Shasta County Board of Education Regular Meeting - April 15, 2016

001I'm going to call the meeting to order at 6:00. Uh let's go to the Pledge of Allegiance, Teresa. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, item number three is approval of the agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? I'll move to approve the agenda. Thank you, Jessica. Is there a second? I'll second. Thank you, Teresa. It's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. Is there any discussion? All right, then let's all in favor of approving the agenda say I. I. Any opposed say no. All right, the motion carries. Item four, public comment. Public comment is for all agenda items and on matters that are not

002on the agenda, but that are within the Shasta County Board of Education's jurisdiction will take place during this item. Members of the public are invited to fill out a speaker card and review the speaking to the board handout available to check-in table. The board is not allowed by law to take action on matters not on the agenda. Any speaker cards? Is there anyone in the audience wishing to address the board? All right. Item number five, community recognition. Yeah, I'm going to go I'll take it. Uh want to welcome everybody. We have some VIPs out in the audience and we're excited to have the opportunity to recognize students in our in our programs. Uh back in February uh we hosted an every student succeeding luncheon and uh we would love to uh actually, I'd love to

003invite we have some student program uh staff with us tonight. I'd love to invite Carrie, uh Cheyenne, and Jill if you could come on up. Uh we'd love to recognize uh students that we honored in February in front of our board because these students are in our student programs and uh I think the the things that they've been able to overcome, the things that they've been able to accomplish deserve that recognition. Without further ado, I'll turn it over to uh Who who would Who would like to go first? Looks like Jill, you've got the mic, so I'll turn it over to >> nominated, so. Um so, my student that uh received the award is Chance McCoshum. He was not able to come here tonight, but he was there at the luncheon in February. Um Chance

004is a student that came to us and he had struggled in school. He was receiving D's and F's. I think the highest grade he had on his transcript was a C. Um coming to Tri County Academy was also a bit of a, you know, challenge in his life when he first came. Um but he was able to really focus his energies and get motivated to focus on school. Um when he left, he had made the honor roll. He had received perfect attendance at our quarter uh celebration. He was receiving A's and the lowest grade he had was a B. And I really just spoke to the determination and the growth that he went through while he was with us. And so, it was a pleasure to honor him. And like I said, unfortunately, he's not

005here tonight, but he knows that we're speaking about him tonight and he um is so proud of himself, which is awesome. Okay, I'm Cheyenne Mazenko and my student is Noah McCray. Can he come up here with me? Come on. Come on. You don't want to? Come on. HE'S COMING. OKAY, SO THIS IS MR. MCCRAY AND he I have had the pleasure of working with him for 3 years at Excel. Um one of the major growth points for this young man right here is that um he went from being class 50% of the time to 88% of the time. So, he is in class all day every day for the most part staying on campus, doing what he's supposed to do. I'm also proud of him. He's in a reading program and his reading scores have

006skyrocketed. He is now went from like basic alphabet knowledge to blends, digraphs, reading. And so, um I'm just very proud of him for seeing his growth and blossom. He is a citizen of our school and he is also the kindest student you would ever meet. So, I look forward to seeing his face every morning and he is stellar and we're looking at transition back to district in the fall. So, I'm very proud of Mr. Noah. Well done. All right, so I'm here tonight. I have I'm Carrie Webb and I am the principal of Shasta County Independent Study and I have the opportunity to share this space with Miss Mariah Abels. Mariah actually started her journey with us as as an Excel student as well and then came back to us for independent study as an

00711th grader. Um Mariah has never not had a voice. She has always had a voice. She has now learned how to use that voice to advocate for herself. She's going to graduate early with us as an 11th grader. She um is going to go on to do great big things. I really want to also recognize her parents here with her today. Melissa and Shane, thank you for being a part of her journey and I know you've been there along the way with her. So, everybody, thank you. Miss Mariah Abels for um thank you for letting us be a part of your journey. GOOD JOB, MARIAH. YOU WANT TO JUMP IN? ARE YOU GOING over there, too? Yeah. I guess everybody looks young when you get to be our age. Find find gentlemen. >> Yeah. Shasta

008County CEO, that's probably why. Is the guest one we should be using? I'm using it. Yeah, I'm using guest. Okay. Yeah, I changed it. Now it's working. Thank you, staff, for being here tonight as well. It made it special. Yes. Thank you, everybody. So, we're on item number six, which should be the approval of the consent agenda. Uh these are items for which no discussion is anticipated and are acted upon by a single vote. Are there any board members that wish to pull anything off the consent agenda? Uh Arthur. Yeah, I don't have anything to pull, but if people don't want to stay for all of our meeting they can they they can more wel- they're more welcome to stay if they want. And I requested a comment at the previous thing. Oh, it shows

009it shows okay. Yes. Oh, never mind. Oh, well. There's so many of you here. I just wanted to say that I'm really proud of you, um Mariah, and Noah, for your hard work in um making changes and moving forward and you know, getting your education to the best of your potential because it's really important and I just want to encourage you to keep using your voice. I'm proud of you. Thank Thank you. Okay, then could I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? I motion to approve the consent agenda. Thank you, Teresa. Is there a second? I'll second. Thank you, Laura. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on the approval of the consent agenda? All right. All those in favor of approving the consent agenda, say I. Aye. All those opposed?

010All right. Motion carries. Okay, item number seven, information. Are there any questions from the board on any of the informational items? Arthur. On the information item, is this different than when we set the schedule at the end of the year? So, at the end of the calendar year, the board has the organizational meeting and we set our we set our meetings. This is uh work year calendars for uh for next year across our associations. So, so this isn't something we could take action on. This is just information for us. Correct. There's I just want to remind several teachers have reached out to us about their school schedule and sometimes we don't have control over other people's jurisdiction, but we do have control over our bus routes. So, they've uh frequently complained that now they have

011the uh week off after Christmas instead of the week off before Christmas. So, anything that we can do to give teachers a week off before Christmas so that they can prep and have time to do all their things as far as baking, cooking, wrapping, uh to try to put that in the forefront of our brain because a lot of them work up until Christmas and they don't have the ability to prepare their own fam- families for Christmas. So, that's one of the things that teachers have told me over the years when we're making the calendars. Yeah, on the uh on the calendar uh development, we lean heavily on uh the Shasta Union High School District and their collective bargaining process to set those calendars. Uh we also have uh collaboration with the districts to set

012the elementary, but you're right, as it relates to the special education, when those calendars are established by the by districts through the collective bargaining process, then we uh we set our calendars accordingly. So, and I think that sometimes uh when you look at where those vacations fall, where those breaks fall, like December 22nd, they may be still in class and that is a that is a challenge. We do trust the the districts in their collective bargaining process to to hear those concerns uh and and address those concerns, but um our transportation calendar is set by what comes out of that process at the district level. Any other questions for the information items? All right. Uh item eight, action. Under the board, we have review student board member applications and select applicants to interview. Does Yes,

013so included in your packet uh um great news, we have 15 applications. Uh bad news, we have 15 applications. Uh so, we are we are hopefully walking away uh with methodology and direction from the board as to what we would like our uh May meeting to look like. Our May regularly scheduled meeting is the the interview of uh potential candidates for our student board member student board trustee positions. Uh included in the meeting materials is some some simple math on the right up. 15 students, five questions. That feels uh that feels daunting. And so, uh we are looking to the board for discussion as to how we would like to move forward and what that selection process will look like next month. Jacob. Real quick, before we start the discussion, I'm going to excuse myself,

014so I won't be speaking because my name is I am an applicant, so I don't want to have any unfairness at all in the selection. So, I'm going to excuse myself and let the discussion happen, okay? Thank you. It's open for discussion if any board members have an idea about Arthur. I was thinking there's a lot of great applicants on here, but we have to narrow it down, so I don't know if one of part of the process, like each one of us could pick our top two or three, and then out of that we can see how many people are in common, and then kind of whittle it down that way. I'm not sure if there's another process that makes sense as far as like getting from 15 down to maybe five if we're

015going to interview uh potential candidates. It'd be nice to interview them all, but I don't know if we're going to be able to entertain 15 people in one meeting. Yeah. Okay. Uh Laura. Yeah, so that was my idea, too. Um cuz I think if you apply for a job, you're not guaranteed an interview, so it would be within the norm to narrow it down. And I like the idea of just I mean, in theory, we could still end up with 15 if we each list three, but I would think that there would be some duplication. So, I wonder if we could do I know we can't have a secret vote, but just um each board member with their own name write down their top three and then tally or how do you cuz I don't

016think we should be debating it tonight over which we like better, but just kind of trying to narrow the pool. Yeah. Uh Mike. Uh one one suggestion, could those three be could the applications be reviewed? I don't know if if board members came in with a with a ranking ready, so if they wanted to go and review the applications and get their top three to Carmen and we had some methodology for processing what those top three look like with a deadline, hard fast deadline, then we could then share out the results via email and you would know who you're interviewing in the in the May meeting. Kind of going what I I think uh four to five interview four to five candidates is is feasible. We've done that before. And so, if we asked uh

017if we asked the board for their top three submitted to Carmen via email by a specific date, and from that we chose five, and we were able to share out based on the methodology that the board directs us to to implement, we'd be able to narrow that down to five in time for our and to notify and invite and do all those things. So, we could assign like a point value to everybody's first place, second place, and third place, something like that. Maybe like a first place gets five points, second place gets three three, third place gets one, and then Carmen could add all that up. How does that sound as a possibility? I'm just All right, Laura. I'm just concerned like if the board has more that that staff is going to narrow some

018from the board's uh collection. I guess I guess I would have a concern about that. I mean, we've done more than five in the past. We've I mean, I'm sure there were was a time we had seven or eight, but wouldn't say it's ideal. Author. I think last time we had a panel of four times two, if I can remember right, when you guys were here. Just four. Mike. Yeah, the staff will do whatever the board directs us to do in the process. It would just be a matter of I think that President Orlicky's idea of a point value would then be give Carmen the instructions take everyone's top three, assess the points, do the math, and and then we would also leave here with with whatever the the desired number of interviewees would be,

019and then that way we would we would be able to narrow that down. Does anyone have an idea about how many you think would be good to interview? It's about five five questions interview questions for each candidate or applicant. Abby. I feel like we are choosing two, right? Two board student board members. Yes. >> Out of So, I feel like maybe like six, so a third of the um interviewees get the position, maybe. I'm just putting maybe. >> So, six is a suggestion. I think Mike said four to five, but six seems pretty reasonable. And if everybody's okay with the point system? Sure. All right. Mike. Sorry, a little bit of housekeeping. Our we have upgraded our camera this time. And and now as the mic is activated, the camera goes to you. So, if

020your default is on green, just not being used, the camera thinks you're being you're speaking, and the camera's going to zoom in on you. So, uh if we could make sure that we are red if we're not speaking, that will help with our our technology. Does someone want to make a motion or so we can take action on that? Author. I'll make a motion that uh student board member applicants that we pick up to six for interview, and we'll use a point-based system our top choice getting five points, our second choice getting three points, and our third choice getting one point for a value-based system, and that the staff will help us out with collecting the information, and we will have a deadline, let's say two weeks before our next meeting, so that we can

021have it in time for the agenda-setting meeting and the invites. What's the reason for such a big point spread? Like, why not do three two one? It was just suggested. Yeah, I just I just thought five three one. Okay, does this Yeah, does two weeks work before the meeting? Yeah, it will two weeks before, so on the we're looking at the 29th. Yeah. April 29th. Yep. All right. So, there's a motion. Is there a second for that motion? Thank you, Teresa. Is there any any more discussion on that? All right. Is everybody okay with a voice vote on this? All right, do all in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. All right, motion carries unanimously. Yes. All right. Item number 8.1.2 is a board policy committee, which I believe Author, you asked to

022put this on the agenda last month, but and I think Mike, you're on there to talk about it as well. So, Author, did you want to start us off with that? Yes. So, what we were thinking is we recently had CSBA give us guidance last year about updating our policies, which we went through and updated all the Title IX issues and everything else that we were directed to do by the board. And in doing so, there are some other policies that have been coming up that we have to review and edit. So, it was nice it would be nice not to have to every every time maybe court decision is happening or CSBA updates their guidance that we uh have to form a committee and then set it back a month. So, if we had

023a standing committee that is operating every month kind of within our board meeting, like we could do it same day, same time, right here, and uh as policy updates happen, then we can bring them forth before the board, and then we can take action on them or discussion instead of like delaying the process like one month or two months down the road. And then we can The other thing that was nice well, not nice and nice. We we did that together, and the only time we had an opportunity was when we came to the board, but out of the board discussion, it was really really great to work on that with the staff and the other seven board members, so that we could all go through it together and make a policy that's really good

024instead of something that maybe three of us are creating and not having a lot of feedback with meetings here or there. So, having a standing meeting that's accountable to the board at Brown Act that all of us can be on, and we can ask the opinion of staff in real time and just update policy redline. So, that was my idea for forming a policy committee. Thank you, Mike. Uh yeah, I appreciate that, Author, and I think you just uh addressed the point that I was wanting to make and maybe get legal clarification just to make sure if we do go the route of standing committee, then that would be Brown Act, correct? That's correct. And thank you, Ari, for pinch-hitting for Tompkin. Is there any discussion about creating a standing committee to deal with policy

025and policy updates? All right, is there someone Oh, oh, okay. Laura. Can we um just get a little bit of a rundown on what happens now when a policy needs to be changed? What is our procedure now? And then you'll back to me. I may have other questions. Yeah, well, I mean, I I I appreciate that question. Uh we currently receive quarterly guide sheets uh that provide us with um relevant well, provide us with a a a broad spectrum of policies that require update, whether that's legislate new law, new court uh rulings, and uh so, what we uh have been doing is we take that quarterly guide sheet, and we we keep it we keep track of it as far as from the the superintendent's standpoint, but um we have not uh we probably have

026some catching up to do because we have not been bringing those policy updates to the board, uh and I think that a clear process using a standing committee will help us catch up with the with the the current backlog of of policies that require updating. So, I guess when I read it in the agenda, I was thinking more like it would be a smaller committee, not the whole board doing it, a smaller number of people working with staff, and then bringing it to the full board, which I can see the value in that. I mean, I I really don't um think just as a working group having seven board members plus two student board members trying to make changes to policy cuz anytime you do that group writes, you end up with putting everybody's ideas

027in, and you get a really unclear thing. So, I'm just I'm not a fan of um a big large massive group trying to write or rewrite something, so that would be my concern. It wouldn't it wouldn't have to be all seven if it Is that correct? It could be four or five. Okay. Yep, it could even be less than a quorum, but because it's standing it's would still be subject to the Brown Act. Okay. And Jacob, you we're down to So, in the event that we have to change a policy at all final approval does come to the board at a regular board meeting, correct? Okay. Mike. Yeah, and included in the write-up for this agenda item is the idea that we've also seen where if it is not substantive in nature, it could be

028or if it is even an a regular update or policies some policies get updated regularly. Some of those could land on consent. Knowing the board knowing that it has gone through the standing board policy committee could look at the non-substantive changes as a consent agenda item to help us with that efficiency or again, it could be all things come and there's a regular agenda item for policy updates. I would just I would just point the board's attention to the suggestion on the on this agenda item. I would I would feel I would feel confident if we were able to edit, revise any bylaws that dictate what that standing committee looks like, bring that to the board for approval and then we would be able to launch out with whatever that standing policy committee looks like

029if that makes sense. Currently we have we have a we have the board bylaw 9130 on board committees that's included with this agenda item, but I think that developing clear composition, cadence, how often are we how often are we meeting, having those things codified with a bylaw that comes to the board and is approved, I think would set the stage for us to move forward as a policy committee efficiently. Arthur. Yeah, I just I just really liked how all of us work together on the policy when we brought it together. So, it's we're on the board to do some work and doing this policy blown up on the screen and having seven different opinions to really go through that was really nice and then having all the staff here you know on the same day

030not another day out of your time that you have to miss time with your family just right here right now between 6:00 and 10:00 hopefully not 12:00. We could just bust out the work, get it done, and decide on it because I mean really is most of it's like editing editing grammar and just the way that it's presented in uh it I just thought it worked out really well. It's other than meeting for separate occasions over 3 months to edit something and bring it to the board with three different people. So, having the standing committee I think is an excellent idea. So, I'm all for making a a new bylaw that suggests that we have a standing committee and I would even suggest that we have that committee have that time during a regular board

031meeting just carve out a portion either have it at the end of our board meeting where the people if you didn't want to be on the the committee, you didn't have to stay if you don't want to, but if if you want to stay and hang out and help us edit policy it's kind of boring, but we can get it done. Can a standing committee be made up of all the board members? Do we have to have a set membership or can it just be kind of fluid? Um you do have to have a set membership. So, you should determine how many should serve on it and then typically there's a kind of replacement mechanism for who doesn't want to serve. If this if the standing committee is meeting as a committee, that will need

032to be agendized separately either before or after the meeting. Otherwise, if you want a full board collaboration, you could also agendize that as a normal agenda item on your regular meeting agendas. And all seven could be on the standing committee, they just don't have to stay. Is that correct? Well, if the committee is seven, you're still going to need a quorum to hold the meeting of the committee. >> So, we'd need four at least. Okay. Jacob. I didn't put a request in. Oh, Jessica, you're still showing up as Jacob. Mhm. There we go. So, I think it would be a good idea to establish a board policy committee and I think that we should probably allow everyone to participate if we're going to be here because it would be kind of odd to just select

033a few people that are sitting here just and have them us just sit here in silence for no reason. Um and I I so I just want to make sure I understand what that would look like. So, in our agenda we would get the policies that need to be adopted with suggestions of redlined and we'll and then we review and then when we come sit down we all discuss it together, is that correct? That's my understanding. Is that your understanding Arthur as the one that Okay. Um Yeah, and then I would also be in favor of having it um probably at the end of the meeting. Well, maybe at the beginning of the meeting after public comment. So, you'd be in favor of adjourning the regular meeting and then calling to order the standing committee.

034>> Yeah, don't we just don't we stop at the meeting and say now we're going to close this meeting and open the other one and then we go back? Is that what you're asking suggesting? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Because I feel like we would have our best of brains at the beginning of the meeting than at the end and I I just I'm not a fan of like how sometimes things are rushed at the end because we're tired, you know. Uh Laura. Well, I don't I don't think like having a smaller committee means that it's other people don't get a voice. It's just a more efficient way to do it and then bring it to the whole board and then everybody gets to speak in. I mean, I would point to the meeting that Arthur is

035saying we did such a great job of working together as one of the most dysfunctional and chaotic meetings that I've been to in my 12 years on this board. So, I don't I don't think that that was the gold standard. So, I would I would be hesitant about having this standing committee be this working committee that breaks up already meetings that are going long. Mike. Oh, all right. Arthur. I like what Jessica was suggesting, but I wouldn't put it necessarily in the beginning of the meeting. What I do is after the call to order and we get down past all the informational items we put it before like number eight on action. So, if you put it after information and right before action it would be a great place because if we do have guests

036that come and we're doing some of our community recognition, we can still do all those things and then after the information is done our guests can leave if they are they can stay if they want and listen about policy and then the rest of the meeting is just the action items that we'd have student board report and discussion. Uh Jessica. Um just kind of in in line um I think we should definitely have a limit to how many policies we can discuss at one time because we don't want to get too crazy. Yeah. So, for a standing committee, they would set their own separate agenda, correct? Correct. Yep, it would need to be a separate meeting quote unquote. Okay. So, then we could just you know have two per meeting or something. Uh Jacob, I

037think that's you now, right? Yeah. Uh quick question. So, when we get a policy in front of us, who is making that suggestion and is it just original policy and we edit it from where it's at right now or is someone going to be making suggestions and you know, highlights and redlines? That's my first question. I'll yield to who can answer. Yeah, I think so we we do subscribe to policy update services and so those services would come we have resources through CSBA. Um we have a a policy service that would be looking at changes, legal changes, looking at uh uh recent recent court rulings that would uh necessitate the change. Uh I think Jessica was the one that was asking about what would it look like. You would have your current policy and then

038you would have uh recommended revisions with with redline strikeout or strikethrough so that you'd be able to see if there were things that were being deleted. You would also see italicized if things were being if things were being added. Okay. Yeah, and then I would say that new perspective on it all. I'm pretty neutral about what the time I mean, there's pros and cons to having in the middle of the meeting before or after cuz I think a limit on two policies is perfect because I I worry time and everything and um I mean, I I thought about as we first discussed this about um you know, like emotions like I feel like it'd be kind of tense having it at the beginning of the meeting and then leading with all those emotions to the

039end of the meeting, but I think we'll figure it out. I mean, I'm open to anything. Just throwing out perspective out there. Arthur. And to your point, last time I forget how many policies we had to update at one time, but it was a lot. So, having it limited to two and if we're always updating something every month, I think that will take out that big chunk. You know, and then they don't I would imagine there's not two or three every month that's coming out, but if our full-time legislature gets really trigger-happy and starts passing all of this stuff, then we might have be more busy, but hopefully they don't do that. And uh we just have to update as it comes out. Mike. Uh two point or one point and a question. Uh all

040policies are not equal. All policy changes are not equal. Some are going to be non-substantive and they're going to be minor. Uh some are going to be lengthier discussions and lengthier development and and process. Uh I guess my question is is for Ari like if all seven board members, if all nine board members are part of the policy review revision process, there is no need for a standing agenda or standing committee. It would be an agenda item and it's just we're to Laura's point, we're trying to word-smith with nine people. There's no separate agenda. There's no separate board bylaw. We only need the standing committee if we are trying to do a spin-off that can still constitute the whole board. It would just be at a different time, different date. Correct. So, if you want

041to have a standing committee meeting at the same time as your regular board meeting, it would need to be held either by before the board meeting or after, not in the middle of the board meeting. So, you would open, go through your whole regular board meeting and adjourn, or you do the full standing committee meeting. If you just wanted to make it a standing item as part of your regular agenda, you can do that without forming the committee. So, it'd have to be before or after. According to what we were told. Is that uh Jessica? So, it would have to be before or after or Or another day. >> Or after, or we can just what's why wouldn't we just have a standing agenda item? Or we we could do that, too. >> Yeah, I

042think that's the easiest solution. Can I make a motion? Uh yeah. Anyone? Yeah. Okay, I'll make a motion that um that we add a standing agenda item to every regular board meeting for um updates for policy. Okay, is there a second for that? I'll second that. All right, thank you, Laura. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on just on creating a agenda item for policies and discussing those policies and making changes? Arthur. Uh yeah. I'm just trying to think of how to do that. Uh I mean, it's nice to have it every month and then the staff can give us direction on that. Mhm. And then but if you had a committee that meets outside of it, you can discuss throughout the month. So, we're not So, yeah. Trying to think of

043it doesn't inhibit us from talking about as long as we don't have more than four people talking about policy. Three of us could get together and talk about the policy. So, maybe having a standing committee where we meet outside of it uh would be beneficial. Only because you might have to work on stuff with a group of people before you come to the regular scheduled board meeting. So, you're talking about an ad hoc committee or you want a standing committee made up of just three members? Cuz it that would then have to be agendas Brown Act, right? If we create a standing committee. Correct. If it's regular subject matter jurisdiction like regular topic like that, you would agendize that. And you would agendize it in the same way as you would any regular special meetings,

044so 72 hours in advance for regular, special 24 hours in advance. Then we're just limited to three people that can be on it. No, you could set a standing committee or for seven people as well. I mean, an ad hoc committee I thought So, if you did an ad hoc committee, that would be three people, but if you had a standing committee, that could be up to seven. Because of the um subject matter of this committee, it would qualify as standing versus an ad hoc. Um so, it could be either one. It would if it's ongoing, you're meeting about the same topics versus an ad hoc would be a narrow set for a limited amount of time. Oh, okay. Yeah, I think I think then if it was a continuing all the time and we're

045setting this committee up for success in the future, I think a standing committee would be appropriate. I mean, we only meet once a month. And we could probably meet twice a month if that's the case to go over the policy and you could have it at a time before the regular scheduled meeting so that you could add it to the agenda for all of us to discuss. So, if you made a if you're making a standing committee, you'd probably want to meet two week a week before uh the agenda-setting meeting is done. So, that you could push forth the policy onto the agenda. The board president can add it to the agenda. Then all of us could talk about it at the regular scheduled meeting as a place in the agenda item. So, just it

046would just mean whoever wants to be on the policy standing committee would just meet once a month. And then we would prep it for the uh regular scheduled meeting. So, it just mean we'd we'd have to see each other twice a month. Sometimes three. Um Mike. Uh I just had a comment about the motion. Uh there in the the the way the motion was currently presented, there was no limit. If it is an agenda item, that would just fall under the agenda-setting process, which makes sense. That would allow us to look at if there are quick and easy policies, we could do more than a proposed limit, uh but there was no limit in the in the current motion on the on the floor. So. Uh Jessica. Um yeah, so I I I think there

047wouldn't be a purpose for limit cuz like you said, they the whoever's setting it could could determine the length or how long it will take. Uh but also, I guess I just don't understand what the purpose of having a committee would be if it's already on the agenda. Because because the whole point was for us to all be discussing together. So, what I'll yield my time here so you can tell me what's the difference. The the difference would be that you could once it's on the agenda, Mhm. it'd give us time if there was a policy. Let's say there's a policy that comes up >> Mhm. and we need to do something. Maybe there's a legal action that came out or the state legislature put something out. And then in real time, the subcommittee could

048take something like that uh mid-month, not during a regular regular scheduled meeting. We could see what the uh lawyer CSBA and all those guys had given us Mhm. for the redline items and then we could work on that uh if it's lengthy and then present it to the board. >> Mhm. But there might be some other things that come up. It's if we're only going to do like who knows if one is going to be lengthier than the other. Mhm. So, I'm just giving us an opportunity that all of us come together who wants to be on a policy committee cuz it doesn't limit us to just three. Mhm. >> want more minds to look at it and word-smith and do all that. But isn't that what we'd be be doing every month on the

049agenda? We could all be doing that, reviewing policy that we want to change. Yeah. You just want more time to talk about it together, is that what you're saying? >> I guess. I mean, we I just reviewing what everybody was saying last time we were here till 12:00 at night. >> Yeah, right. >> So, if you were able to discuss it mid-month >> Mhm. and then review it and spend an hour or two if it took that long. And then when you got to the regular meeting, the folks that didn't show up to that meeting could then you know, more people could be like, "Hey, this is what we came up with." The one or two that maybe missed it, we'll fill you in. Do you have any questions? >> So, then why even have

050standing agenda at all item for it? >> I'm just thinking. Okay. I'm just thinking of like >> I'm just I'm trying to think of like how to not um create, you know, double work. And so, if we have a standing agenda if we have a committee, I don't think we need a standing agenda item because that committee could just request it to be on the agenda whenever they need to, right? But in the future, if none of us are here, it's up to the president to put it on the agenda. So, we could we could meet as a committee and we could ask the president to do it. And the president didn't have to do it cuz the president puts it on the agenda. Okay. Okay, and and I have more to my question, sorry.

051So, then my other part to that is that um the the suggested policy changes coming from the people we pay for suggested policy changes. So, would we still have that component coming as well as like whoever wants to suggest a policy change? And isn't that already what we do is if we have a suggested policy change, we just ask to put it on the agenda? It is the suggested policy changes come via the service and with with staff having reviewed the recommendations. So, you would see legal and you would see staff recommendations in your revision recommended revisions. Laura. So, speaking to the motion that's before us right now, I would say that we I hope that we would support that and that passes and then we try that. We have a standing part on our

052agenda. And then if we feel like, oh wait, this isn't enough. We really need a committee to look at it at another time, then we could review that and then we could do these things that are on our agenda that we would look at the composition, how often, duties, the terms of service, and that type of thing of what that committee would be. But for now, we could vote on this motion that's before us and try to have a standing spot on the agenda for this and see how it works. Yeah, because we we can have the agenda item on there and then still create a standing committee. Is that what you're saying? Yeah. All right. So, there is a motion and it has been seconded. Is there any other discussion? All right. Then let's

053vote on the on Jessica's motion to add a an item that deals with board policies onto the regular agenda. Uh Jacob. Do you Are you voting to support the motion? I. Abby. I. Jessica. >> I. Arthur. I. Teresa. I. Laura. I. And I also vote I. So, motion carries unanimously. All right. So, we are on item 8.1.3, which is funding for classroom management training and safety training for substitute teachers. So, I asked for this item to be put on here because I know like I think it was the youth commission they brought up the you know, the safety concerns with sub teachers. I've seen it when I've been out in schools and I think because we are the keeper of the sub substitute teacher credentials that we should be offering some kind of a training

054that they can take with just some basic classroom management and basic safety procedures. Uh something that maybe and I think it said there's 461 sub credentials in Shasta County. So, that's 461 people that maybe we could provide some kind of professional development for maybe over the summer. And I think that cost would be whatever the training costs so whoever we bring in to speak and then also compensating those substitute teachers for their time. So, I don't know if there's any other any other board members that want to comment on that or Arthur, did you want to talk? I see you trying to Arthur. Okay. Yeah. No, I I think it's a great idea. I know it in my work and doesn't matter if I was working in a restaurant or at a camp or even

055at the hospital, we have quarterly trainings, we have yearly trainings that we have to go through all of our competencies. And I think it would be a great idea especially giving some tools to the substitute teachers in the classroom about classroom management. A lot of I don't know and the staff can correct me on this, but there might be a lot of substitute teachers that have emergency credentials that don't have classical training in the classroom that this would enhance and give them tools to do proper classroom management. Give them speed them up on like maybe common practices of the school districts that they're going to. I know uh I keep forgetting her name. Ela, our our manager, she could come in especially with that training that we're planning on doing as far as updating law

056enforcement as far as the strategy on that. We can have her come and talk about that. If you're going to the school, this is the emergency system that we're preparing if that goes forward. So, I think it would be valuable to our employees and it would give value added to school districts that hire out of our sub list that they know that their substitute teachers are trained, equipped, and ready to go once they hit the classroom. And also give them an expectation from us as their employer that um we have a standard and we want you to meet that standard when you represent us in the district. Thank you, Jessica. My question was kind of similar, but I just wanted to make sure we didn't already have training like this. I'm sure you already checked,

057right? Correct. Larger districts in the county do do sometimes provide things. We do provide in some of our specialized programs. For example, if we have substitutes helping us in Tri Mountain Academy, there might be some specialized substitute training that we provide to prepare them for unique challenges that uh that come up in that space. Some of our larger districts in in the county do provide beginning of the year training for regular substitutes, but of the 461, we would be able to invite all of those folks to to the county office to be able to provide the support. One question that we had that I would love to address in the discussion is um I I I have I have amazing team members that can come like you mentioned that can come provide this training. So,

058the fiscal impact would be minimal if we are looking at like contracting with someone to come in from the outside, that would be a different a different discussion and could have some budgetary implications that I don't I don't feel would be necessary. I think that we could meet the needs uh of the support for substitutes in Shasta County with our own staff. Teresa. I think Arthur just said everything I was going to say. It's a great idea. All right. Thank you. Jacob. Just student perspective here. Going back to that student voices panel, I believe it was a student at Enterprise who said they had a fire drill and a substitute didn't know what to do and it was up to the students, you know, to get follow the right procedure. So, as a student, I'm

059all for in having qualified substitutes to know exactly what to do in in case of any event. And I'm just offering that student perspective cuz I think it's a beyond great idea and I'm happy we're doing it now, but we should be doing in the past as well. Laura. Yeah, I also think it's a great idea and I my question was really to make sure staff was good with it and Mike answered my question. Oh, I have some clarifying questions just because I want to make sure that we're clear in terms of what our staff would be tasked with. Um so, a point of clarification, um we are not the employer of all 450 subs, right? So, we maintain the role of the clearance part with that substitute credential or monitoring that they have the

060bachelor's degree to be eligible as a sub. But from there, if you talk to anybody who subs in the county, there is kind of a frustrating process in place right now that can't be avoided where they actually have to go and fill out the paperwork at each district that they're interested in subbing with. So, they become like eligible, we'll say, to sub in Shasta County through clearance of our office, but then they become an employee of each district for which they are subbing in. Um and so, my question would just be within that like are we looking at um like there's calendar considerations as well in terms of uh are we looking at doing like school districts do um professional development days that are built into their calendar, right? Because when you have instructional days,

061it's going to be really difficult to get a group of subs together for a training because subs are generally needed in schools on days where school's going on. So, would we be looking at adding calendar days on non-school where we would be offering this training to subs and then would this be something that we would be looking at comp because I think I see the cost coming in of like, hey, if we're going to offer subs to come and give of their time who would already be cleared to be in the classroom, they should be paid their daily rate, right? As teachers are when they go to professional development. And so, to me the cost would be just quick math. We're probably not going to get every sub in the county, but if you had

062400 at $180 a day, 72,000 would be the cost of a daily rate training for all subs within the county. I think that's where the cost comes in, but I think that's where it would be really helpful from the board to make sure that we have clarity on what we're being tasked with because if we're talking about just those that are our employees, we'd be talking about the handful of subs that are cleared to be on the sub list, but that the county office employs in our student programs. That might be five or so. Um but if we're looking at a much larger scope, then we'd be looking at something that um we would need some direction on and then um we would probably need to have some conversations with districts about dates and all

063of those types of things, but they're just our additional considerations for us to be able to execute this in the way that you are envisioning it. I mean, I was thinking it would be done maybe before the school year started and then it would be offered to all subs in the county. Well, yeah. Well, I mean Yeah. Um Jessica. I also like the idea of it being offered to the entire county of subs for just the general idea of the continuity of the training that they all have the same training when they're working in all different schools anyways because maybe today they're going to sub here but tomorrow they're subbing over there and and if they all have the same training that would be super beneficial. And I like the idea too of um possibly

064doing it in the summer. Uh and and definitely paying them their daily rate for um for coming that way hopefully you'll get a higher turnout as well. Arthur. Going off of what Austin said, uh the So, Jessica covered the calendar day, the pay. Oh, community partner. So, you suggested or you you stated that uh they have to apply at every school district. And if we did it on a day in the summer, what I know admin continue to work but the teachers have portions of the summer off. Would it be possible to get like a district representative to come in and have them be able to fill out whatever district they're wanting to work in at the training like or have the ability to apply at the training? So, they live in the Enterprise area

065and they want to sub in the Enterprise School District or Redding School District, they would have the opportunity. I don't know how that mechanism works if it's like paper you have to fill out or you just go online and fill out a But if Yeah, but if there was like someone representing Enterprise School District, Redding School District or Shasta at that training, they would have the ability to network with them and say, "Oh, I really love to be a sub in your district." Yeah, I think that would be something that we could look at inviting like HR departments from districts and then they could come if they I think that'd be a great opportunity for them if we were going to have a sub event where there was a training going on for them to

066be able to go there. Um and I think that's something that we could certainly look at. Um Mike. I would just highlight Austin's point that they are not our employees so it would be voluntary. We would not be able to put this as a requirement for any type of clearance for them to be able to sub. Claudia. Um I was just curious maybe also we are offering a classroom management training this summer and so we can look at that possibility of opening that up to see how many substitutes might be interested in attending something that's existing. I think that's probably the number one topic that you hear about. I think safety is one that's very important as well and um so we can consider how we might address, you know, both of those and then

067there's also the specifics, you know, to the sites regarding some of the safety. And I think a message that we need to carry back to our our districts to ensure that they have something built in as as well. I'm sure many do with their um substitutes or guest teachers as they might call them. Okay. So, I guess we need a motion as far as like funds. Would that be correct, Austin? Like the maybe the daily rate we wanted to pay, something like that. Um yeah, I mean I think that uh I think that you could choose to go about one of two ways. I think you could uh make a motion to allocate some funds from that designated fund balance uh towards supporting this project or you could go at it the other way in

068terms of like once we've clearly identified what the plan is and so like staff could potentially work on a plan for professional development opportunity for substitute teachers and associated cost with that and then come and present that to the board. It would just be we could go either way with it. Um but I think those would be the two directions that that we would have. Could we allocate the money so you get it so they would know how much money they're working with when they're creating the plan? Yep. Now, I would make a motion that we um direct staff to create a program to support substitute teachers and then bring um the associated costs with that back to the board for final approval just based on the conversation tonight. Um you tell what we're interested

069in and and the staff report and >> I'll second that. Do you Do you want to add in them like up to a certain amount onto that? >> Um no, I'd like to see what they come back with and if that Cuz there would be some automatic cost, right? Like a daily rate for the sub. So, and we should probably pay whatever the highest rate on this list is, I would think. So, it looks like it's 210. So, So, yeah. So, compensate like for the for the staff to come back with information based on a program that would compensate um teachers who participated their daily sub rate or The highest rate in the county. Okay. So, you you're a you'll amend your motion for that. Is that right? >> Yes, sure. Okay. All right. So,

070I second that motion. All right. So, it's been moved and seconded. Is there any other discussion on that? All right, then let's vote. Uh I'll start. I vote I. Laura. I. Teresa. I. Arthur. I. Jessica. >> I. Abby. I. And Jacob. I. All right. Thank you. All right. We are now on to student board member reports and Jacob. All righty. Good evening. Uh I'd like to start off. It's been an exciting month. It's been very busy but I'm grateful to have that. So, I'll start with West Valley. Our students are back from our much anticipated spring break last week and we're already looking forward to our next week's prom. It's going to be at the Riverview Country Club in Redding. And at the same time we're preparing for state testing. So, today our administration uh

071held an assembly for juniors and seniors to go over expectations and review our scores over the last couple years for for state testing. Seniors who showed improvement were entered into raffles for prizes and they were awarded today and the juniors were able to see how they performed over the last couple of years and one highlight that I took away is that we surpassed Anderson High School in math scores but did not in English. So, we have that school rivalry that's going to keep us motivated to improve our scores. And then outside of campus, I had the opportunity in March to attend the Navigating the Digital World event at Mercy Oaks. It was really cool to hear from the local leaders including Mike about how students are interacting with technology every single day. And one thing

072that I took away along with my mom who came with me is that both teens and parents recognize that the world digitally is changing every day and it's not the same as it used to be. And I could say that most adults and teens are in agreement that technology's advanced and it's not how it was when my parents were kids. Um Alongside that, youth commission's youth commission meetings have been happening weekly at at Magnolia and at the end of the report I'll keep you updated on that work. But through that, I had the chance to meet with Claudia and a representative from Reach Higher Shasta to begin conversations about our Educators Rising program. We're a little bit in the middle with it all but we're picking it up and we're excited what's going to happen

073with it. Um I also have the opportunity to promote a youth fellowship for high school and college students with uh District 4 Supervisor Matt Plummer and it was great to help send the message out to students for opportunities beyond the classroom. And then lastly, the Youth Commission. Today they uh started filming at 3:00 right after school. KIXE arrived an hour later and they began filming. So, our cast is a family from Shasta. The mother is a teacher. It's the Nelson family and they are cast they are the actors in our commercial. I'll keep the theme of the commercial to myself but that you walk into the house we're filming, there's lights, there's the actors, there's all of Youth Commission, the adults. It was just a great environment. And that PSA is going to be related

074to um substance use prevention and it will be out by the end of the school year. So, I'm excited for you guys to see it and it was just a great time. And that's all I have for this month but I'll see you guys next month. Thank you. Abby. Uh good evening, everyone. So, I'd like to start off with a quick little life update. Um so, I've officially committed to attending Princeton University. Yeah. It's coming Uh-huh. I'm super excited. Yeah. Um anyways, okay, back to my report. So, Yeah, that was just like a quick thing over there. Um so, okay, as we're getting closer and closer to the end of the school year, things at my school have actually been pretty calm compared to the last um the last couple years we've seen fewer uh

075major behavioral issues and the overall atmosphere on campus feels more positive. Um students seems more focused and they're all have also been fewer fights or other major disruptions during the school day. I was also talking with my principal, Mr. Johnson, and he also mentioned that there has been surprisingly few incidents this year as well. And part of that is I feel like due to our we at Enterprise we have a program called Restorative Justice, which basically is where a group of student leaders I'm also a part of this program. So, these leaders will facilitate panels with other students. So, when a student gets in trouble or there's some sort of conflict, instead of immediately turning to punishment, they meet with the panel and talk through what happened. I believe that this approach has been really

076effective effective in improving behavior and building a stronger sense of community on campus. In fact, we haven't had that many panels this year, which again reflect a decrease in behavioral issues. This is definitely encouraging and I hope we can continue this trend. Um that being said, one area that remains a concern it is attendance. Even though behavior has improved, many students are still missing school more often than they should. Um chronic absenteeism continues to impact learning engagement. I've also been hearing from teachers about senioritis. As a senior like it's yeah, it's everywhere. Um and with some seniors skipping class or not completing their work because they feel it no longer matters. Um overall, it's been great to see the progress in our schools this year and there are so many positive positive things happening on

077campus. Um seniors at my school have started hot dog sales to fundraise for sober grad. Like I like Jacob said, um CASP testing is coming up, which I am super glad I don't have to take anymore. That was last year. Um and lastly, Starship, which is my performance group, is having another a variety hour 2.0 performance at the Civic Auditorium this coming Monday at 5:30. The event is completely free and will feature all the same acts as variety hour along with some new performances as well. So, thank you very much and I hope you all can come check out the show. Yeah, baby. At 5:30 in the Civic. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Uh Superintendent's report report. Uh I do not know how I follow making commercials and getting accepted to Princeton. So,

078congratulations on on living living your best lives. Uh do I have Okay. So, here's a Here's a quick a quick overview of what we've been up to since the since the last time we got together as we look at March and April. Um all kinds of amazing things happen as we hear from our student board members. This is where there's a lot of celebrations, there's a lot of there's a lot of amazing things happening in schools across Shasta County. Uh I do want to follow up on the Acton Academy. President Orlicky and I did have the opportunity to to meet up with representatives from the Acton Acton Academy came to our board meetings, shared some public comment with an interest in a countywide career exploration event. And so, they are private schools. So, President Orlicky

079and I sat down with them with the big question of jurisdiction and like what would this look like? There is some possible follow-up and we'll we'll continue to learn more. They shared what the the Acton community wide or countywide career exploration and apprenticeship program would look like. It would be open and available to all students during the summer. Uh that we gave them some feedback and they're working on a on updating a proposal. They offered a tour of of their of their current program in their school and so I will continue to learn more about what that career exploration and internship experience would look like for Shasta County students that's private, that's public, that's charter aimed specifically at high school students for a summer experience. So, that is something that could be a possible partnership.

080So, stay tuned there. Uh on the highlights, I I did want to thank Austin for reaching out and being proactive continuing our relationships and discussions that we're having with state legislator reps. Uh we had representatives come and talk to our superintendents about upcoming legislation that could impact education. They also got they also had an opportunity to hear district concerns from a roomful of superintendents and and what laws should be and what laws shouldn't be. So, we appreciate we appreciate that relationship and and I think that that's just an excellent service to be able to provide to districts here in in the county. Uh also on the safety front, uh the Shasta County we're calling it the Shasta County building numbering safety initiative with Activenet. Basically, it comes down to it's something that we've shared before

081with the board in our board planning session discussion. Um when we work with law enforcement, the number one concern that they have is the inconsistent mapping and signage on campuses. And so, we are we've launched into a countywide initiative to help every school in Shasta County have consistent signage and mapping to allow for quick response in the event that law enforcement need to be on campus. Uh I want to thank Ela is leading this work connecting with law enforcement officers, connecting with our districts and we are receiving opt-in agreements from districts. So, that is moving. Uh college and career day was successful in our own student programs. So, I want to thank our student programs for helping our high school students have experiences with representatives from college. We had the Marines there. We had part

082National Park Services there just helping people learn about some of the the world that in the world of opportunity that's awaiting for them in their future. And on the partnerships, we are we've got a cool opportunity for districts to jump in if they are interested in in learning ways to improve attendance. There is a there is a Raise network that we are we're going to be hosting a local chapter here in Shasta County. The Raise network is a statewide initiative aimed at cutting chronic absenteeism by 50% in 5 years. And so, they have they have they have a framework, they have support, we have staff that will be supporting interested districts. So, we'll stay tuned to see the work that will come out of that work. Uh Jacob mentioned the navigating the digital world. Loved

083the conversation, loved the questions, and loved the partnership with Common Sense Media. That was that was a great thing that happened. I believe it happened right after our board meeting last month. Uh mentioned Jacob also mentioned I'm so glad you went first. But this was this was a post that we put out on on social media just with the the Shark Tank idea. There is a there is a winning pitch that was filmed today. There were other ideas that were also amazing. So, we'll see what what comes of of of those ideas. Tis the season for kindergarten roundups. You may be hearing those around the county. We're having our own preschool roundup. We're calling it a Buckaroo Bash and that's that's that's in a couple of days in our ECS building from 1 to 3.

084That is a free event and it's got cuteness written all over it. So, want to invite people if you're if you're at the Hilltop in the Hilltop area from 1 to 3 on Saturday, swing on by there. Uh and this is this is something that we're super proud of. If you are if you've tuned in to local radio stations, our own Jordan Haberline has been making the the media tour talking up this event. This is a summit for for dads, for fathers, for father figures reaching out to be able to support that that target group and that's happening here in this building from 9 to 2 on the 25th with a keynote speaker and breakout sessions. Uh it's it's going to be great. I'm actually going to be at my daughter's graduation. So, uh not

085going to be able to make that, but I think there will be a recorded video from from me welcoming everyone into that. Couple things for you to have on your radar. Our educator appreciation is May 14th and that's going to be at Win-River from 6 to 8 and that is our countywide, right? Teacher of the year teacher of the year recognition. If we have California Distinguished Schools, if we have administrators of the year, if we have Capturing Kids Hearts recognitions, PBIS level certifications if if there are schools and school staff that have been recognized at state and national levels, this is where we we appreciate them. And then our party is Spring Fling and that is May 21st also at Win-River and that is that is specific for our programs. That is where we recognize

086and honor our retirees. That is where we I think that there's some shenanigans and some good times, some some some games, and maybe even some confetti cannons. So, we want to make sure that the board have both of those events on your your calendars. And please RSVP for educator appreciation by Friday. Let me know if you're planning to attend. >> On the educator appreciation, if you could let Carmen know if you are able to make it, we would love to save a seat for you, and that's going to be RSVP if you could by Friday. And this one, the spring fling, is actually that's Abby and Jacob's show, right? Oh, oh, sorry. This is your show, yeah. And that's my report. Thank you. All right, we are on item 11, discussion. 11.1.1 would be support

087for districts with disproportionately high percentage of special education students. I asked for this to be added as a discussion item because I know there are several districts that are impacted in their special ed education programs, and I believe that Mike has a slideshow to present about the different impacts around the county. Yeah, so depending on where this conversation goes, we do have available Dr. Christian Patz, our SELPA director, was not available to make it for this meeting. He did prepare some he did prepare some data for us to kind of have an understanding of what this looks like in Shasta County for the identification of students receiving special education services. And he is he is more than willing to come to continue the conversation next month depending on where this goes. But to President Orlicky's

088concern, we do have some some districts that are disproportionately not not necessarily in their own systems or or they there may be some over-identification happening, but this there is just disproportional number of special education students in some of our districts. I think we can get into some of the reasons why that might be happening. We have an open district when it comes to interdistrict agreements, not necessarily for students with IEP services. The IEP services when there's an interdistrict agreement would need to be space would need to be available for that that service to be provided. So, you see some mobility of students that could be factoring into some of the disproportionality. If you think about districts that have students that are leaving going to other districts on interdistrict could be creating some of that disproportionality.

089So, there it it's a dynamic issue, and Dr. Patz would be able to speak much more to it, but I did want to give you an overview of some of the public data that he was able to compile just so we can have a an understanding. when we look at obviously we have we in the data you're going to see an interruption with 2020-2021 with with COVID, but we are seeing an increase with identification of preschool students with needs. We're also seeing an increase in autism identification. So, this hopefully will be able to will be able to see you see by age group, and then you see the the percentage of growth with by students with disabilities year over year by age group. And so, you can see if if you look at even the

090conversations that we've having been having around staffing and the pressure of special education staff, you you you see when you look at the students on the far right, ages 0 to 5, and the increases in identification of students in that age group over the last couple of years. That's that's a that's a concern, yeah. What is the negative 14? I I I think that that's where we had no identification because during 2020 2021 we had students not being identified. Because there was that thing going on. So, when we look to the here's some comparisons. So, this is based on 2024-2025 attendance, and you'll see surrounding counties, and then you'll see the number of students, total number of students, students on on an IEP, and then that will give you that that percentage. At the bottom

091is the state average. And so, Shasta SELPA does not include every student in Shasta County. Some charters are not serviced through our our Shasta County SELPA. So, you'll see the distinction between Shasta County at 26,588, and then Shasta SELPA coming in under that. And now, Dr. Patz will be able to come in and have the conversation if we would like to continue to look at like what does this look like by district, and get into some of the proportion disproportionality. He would be able to come and speak to like what what does this look like because this is these are county-wide numbers in comparison. You're saying we would have to add the 3,600 to the 3,500? No, what he's what he's showing is like if you look at the county-wide So, Shasta County as a

092whole is 26,588, and then the number of IEPs and the percentage that the number IEPs represent against the whole. Shasta SELPA does not serve all public schools in the county because there are some charters that subscribe to a different SELPA. And so, it's there's just this is the number that are served by the Shasta County SELPA. That's the number of IEPs, so that's the percentage if you just look specifically at the Shasta County SELPA versus as Shasta County public school enrollment all the way around. And it really is just those charters that are a part of a a different SELPA that's not included within the Shasta SELPA. >> I want to make sure that we're not 27% compared No, no, no, no, no. No. But as far as Dr. Patz is concerned, he's looking at

09314%, and he that's the pressure that he's that he's feeling. And then as you as if we were to continue this conversation with him, he can then come in and let you know cuz I will tell you there are some districts that are one in five. Yeah, there are some districts that are one in five with students being identified as needing special education services. So, 14 14.74 is is across our SELPA area as it relate if if you were to look district specific, that that reality could be much more. So, he does provide you an overview, and I can I can I can again share this with you for your review and invite him next month. But when we're looking at what does it take to determine eligibility for special education, he provides the point

094the criteria having a disability, the 14 different categories. The disability has to have a significant impact and includes all aspects of the of learning, and then requiring special education services. So, you identify the disability, then you identify the services, you establish those goals, and then you're tracking the monitoring of the implementation of the services and the progress towards the goals. He's he's uh of the 14, our identification is landing in four big buckets. So, when we look at specific learning disability, speech language impairment, I spoke earlier couple slides ago about the disproportionality we're seeing in in some of our early childhood, some of our preschool. A lot of those are landing as speech language impairment. Other health impairments and then autism account for nearly 80% of all of our identified students in the county. And

095then he goes into the he goes into what these these these are defined as, and I don't necessarily know if that pertains to this discussion, but I thought I would I would pass it along. And then he shares what he's seeing. When we look at when we look at autism, the trend is in the early 2000s, it was about 2%, and it is nearly now 20%. And that's driven mostly by we are getting we are getting better at early screening programs, but we are also seeing a a difference between um with California's specific diagnostic. What we're seeing across the county is uh impact of uh students identified as autism and the difficult in placement and making sure that the placement is specific to the needs of students identified with with autism. I think uh even

096it's it's great having Carrie and Cheyenne here because we see this in our own student programs where we have students that are identified and uh we have students in some of our alternative education programs that are that are identified as autism and it's challenging to be able to meet those needs in addition to the other needs of identified students uh in in our programs and the impact that that that that has. Um and he is he is advocating here if students are identified as autism there is there is no automatic guarantee that with an identification of autism that an IEP is necessary. And so SELPA is trying to provide the support and the to help the districts so that we're not over identifying and we're not automatically assessing assessing identifying autism and leading right to

097IEPs. Yeah, that's what I was going to you know ask is like why is there 18% increase in 20 years? Is it because we widen the definition of what autism is? Correct. I think he even makes the point meeting the medical definition of autism and obtaining a medical diagnosis does not ensure that a child will be eligible for special education services and where California has made that diagnostic wider. >> I'm just thinking out loud as someone in the health industry is like what's causing us to have an 18% increase? In 20 years that would be scary if it's chemicals or environment or everything. So that's autism uh specific learning disabilities autism uh speech qualifications. This is this is what qualifies. I think a lot of this is also inform in informing parents. Uh just being

098at the district many parents would come forward and request speech evaluations and it was normal speech development. Right? My 4-year-old or my 5-year-old is not saying is not saying their their Rs correctly. Well, that comes there's a progression as language is developed and so I think some of those things again when students are identified they can be identified as speech early on and continue to stay with a qualified receiving services that um that change through the life of an IEP as the child gets older. And then the last one is the other health impairment. And that's where we where we are seeing districts identifying students with ADD ADHD um but again it does there is no automatic qualification so SELPA does provide supports with districts to make sure that it's not uh an over identification

099um simply because there there's a diagnosis. And his last point when you get into other health impairment there there is a section 504 that allows for accommodations for a physical or mental impairment that significantly limits a major life How is that definition of 504? Is that all right? Okay, good. And then uh um we do have uh emotional uh disabilities. We are seeing um we are seeing that our rate for emotional uh disability identification is trending higher than the state. And then some of our world, right? Where we some of we provide itinerant services with deaf, blind, hard of hearing uh some of those are actually services provided by some of our uh Shasta County Office of Education uh staff members under the direction of uh our SELPA. So we have California and then we

100have uh we have California on the left and then we have Shasta SELPA on the right and you'll see where in some cases we are lower in some cases we are higher. And then in our Shasta SELPA that that number based on the primary disability you'll see the majority of them are specific learning disability then you'll see speech and language followed by autism, other health impairment and emotional disability. So I can have I can I will be able to share these resources out. Dr. Pat's got these to me today so they weren't in time for the packet but uh we can continue to have the discussion. He's more than willing to come in and and look at what this disproportionality looks like as it impacts it as it impacts districts and then as a county

101office what are resources that we might be able to provide. SELPA is in the resource and support business providing the providing things to districts and so they have a lane. Uh he would be able to shed some light as far as like what we might be able to do to help. Thank you. Uh Jessica you're wanting to speak. Sure, that's that's all I was going to say is um what supports are they are they wanting what supports can we provide that would be helpful. So if we can hear um from him next month I think that would be great. Arthur. Uh when he comes can we ask you some specific questions that he can bring back to us or maybe email him? Cuz like you you suggested that some people might qualify for autism but

102some of the deficits they have don't qualify for services. So like if we're over diagnosing based off of symptoms that aren't covered does it really I mean at some point it meets definition of autism but it's not something that's a billable service so you can't actually provide services for it. So something that's specific that we can I'll think of that some more well maybe. And and on that note I think that as districts are feeling the pressure of those of the identification numbers increasing everyone is looking at their assessments looking at their assessments, looking at their identification and ensuring that they are getting the identification correct and the services correct so it's not it's not an automatic. Was there a time when it was maybe automatic? And that has led to some of maybe some

103of the over identification that we're seeing? That that might be the case he would be able to speak more to that. When you when you said 20% is that 20% of all all children in Shasta County meet the definition of autism? Two two to 20% or what can you explain those numbers? Yeah, I picked up on that too cuz when I was reading the slide I was like woah and then I went back it is uh what Dr. Pat's is referencing there is the percentage of students in special education cuz there's you know 13 criteria for which a student could qualify for an IEP and so within that criteria previously 2% of all students with an IEP were haven't had an IEP with a diagnosis of autism. That number within students with special ed now

104represents 20%. So I think it would be good to have him come talk next month. So any other discussion? All right. Thank you. We are now on to the board initiative subcommittee update and the first one would be staffing shortage initiative. And Mike I think you're on there to talk about that. Uh so I from the March uh planning session I left with some homework to launch a survey and share that survey with uh with districts. I also I also left with the homework of going back to our EdJoin uh our EdJoin service that posts job openings and asked for longitudinal data uh pre-COVID longitudinal data. I do not have that to share. And actually my contact has dropped off. I did get an out of office and they will be they will will be

105back soon. Um but I do have the staff shortage uh survey results that I thought I that I would share out. Um in addition to these survey results we did share out uh 24-25 staff posting data in that March 4th-11th uh uh board planning session. So we are in the process of of of assessing needs and then uh looking to get the uh staffing shortage subcommittee together to be able to determine what those next steps could look like. So uh when we Maybe just click on me. There we go. So uh to the question so uh again this was to uh all 24 districts so we are looking at a 50% uh participation rate in the survey. Uh it is survey season and it might there might be some survey fatigue happening but uh in

106the open certificated positions uh you will see uh some districts having at the end of the 24-25 going into the hiring season for 25-26. You you would see as high as as high as 10 for one district and three of the districts reporting out that they they were fully staffed at the end of the 24-25 school year. In the in the uh right now snapshot, how many open certificated positions you will see that some districts right now are looking at higher than I can't see what that last. Is it just eight? So higher right now there is a district that has eight certificated teacher positions open not able to fill. And so that is being filled by long-term subs. Uh that is and you you could also if we were to connect this and speculate

107this between between this and the data that we saw on EdJoin, we could also probably deduce that that's those are going to be special education positions. Um Well, one district it's going to be across the board but it's there's a high likelihood that across these responses they're going to be in special education classrooms. Uh on the classified front, this is what we saw at the end of the 24-25 school year. This is current. Classified positions. We could we could speculate based on what we saw with the EdJoin that that's probably instructional assistants in special education and probably looking at bus drivers. I know that that's probably that's probably our response as well. Uh current interns, so these are short-term provisionals STIPs and PIPs. Uh these are the things that come to us on OSIN certificates.

108Does how many do they currently have in your in your district? How many probationary certificated staff do you have this year? That goes into some of the the conversations that we've been having about uh probationary to to permanent. Like what is that retention rate looking like? I think it's also tied into when we talk behavior and behavior management. If we have a a high number of uh probationary inexperienced teachers in the classroom, that could lead to that could lead to some of the other things other other challenges that we're seeing. And then of your probationary certificated staff, how many are new to teaching? I think uh President Orlicky, this was a clarification that you had asked to include in the survey. So how many are new to teaching versus just new to you coming with

109some experience? And you'll see that uh you do have uh you do have teachers uh several districts reporting out uh higher numbers of people that are new to the the teaching profession. This is where uh when when I think of the role of the county office, the county office sees needs and where we have resources or supports, we have the ability to step in and provide some of those. When we look at uh the question, does your district provide a structured professional development program for new teachers? The majority of participating responding districts do not have a a structured support for new teachers. And so I think as we look at the staffing shortage initiative and we're looking at recruiting, retaining, and returning, that retaining and helping those new teachers with a support, what what can

110that look like as a possibility to meet district needs because we see that they're they're they're currently not able to do that. And then the top three barriers, I think this is our last question but the top three barriers to school staffing, competitive salaries, budgets are tightening, people are at negotiation tables and they are trying to make sure that their compensation is competitive and they feel that pressure. Uh when we look at one and two, competitive salary and then the well health and welfare benefits, that does come up and people are making choices based on yes, what does the salary schedule look like and then also what does my health and welfare what would my health and welfare benefit package look like and then they are comparing and they they're shopping and they're choosing. Um

111but we're also seeing just a shortage of applicants. The pipeline concerns the pipeline programs that we we've been addressing looking at like what can a pipeline look like from a classified position to a certificated position? How can we deepen the pool of candidates because across the board not enough applicants. Uh you're seeing shortage in critical high needs. If you are if you do have folks in, you're not seeing fully credentialed candidates in the pool. You're talking to people that would be coming to classrooms on provisional internship permits and short-term things. So that's uh that's kind of the overview as far as where where at with local snapshots. I do think that some empathy interview next steps could could be empathy interviews with HR departments. I say departments, 24 districts a lot of a lot of

112folks don't have HR departments. They they're small and they might have an HR director but I think reaching out to them and having the conversations especially now as we are in the spring and it's it is peak hiring season for uh for the the 26-27 school year might be able to provide us some additional insights that can lead to actions. Jessica. I was just going to uh suggest we establish the next meeting tonight. We can, yeah. Any other discussion about the staffing shortage initiative? All right, then Just to answer in response to Jessica's question, members of the staffing shortage subcommittee, if you could if you could uh catch up with Carmen and I after the meeting and we can put our calendars together and get something scheduled. Okay. Uh we're now on to the seal

113design initiative which Arthur, I believe you're up for that. Yeah, we have our survey. Thanks to the staff and everybody for putting that together. Uh I've shared it out on social media on my part and then encourage all the board members to send it out as well. Uh we want to build a seal that is inclusive of all the people in Shasta County so that they can put their own two cents in, tell us what they want and that we can have somewhat of a guiding coalition from the county telling us what they would like to see in a county seal. So I think the link is open until the end of the month. Looking forward to see what that data suggests and then once we get the data back, then I think we should

114uh have a seal meeting when we have the data and we can go through that together as a seal team. Any other discussion on the seal design initiative? Uh I will take that link and share it with the with the board as well so that you can forward that to your circles. Thank you. Laura. So on the agenda on the cover sheet it lists those questions and so at what point is the is the committee still working on answers to those or at what point would those be kind of ironed out? What I would think with that is that the committee not necessarily the committee that we're going to make the decisions on that but that's more of a board direction because I'd like all of us and the staff to put our minds together

115when we're talking about these situations. It'd be nice just to have a rubber stamp to go like this but I mean we can do more things than just stamp paper, you know. So that would be up to everybody at a consensus. What do you want it to replace the logo? Do you want it to just be something that we do as a board? That's still down that's still down the road, that discussion on that. Yeah, but it would be great for everybody look at the questions and grind it over and say what what do you think would be appropriate? All right, we are now on to board reports and correspondence. These are 5 minutes maximum per board member. If you have something that you would like to report uh we can just start down with

116Jessica. Do you have a board report or any correspondence? Thank you. Arthur. Uh I only had one thing. I had some Happy Valley parents reach out to me saying they were sending the county emails and wondering if I was getting them but I haven't received any email from any Happy Valley family so I was like, no, I didn't receive any. Uh I guess that situation is still developing or going through. I did reach out to a couple of their board members to see if they needed anything and they said that they were just talking over the situation as a board and they're just waiting for further guidance from their board president and their superintendent. Sorry if I'm a little slow on the clicker. If I could If I could just share out based on the

117action that the board took in March, we have been in conversation with the district. We have reached out to them and requested information regarding their current costs and the situation incident. We have that information and we are as a as a team, we will be coming back to the board with some ideas for methodology of how to how to uh administer the support that the board approved. The board in the last meeting approved $200,000 for four districts that for independent Title IX investigations and that districts may be involved in. We just want to make sure that we are administering that support in a way that is aligned with what the board had intended when they made that when they took that action. So, we will be coming back to the board with with with a

118model of what that could look like because it is it is uh It's complicated when you consider the costs of the the services that people districts have to involve themselves in in order to resolve some of the situations that they're that they're in. $200,000 could could go to one or two. And I I just want to make sure that before we do anything, any promises made to districts, it's in alignment with what the board saw. Thank you, Teresa. Give a report. Laura. Um yeah, I also attended the navigating the digital world. I thought that was a really important conversation. Nice job, Mike. Um I think I left just feeling like I'm glad my daughter is 32 and my son is 30 and I I dodged it. It just seems like a really hard thing, but

119I'm I'm really glad to see SCOE involved in that and trying to help support families and students with it. Um I attended the CSBA webinar just a few days ago on the county handbook and the theme was shared governance. Um I thought it had some good uh information. One of the people who spoke talked about and we've seen it here tonight during the meeting that uh a lot of the students that the county office serves are the ones that can't be served other places and are the ones who are really vulnerable. And so, just her message was to boards and staff to just always keep that at the forefront, you know, to be there serving those students and we've done well with that tonight, I think. Um And also that there's often a misunderstanding about

120what county offices do and one of the persons there suggested with elections coming up when after candidates have filed that the superintendent reach out to candidates to just provide kind of an overview about what the county office is and what a county board does and how the two work together, which is kind of an interesting idea. Um First 5 asked me to speak about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library for a video that they're putting together about their community partnerships, so I did that even though it was outside of my comfort zone. So, we'll see how that goes. Um and then I've been working last week with the ACCBE on their literacy webinar that's coming up next week that I will speak about our board's literacy initiative. Thank you. My only report would be that I

121did meet with Mike and Acton Academy and that was a good conversation. I know Mike is going to be following up with them to find out what kind of partnership, if any, we can have with them. I was also able to go on KQMS and a couple other radio shows to advertise for our student board members and also for the open vacancy we have since Robert resigned. And that would be all I have to report. So, item 12, we have several upcoming events. And then item 13, we have suggested items for future agenda. I think one of them would be to have the SELPA director come and speak to us, but is there any other Jessica. I So, I don't have a suggestion item for the future agenda, but I do just want to clarify

122the procedure again because it was so confusing last month. Um and so, I just want to clarify, is the procedure that we have to suggest the future agenda item at this meeting and it is motioned, seconded, and voted on every single one of them. Is that the process? >> That is how we're doing it, yes. >> Okay. And so, doesn't our bylaws say that any any board member could put something on the agenda? No. It asked You can request it, but it doesn't have to be on there. But it says we could request by submitting it to the president. >> Yeah. Correct. This does not trump that. >> does not trump that, so you can still do that, yeah. >> Okay. This is another outlet. If I, for example, have something I want to put

123on the agenda and this and it's not voted for, then I could just turn around and email you guys and as long as it's within within jurisdiction, it should be put on the agenda. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So, what's the purpose of having this? Why are we voting on it? I yield to Arthur to explain to me. Arthur. So, if the majority of the board votes for it to be on the agenda, it has to be on the agenda. Okay. So, this is a way for it for like a checks and balance. So, correct. If If with this outlet, if an agenda item is requested in write via email to the board president and it is not placed on the board agenda, this allows this formally allows in the agenda for that trustee to say, I

124would like to request in this setting and there can be a a motion, a second, approval. So, like for example, if if someone felt like it should have been put on the agenda, but it wasn't, then they can come to the whole board and say, "Hey, whole board." Correct. And it And it could always have been there in your board board comment, but this formal calling it like this formally allows the board member to say, Okay. >> Here's a recourse. >> sense. Thank you. Teresa. Uh the May 14th Win-River, what was that for? I have it down, I just don't have a title on it. Educator appreciation. Are there any board Spring fling. Yeah, spring fling at SCOE. Educator appreciation. Arthur. Yes, sir. Uh I think I mentioned it to Michael and then to Jacob

125last meeting, but we're just thinking about ideas and we have a lot of people that are students that apply. We have up to 15 now and we only take two, but I was just brainstorming and trying to figure out a way to include all the kids that do apply and I was thinking perhaps there would be maybe a student body council like you would have at a traditional high school, but we could have like a representative from each high school in Shasta County. Uh like if you're from Fall River or up up you know, what is that? Northeast where the Fall River. If you're up in that area and you still want to participate, you could zoom in and you wouldn't be an official board member, but then you could zoom in to like site

126council meeting or student council meeting, something like that and we could have a representative from every high school in Shasta County. Is that a motion? Well, I mean I I'm just brainstorming the idea right now. I I mean I could make a motion, but I was just wondering what everybody Usually it'd be called, yeah, a student advisory board. That's I I know um Shasta Union has it. They have two representatives from every high school on there, so that'd be, you know, Enterprise, Foothill, and Shasta. Um but I'm open to a county-wide student advisory board. Um I think I think this Shasta Union one is geared towards superintendent's council, so they work closely with the Is that correct? They work closely with the superintendent and not, you know, but I'm open to it and I like

127that idea because, you know, 15 students it's a lot and I'm glad we have those those applications, but you only take two out of 15 and that's what, like a 12% uh acceptance and what about the others? So, I like that idea including everybody. I think it's a good idea that we should have some kind of a student advisory panel from each high school. Maybe one person from each high school or something. Yeah. And And doing so, you'd get a voice from each one and when you do the student voice panel, you could have the representative plus it'd give our student board members a little bit more help. And so, we're taking people from across the county and having all their issues heard. That That's what I was thinking, you know, getting on a monthly

128Zoom or a meeting with the a representative from every high school in the county would be great and it, you know, be great thing to include within our reports because, you know, we don't have that opportunity to get out there to Burney or Fall River or those schools, so that'd be great. And maybe if we open up to middle schools, but we'll see how, you know, it all comes. >> Jessica, I saw your hand up. I was just going to say I'd I would I'd like to see representatives too from our our specific schools. Um particularly because I think they aren't typically getting chances to um participate in things like that when it comes to leadership and maybe feel um less inclined like they belong. So, I'd like to see that. And also like uh

129you were saying that the rural schools like Burney and Fall River and all that. Especially because we have the concern about the driving and so they couldn't participate. So, I I didn't look at the locations. Do we know if any of those students applied? Okay. No. Right, yeah. So, I was thinking that um if we do something like that, we should have it open to students that want to participate, not just the applicants because if they were discouraged from participating, then um maybe they would do this Yeah. It wouldn't just be open to the applicants, I don't think. It'd be open to anyone from the high schools. Yeah, one per high school. Um I mean I know this is still no like we're still in discussion, but would it be the representative would the representative

130appointed to that board would be up to the school or would it be up to an application from us each school? Probably the school, yeah. Okay. So, is that something we want to put on an agenda for our discussion or action item for next month? >> Yeah, I'll make a motion to add Arthur's suggestion to the agenda next time. What was it? An as an action item, but what specifically did you call it? A student council um advisory committee. The creation of. Creation of a student advisory council? Okay. Trying to get the wording. It's okay. Is council the correct wording? A student advisory board maybe and then we can refine the name at another time. Yeah. Okay. All right. So, there's a second to create that. Is there I mean is there a motion to

131create that? Is there a second? I'll second. All right. So, it's been moved and seconded. So, that's a motion to add it to the >> Add it to the agenda, yeah. As an action item, yes. Not to create it. No. Yeah, but the motion that would be to add as an action item to create it next month. So, in in discussion, then we would need help from staff trying to direct I think we'd do like uh application like we did where the student board members and do another application process similar to what we we did for the uh recruitment of our student board members. And so, one person could apply from each high school. Is what my understanding would be if everybody is agreeable. We're going to talk about this next month, right? Yeah. But

132we're in discussion right now. So, kind of just brainstorming that. So, that we can give staff a clear direction of what we're asking him to do in the next month instead of like through email. Okay. I'll think about it longer because it seems redundant to do two applications for two different things like that, but I don't know. Yeah, I'm just thinking out We'll finalize it next month, but like what what are we asking staff to do with our motion? Well, right now we're asking for it to be put on the agenda. >> Yeah, that's all we're doing is putting it on the agenda. Okay. Yeah. All right. So, it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor of adding this to the agenda next month, say I. I. Any opposed, say no. All right. So,

133we'll put that on the agenda. Is there are there any other items that any board member would like to add to the agenda? Okay. Then we are adjourned at 8:00