001Okay. We'll go ahead and get started. I call this meeting of the special board meeting for Coachella Valley Unified School District to order. If we could start with Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Gonzalez, would you like to lead us in the pledge? Uh After it's not here. Okay. Dr. Esparza, could you call roll? Yes. Thank you. Board President Vargas. Here. Board member Gonzalez. Board member Garcia. Present. Board member Arredondo. Present. Board member Tortez. Here. Thank you. Board member Acuña. Okay. Moving on to 3.1. Filling of the board vacancy. Um So, I'll go ahead and and just read the background information. And then we'll go ahead and get started. Under the provisions of education code section 5091, when a vacancy occurs, the board has up to 60 days to make a provisional appointment or order an election
002for the position. On July 24, 2025, the Board of Trustees authorized the appointment of a provisional trustee to the seat vacated by Trustee Bass in Trustee Area 2. Applicants were instructed to submit a CVUSD Board of Trustees provisional appointment application by 5:00 p.m. Thursday, August 7th. And um Today we'll be interviewing three candidates that were eligible for the open seat, the vacant seat for today. So, we have the following candidates: Antonio Aguilar, Araceli Beltran, and Alina Calimanes. So, the process will today will look like. We'll invite the candidates up. Board members, you have a packet and so we have their questions that will ask the candidates. Since there's five of us, we'll each get a chance to ask a question. Um So, maybe we can start on this side. So, Mr. Gonzalez, if you'll start
003us off with question one and then we'll just go down the line once we start with the candidates with the candidates. Um so, we're going to start with the first candidate. Do you have a comment? So, we need to take call roll call for them. They will meet out wait outside and I will go get them to come in and conduct the interview. Okay. So, is Araceli here? And Ms. Alana Alana? Okay. So, the candidates will be outside. I will get get you for the interview. I'll go get Mr. Antonio. Madam President. >> Yes. Um just have a quick question. So, will they have a like an intro state statement and a closing statement or will we just go to the questions? We can do that. Maybe we can give them each two minutes. Two
004minutes for an introductory comments and then we'll start with the questions. Maybe start with the standard three minutes and then uh Okay. And then the closing remarks. Hi, good afternoon. Welcome. Um so, we'll we'll start off. So, maybe we can do real quick introductions, but we'll start off today just giving you two minutes to introduce yourself. Once we go through the introductions and then we do have five questions that I believe you have a copy in front of you. And then we'll do closing remarks. So, if we can Mr. Gonzalez, we could just introduce yourself. Yeah. And and your trustee area. Valerie Garcia, I represent Area 1. Thank you for having me. Jocelyn Vargas, I represent Area 4. Thank you for having me. Trinidad Arredondo, and I represent Area 1 as well. Thank you for
005having me. And we have Mr. Tortez on Zoom. Yes, hello. My name is Thomas Tortez and I represent Area 3, Sun City and Oasis. Thank you for having me. Okay. So, we can start off. We have two minutes for opening remarks and then we'll go down the line with the questions. Sure. Can I do a mic check really quickly? Yes. Can everyone hear me? Good? Yes. I think so. Okay. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for having me. My name is Antonio Aguilar. Born and raised in Thermal, California. Attended the original Oasis school. Was the first promoting class from Toro Canyon Middle School and the second graduating class from Desiderio Rodriguez High School. I attended uh COD for a few years before transferring to the University of Redlands where I graduated with a bachelor's in government
006and a minor in public policy. Came back to the desert where I joined the team for office the office of Congressman Ruiz for about two years. Left to LA. Came back and I decided to pursue a master's in higher education from the University of Redlands. I started working at COD in 2019 after I obtained my master's in higher education. I I decided to move on and pursue a doctorate in education. After studying education for five years got a little bored, so I decided to pursue teaching, but that required me to go get a second master's. I decided to get that in political science, so I teach political science at College of the Desert. As of today, I accepted a position in the dual enrollment department at College of the Desert. That's the program that offers
007college courses to high school students. Um As of yesterday, I accepted a position to join the governing board of the Dr. Carreon Foundation. So, I'd like to consider myself an active member of the community. Someone who is interested in advancing the mission and vision of the school district public education. I have friends and family that work in this district. My mom worked here for about 40 years before retiring. Her last position was in uh the purchasing department. So, I'm old enough to remember when this was a group of portables all connected loosely on the floorboards would creak under you as you walk from one department to the next. Um I don't know if that's two minutes or not. I don't see it down there. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. So, we'll go ahead and
008get started with question one and we can start on this side and just go down the line. Yeah. No. I It may have been a good idea to actually give them some time to think about it, but I'm going to go ahead and ask the question. >> Sure. I think more important than this question obviously you coming from a strong education public policy background, you understand what purpose of a Board of Education is, right? I'm going to assume that that that's a quick answer, but I'm I'm probably more interested in the question. I'm going to ask the question that's on there, right? Sure. What do you believe the role of the governing board is? Uh the Board of Education is. And then also your Antonio, you kind of described a little bit about how you
009understand the area. And and obviously you're back here, right? You you've done a lot of studying. You prepared yourself. What is the motivation for wanting to take the time to participate in in an organization like this, especially with with all the challenges that that you probably have heard about in recent I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Trustee Gonzalez, we're going to to give everyone a fair chance. We did they did provide us with questions. I apologize. Okay. So, we do have question one in the packet. I I have I have question one. I read it. Oh, okay. Oh. Thank you. Yeah, so I'm just going to ask the question and I'm going to stick to what we're doing here today. >> Okay. Obviously I have have another question. Not a problem. But the question is what do
010you believe the role of this board is? Um uh as an as what the governing Board of Education is here at CVUSD. Yeah, so I think it's first important to remember that the board has one employee, right? And that's the superintendent president. They are charged with hiring that superintendent president. Um Secondly, I firmly believe that they're in charge of guiding the long-term vision and stability of the institution. So, if you take those two things into consideration they're charged with ensuring the long-term stability and ensuring that you know, policies and procedures are followed. They have to then obviously hire a superintendent that they see fit to fulfill those duties and carry out the mission and vision of this institution. Cool. Thank you. All right, thank you. Next question. What do you see as the strengths of
011the school district and its areas of improvement? So it sounds like two part right there. Yeah. Strengths I would definitely say it's diversity, it's location. We live in a vast area but also a unique area. We serve a large immigrant population and I believe immigrants are the backbone of this country. Our diversity I believe is also a strong suit and I believe it's our students that make us that um make us strong and unique. And it's that uniqueness I believe that also attracts some superb talent to come to make the drive out here. I have the opportunity of commuting to Palm Desert every day for work and in my commute I see you know every day teachers driving from far away. Whether it's coming down Jackson, coming down Monroe, coming down the freeway. And I
012have the opportunity in high school to have some teachers that would commute all the way from Cat City, from Palm Springs and outside the Coachella Valley. And you know in their circles and they would admit to me that they're constantly asked why why do you make that drive all the way out there and they would say it's the students. It's the students and how humble they are. So I would take that answer and just you know circle back to I think that's our strength our students, our diversity and that's what allows us to attract some superb talent to come out here and teach for this wonderful district. Areas of improvement? Not to sound too critical I I you know it's not lost on me that the district is constantly in the news for our budget
013woes. I think that's definitely an area of improvement. Thank you. Question three, what is the relationship between the Board of Education and the Superintendent? I would circle back to my first response. You know the Board of Education has one employee and that's the Superintendent. So in that relationship and understanding that that's their only employee I firmly believe that you know the board and each individual member is charged with then holding the Superintendent accountable to make sure that certain policies are enacted, the mission and vision, goals that are set are enacted, asking for proactive updates to make sure that work is getting done. It's the constant day-to-day. You know the board has one employee but the Superintendent has to maintain these relationships with each individual member. Constant communication making sure that things are getting done. Question
014number four, how does an effective governing board ensure opportunities for parents and community members to express their diverse range of views to inform the board on important policy issues? This is a great question. I think it starts with showing up. As someone who constantly watches and tries to keep abreast of what's going on in the community, it starts with attending board meetings. It starts with asking questions. It starts with being curious. And as if I could stray a little bit but I'm going to circle back. Um In teaching political science for College of the Desert every class first class session I tell my students my why and my why was this. Growing up in unincorporated Thermal, California I always asked myself why don't we have paved streets? Why don't we have fire service? Why don't
015Why do we have to rely on the county for everything? That made me a very curious individual. I always started to ask questions why don't we have this, why don't we have that, why is it that I drive 15 minutes into Coachella and I see street lamps but in Thermal it's pitch black dark. That made me curious and made me want to ask questions and I think that's how parents and community members can express their diverse range of views and inform the board by showing up to these meetings, by asking questions and holding holding their elected officials accountable. Mr. Tortez would you like to ask question five? For the sake of time I can go ahead and answer the ask the question number five. Can you hear us Mr. Tortez? I can barely hear what
016I think you're asking me something. Yes, if you'd like to just for the sake of moving forward I'm not sure if you were able to hear us but just want to make sure that you can if you'd like to ask question five. Oh okay. So question five, as a board member how would you ensure that you stay up to date on issues affecting the district and public education as a whole? Thank you. This is a great question. Um Working in higher ed you know Jocelyn knows this more than anyone and those that work in education know we're subscribed to list serves and we get emails all the time. What assembly bills, what uh bills on the federal level are being enacted that are going to affect education. I'm a subscriber to the Chronicle of Higher
017Education. You know so it's it's constantly reading, it's constantly going to conferences you know so that you're well connected and and knowing what's going on in the state on the federal level and how those policy issues trickle down and affect us on the local level. Um But it also requires us to be active members of the community. Showing up to public events, asking questions, meeting the Superintendent for coffee, meeting with each other, meeting community members for coffee, a cafecito on on you know 6th Street, asking questions, showing up and being engaged but more importantly willing to listen with an open heart and an open mind. Thank you. So the last question if you have any questions for the board this would be a moment to to ask those questions. So the question I see here
018what questions do you have for the board to help you prepare to take on this commitment if chosen. If if we have time I'd like to ask each one of you how did you acclimate yourself into this role? It doesn't have to be a long minute response but one one to two quick things that you did that you found to make that made you successful in this role. In no particular order. Yeah maybe we can have two board members question would you like to ask? Certainly. So to begin with as soon as the board agenda comes out print out the detailed version and read that one. Cuz you're not going to get enough background. Then you'll have question you'll if you formulate questions go from there. Otherwise it's not enough information you really need to
019know and ask questions. It takes a bit to acclimate to parliamentary procedure, all these different things that are going on within us. So ask questions. I was lucky enough to have like a a buddy form very early on and I was able to kind of get my bearings earlier on than than I think I could have otherwise. But detailed the detailed view makes a big difference to begin with. Thank you. Trustee Gonzalez. Antonio thank you for being here. Thank you for for seeking the position obviously with the intent to help and I I can tell you that that the most important thing that that we can do maybe I can tell you this way. There's an old saying that says nobody cares how much you know unless they know you care, right? And and obviously
020you having those bearings what's relevant, how you grew up asking the simple questions of maybe the shortfalls of the community as it relates to infrastructure or services. Um I think you have that base. You also have a a technical training you took the time to prepare yourself. And and more important than all the stuff we learn, right? It's being compassionate, right? And making sure that as a public public representative that you know that your moral compass is in place that you don't serve the union, you don't serve any special interest, you serve the children. And that child that is least able to defend themself, that family that is least able to defend themself is your responsibility as an elected official. Thank you for the question. Um For me you know I I quickly met with
021the Superintendent and try to meet with the Superintendent right before every board meeting so my questions are answered. That I have if I have questions or sometimes just getting more information so that when when we we're out here on the dais I don't have to ask the questions out here but we're asking and getting information. Um you know also yeah just meeting meeting with our colleagues. Thank you. Asking those questions even amongst ourselves. So thank you. Trustee Tortez is there anything you'd like to add? I just wanted to thank you reiterate the thanks for Mr. Aguilar and uh and his interest in the position. As you know, it's dire that we need somebody in this position you know, immediately. And and I see that you're from the area, went out, and you're one of the
022few that have gone out and got the education, and now you're willing to come back and and contribute to the community. Um that's pretty much all I have to say. Thank you. Um I think for myself, um definitely just being open to kind of that long-term learning. Um you know, day one we might not know everything, um but we also don't know any everything day, you know, 300 and something, right? So, I think every day being open to learn and and the criticism and um open to listening to other folks, I think it's probably the the biggest takeaway I think for me. Um and just being able to, you know, sit up here and make the hard decisions. Um thank you. Do you have Do you have other questions? No, in closing I would just
023like to say thank you. Um you all show extreme courage in showing up every month, twice a month sometimes, sometimes more. Um being in the public eye is not easy. Uh Dr. Esparza, um you know, it it it takes a lot to relocate and come out here. Um but I think it speaks volume to your dedication to our community, our students, and uh speaks volume to you wanting to help. So, thank you all for making time. Um and that's all I have. Thank you. So, today we won't be making a decision, but we are interviewing the other candidates. Um and so, we'll be doing that today. And then, I think the next board meeting is what when we'll be making that Sure. Oh, yeah, Thursday this Thursday we'll be making a decision on on the
024position. Okay, but you'll notify the candidate before in case they >> I think everyone's supposed to come and show up, right? We won't be making the decision beforehand. We will be making a public decision. >> In person. Got it. Understood. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Okay. So, I think the our next candidate, uh we have Araceli Araceli Beltran. Hi. Hi, good afternoon, uh Ms. Beltran. Um hi. Hi. Um sorry. Uh so, my name is Jocelyn Vargas. Um thank you so much for joining us today. Um what we're going to do in terms of what the process looks like, we'll uh do intro quick introductions. Just trustees, um we'll share their name and the trustee area that they serve. Uh we'll give you two minutes to give opening remarks, and then we do have
025five questions that you have in front of you. And then, uh we'll allow you to ask any questions you may have, and um we'll close out the interview. Um so, we'll go ahead and get started. Um Trustee Gonzalez? Sure. Ms. Beltran, my name is Jesus Gonzalez, and I I represent area two. Hello, I'm Valerie Garcia, and I represent trustee area one. Uh Jocelyn Vargas, I represent trustee area four. David Adame, and I represent trustee area one And we have uh Trustee Torres on Hello, my name is Thomas Torres, and I represent area three, Alton City and Olmito. Thank you. So, we'll go ahead and give you two minutes to for opening remarks. Give you allow you time for to introduce yourself. Uh yeah, well, my name is Araceli Beltran. I'm just um you know, uh
026citizen from Harlingen. Um and it's nice to meet y'all. Okay. Thank you. Um should we just go down the line, Mr. Gonzalez? >> thing. Yes. Araceli, I there's some questions in front of you, and the first question I'm going to read it. Um and it basically says what you believe the role of the governing board of education is and I guess I'm asking you if you understand what the role of this diocese or what this group is that you're signing up for. Um yes, so um I believe the role of the governing board is to offer direction for the school district. Um so, what to prioritize, where to go, like what things to emphasize more on the curriculum or like it's not curriculum per se, but education. Um who to hire that's going to be
027able to um reach that goal that the board has. Um I do not think I've served in boards before, and I think sometimes um the people being served will think that a board or a board of directors' role is to micromanage the employees of that district, and I don't think that's the case. Um I think that there is a structure and system in place, and the board is simply there to make sure that is being followed and just offer direction, not be human resources. Um so, just in a just as what I think it is, I think um it's also the job of the board to listen to the community it's serving, um and make sure they feel heard and not dismissed, um and to advocate for that community, like state level or federal level,
028um to make sure that the students of the communities communities that representing are getting all the resources um that they can get, and they're not being shorted by policies created like at the state level or federal level that will impact them disproportionately because of the type of community they're from. Thank you. Next question, what do you see as the strengths of the school district and its areas of improvement? So, two-part question. Thank you. Um to not keep it too long, I will say what my favorite thing is that the district does, and that is champion like the culture of the um communities that it serves, um instead of um and by that I mean celebrating culturally competent um holidays that are important to those communities, um and kind of know that those students might be
029or those families are celebrating certain holidays and be amenable to um kind of structuring itself in that way, um or creating events that honor those uh festivities, and I really like that. Um where I think the board could improve um is maybe in like working with its perception, asking how the community perceives them by increasing how communication is handled. Um I think you know, nobody has ill intent really, um especially like in these positions. I'm sure people give their time because they believe strongly in um you know, making a difference or advocating for the students in in the community that they're representing. Um and I think many times people can feel very passionate about one way or another, and they might, you know, become hostile not because they're bad people, um or accuse, you know,
030people of things that maybe they didn't do because there's just no adequate communication that portrays kind of like why things were done a certain way, um or the acknowledgement of like, "Hey, our intention was good. We made this decision. This decision didn't pan out how we thought it would." Um and that's just kind of part of governing and making decisions and acknowledging when things didn't work. Um and then, owning that and moving forward, and I think that's something that um could be done. I think not not any of you, but many times I've seen like maybe some people get defensive because they're personally attacked, and that's understandable. Um but it's just kind of like us leaders, right, as representatives of community, I think it's very important um to always overcome that. Um and just not
031take things personally even if somebody is yelling at you, um or is very disgruntled. Um I mean, I myself in the past have been like threatened with like they were going to burn my my home or whatever, um but I understood, right, that this person's maybe having a mental health crisis, maybe they feel like their identity was attacked by a certain decision made, um and just being uh very empathetic of that and making them feel heard, um even when they're saying like very negative things to you directly. Thank you. Question three, what is the relationship between the Board of Education and the superintendent? Um I think that relationship should be based on um respect and trusting that they're going to carry out um the direction of the board. Um but again, it's never to kind
032of micromanage how they're handling the job or accusing them of something if let's say a parent or maybe you are personally negatively or perceive negatively um as being I like my little words. Um even if you perceive that some actions or how some things are being handled were negatively impacting you or people close to you maybe um not becoming like um distrusting of them not doing their jobs. Follow just the the trust and respect um and the respect part is um making sure to just follow protocols if you are unhappy with their performance. Um that's what I think. So I just think it's like communication should be open communication um respect mutual respect and trust. Question on number four. How does an effective governing board ensure opportunities for parents and community members to express their
033diverse range of views to inform the board on important policy issues? Um well, I think first and foremost is providing a space which you know, y'all do um during board meetings for people to voice their opinions, but I think um even more would be establishing like a stronger online presence to collect um more diverse feedback from people who maybe can make it to the board meetings um for either having um hurdles to get to like here because of transportation or uh maybe they have to cook or maybe they have to take care of the kids. Um so I think just having a I know that y'all now broadcast the um board meetings. Um but just having maybe a collection of opinion or experiences from the community um yeah, online would be also helpful. Um I
034think you know, maybe a couple years back it wouldn't have been like a good way to kind of engage community um because of the discrepancies with technology and technology literacy. Um but nowadays like everybody at least can operate a TikTok, so I think they can um fill out like any opinion um form intake that the board um distributes if they feel so strongly. And then of course like just saying that follow up with having um some type of meeting to um make sure that they didn't just submit those opinions and they're just laying around somewhere. Um making sure that these are presented in maybe a board meeting or some type of presentation or maybe a social media platform um to create that also transparency and accountability um that all these intakes are taken seriously. Thank
035you, Mr. Tortice. Uh yes, thank you. Question number five. As a board member, how would you ensure you stay up-to-date on issues affecting the district public education as a whole? Um so one way is like doing um what I've been doing now and like the reason I kind of got out of my comfort zone to come here um given the current political climate um I think the federal government has an attack on public education um and using funding to do that. Um And so I think it's just keeping up with like federal um what's going on federally, um what's going on at the state level, what's going on county level. Um and making sure to advocate where possible. Um if maybe a policy state level is written in a way um that's going to disproportionately
036impact um rural communities such as ours, you know, maybe advocate before it goes into effect, make noise. Um but also I do have like a science background. I believe in reading a lot of research from trusted um journals that have to do with just public education and how certain economic decisions are going to impact those um those um communities especially like communities like ours um versus urban communities or more condensed population communities or districts. Um So I believe in doing all of that, but also um I believe in talking to the youth um and getting their perspective uh it's like how do how they feel about the school system? Do they feel valued? What made them feel undervalued? Um uh not in this district per se, but I talked to maybe some youths um up
037in in the Bay Area at some point um and you know, for this particular students, they felt undervalued because their um AC system wasn't being fixed for like months, right? So it comes up as things like that. Like sometimes little things can have a big impact. Um Um so that's how I would stay up-to-date as a board member, which would be um maybe more aggressively than as a regular um citizen, but um that that's the general kind of skeleton of things. Yeah. Thank you. Um so last question, what questions do you have for the board to help you prepare to take on this commitment if chosen? Um so my question to y'all is as um board members of the school district, what do you um see as being um the most important um I don't
038want to say obstacles, but maybe hurdles or things that the most important things that the board should be focused on this coming year um and how would the new what would you would expect from the new appointee to help you um achieve those goals? Interesting. Second thoughts? You want we we follow we follow the same Okay. Um Good question. I think this next school year um we still have a lot going on with our budget and unfortunately, we'd kind of we're going to need whoever jumps in to really jump in and learn where we are with our budget, how we got here and how our plan is supposed to work so that we're getting out of the hole that we've been in. And I do believe that what you've been saying about the community communication,
039that's going to be very important. Um it's not just us having the plan, it's us making sure the community understands our plan 100%. Otherwise, we just seem like we're lording over the community um making wide-sweeping decisions without any explanation and I don't think that's right. So I think you've touched on some interesting points that are absolutely there. Um we're going to need somebody to jump in with us, learn really fast um ask all the questions they can and then help us make these decisions and continue on the course of decisions. Thank you. Thank you for this question. Yeah, my advice if if you're chosen would be that that you understand that you're a public servant, right? That you don't work for any special interest. Uh you don't work for any one group. That you work
040for the person that can least defend themselves with which is the children. And the most vulnerable children are probably and should be the most important. And that I think if you come from a place of compassion and love and you care about the kids, not a conversation about adults, but a conversation about what's best for our children that come to the school district that you're going to be a good servant. Mr. Adelo. Thank you, Madam President. Um I think the budget is first at the forefront of you know, what what we're what we're thinking about as a board is making sure that our um our district that our our funds are put to the best use and that we have a good uh budget to implement our our our different sort of components that we
041want to our and our strategies, right? I think making sure that uh students, teachers staff have the supplies that they need. But overall, looking at our budget and making sure that we continue to improve our budget so that we're not deficit spending. So I think that's that's important. As far as you know my my goals for this district and this year is always to continue to improve our test scores. But I think we're we're we're we're we're getting there and I think that we hopefully will continue to improve on the things that we're we're doing well. So thank you. Thank you for the question. Mr. Tortes Is there any comment on the question? I think the priority in the next year would be to make sure that people have said that we maintain the budget
042and we advocate at the federal level because the federal funding is a huge percentage of the schools funding and with that being said what you know when we're looking at this next year and the next three years right there is there is I think with this administration looking at funding because of the wording of how we call what we name our our special programs and our interests and education for this community. I think that's what our priority should be within this the next very next year to protect the budget and that's what we need to look for. I mean I think my colleagues already said a lot of the the budget is really kind of at the top of mind I think just closing out this last academic year. So I think just making sure
043that we're continuing to follow through and and making sure we're making the right decisions for you know the future right making sure we have the strong foundation and our students I think at the end of the day that's really what we're here for and and being able to provide students with the opportunities to succeed. Do you have other questions for us? No that was my only one. Okay well thank you so much. We really appreciate you coming today and you know being open you know your interest in filling in the seat. Today we do have a third candidate that will be interviewing. We won't be making a decision today but we will be making a taking a vote this coming Thursday. So I think Mr. Angulo will probably be reaching out about just making sure
044that you're here and we will be making that decision in public. So thank you so much. Thank you for your time. So last and final candidate we have Elena Colmanis. Hi so we have a seat right up up here. I think that's fine yeah. If you want to grab the questions that we have at the table. Yeah okay. Perfect. You're fine. Thank you so much for joining us. My name is Jocelyn Vargas and tonight we'll be doing interviews to fill the position for the vacant position trustee area two. We'll give you two minutes to introduce yourself briefly. Well we'll first do our introductions of the board members and then we'll give you two minutes to introduce yourself and give some opening remarks and then we do have five questions which are in front of you
045today and then we'll have a closing question opportunity for you to ask us any questions. Okay so we're going to start to the right. Mr. Gonzales. Hi welcome. My name is Jesus Gonzales and I represent area two. Thank you. Hello I'm Valerie Garcia and I represent trustee area one. Welcome. Thank you. Jocelyn Vargas I represent trustee area four. Thank you. Good afternoon Trinidad Rodondo and I'm representing trustee area one. Thank you. And we have Mr. Tortes online. Good evening. My name is Thomas Tortes. I represent area three Colton City and Yucaipa. Thank you. So good evening Dr. Esparza board members staff. Thank you so much for this opportunity. The first thing I would like to say is I apologize for almost choking on my water before. So it's like whoa. So and second um if
046if you go to the doctor and you have a sore throat and you stick out your tongue and say ah my name is Alena. So so that's that's what I use to let people know my name. So it's Czech by the way. So my parents were from the Czech Republic. So I am currently I work for Read With Me volunteer organizations. So I'm both a volunteer and a um a paid staff member working for Shawn Webb. I've been working for Read With Me now for almost eight years. I just love it. I have such a passion for our mission because we are really affecting the literacy of the students in the elementary schools. So when this position opened up I I've you know talked to Shawn and he goes sure we think it would be
047a wonderful opportunity for you. You know because I've I've while I've only been at the elementary schools here I think helping you know the fundamental basis of continuing to help students is really the foundation at the elementary schools. So I'm very excited to be here and have this opportunity to speak with you. Thank you. Mr. Gonzales. Okay. Okay. That's obviously the the most fundamental question. I I think the the role is to collaborate with Dr. Esparza to make sure that we fulfill that the mission statement of the district. I mean that really says it all and and how our focus should be on the students. So the governing board would help with policy making decisions budget decisions you know and and I think that if we take a look at it we really need to
048make sure we focus on the students because providing them with the highest quality of education even in a time of budget issues is really fundamental to what we need to provide for the students. Thank you so much. So next question. What do you see as the strengths of the school district and its areas of improvement? So two part question. Okay great. Um part one since I've been with Read With Me for so long I just see the wonderful dedication of the teachers here. I think that is a core strength of the district because these teachers you know facing you know difficult times we have children who are not the most unruly. I mean they're so used to using devices and things like that and I just see how these teachers keep the attention of the
049students in the classrooms because not only do I volunteer when a new volunteer starts I always go with them to the school and and I observe what goes on in the classrooms and so on. And so the the teachers in the school are just amazing and it's just and all my volunteers would probably agree with that statement. So um the school district um I I think besides the the mission statement and you know the things that are are still need to be implemented I think it's been very clear that the district is focusing on the students. I I do have to say I I and I clipped it out I I took Dr. Esparza's your turn from the Desert Sun because a lot of the volunteers were asking me what's going on what's going on
050and I think that made it very clear that the district has great leader leadership both from the board and from Dr. Esparza that we're going to overcome any deficits and the kids the students will always be prioritized. So if I would say that those would probably be the the top things that I I would say it's just the strength of the district and the strength of the teachers. Thank you. Question three. What is the relationship between the board of education and the superintendent? Okay. Um I I think we do need to collaborate. Of course you know we are going to be setting helping to set the directions the policies the decisions on the budgets and so on and in collaboration with Dr. Esparza we we will set those policies and directions for the district. Um,
051I think it's Dr. Esparza's job to make sure it's implemented and that um the the right decisions are made that are going to be fundamentally uh taken to consideration the students and making sure that they receive the best possible education. So, we'll collaborate I think the policy implementations rests on the superintendent to make sure that everything is is uh fundamentally uh worked through with the district and and um but we have to work together. Question number four. How does an effective governing board ensure opportunities for parents and community members to express their diverse range of views to inform the board on important policy issues? So, um I witnessed firsthand at the meeting I came to that you know, parents were allowed to come to the podium and I think that's just so wonderful that the
052parents in the district feel that they can come and do that and even even if uh they only speak Spanish, it was obvious that they were being heard by by the board and I was just very impressed by that. So, it looks like that there's always an opportunity for parents to come and express uh their feelings. Like the next public hearing on books, I mean, that's that's going to be important for the parents if they have um issues or want to see what's being done in the district. So, I think that that open policy that allows these the parents to come into the into the board meetings is is critical for for a a good governing board and district. Thank you. Uh Mr. Tortes. Yes, uh question number five. As a board member, how would
053you ensure that you stay up-to-date on issues affecting the district and public education as a whole? Uh it that's a very good um question. Uh I'm I'm um subscribe to a number of uh education newsletters and so on. So, I try to keep in in place with that. Uh I do a lot of reading with Read With Me. I really do need to keep up-to-date with what's what's going on. So, I make sure that we're effectively working with our um uh students. So, um what else? I'm I'm hopefully assuming that there'll be a lot of information that you'll provide and I'm an excellent reader. So, I will spend the time needed to get up-to-speed on whatever the issues and policies are that I need uh to know that will be fundamental to the implementation of
054policies here at the district. Thank you. Um so, last question, what questions do you have for the board to help you prepare to take on this commitment if chosen? The first question I have is do you have simultaneous up there when you're there because I unfortunately am not a Spanish speaker? So, um I'm hoping that for instance, when I was here at the meeting that you're seeing a translation of a parent who's speaking in Spanish? No? Sorry. We do have someone that can provide that to board members. Oh, you do? >> have that. I we I'm I think most of us are fluent in Spanish, so we can code switch. Okay, so I have to take I have to take a crash crash course between now and Thursday to learn Spanish. So, I I think
055that that's my um my fundamental problem. So, it's interesting, the reason I joined Read With Me is when I first came to the desert um I'm a member of Our Lady of Soledad um and I'm I'm looking at opportunities, how can I help? And Roberta Klein, who started Read With Me, actually came to the masses there and recruited. So, I said, you know, I said, I don't know Spanish. She goes, that's okay. So, unfortunately, I have not taken the time to learn Spanish. So, I have to admit that will be an issue, but if you can provide translation, I would be extremely grateful. We We do have headsets that we can provide and provide the English translation. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Do you have other questions for us? Well, um I guess one of
056the questions I got answered is you do have Zoom capability or I don't know if it's Google Meets or Zoom um and so that's good because I know I have one commitment uh where I would you know, I can take it over over um technology, but I won't be here in person. So, um you know, you can all feel sorry for me. My son-in-law um is an editor and I don't know if any of you have heard of White Lotus. He um he actually he and his co-editor got nominations for uh Emmy nomination for White Lotus. And so, the kids need a babysitter. So, I have to go and babysit and they are right now in Hawaii, so you can feel even more sorry for me. So. There are Yeah, there there is possibly depending
057on the guidelines and the the laws that we follow to make sure that we are within the law to provide Zoom options. Okay, thank you. >> just depends. Thank you. Okay. Well, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time and your interest in, you know, serving the community in this seat. Today, we interviewed three candidates. We won't be having a discussion today. We will be having the discussion at our next public meeting, which is on Thursday and we will be making a vote in public. So, Okay. I think our our staff member will be reaching out to make sure that you're here on that day and then we will be making a decision announcement that same day. So, thank you so much for your time. And thank you for your time. I really appreciate
058it. Thank you. Take care. Thank you. Okay, so thank you so much. So, as as I mentioned, we won't be discussing this today. We'll be voting at the next board meeting. So, we're going to go ahead and move on to 4.1. So, can I get a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. Uh all those in favor. Oh, do we have to do a roll call since it's two? Yes, please. >> Yes. So, roll call. President Jocelyn Vargas. >> Here. Yeah, yes. Clerk Valerie Garcia. Yes. Board Trustee Joey Acuña. Board Trustee Trinidad Redondo. Yes. Board Trustee Jesus Gonzalez. Hi. Board Trustee Thomas Tortes. Yes. Superintendent Dr. Francisco Esparza. We're just voting to motion to close session to end the meeting. Sorry, I'm like So, uh so that's So, we're uh good to go. Thank you. Thank
059you, everybody. I'm like, wait, close to go to close session. I'm like, no way. Thank you, everybody. Good night.