second one, we can take these individually or together. um equally response to immigration enforcement. Another uh relevant policy affecting students in our community and it's appropriate time to restate um and adopt additional language as recommended by the CSB which include um the recom um recommitment that the COE the COE resources and data cannot be used to create lists or database based on protected characteristics like national origin, immigration status or religion. Um, and then I just wanted to add I think that the document that we have um there is a a misspelling. It's um it's in the second paragraph county office of education education is misspelled but um I would move to forego second reading and adopt both policies as written changes.

206comments. This is question first and a second. Thoughts, comments? If none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Passes unanimously. That was to have the second reading. Great. Second. Yes. Except for both of those policies. Thank you. Okay. Next we have resolution 25-18 establishing institutional membership in the association of California county board of education Santa Cruz County Board of Education ACCB that is on. So uh we did have a meeting last week in which we had a presenter come and share with us a little bit about ACCBE. It was aformational item. So we just uh listened, we asked some questions but can did not make a decision. Part of that was bringing it back to the board to discuss further and see if this is something that we want to pursue. Any thoughts,

207comments from anybody that feels strongly either one way or the other? Yeah, I'll I'll say that I think it's a small ask that they are asking for in terms of a monetary uh you know way to get into the association. Um it will be a good vehicle to just kind of see I don't know just kind of feel it out where they're going what kind of resources they offer. um we can revisit in the future how useful it is. But I found you know CCBE really useful coming in uh as a new trustee uh you know having that focus on the county trustee position and how it's different than district trustee positions um that folks are used to. Um I I think it's useful. I I hope that uh you know CSBA continues to you

208know do you know they're doing their county board um meeting still which I think will be useful. I think I think why not with this and just kind of see how it is. It's kind of it's not we're not losing too much. It's it's the same cost that we're paying for CSBA um as a county board, you know, to be a part of that extra CCB section of CSBA. Saying that correctly, right? Say one more. Um because we had to pay an extra fee as a county board of education to CSBA. Yes. Yeah. And this is equal to that amount of how much we paid to CSBA as a county board. We have an extra fee to be a part of previously to have been a part of CCB. But yes, but my question is

209does the CSBA still charge us twice to be a part of CSBA and to be on the county for being a county? Yes, they do. They still do. Yes, it's on one invoice, but So, they still charge us for being a county, which I have disagreements. I feel like that's also separate than this. But I have disagreements with that cuz it's like what what I agree with you, right? Um we were paying that to be in CCB. CCB is now gone. Why are why are they still charging us? So that's a different conversation that I I thank you for bringing that up because that did Yes. Yeah. So that's that's why they established this amount. It's not they didn't pull it out of the ether of like we think this is a good it's like

210this is what CSBA was offering and that's what we will be charging as well. So um I I I think it's it might be useful and that we can also revisit it in the future. I have the copy of the invoice from CSBA if you want to see that to reference. Okay. Because in the meantime, um, has anybody taking any courses or I would like to speak to it? I've attended four or five and the one I'm kind of most intrigued with is Monday night they're having the uh author of the two workforce housing books and I'm thinking okay CSPA CB this ACCB whatever it is this group is getting us in front of that person before CSPA is and I don't want to make it competitive but to me I'm kind of with Edward

211the amount is so small and while they're developing that it doesn't hurt us just if it was another conference and big expenses. Yeah. And and also that they have continually referenced that they're not trying to compete with CSBA or replace CSBA. It's kind of just in addition [Music] to your Yeah. Uh Van Allen, I've been kind of staying neutral because I feel like in some ways it the origin of the new group came from machinations at the state level that I nothing about. So sometimes the new group is the rebels or it's a rump group or it's designed to subvert the original group or something like that. the fact that there is quite a variety now of membership in the new group from very large districts or counties and some very small ones and quite

212a few now that tips me into the kind of the why not you know let's see what happens let's join be part of it see what we can learn maybe it doesn't do anything but maybe it does so that's kind of where I am right now I don't feel super strongly either way but I think it's probably worth it amount seems feasible Any other questions or comments? I think yes, I agree. Uh but I think we have to kind of footnote it and maybe review, you know, have some kind of review and comparison. It'll be an So approve it for a year and then review it afterwards. We could do that. But it just doesn't roll over. Yeah. Is it's going to be a small amount? Does need board approval? Well, it does need board

213approval to start with. Yes. But I I think we should should review it. I'm still I'm glad to hear about the work, you know, the housing because that is different and that and that's what Jan told us that they really weren't going to compete with. So, okay, perfect. And I was pretty involved with CCBE back when they were an organization. uh I was involved with their policy committee and also um helped out in some of their their other committees. I will not be as involved with ACCBE um just because of time constraints. I just feel like my attention energy could be better used or focused elsewhere uh preferably locally and I but I'm not against I'm not against joining them. you know, if we have an organization that wants to advocate on our behalf and

214wants to help us out, then that's great. Glad to hear that that that's even an option, you know, that that that we have. Okay. If no other questions or comments, is there a motion? Sorry. Sorry about the resolution with the amendment that it's all Okay. Uh do we know if the membership is is it proactive like do we do we start from let's say May 15 2025 till May 15 2026 or is it specific calendar we would I believe begin July 1. Um okay as we do with CSBA just to make it clean July 1 to June 30th. Okay. So we're joining for the next year. Okay. Perfect. I like that. Okay. Yep. Sounds good. And then to clarify, would you want that language for one year added to the resolution or is that just

215whatever makes that work for us? So it just say motion has two parts. One to approve resolution. Second part to bring it back after to bring it back in time for renewal. I wasn't sure if we had a second. I'll second. We got a first and a second. Can we get a roll call vote, please? Vice President Estrada, yes. Trusty Larson, yes. Trusty Roth, yes. Trusty Van Allen, yes. Trusty Williams, yes. President Sanchez, yes. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Next, we have section 15 is superintendent report. I'll keep my uh report relatively brief. Uh so just wanted to give you a little bit. The May the governor's May revise uh was out. You've probably been seeing some emails and some analysis of it. Uh the state is facing a 12 billion deficit. Uh generally speaking, they

216kept uh education uh unimpacted by these cuts. But there are some some some specifics, a little bit less cola, uh some some uh discretionary block granting and um support for universal TK, universal meals and expanded uh learning ELO programs. Uh some of the concerns uh are that there is a um 1.3 under appropriation uh for 2425. These are the maneuvers that that the that the governor is using. also a deferrals which is when they give us IUS instead of actual funding and um and then the reserve the rainy day fund has dropped will have dropped to zero dollars um at the end of 2526. So um things to to think about um and um I'll skip over that. I did also want to share with you a little bit about the some of the concerns

217we have about the recommended uh White House discretionary budget as well as the reconciliation bill. The discretionary budget is the one that includes education. Uh the reconciliation bill is the one that um includes Medicare and Medicaid. So those are the mandated one in reconciliation. Discretionary is education. So the the White House recommended budget that came out was a discretionary was recommendations for the discretionary budget. They're currently working on both of these, but the the one that that has been most in the news is about Medicaid cuts. Uh so some of the things that the White House is recommending is cut cutting education by about 12 billion about 15%. Uh we get about 12 to 16% of our total budget is federal. So we're talking about 15% of that smaller percentage eliminates 18 programs outright including

218uh title three for English learners migrant which is a program that I I ran for many years. uh programs like TRIO and Gear Up for uh students who are uh in higher education who are who may be undocumented. Um and um and also teacher quality programs and funding for the Office of Civil Rights. There's also a some recommendations about um simplifying the way funding comes from the federal government and including block granting of title one and uh special education funding which is unclear what that really is going to mean. Um so we're concerned about that slight increases to charter schools and reductions to the office of civil rights. Um the other bill, the Medicaid bill, we're really concerned about because we anticipate that if the recommendations that they're working on go into place, about 30%

219of our community will lose medical access. 30%. um they're putting in and that includes medical provides for um nutrition SNAP programs like like what we call food stamps u medical care mental behavioral health care dental care variety of services that we don't think California will be able to to replace and and step in and um so we're we're uh significantly concerned about that. Of course, we're also been working hard in developing a sustainable behavioral health program that much of which we we were hoping that all our students would continue qualifying for medical which that potentially could be at risk. And so our efforts to to create a sustainable behavioral health model would be at risk depending on this. Uh the new budgets usually go into effect starting in October, October one. uh that's how the

220federal fiscal cycle, but we'll be hearing about these very very soon and um and definitely, you know, advocating uh on behalf of of the needs of our community as much as we can. On a more positive note, we'd love to have see you at some of these events coming up with queer prom this Saturday at Sequoia Schools. Uh also, uh the countywide black grad uh is uh on May 24th at London Nelson. uh we'll provide some spec specifics with times and everything for you. So, but just uh also our you've been seeing the alted and and CAC graduations. We'd love to see you uh participate in that. will be participating in in uh in in pride on June 1st and um and also um there's going to be a workshop on June 5th by uh

221capital adviserss uh which is about the May revise and um we're uh offering effective governance training uh for uh this was part of our that letter that I sent to uh the PBSD staff uh PVSD board uh to provide effective governance training. It's going to be taking place two days, June 13th and 14th. We'd love it if if you could participate. Up till now, three school districts have uh committed to sending their boards to the this all day training and it should be a great opportunity for professional development with some some uh uh really uh top-notch uh trainers and should be a great experience. Who is who is doing? Uh so it's they're called effective governance is uh the effective governance um so um the trainer uh is uh is Greg Klein and AJ Krabble.

222Um so AJ uh Krabble works with um the um he works with the I should have had this. It's okay. I know it's it's late and I'm I'm so he's a a trainer. He I believe he he is um with the great what is his title is director of governance for the council of the great city schools. That's it. Great city school. Council of great city schools. So he uh specializes in providing professional development to school districts especially when when they're uh needing support with governance and um and uh so this is kind of a he actually presented at the CSBA conference and uh also I believe was um uh we reached out to him and and um and to Greg Klein who's who was going to be there as well for them to to

223bring this special training. Which districts have um at this point it's uh I believe it's Live Oak School District and North Monterey County and P. Yes, of course. PB PBSC. Yes. Sorry. And it could be all of you as well and you can participate as well. So if uh so it is not a board meeting because it's because we're able to involve multiple board members. It becomes like a a workshop that you would go for at CSBA. So that's why we're encouraging board members to participate. And that is it for my report. Any questions for me? Thank you for your patience tonight. I know we we went Yeah. I just want to say that I um am very grateful and I appreciate you Dr. Zaha for stepping in and saying what's right even when it's

224hard to do. I think that speaks a lot about you and who you are. very proud to be able to sit next to your side. Thank you. Okay. Um I will will do the trusty reports and I'll start with myself. Uh PCS bash. I want to focus on that one. They have a yearly annual uh fundraiser. Was able to attend that. It's always fun, enjoyable experience. And PCS is going through quite a bit right now. Um I just want to focus on the retirement of Dr. Ray Tano, you know, the head of schools. She has been uh an advocate uh for the students and um it's been a pleasure to get to know her and to to get to work with her uh several years. Forget how many, but I want to say maybe around

225five or six. And uh announce her retirement and she's going to step down after this at the end of the school year. So, uh, it was a just a clarification. I don't believe it's a retirement. I just I believe that she's um she's looking at other opportunities. Stepping down. Thank you. From PCS. So, it was a good uh time to get together and just celebrate and show appreciation. Um, really enjoyed it. I always enjoy going to uh to those uh events. And uh so that's uh so that's what I wanted to focus on. There is one thing that I just do want to call out. Um I think it's uh I need to mention it out of uh transparency so that you guys uh just so the board is is aware. But um I have

226been receiving that. Did I do that? I did it. Okay. No worries. Okay. No worries. I just want to um call out and point out that today in our meeting we had um students that wanted to share with us from CAC for the uh for the renewal of the uh charter that couldn't uh attend or couldn't join because of the time that we do meet. And I mention this because it is something that is brought to my attention. is something that um uh is brought to to my attention, you know, and for multiple meetings and I just want and I know that one of the reasons why we moved the meeting was to make it more accessible to the public, but I do also want to acknowledge that it is also making it hard for

227some people to to attend and to voice their opinion. So, um it's not part of the agenda. I don't plan on bringing it up soon, but I just did did want to to put it out there. And that's my report. Uh, yes. Sorry. Go ahead. Hi everyone. Uh, so I attended the COE Pride flag raising and spoke at it on May 2nd, attended the Queer Youth Leadership Awards on May 10th, and then also attended the United Way awards where we won partner of the year, which was super awesome. Uh, yeah. And, uh, speaking on the, uh, you know, the meeting times and stuff like that. So, I researched and sent out uh because we were talking about this for the agenda committee. So, I compiled uh like when other time other school districts meet uh

228locally and uh nearly all of them meet at 5:30 or later. So, Santa Cruz City Schools 6:30, PBUSD 6:00, Live Oak 6:00, SoCal Union 5:30, Scots Valley 6:00, San Lorenzo Valley 6:00, Bonnie June 5:30. Uh so I think that this time is in line with most of the county uh in terms of when we meet. Uh but I I mean especially this meeting was very long. Uh so I also suggested so I looked into what other school districts do. So PBUSD I mean a lot of our time was for uh the youth uh uh leadership alliance and the awards. They uh PVUSD has a separate meeting for those like a special meeting to to do those. And I know, you know, like uh if we were to do that, this meeting would have been cut

229basically in half and we would have been able to focus on on them for one day and then have every, you know, the CAC uh charter renewal and everything else as well cuz it it doesn't change the fact like changing the meeting time doesn't change the fact this this meeting was five and a half hours long. So it's you know five and a half hours you know at at 3:00 or 12 o'clock. It's still very very long. We are all I'm sure really tired. Um so I think uh maybe in the future we could look into for meetings like this where we know it might take a long time uh doing a special meeting uh separating it out uh so we're not here for 5 hours uh regardless of what time we meet. Uh and

230then in terms of increased public engagement I looked through the first four months of last year and the first four months of this year. First four months of last year we had zero public comments uh that I could see on the minutes. the first four months of this year, we've had eight public comments that I've seen on uh that I saw in the minutes. Uh so I think that there has been a market improvement. Uh Zik um personally told me that they're only able to attend because of the new time. Uh I also got uh I got in contact with Wilder, which is the women in leadership for diverse representation. uh they were the ones who said that this meeting time or the previous meeting time was inconvenient uh for their members and uh for

231recruitment purposes and just the fact that I'm leaving in a few months. I want to make sure that uh the recruitment process uh is as open as possible and that we aren't uh excluding any potential candidates. I want I mean when I was appointed it was only me uh running and part of that was because of the time uh that it was that it was uh working mothers weren't able to uh make the time. So I really hope that we keep this time uh and uh that there has been market improvement and we're also in line with the rest of the county for uh district meeting times. So yeah, that's my report. If we could if I would encourage the board that not to to I think we've we've heard uh we can move forward

232for from this from this uh item. Yes. Sorry, trusty. I was waiting to be called on. Um so I missed a lot last month. I was out of town and sick and so I missed all those wonderful events, the United Way event, the Kyla event and so I'm very sad. Um but um I did was able to attend the uh youth for environmental action summit which was pretty amazing. So I got to hear that presentation a couple times but took in a lot more. So it was it was wonderful. Um attended community advisory council um this um our board policy committee meeting um which was myself and thank you Venice for helping us coordinate it with our student trustee. And I know that Bruce was very busy finishing some of the things he had going

233on. So we got some things moving. Um and then um attended the final um session for inside education followed up by an amazing um COE picnic. Again, thank you Vanise and the team for an amazing um time. And um even though tonight was a very long night um I surprisingly I'm tired but I feel invigorated by all of the wonderful like celebratory part of it. So, thank you. That's all mine. I managed to get to the Youth Environmental Summit, which was very cool. And the Quila dinner. Um, I missed the United Way thing. I was expecting to go, but that afternoon I just did not I felt bad. I just didn't get motivated to even get dressed. So, notified Sue in time so she didn't waste time trying to pick me up. Um uh so

234I'm hoping to have a little more time for an attention for the board after now that today we turned in our petition. We'll time off plus one plus one plus one everything I did and I did want to say um after our next meeting will be going from the meeting at the airport to fly. So for the second meeting of June I'll be zooming outside. [Music] Okay. uh it the flag raising at Kyla uh the picnic and I'm not tired from tonight and this was a good a good meeting I did not like public uh anyway and all I wanted to do was stand up and hug you and I didn't think it was appropriate you know I don't know who the bad guys are anyway. So, thank you. Any ad hoc standing committee reports?

235Carson put off several times now bringing the workforce housing bills that CSA sponsored. I have received now draft resolutions from CSPA. So, that will make it easier to process. What Rachel and I know and from city schools at the inside education visit is that they have concerns about those two bills. So I'm going to follow up child Kelly and then bring it back to the committee come back for one of our June meetings. Okay. [Music] Um, I want to call out the uh schedule of meetings at upcoming events. Number 18, we have the educational career advancement charter graduations. So, sorry, the alternative education and the career event in the CAC graduations week of May 27th and the 30th. We had really good attendance uh this last graduation. you know, I was very proud to see

236the trustees, the board represent and encourage and motivate our students. So, uh I know personally it's a lot it's very um uh motivational to be there. It's why we that's why we're here, right? To see our students graduate. So, I know that Veneise like like she has before, we'll probably send a a Google invite or a document to so that we can keep track of when those dates are, where their locations, and um we can sign up and and see who will be attending which ones. I did want to provide or ask a question about our regular meetings. Uh we will have two in June. One is for the budget and the LCFF, but neither are Okay, I understand why now. So, we're not meeting on the third Thursday because it's Junth because it's a

237holiday. Yes. So, instead, we're doing it the 2nd, June 12th, and the 4th, June 26. So, remember that. Um June 12th is when we'll meet. And which one will be uh the one for the uh LCFF and the budget? So there's they it's here. Correct. So we'll present the you'll uh it'll be presented on the 12th and we'll approve it on on the on the Okay. Okay. Okay. I think traditionally uh in the past what we've done is we've done a meeting specifically for that but it sounds like we're just going to have two meetings that month and potentially talk about other items as well potentially. Um I believe it's ED code that says that the adoption has to be at a regular meeting. So that's why they're labeled as regular. Um and then as

238well June 12th you'll be reviewing CAC petition again. Perfect. Okay, that makes sense. Um, okay. So, put that on your calendar. June 12th, uh, meeting next month, not the 19th. And with that, the meeting's adjourned. Thanks everybody for your time. Thank you for your patience, everyone.