001Okay, it's 6 o'clock, and we're gonna go ahead and call this board meeting recording in progress. Okay, uh, let's start with the, uh… Pledge of Allegiance, and, uh, Trustee Cheek is gonna lead us. to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One donation, under God. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Can I get a roll call, please? Trustee Coleman? Here. Trustee Sharp? Here. Here, Trustee Cohen Thompson? A seating here. Here. Trustee LaBelle? Here. Uh, moving on to approval and adoption of the agenda, can I get a motion? Second. Moved by Trustee Coleman, seconded by Trustee Dean. Can I get a roll call vote? Trustee Cohen-Thompson? Trustee Coleman? Yes. Trustee Dean? Yes. Trustee Dan? Yes. Christy LaBelle? Yes. Trustee Cheek, excuse me? Yes. Yes. Consent items,
002all matters listed under consent items are considered to be routine and will be enacted by the Board in one motion. There will be no discussion on these items prior to the time of the Board votes on the motion, unless members of the board or staff request. Specific items to remove from consent items for discussion and individual consideration. For action. Ginger? I mean, sorry, Trustee Dean? Trustee… Done. There we go. Alright, can we pull, um, item D for minutes? Yes. Can I get emotion on the wrist? Second. Okay, we got a motion by Trustee Coleman. And a second by Tracy Cheek. Can I get a roll call vote? Musticon Thompson? Trustee Coleman? Trustee Dee? Yes. Trustee Dan? Yes. Trustee Lavelle? Yes. Trustee Cheek? Yes. Yes. Comments from the community? Do we have any comments from the
003community? None. Okay, moving on. Uh, correspondence. No correspondence. Superintendent's report, take it away, Dr. Carr. I would like to start off with… Student of the Month. And if I could have Clarissa Tettle and Catherine Reyes. Sure. At the bottom. We'll start again. Good evening, President Sharp, Trustees, Superintendent Dr. Parr, colleagues, and guests. My name is Clarissa Tuttle, and I'm here. tonight to welcome SCO, Special Education Student of the Month, Trish Castro. SCO teacher Catherine Reyes, who serves at Rodriguez High School, will share with you tonight. Trisha's incredible story. And why she has been selected as our department's Student of the Month. Thank you all. I'm going to stand over here so I can have the interpreter voice for me, is that fine? Awesome, thank you. Truly, there are no words. That can fully capture… The
004remarkable young woman that you have become. Trish grew up in a special education program in the Philippines. And that's where the impact of her hearing loss. on her language access went unrecognized. for many years. was not able to access education. And this truly shaped her early experiences. In a profound way. When she moves to the United States. She was placed in functional academics program. Within FSUSD. And that is where FSUSD staff reached out to Carly Davis. DHH teacher who immediately recognized the spark in Trisha's eyes. Trish soon transitioned into the DHH program. An important turning point, but not an easy one. At 15 years old. Trish did not yet have the language she needed to express herself. Academic American Sign Language felt overwhelming. And she struggled to make sense of her new environment. There were
005many tears. Moments of frustration, elopements. And even time. spent hiding under the tables. And yet, through all of this. Trish never stops showing up. She kept coming to school, kept trying. kept allowing herself to learn. And connecting… Sure. Never gave up. In a surprisingly short time. Everything began to shift. Trish, stop crying. started communicating. She stopped running off. began expressing when she felt hurt. are misunderstood. She stopped hiding. started sharing stories. With everyone around her. Stories of her childhood growing up in the Philippines. The feeling of being overlooked. The feeling of longing. To be understood. From that foundation. Trish Blossomed. She began to grow. not only as a student. But also, as a young woman. with purpose. She eagerly sought knowledge. Supported her peers. And opened up her dreams. her dreams of helping deaf children.
006giving back to her community. And becoming increasingly independent. Fish has faced more challenges than most students her age. Yet she meets each one with courage and determination. Her perseverance is extraordinary. Learning ASL unlocked her hands. And with those hands. She discovered the power of her own story. Today, Trish stands as a model of resilience. Compassion and possibility. She has a special place in her heart for young Deaf children. Who reminded her of her younger self. learning… children learning ASL. Children learning how to adapt to the world, how to… learning who they are, and how to share their own narratives. Because of her strength, her growth. and her determined spirit. We are proud to recognize Trish Castro as Student of the Month. Sure. Kelly, you want to be in the picture? Okay, and on the count
007of 3, we're all going to say congratulations, Trish, okay? Okay, 2, 3. Congratulations! Thank you. Thank you. Okay, and next, I will have… Dr. Valerie Garrett. Come to the podium for her student of the Month. Come on with this. Good evening, trustees, superintendent Parr. Colleagues, guests… And, uh, the beautiful Miss Bennett, Natashi's mother. It is my esteemed pleasure tonight, as I stand with our program administrator, Ms. Ruiz, and Ms. Pitts, our Academic Intervention Teacher, representing the JCCS Department's Student of the Month for January 2026, Natashi Bennett. it was unanimous by our staff. that Natashi be represented. tonight, in front of all of you. I'm actually a bit overwhelmed, because I've seen this young lady move. from, uh, being a nervous scholar. to a full-bloomed. Top of the line, smart, brilliant student. Natashi has been through
008a lot, and she epitomized… epitomizes what you can do when you believe in yourself. I know that there are others from our department listening tonight who are sharing the joy that we feel right now for Natashi and her accomplishments. And I'm just gonna take a second, um, Ms. Bennett. Just to thank you, um, this is the second, um, child that you've entrusted to us to support. In your first started, graduated, and now your baby. And it has been an honor to have you as a parent. Um, at our school to be a partner with us, and to be a part of your daughter's success story tonight. So we thank you. Let's give her a round of applause. Natashi, I want you to look at our superintendent and the board of trustees, because tonight, you made
009history for the JCCS department. Your commitment, your tenacity, and your ability through all the things that you went through to stand here tonight. And to make… you actually met the requirements for graduation as stipulated by the California Department of Education, because you never. gave up. And we are so… Proud of you. Proud of you. I want you to know, in front of our board, in all of these guests and our colleagues and friends who are listening. online, that it's gonna be really hard for us on, um, May 29th. To hold back the tears when we see you get out of that car in your cap and gown. But know tonight you did it. And as you leave our school and you go out into this world, and you finish college, and you go to work,
010you never forget what you did. Because you were always a success. When you opened up the door to our school, you were a success. And tonight, sweetheart, this board and our superintendent is giving you the credit that you deserve. Let's give her a round of applause. On behalf of the JCCS department as part of the Solano County Office of Education Family, it is our esteemed pleasure to present to our board and our Superintendent of schools. The JCCS Student of the Month. Natashi Bennett. Congratulations. And… Someone just read it. You shouldn't… Alright, and then squeeze in there. trouble if I don't shoot vertically. Yeah, no, that's how everybody wants it, alright. a new type 1, 2, 3. Okay, another camera here. 1, 2, 3… All right, and on the count of 3, we're gonna say congratulations,
011Natasha, 1, 2, 3! Congratulations, College! Oh. Congratulations to both of our Students of the Month. I want to take just a moment. To talk about the beautiful flowers that are in front of each one of the trustees. And the little bag of treats. Because this month, January, is School Board Recognition Month. School Board Recognition Month, Board of Trustees. We want to take this moment to celebrate you. For the hard work that you put into the job. Volunteering, your hours. your… Knowledge, your love of the community, and supporting our students in their education in Solano County. So, once again, thank you for all that you do. And now, next up… is just beings, right? To talk about the charter school update. Good evening, trustees and Superintendent Dr. Parr. The team will be sharing updates from Elite,
012and we're going to start from their update. They have some exciting things to, um, celebrate. Doctor Ramona Bishop Brilliance Project is funded by a grant from the Commissions on Teacher Credentialing for Teacher Residency Programs. Much has been made of the status of their teacher credentialing at Elite. While they recognize they have a long way to go. They also have come a long way in their six and a half years of existence. As a reminder, their school maintains a focus on being trilingual, literate in English. Spanish encoding. Because of their aggressive effort to provide students what they need to be successful beyond graduation. Their credentialing efforts have been aligned. To ensure that these hard-to-staff positions on a national scale. are filled with properly credentialed individuals that understand the school. community. One way they have done this
013is through their newly created teacher residency program. So this grant was written with Truro University as a partner. They started with one resident last year, and currently have 3 residents, and one is Spanish bilingual. in the program this year. This residency program allows for candidates to complete their credential in one year. Which school… which school fees paid and monthly stipends paid to the residents. In essence, they are being paid to complete their credential. The candidates are residents, so, like, doctors complete a residency. Their candidates spend two and a half days in classrooms. With a credentialed teacher, and the rest of the time completing their coursework. They are thankful to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. For providing this opportunity and answering the call. For support, as they all work to have credentialed teachers in the
014classroom. And the second update is about their middle school sports. Elite is one of the only schools in the area providing a full middle school athletic program. Students play for school teams and the AAU teams. They are all… they are the only middle school competing in the Oakland Athletic League. They also play other teams for pre-season, and Anne mentioned AAU circuits. They currently have competitive boys basketball, girls basketball, cheerleading. girls volleyball, boys baseball, girls softball, boys flat football, and girls flag football. They hold their scholar athletes to high athletic and behavior standards. And work to ensure that they understand the real meaning of being a scholar-athlete. So, very exciting. We are going to now move on to, unless anyone has any questions about the narrative. All right, we're gonna move on to the reporting schedule
015matrix. These are items that were received after December 17th. Bank statement for November. the master schedule for January. Substitute log for December. Certificated staffing list for January. Public Records Act policy, the cash flow for October, and the 2526P1 attendance. And they don't have any items that are past due. Any questions on the matrix? Alright, now we're going to move on to the snapshot, and Courtney is going to be providing an update. Good evening, President Sharp, Superintendent Parr, Trustees. Um, I wanted to provide an update as to the… excuse me… the fiscal and business operations per the direction from the board. last month regarding an update on the status of Elite's Appeal. Um, the good news is we actually have a response directly from Elite's attorney. Um, with direction, or excuse me, responses to some very
016specific questions that SCO staff had asked, and so I'm just going to read it, because I want to make sure it's very clear. in terms of the response, I will also share with you that I have corresponded with their attorney as well, so I'll provide you with an update on that. So the first question that SCO asked is to confirm whether a formal appeal was submitted, and if so, on which date it was submitted. And so we've got some very helpful clarification. Um, the state controller accepts elites 2324 audit report via formal. certified letter to Elite, and Elite cannot actually file an appeal. with the EAAP, which is the Education Audit Appeal Panel. Um, so they need to receive that letter via certified mail, just as an FYI, that's what the. AAP is telling them,
017and so they reached out to the state controller's office to check on the status of the letter multiple times. Um, and finally heard back from them on January 5th. And the state controller's office stated that their tracking system showed that while the delivery service USPS unsuccessfully attempted to deliver the. letter on November 12th, and then was supposed to attempt delivery again. It never reattempted to deliver the letter. And as such, Ali has not actually received it via certified mail from the state controller's office. Um, so they've confirmed with the EAP… EAAP. that as soon as they receive the letter via certified mail, they can file the appeal within the timelines. To give you just a little bit of context before we move on to the next question, is you probably saw on the update that
018SCO actually received a copy of the letter back in November. Um, and so that's kind of where I think some of the confusion was, is, well, SCOS received it, how has Elite not? And so now it turns out it's. truly just related to the delivery of that. Um, I did provide a courtesy copy. To their attorney, just so that they had it. It turns out they've already received a courtesy copy. They're literally just waiting for the certified mail version of it. Any… if I… do you want to continue with the last two questions, and then open the door for… questions, or would you like to ask some questions now? I'd like to ask a question. So, if I'm understanding… Correctly. They have notice of the letter from the Spirit U and various other sources. But
019someone is telling them they cannot actually file the appeal. Until they receive the letter from… be a certified mail from the state controller's office, yeah. EAAP, which is the Education Audit Appeals Board, which is the neutral body that essentially appeals those, so that's… what they are saying to elite, or at least Elite is telling us that that is what the EAAP is saying to them. That's different than they can wait until… They get a certified mail. The way it's been presented is… They cannot, um… file it until they receive it via… Um, and I also have a separate email correspondence with their council, so… The question was whether the appeal has been formally accepted and as complete, or if any additional information is needed. And the response was, since they have not filed the appeal,
020they do not have any information to provide as to that question. And then, one of the questions, I think it was you, Trustee Dean, asked about the process and the timeline once there is an appeal submitted. Um, and Elite's response is that once the appeal is submitted. EAAP considers the appeal and makes a determination, and there's no timeline in the statute or regulation, which is true. Um, to decide an appeal, depending on the complexity, excuse me, it can take between 3 and 6 months, once. the appeal is submitted, so… Once that appeal is submitted, I think we can revisit that timeline and provide updates accordingly. Okay, any questions on that? Okay. Any other questions regarding the snapshot? Is it done? Um, yeah, just for clarification on the… educational program and student performance category. Um, it's
021been moved to meet expectation. And so I just, based on the notes, just want to clarify. Um, it says to move to meet its expectation, they have to no longer qualify for DA, which we know they don't. But it says they also no longer fall under low-performing category. And the note above. Based on the last information we have, says they are still categorized as low-performing. Oh, yes, they are currently… categories as low-performing based on the prior year's scores. Mm-hmm. Yes. So, I guess my point is… I would… I would like to see it wait to move until we have. I know we're waiting on 2025 scores, but since we don't have those yet. Based on the information that's in here, it's still… You would like it to move to needs attention and progress, is that
022what you're saying? Okay. Clarification in both categories that they've met that. Okay, that sounds good. Is everyone… Okay with that? Actually, Trustee LaBelle was first. I was… Okay, so then Trustee Cheek? Well, I was just gonna ask, so… What is… what is the justification for making. Putting it back under, um, it needs improvement. Haven't met the standard. They haven't met the standard, ERS has not been… Submit. They haven't met it. Officially haven't met, or that the records have not been received that they have. So the 2025 scores, so… But, so… So, basically, we've gotten… we have the scores, right, from the dashboard that. where they are percentage-wise. Then there's another place that we look for, the 20. 25 scores for whether they're low-performing or not for chartered schools, right? So they were low performing, and
023now we're waiting on the California, you know, the designation. Whether they're low-performing, or did they get to medium, you know, where they are at. So, yes, they made growth with their. dashboard scores, right? And then we're awaiting that analysis for. What performance category they're in. So, you could say they met 50%, right? So, however… Wherever the board agrees on where you guys would like the status, we would put that. There, like, do you guys want it under… Trustee Dean. So, they meet the standard or they don't. I don't… I don't think it's discretionary, this is my opinion. My position is, it's not discretionary. They… it's too basic… I'll wait till you're finished. There's two basic requirements, they miss one. It's not either or. So I'm actually curious as to how it was determined that they
024should be moved out of this before we had the data that we needed. To change the… standard to say they met the standard. So, I'm curious about that. But I don't think it's a request. I think it is or it isn't. Okay. And it isn't. Okay. Yeah, and that's my computer decided to move up if they're not. Okay. We'll make sure that it is in that category, so appreciate that feedback. Is there anything else? All right. Okay, next. Next, we have… Michelle Henson? Who will be presenting, or… Calling a presenter about the audit report. Good evening. I'm happy to announce that we've concluded our 2024-25 financial audit. Uh, the firm Christy White. concluded that for us, and tonight I'd like to introduce Octavio Lekin to come up. And give you an overview of the highlights
025of our audit. Is there any issue? It's okay. Place this on here. 3. Good evening. Um, thank you for having me… having me here. Um, so I'll be presenting our audit results. For the Solana County of Pacific Education, um. audit for the fiscal year ending, June 30th, 2025. Um, and before we get to the report itself. I just wanted to go over some of our process and some of the things we do during our audit. So, the island is kind of split up into two parts. The first part is where we review attendance testing. Stay compliance testing, which is determined by the state audit guide. And then we also, we, um… For example, uh… transactions in purchasing, payroll, and cash receipts. Uh, we also conducted a single audit. which includes internal controls. In program testing
026this year, that was the special education program. Title I, and the Department of Rehabilitation Workability II program. And then the second part of the audit is where we review account balances, including expenditures, revenue, capital assets, long-term debt. So, within the report itself. We have a couple of different. reports. The first report that's going to be found on page 1. is the independent auditors report. Um, of the financial statements where we express an opinion on the financial statements. And then, right after that, we have our… the actual financial statements, where we have both the government-wide statements. And the government… governmental fund statements. And then I'll get into, you know, the results for each report. Um… So, we also have the report on internal controls. Um, a report on federal compliance and internal controls. And a report
027on state compliance and internal controls. If you look on page 73 of the report, that's where we have our… the summary of. Of our results. Um, and in this page, you'll see… Basically, it was a clean audit. Um, with the highest opinion, unmodified opinion. No material weaknesses and no significant deficiencies were noted. Um, and again, as I mentioned, um, on this page, you'll see we tested. For the federal compliance portion, we tested Title I, Special Education Cluster. And the Department of Rehabilitation Workability 2. Um, and… Yeah, that's… that's the audit report. Does anybody have any questions or anything I can get into? Any specific questions on the report itself? Hmm. Thank you. Thank you again. Thank you. Okay, next we have… Human Resources report. I'm Manolo Garcia. Good evening, and I just want to… Say
028thank you to all of the board members for all of your service, it's. Not an easy, um… job that you do, so appreciate all of the work that you put in. Um, so good evening, President Sharp. Distinguished trustees. Superintendent Dr. Parr. Um, you have, um… Both our staffing report and. The certificates of clearance that were issued by the county office for this last period. And… for a large. portion of the period, um, we had the holidays, so… You see that the staffing report is… Um, smaller than usual. We did nonetheless, um. hire 3 staff members. Um, to new paraeducators, and one in mental health and wellness clinician. Uh, two of those were SCO subs, so, uh, individuals that. We have the opportunity to preview their work, if you will, and one applied through EdJoin. To
029get their position. Um, coming from various sectors. Um, from… Looking at, um, county level, not in our county, but a different county. Uh, to working in the private sector and. Um… working for, no, previous experience other than prior to working for Skill, as I said. So that is the information, and anything I can… Help answer, happy to do so. Oh, trustee, Dean, I have a quick question about the temporary certificates. The provisional internship permit. Uh-huh. What's the provisional part of that? Is that something… do they have to meet some… Certification? Yes, there are requirements for, um. The pip, or the STIP, um, they have a certain time frame in which they have to meet those. Um, and if they don't make progress. Um, then they… Um, can't continue on to the next… certificate. Okay, thank
030you very much. Thank you. And that ends my report. Okay, moving on to new business. Our amended Board Policy 9124 for legal counsel. Yes, good evening. So if the trustees recall from our board workshop back in October. Where there was sort of a general discussion regarding legal counsel. There was a… there was some concerns. With the fact that, um, a prior legal services agreement did not include the county board. As a party to that agreement, so there was a request to revisit the Board Policy 9124 to add that language, and during the course of that discussion, there was also some concerns raised about what happens if, uh. Council has a conflict of interest, so based on that direction, I've provided some. draft revisions to this policy, you have a couple of options. You can, you
031know, do a first reading tonight and provide some additional feedback. Um, and have this for a second reading. You can adopt the policy as amended, you can, of course always appoint a committee if you feel as though it requires, you know, further discussion and dialogue. So, um, at this point, it's really up to. To you all to engage in discussion on this. amendments, or the amendments, excuse me. Do you have any discussion or comments? Trustee Dean. There's one thing I'm noticing… Um, the paragraph that starts, in the event that General Flesh in-house counsel identifies a conflict of interest. Good, duh. Um. What if the client… as a concern, so plus, what if we… we identify a potential conflict of interest or feel. There's a potential conflict of interest. I'm curious about that scenario and how
032that would be. handled here. I mean, I understand. Council's got a self… I absolutely understand the need for Council to. Identify potential. Does it say? Whoops, potential conflicts of interest or… Or… but anyway. Potential conflicts of interest, I get that. But it feels like we're left out of that on some level. Or what is our recourse? in the event that we believe there's a conflict of interest. Here's my question. That's a very good question, and so I think one of the options is. And I want to make sure I also address your comment about potential. Um, the board can. kind of outline a process that if. There's either a single or multiple board members that feel as though that there could be a potential conflict of interest, what you want that process to look like.
033In terms of who you notify and how that review process would look like. So if you're interested in that, that certainly is language that. discuss, and you can incorporate into here. The other thing I just wanted to note is you indicated a potential, so… Um, do we want to revise this as in the event that General Counsel identifies a potential at the potential word? conflict of interest? Yeah. If there's a potential cost. We're out, right? No. So do we have a consensus that the board as a whole wants to add potential in there? Any other choice of that? Trustee Lavelle? I do have a question about the, um. opening it up from the county superintendent to now and or board president. Is that the board president acting on behalf of the board? Or, um… Or…
034self-directed? And, um… Just curious about how that would… Play out. Um, so I can speak as a matter of practice what that looks like, is… at the end of the day, there's somebody that speaks on behalf of the board. So, for example, if we're given direction to do something. It's normally in consultation with the board president if it's not a SCO issue, but a board-specific issue. And so the board president is that designation, so… I will say what my intent was there, but I want to make sure that the board's intent is understood and. incorporated in here is that when there's a scenario where we're not at a regular board meeting. And there's a discussion that needs to happen, or there's direction to work with legal counsel, that those discussions happen. with the board president,
035as opposed to. Obviously, other individual board members, which this policy restricts. So if there's an interest to further. clarify what that looks like, or the circumstances in which a board president can reach out. Obviously, you know, we don't serve as… Or legal counsel doesn't serve as counsel for individual board members. Um, that's certainly something that can be considered and incorporated to the extent you want some clarification. Trustee Coleman is the immediate past president. How do you… how did you feel it worked out with, uh… your contact with our legal counsel. Do you feel? I agree. I think it hit on what we were. Establish that. The board speaks through the board president. Michelle. Mike, they want you to lean into the mic a little bit. the Board President to be able to reach out to
036legal counsel on behalf of the board. And that wasn't addressed before, where now it's delineated in the language. I'll just add before the way it was phrased is that the superintendent would reach out on behalf of the board, and that's not always appropriate, because sometimes there's circumstances where it's strictly a. an issue that falls within the purview of the board, and so the point was to clarify that there's that separate. Um, mechanism, but if it is strictly a board issue for a board president to be able to reach out, as opposed to going through the county superintendent. was the intent, and… We have two potential edits related to this issue. It's just being discussed. Could we say… and or board president on behalf of the board. may confer with sexually. And then you can say
037individual board members, you don't need to accept the board president. may not seek direct advice or. Advice directly from. General in-house counsel. I mean, the concept is we don't want all the board members calling council and asking questions outside. Yeah, so to me… The individual board members is a big issue. So, those are kind of my suggestions. Just my thoughts. Rostico. after board president, on behalf of the. And then take out the acceptable. It's just saying the same thing, but… Okay. Anyone else? Discussion? So do we wanna… bump it to not give you some time to marinate, and bump it to next, okay? Do we need a motion for that? just… we'll bring it back for a second. Okay, cool. Any other discussion? Okay, so we move on to agenda items removed from consent, and
038we have 1D that was removed by Trustee. Done? The minutes? Yeah, it was just a minor detail on the names. My name still has President after it, so that has to be removed. Very minor, but… oh my goodness. No worries, no worries, no worries. Can we get a motion to approve the minutes? So, second. Uh, roll call? Can I get a roll call vote? Oh, I'm sorry. moved by Trustee Coleman, seconded by Vice President Cheek. Permanent, I guess. Trustee Cohen Thompson? Trustee Coleman? Here. Trustee Dean? Yes. Trustee Dan? Yes. Trustee Lavelle? Yes. Just teaching? Yes. Trustee, sure. Yes, thank you. Okay, board discussion, uh, discussion and consideration for a process for appointment of general in-house counsel. And special outside counsel. Again. Sorry, you're getting a lot of me this evening. Um, so, as you all
039know, pursuant to your board policy that we just discussed, the County Board has historically. Um, engaged County Council for general in-house. council services and has contracted with multiple firms for outside and special counsel. Um, after County Council ended the contract with. The Solana County Office of Education, this board took action to appoint Lozano Smith as. Interim general in-house counsel at the October 29th. 2025 Special Board Meeting. And so, per that special… workshop and meeting that we had. Um, there was some discussion about potentially bringing back an item for this board to discuss what to do moving forward. Both with respect to your general in-house counsel, and then also there was some comments about. Whether or not there was an interest in re-engaging. in, um, sort of an RFP or some sort of equivalent process for.
040outside special counsel and or in-house general counsel. So really, at this point in time, this is a discussion for. you all to discuss what you would like to do with respect to both your. general in-house, as well as your outside special counsel. I see any discussion, hands? Trustee Coleman. I would say that during this whole. I really appreciate with us. stepping up and really helping us. And being, uh… law firm that they are can provide both. Good. Do you have special issues that… I think it's easier to go to one person versus. buying different ones that fit with our… So, uh… Anyone else have thoughts they'd like to share? I know you do, Trustee Dean. Staring at me, um. I agree wholeheartedly that Lozana Smith. And in particular, our council here today has really stepped
041up, 100%, and I… rely on them, uh, frequently for. Like, information coming in, what's legislation they send us. reports, and I, uh… see them as very high quality. Firm. However, um, firstly, I think we… just speaking about the potential conflicts of interest and everything else. I think we at least gotta have to have a backup firm. And I recognize there's a fairly substantial process that we've gone through once before to do that. But, um… I'm inclined to… I'm inclined at this moment to think that that's necessary to go through a process to at least. That, and potentially secure. a second firm. Uh, to act as special counsel. I thought we had a second, we had a backup already. It was the… F something, yeah, and I get emails from them, so… That's great. Yeah, I
042thought… I thought we had a backup. We still have them? Does anybody know? Oh, we do. Hmm, because I thought we had to… Call on them one time, and since we hired the two. Because Lozano had a conflict, because they represented both sides of something. I don't remember specifically the… the issue. Yes, a question I would have is, when was the last time we had contact with them? If it was 3 or 4 years ago, we might want to dust that off, right? I know that we've had… Because we have a fiduciary obligation. really look at the cost of things. I don't know what's happened with them in their class, and frankly. I don't know how our current councils. costs, um… compare to other firms as we sit here. That's really something to think about
043before we just let that go. But nobody sitting here knows when the last time we talked to our backup. Oh, you do! Grant! Tell us. We have a current year contract. Say it again? We have a current year contract. Okay, so when was the last… Okay, and when was the last time we had contact with them? I think HR is probably the last one that's had contact, so… uh, within the last couple months. Today. Oh, today! And do you know the name of the firm? It's F3, yeah. F3, okay, it is F3. All right, well, I mean… I was halfway there, I had the F, so… I think generally this is a very serious choice, and just… Um, should be entered into… with real thoughts. And the process already in place. Yeah, we do. That's
044true. We could. Do we have a consensus that we're interested in initiating the process? Of… just reviewing, okay. So that would be an ad hoc committee. So do I have… When was that that we did this? It's been many moons. I actually reviewed your agendas, so I'm happy to… this is back in the December 18th of 2019. is when you approved Lozano Smith, F3, and Edward Stevens and Tucker, um, as the three firms, so that was back in. Maybe just dust it off. But I'm just one of seven. Do we have other opinions? Where can my colleagues. I'll speak. I'm with Trustee Coleman. I've been really happy with Lozano Smith. Um, they stepped in whenever we needed them, and it's… it's been a year. Uh, poor trustee, or former president Coleman. I mean, you run
045the gamut of items you dealt with, and they stepped up every single time and brought in. the right people, or have the right people, um… And I was really impressed with them. I don't have a problem with a little dusting, but… I don't necessarily think I need to throw the baby out with the bathwater either. We have a process. We're the ones that put it in place. So I think we should utilize it. I think this should be… I'm not afraid of the process. Agreed. Just the cheek? I agree to ad hoc. committee to review it and bring it back to the board. I have to agree that we're very happy with, uh. That's Alan Smith. Do we have volunteers per said ad hoc board? I'll volunteer. Okay, I need one more. Have anybody else?
046a committee of one. Peggy's not here, let's volunteer her. So, trustee Dean… Coleman, and I'll do the… Probably the third. Okay, so do we need to make a motion or anything? Are we good to… Can I ask just clarification as a hot. ad hoc scope, and then I would recommend a motion to historically, I'm assuming you've done a, you know, I wouldn't start with it, but a motion to appoint an ad hoc committee for the… Usually the president appoints the ad hoc committees. Um, is… is the ad hoc committee sort of two buckets in your board policy, your in-house general counsel, then you also have. your special outside counsel is the… is this with respect to both buckets that you're looking for, or is it just one bucket that you're looking for? If I could.
047I think we should do both. Firstly, because it's kind of the same process. But secondly, if… think if it wasn't us that was making the decision. We want our decision to be defensible to outsiders, right? So, um, I just think that's… it's a good policy. And the superintendent will sit on that with us. Please? Yes, wonderful, okay. Mm-hmm. Do we need a motion? Historically, um… I was gonna ask, historically, what have you done? I know typically when I'm serving, I would recommend a motion, but if you're. past practice has been that the president, I want to make sure you're consistent with your… Last time I got put on an ad hoc committee, I was. Directed by the president. That's what I remember. Okay, then go ahead and keep consistent with your… Best practice. Okay. So,
048moving on, we're gonna repeat… Oh, I'm putting another… okay, so we are forming an ad hoc committee to review legal counsel, both buckets. And we're going to have, uh, Trustee Coleman. Trustee Dean, myself, and the superintendent. Excellent. Okay. Uh, moving on, uh, we review Board Policy 9000.21 Appeals. Come on! That's what we're just talking about. Here we go again with our wonderful Lozano Smith Courtney. So, this one, we're sort of at the… I think there's a preliminary question. This is your, um, appeals. policy. Um, so there's a preliminary question is, is this board. One even interested in reviewing this policy, um, and if so, what is the process you would like to follow. For example, would you like to appoint an ad hoc committee to review this policy? Um, would you like legal counsel to
049provide recommendations, and or if you have other suggestions? It was last reviewed, I believe, in 20… 22 at that point, I know there was an ad hoc committee that was involved in this process, so I know there was. A request at a prior meeting from a particular board meeting. Board of Trustee to bring this up. So we want to answer that first question, is, is there an interest in. reviewing and making amendments to this, and if so, what would your process be for that? I want to say the last time we reviewed it, it was part of an overall. It wasn't that specifically. It was an overall. Do we have any opinion or discussion? Anybody have an opinion? How you want to do this? Do we want ad hoc it, legal? Trusty cheek. I was
050just gonna make a suggestion that maybe. Look at this. Policy. Do you want to go to policy? Can I review two policies? You don't have to, we could also have legal counsel gives… Trustee Lavelle, do you have an opinion? Because of, um, issues that have come up with. appeals. I'm wondering if it's possible to have a presentation during an open meeting. So that this is out there in the public, and our partners are able to see our. thought process, and… Um, maybe comment on it before it is… Approved? That is a wonderful idea. I think we should… does anyone disagree with that? I think that's a good place to start to get this. Okay. Oh, can I just ask some clarification on… because any review would always come to open session, even if there's an
051ad hoc recommendation, so I just want to make sure I understand the order of operation. Are you looking for first a presentation on the existing policy, and a discussion about. areas of interest for revision, or are you wanting all of the discussion regarding the amendments to happen in open session, and or a combination of the two, or none of the above? I, uh, personally. I think that, um, a full reading of it, of. a full examination of the policy would be. Would be helpful, and however the discussion proceeds from that. I think is, um, you know. It's good to have it out there in the public record. So, are you suggesting as is? Or should we have an ad hoc to review the current policy, then? Review it. Uh, no, I was… I was kind
052of thinking that it would be. All in the meeting. I mean, all… no ad hoc that we would discuss it together. Not just be the group, all seven of them, and that way the public could be more than welcome to come and. Especially those from Baleo who see us a little more frequently, they could come and… Well, I think that's Courtney's, uh, review of policy. I think that would be a great starting point. And then come prepared with, here's some areas that you can consider, here's different options, like, to engage in a dialogue regarding that, and not necessarily say. what you should do, but give some options in terms of areas for amendment. Okay, that makes sense. I'd be kind of interested in what… how our policy is. distinguishable from other counties, if at all.
053Right, I know some of it is… Um, pretty standard. Um, and then also, I would, uh, appreciate. It, if someone… specifically invited. the school districts to attend. I think that's a great idea. Yeah, all of them, not singling anybody out. All of the districts within our jurisdiction. Hey, we're gonna talk about appeals policy, come on down. And then they would have an opportunity to comment properly. About any concern they might have. Or con… or ideas. That would be my suggestion. I think that's a wonderful idea, too. See, we're better off as a 7. Anyone else? Do you feel you have traction? Awesome, okay, perfect. Okay, so moving on, meetings and special dates. Attached to the list of upcoming meetings, events, and special dates. For your, uh, review and participation. Uh, and then D, board member
054requests. In accordance with Board Policy 9250, board members may request to represent the Board in an education-related activity. And specify the desired level of support necessary for the activity. actual unnecessary expenses incurred while discharging these official duties will be paid for by. From the County School Service Fund, as permitted by law, and SCO's travel policies. Requests will be placed on a future agenda for action. Do we have any requests? Nope. Okay, moving on. Suggestions for future board agenda items? Do we have any suggestions for future? Nope, moving on. Board member activity reports. Trustee Coleman, you can kick it off. Trustee Dean? Well, it's Christmas, right? Yeah, a lovely Christmas to the family. Um, the only education-related report I have is I am going to teach that class at Davis. So, that'll be inter… It's called
055Ethics in Local Governance. So, it's just a… it's a continuing education class, so it's short, but… I'm gonna take a shot at it. Lucky students, good for you. Trustee Dunn? Um, I… Unfortunately, I had to miss last meeting, so I just wanted to check out. I'm sure that I attended that red carpet premiere, which was amazing, and… Fantastic, one of my favorite events. Um, and then just looking forward to attending on Monday in Vacaville The People's Forum, um, MLK celebration. Trustee LaBelle, I'm gonna pass. trusty cheek? Um, so as everyone know, uh, the Ballell School District, they closed down. three schools, um… Highland Lakin, and Pennycock is affected about 1,000 students in Vallejo and about 100 staff have. will be affected by this. Um, so I've been kind of following some of their board meetings
056to see how their board is going to be handling transitioning students that are left. Um, so I'll keep you guys posted on that. That's happening right now. I… I actually attended the Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday. And I wish I didn't. Standing room only, um, they're dealing with a lot. issues with the union, so… Um, we gotta pray that kind of the strike is today, uh. today. Um, on the 20th, I'm going to be attending Understanding Youth. And it's part of the A, well, not ACCBE. Um, but ACCPE, just mentioned this, they're gonna be having their annual, um. uh, event, and there's gonna be 3 opportunities. One is gonna be in Central California, Southern California, and… Northern California, they encourage all the board members to attend. Um, so that maybe you guys may have this
057in your email. But some of the, um, content will be understanding state funding, court and community schools, student voice panel, and student perspectives. learning about ACCBE 2026 advocacy. Um, just in time for governance tips and tools and special regional hot topics. And some very, um, interesting keynote speakers. Um, I'm also going to be attending the MLK in Vacaville. I went to that on Monday as well. Um, and that's about it. And I, uh, did a gender review on my monthly one-on-one with the superintendent, which I love. It is wonderful to have that kind of access and be able to. get those questions. We're very lucky. And then I attended… I really enjoy the CSBA webinars, and they did the governor's budget, and. What a mess, I can't wait till Michelle reports on it, so there's
058a lot of fairy tales and dreams in Sacramento, so it must be nice. Anyway, uh, do we have any other question, I think? One comment? Absolutely. Trustee Dean, I want to thank staff. For returning to the red pencils. I didn't get one, you got two. Maybe they have a secret stash for me, I'm not sure, but I appreciate it very much. Okay, well, uh, seeing no other business, we will adjourn the meeting at 7.03. Whee!