001head and get started. Um, I call this meeting to order a regular board meeting of June 26, 2025. Can I have um Can't hear us, the teacher voice. Okay. I call this meeting to order of the regular board meeting for Kacha Valley Unified School District, June 26, 202. No, I don't think your mic's working. What's this volume? Hello. Yeah. Okay. No, maybe this one's louder than Okay, we're going to Oh, sounds a lot better. Uh, we're going to go ahead and get started. Uh, we're going to start 1.2 pledge of allegiance. Uh, trust, you want to lead us some pledge? Please join me in honoring our flag. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
002stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you. Uh can we have roll call? Uh yes. Uh roll call. President Vargas here. Vice President Pos. Clerk Valerie Garcia present. Trustee Joey Akuna. Trustee Jesus Gonzalez. Trustee Thomas Torres and trustee Theidraondo present. Okay. Uh we have nothing under recognition. We're going to move on to 3.1 close session public comment. Um, do we have close session public comment? No close session. Okay. Okay. While you get that ready, I will read the statement. Uh, okay. So, close session public comment. Um, this is an opportunity for members of the public to address the governing board regarding any close session items within the board subject matter jurisdiction. Please complete a request to address the governing board form and hand it to the recording
003secretary. Speakers will be limited to three minutes per person with the maximum of 20 minutes to each subject matter. If you provided a a form for close session, um just make sure to Um, so we have two requests to speak. Uh, one from Veronica. Just want to confirm it's close session. Uh, Veronica Tup from Veronica D and Sandra Ramirez. Is that public comment in the general public? Okay. Thank you. So, uh, Veronica Dz um 3.6. Um, 3.3 and 3.6. Okay. Okay. So, Veronica CSA classified union on 3.6. So, I have two requests. One is 3.3 and then the other one was 3.6. So, two different ones. Okay. So, good good evening, good afternoon. Uh, Veronica Dena, CSCA classified union representative. Um, good evening, President Vargas. Um, Dr. as far as the superintendent all um trustees
004and cabinet. So on 3.6 which is appointment um uh employee appointment for uh the district uh I need to bring up two topics on that that you guys can talk about in your closed session. One is we are always talking about transparency and what uh that we want to be um no nepotism and all that good stuff, right? all the stuff that's going on in the media lately about this board and what's going on within our district. So, with that being said, when you guys appointed a person to a director position, right? How did that happen when that person did not apply for the position? That's one. Another crazy one is again we're talking about transparency here is I have brought up that a person that is sitting within your director's area over there that
005should be being paid in has not been yet we pay in everywhere else in this and we're even doing a contract for consultation right when a person is leaving. How is this not wrong? Because if you have not applied for a position, how are you being appointed to a director's position? That's not fair. I thought we were changing the way we were doing things in this district and moving forward, right? So, how does that look towards us? Do the proper process. Also, somebody's doing the work just like classified. We fight for somebody that's doing out of class. Sometimes I come up here and I advocate for both because I don't believe it's fair. But if somebody is doing the work for quite a while, that person, whoever position they are in, needs to be compensated.
006That's what I need the board to look into and understand because we're trying to get away from all the nepotism, right? That's what I've been hearing. Thank you. I speak on the next one. Okay. So, third uh 3.3 close session labor. Uh again, thank you for this. We are still in a layoff process. June 30th is the last day for all my members that have been laid off. Starting July 1st, whoever stayed with the 12 month position will now start a new in their new bumping area. I am asking you as a board to please take into consideration the feelings of my people that are having to make a drastic change because not everybody does the same job in every area. Please look into helping support the site, the employee, and all the other employees
007around them in whatever position that they are now going to that maybe they haven't been in that position for years. And this is the reality that this district has put us in, right? You guys made the decision due to financial issues that we have and here we are. So I could have had a secretary that has not been in the health service tech position for more than 20 years, but that was her previous position. Guess what? Laws and policies have changed. Now if we don't update them, that's on you guys, right? But this is the reality that my people, my classified people are going to face starting on Tuesday and going forward. So please take this into consideration. Make a better plan of how do we execute starting Tuesday going forward because this will affect
008not just the site, your students. Because guess what? at the front desk people might not all be able to work together or whatever have you, but I need somebody to show compassion to the change that's going to happen until CSEA and the district can come together and make a difference by negotiating. Get that please. Negotiating because we do have a per case, right? So please let's start thinking differently for this new school year. Thank you. Thank you. Um next close session uh comment uh for 3.3 3.4 and 3.5. Um Alicia Volit subject matter I am a library. Thank you. First of all, I saw the I read the agenda and for my surprise, I saw a name that he resigned. Gus, where are you? Is he here? He's right there. I'm going to miss him.
009When we had problems at our school site, he was there. And I was like, "Oh, I can't believe he's leaving us." But he has his reason why. Well, I'm here because I want to say two words, but something happened yesterday. I was like, "Oh my god." Uh, it always happens to me when I'm leaving. I leave at 3:30. I had parent come in at 3:30. And he she had a question like, "My son's iPad broke." And I go, "Okay. Uh, what do I do? Insurance company's closed. We can't send them. And I can't accept the IPEX. I don't know if I have a job." Right. And then I explained to her the best I can and I said, "Can you call us a week be before school starts cuz I I was honest. I don't
010have a job." And she laughed. And then it occurred to me that happens every year. Parents and teach parents and students drop their iPads. By the end of third week, we have like 30 or 40 iPads. If I'm not there, I don't know who's going to do it. We want to go back to work. Work with us. Um, work with Veronica and the staff and the deal. We want to come back. And the main reason that I was here is I want to say thank you for listening. Thank you. It really comes from here. I've been working for many years and they told me you don't have a job. I accepted it. In the beginning was hard. I accepted it. But thank you for listening. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have other close session
011comments? No. Okay. We're going to move on to um 3.2. Uh do I have a motion to enter into close session? So move. Do I have a second? I'll second. Um, all those in favor of going to close session. I I And all those opposed abstain. Uh, we will be coming back from close session at 8:00 p.m. So we just want to note that um 8:00 p.m. is when we'll be coming back. Thank you. Okay. Good evening everybody. We're going to go ahead and get started. Um, do I have a motion to return to open session? Motion. Uh, do I have a second? Um, 4.2 announce uh announcement of action taken in close section session section. Trustee Garcia. All right. In closed session, the board took action to terminate employment of certificated employee 2025/12/685 per
012administrative law judge decision OAH number 202530216 dated June 9th, 2025 wherein termination of employment is effective June 10th, 2025. The board directed the superintendent for designate to sign out send out appropriate legal notices. The roll call vote was as follows. Um eyes's were five, nos were zero, abstensions were zero. That's it. Uh 4.3 approval of agenda submitted. Motion second. Second. Are there any um anything we're pulling? No. Oh, okay. Um, all those in favor? I opposed abstensions. Uh, 5.1 uh board notification requests to address the board. Uh, public comments open session introductory comments are and requests to address the board on items on the adopted agenda and items not on the adopted agenda will be considered from the audience at this time. Please complete a request to address the governing board form and hand it
013to the recording secretary. Speakers will be limited to three minutes per person with a maximum of 20 minutes to each subject matter. Additionally, the person making the request should state his or her name and the name of the organization or group represented. Please be advised that the board is not always at liberty to answer questions right away. Uh state law prohibits uh the board from taking any action on items not listed on the agenda. We have a couple public comments. Um first public comment we have Sandra Ramirez CB parents on um the Latino Commission and CCAP Ramirez. Um, Gracias. Thank you. Uh, next speaker we have Raphael Degado Casto. Um, Tema, the subject of school year 202526. When I start Fore! Foreign! Foreign! Saval forcas pochos. Streetino where we educate champions. Gracias. Uh, next speaker
014we have Brandona. I'm sorry. Why don't I know nexta LCAP? Yeah. Yeah. Um, hello. My name is Brandon Uoa. Uh, dear members of the CBUSD Board of Education. On behalf of Aliansa Coachella Valley, we want to express our gratitude for your leadership and transparency as a district navigates a challenging financial period. We recognize that difficult decisions had to be made in the development of the current local control and accountability plan, the LCAP, and we commend your commitment to making thoughtful student centered choices despite budget constraints. In particular, we want to acknowledge and thank you for preserving funding for restorative justice implementation and training. The district's continued investment in this work reflects a strong commitment to creating supportive, inclusive school environments for all students. We especially want to highlight and appreciate the specific ways that R.J.
015practices have been integrated into our school communities this year, including the daily lessons for elementary schools that are culturally competent and bilingual, weekly lessons for middle and high school students, and uh my favorite, the monthly principal meetings to support the tier three youth with regular check-ins to ensure that they have the resources um uh required in order to succeed. These strategies have been meaningful and noticeable impact and we encourage by the progress made so far. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed. As we look towards the upcoming school year, we are hopeful for the communities for the continued expansion and deeper integration of R.J. practices across all in the school district. We strongly support efforts in fully implementing restorative approaches that not only foster healing and accountability, but also ensure that discipline policies prioritize keeping students
016in the classroom and engaged in their education. Embedding restorative practices into the district's discipline framework is critical to reducing suspensions and expulsions while building a culture of care and belonging. Thank you again for your leadership and continued commitment to the well-being and success of the CBSD students. Thank you. Thank you. And have our coffee. Um next speaker, uh Billy Franco, uh curriculum and IMAS. Good evening, board president Vargas, Dr. Esparza, um, and everybody else. Um, so I I really wanted to come up here to talk about a couple things regarding our curriculum. Um, I am the curriculum resource technician for our district. So I am the one that does kind of help and oversee and make sure that the proper curriculum is being purchased for our district as well as overseeing the libraries supporting the
017IMAS making sure that they have what they need to make sure that they're doing their job effectively to make sure that our students have what they need to learn. Um with the IMAS that right as of right now that they're not coming back. Monday is their last day. We no longer have people that are able to get our curriculum to our students on the first day of school. How do you expect a student to learn have their full education without their materials? Only the IMAS are able to distribute that material. Administration cannot touch it. Other classified uh classifications cannot touch it. Only the IMAS as of right now. No student is going to have their materials. No teacher is going to have their materials. Our students will not be able to get their full education.
018At the same time, we're trying to focus on pushing literacy and promoting literacy to our students. Without the IMAS running the libraries, you're now closing off the libraries, restricting them from getting that literacy access. How is that possible? Just like I said last month when I came up here and spoke, I still encourage everybody to put in a Williams complaint if the students do not have their materials by September 1st. On the district website, um the Williams complaint notice was actually from 2223 school year. It hasn't been updated right now. I just checked it's not listed anywhere on the district website. I understand that that we're trying to transitioning the website to the new server or to the new um uh hosting server, but it should still be up there. We need to make sure
019that our students have what they need. And by doing that is making sure we have the staff employed at reasonable hours to make sure that that job gets done. Thank you. Uh we have Veronica for a number of items. Um do you want me to call each one out and get three minutes? Uh yeah. Okay. Uh so Veronica, CSCA uh subject matter transportation ID system. Okay. Good afternoon, Veronica Duya, CSCA chief union steward classified union. Good evening, President Vargas, board members, trustees, Dr. Sparsa, superintendent, and extended cabinet. So uh last board meeting I believe it was I wasn't present either last board you were meeting before there was a presentation and there was a conversation that was held by your management here to you about the system that was going to be used and I'm
020going to say going to be used cuz that's what was said and it was going to be a pilot here for summer school. Okay. So now I ask you has anybody heard of the system being used? I'm gonna tell you no. Okay. So, we have the system, but it's not being used. So, I just want to make sure you've all have asked for transparency. You all asked, oh, you know, for the recommendation of of uh administration or staff, right? This is what we should do. Go forward and let's purchase things. But again, use what you guys are going to purchase. Make sure that all the systems that are at the sites are working because I can tell you right now they're not at some sites. I already know this. So, I'm waiting for you guys
021to learn the system, work the system, and see how it functions. So, you have 10 days left of summer school. And where are we using the system? How much is the system? Right. Ask your guys' selfelves that we just came off of Tyler, let it go, came into a new one, and where is it working? Yet, you were told up here because I was part of that board meeting, but I was on Zoom when I heard the comments that we will be piloting it for summer school. I want the system to be working. I want it to be used. I am pro the system. Why? Because it's not accountability for you guys. It's accountability for my people towards you guys. The students accountabilities for my drivers also. Why? Because when a student is left at
022a stop somewhere, it's not blamed all on the driver because of whatever happened. The student will swipe. You know the student's there. the student swipes again and you know the student got off and what grade that student is and it's not like oh what happened to the kid we got a lost kid. Please get this system going. You guys have said it time and time again and here we are again. Thank you. Okay, next item. Uh recognition to staff. I'm not going to introduce myself. I'm already up here. So, I want to give a recognition and a shout out to all CBUSD staff. I want to say goodbye to certain directors. You did awesome. You might have been new, might have had a couple of years, we have shifts, we have a deficit, and now
023you're leaving us. Thank you. Thank you, Gus. Thank you, Armando. Uh I don't know who else is leaving that I' I haven't seen anybody uh over there. Cindy, thank you Cindy for everything that you have done. And now I want to say welcome to the new leadership that is coming in cuz you I was funny is that I heard a little thing where it said that you go on to a certain system and it tells you no, don't apply for CBUSD. Literally says it. It's not a good place to apply. I'm going to say they're wrong. This is a great place to apply. Yes. Do we go through our ups and downs here? Yes, we have. But the reality is is that management out there is doing their damnedest to get this district to where
024it needs to be. And I appreciate and I applaud everybody that has worked here. My classified staff and the teacher certificated staff. Thank you for all your hard work that you guys have done and put in into this district. Yes. Are we going through hard times and some people will be laid off completely? Yes. But it doesn't mean that the fight stops. But it does mean that we will support our students. We will support our district, our school sites, and our community. So, thank you everybody for this long hard year, but we will still keep going every single school year that we have in our strength to keep going. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next item, schools first at um, it says ATM at CVUSD. Correct. Okay. So, I want to bring to the board.
025I was on the facility committee today. Um, but I I wasn't able to get in a comment into that facility committee. So, I said I'm going to bring it here, but I would still like it to go forth in the facility committee and be looked at and and really planned if possible. Um I'm asking the district to please look into the school's first ATM machine um here in our district. This supports staff, everybody community that is part of this uh um bank branch, right? Um it is CSEA actually um works with schools first. We have them come out do, you know, they come in and they do um advertising and all that good stuff, but they support schools first and foremost. They support districts. So, just to let you know, our sister uh chapter and
026district across the way actually has a school's first ATM. And yes, there comes pros and cons, but the reality of the con is to the staff and anybody that is with the bank. We can have that here. I have talked to uh several um schools first representatives and they have reached out to the district prior, but nothing ever happened. This is something that will also bring morale. And I'm going to say it like that because our members have to go to the sister branch out there or to the new Palm Desert um branch out there. And if we were to have a ATM here, guess what? It would be so much more better for them also. And I have had membership also say, why can't we have a school's first ATM? So, if the district
027can please look into considering that and whatever it is that needs to happen, um again, it's up to you guys. You don't have to have it here right in the district. You can have it somewhere within the grounds of the district. If they're afraid of any kind of vandalism or anything like that, but guess what? CVUSD is not liable for anything. It's actually the bank. The bank takes care of everything. The bank fixes everything. So, CVUSD would just be a housing for the ATM. Thank you. Thank you. Um, Veronica Das 9.2 Latino Commission. Uh so I am pro the Latino Commission support for our sites. Uh yes I know that we are in difficult times and we are reducing it. The only thing I ask the district please make a plan for this and a
028better one to support our kiddos out there. Um there was a lot of rocky stuff of only the referrals get seen and some people some students literally fell through the cracks and never got seen and some uh had um mental issues and there was some suicidal issues also and they were never addressed because they fell through the cracks on those referrals. Now we're putting 21 therapists, licensed therapists at the sites. Guess what? Your high schools, how many kids are there for one person? where we have higher rates of mental issues and substance abuse. Please, let's really think about what is in support of our kids. I know we have a problem with it, right? I know that the money is tight everywhere. Um, but we want to make sure that there's a plan to help
029support the kids, especially, and I'm going to say it, immigration. Today I literally saw somebody get arrested on 86 going towards 29 literally and you had two vehicles and they surrounded one person. So please the day last Wednesday huge as where they took out the students from almost all the schools because of the issue that we had with ICE out there. This is real. People are like, "Wow, I never thought that we were going to get here." No, it's here. It's real. It's happening. How do we support the kids? How do we support the parents? You know, the red cards, they're there, but are we really pushing it out? I don't know what more we can do, but guess what? There's a lot more we can do. It's just how do we do it? We
030are here. This is what's happening. And they're at our front door. And actually, they're already inside our house. So, please, let's really uh make sure that the Latino Commission support for the students, we're looking at it at a site basis, not just one person at an area and that referral process. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next one. Uh, 9.3 LCAP. So, thank you, Dr. Sparza. And I'm going to say that uh the ALCAP process has been one of those uh you know kind of battles uphill and downhill each year. But this year there was actually a change and it was done better. You guys are always going to see me talk about it. You guys are always going to hear my opinions about it. It is what it is. But because that alcap is the
031district what it's what we're doing and what we are not doing. It holds us accountable and sometimes it doesn't hold us accountable but it does need to be there. So, I really appreciate um this year the collaboration uh the way it was being worked out, the forms that we were having, the communication. That's the big one. The surveys. I know my classified, they weren't always all filling out the surveys. I'm sorry. This year was a bad year. You know, they weren't happy about it. So, why should I do anything? But the reality is that I see the ALCAP is changing. And as long as there's transparency and communication, guess what? That's going to change the way this district, the inner part of it works. And that's the reality. Thank you. Next one. Uh, Veronica Das
03210.3 budget. So yes, I am not a budget person, but I sometimes do understand it as all my years that I have been advocating in this, right? So I do want to bring up an issue because again the district on this multi-year projection three years, right? 25 26 26 27 and 2728. If I look at the ending ballots, which everybody else is going to look at, I see no deficit. I see red, but I do not see deficit. What I do see at the bottom is a commitment. What does that mean? Am I committing? The district committing, who's committing, right? So when I look at this and I see an ending balance of 2526 combined, I see $100 million. I do not see 60 million deficit. So my question is are we in a deficit
033or not? And then if you go to the third projected year 2027 to 2028 I see a commitment of 43 million 2526 I see a commitment of 17 million 2627 but I see no commitment on 2728 what does that mean now I know you guys are going to do the uhformational today right and maybe I will get my answer within that presentation but what I'm trying to say is again I am on the outside looking in and not understanding this here shows no deficit to me unless it's explained right but again let's for the people from the outside should be able to say is it are we in a deficit or not here okay thank you last one uh Veronica 14.7 so again the district says we are in a deficit and we are contracting
034with the person from the outside and outside vendor for nurse work. This might be certificated but it also affects classified at the same time because if I have nurses mind you I think you guys let go two or three nurses. Why are we paying up to 49,746 on a contract? That doesn't make sense for a nurse cuz that's literally what it said on here. I'm like, wait, what? So then why did we let off? Are is it because we want to let them off cuz we're paying too much on an FTE and we rather go pay an outside vendor to do hearing testing, visual testing. Let me let me make sure I get that right. Aometric and vision screening for 49 grand when you have them here and you laid off about two to three.
035You could correct me on the number because that's certificated. But does it affect classified? I'm going to tell you yes. You want to know why? because I have a par educator that helps sometimes to do these testings. So I don't understand how can the district pay for something that we already have in house. Now if there's a special kind of testing then go train our people to do it because there still are ends. I have Alvians that's classified. Why can't an Alvian do a hearing test? I have an HST, health service technician at the school. Why can't that person do a hearing test? So, please, again, when I say, "Where's the plans?" What are we doing here? Because you're telling me that there is no money. How do I know that? Cuz you laid off
036252 classified people. But yet you're gonna pay 49 grand for something that is can be done in house. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other uh public comments? Yes, we have one public comment submitted online. Is it a speaker or written comment? No, written comment. Okay. So, moving on is so no more uh speakers, right? So, we we'll move to 6.1 written communications. Thank you. Sorry. Online comment as submitted by Michelle Ramos. I have worked in uh the Coachella Valley Unified School District for the past 19 years. This district has done so much for many families, staff, students throughout the years. This past year and a half, I have I I feel there has been a split between all these stakeholders. It has become very political at CBUSD uh keeps getting drugged through the
037mud. The union that represents myself and other teachers say they are speaking on behalf of the 900 teachers when they go to Sacramento and bash our district. They are not speaking for me and many others who are tired of seeing CBUSD drug through the mud on a daily basis. Maybe do a poll and find out who wants to be a part of this fight and you might see it is a lot of it a lot less than you think. Is that the only comment? That's that's the only comment. Okay. Thank you. Uh moving on to 6.2, we don't have a certain board member report. Um so moving on to 6.3, we have board member reports, uh and board requests for future board meetings. Um Trusty Akuna, should we start there? Just doing it alphabetically now.
038Is that how you go? I was like to my left because that's where my heart is. Yeah. Um I'm sorry. Welcome everyone. Um, I'll make it short. Um, a couple of things I did want to mention. Um, and I know Vonica started it already, but uh, some of our some of our people are going, uh, either by choice or by not. Um, and it's saddened even though they're and I did vote for some of them, so I'm be mad at me as well. Um but there's a lot of people that we are losing and uh they have served our district um with great honor and always put the kids ahead of everything. So I want to thank all of them and then some of you who are moving on to other positions or other areas
039uh I want to thank you all as well. Uh some of the other people um and then to the as you said some to the new people welcome. Some of you are just being elevated to a different position. Uh maybe some are from the outside. Uh I did want to take one particular person and say thank you too. And I and uh I got elected on the board about the same time as she came in uh in her position and um we had a conversation a little bit earlier, but I do want to thank um you know, Miss Paratt for all the the stuff that she's done for our CTE program. I think um our district when I got on the board it was it was okay but because the district had had a very
040vibrant CTE program before in the past people thought it was very stagnant it wasn't moving forward and and in fact for someone like me and others who had been through those types of programs it wasn't and I think with just a little support from the board and a little encouragement um she was able to do a lot now granted I don't think we've always agreed on every single way to do it but But I do wanted to thank her for all her things and and our CTE program that today um boasts some of the best around um our alignment with the academic also but and the infusion of now it's in the middle schools now it's in the elementary schools and I think those are things that um you know along with all the staff
041and all the people that work with you the teachers the principles and everyone but I did want to thank you for that because we got here about the same time. What? No. No. So, I did want to thank you, Marie, and and good luck on your retirement. I know you're not going to stay retired long because you have to do something. Um uh a couple of other things I wanted to also uh touch base on. Um the situation that happened last Wednesday with ICE, it continues to happen just in smaller ways. Um, I think it's I'm proud of the board that we've taken a proactive stand and and supported the community, but I think it's only going to get worse. So, I think as you mentioned, however, we can work with our community partners. They've
042been out there really on the front lines. We've been supporting as best we can in in the capacity that we can. Um, but they we owe them a lot of credit. Um, you know, a lot of groups, Alian's one, TOED's another. Um, you know, uh, I know, uh, Vivo Oasis is another group. There's so many groups out there that are all working together to help with this, but I think it's it's incumbent on us to continue to support them and in any way we can and move forward. Again, our our differences on now caps are small compared to the differences that we're having with our federal government right now, really terrorizing our communities and and the Native American community as well, which they also did that um, last week as well. So, uh, I just
043just want to ask the board that we stand, you know, stand tall, stand vigilant, and support our communities. Um, we're going to be starting a new year pretty soon. Uh, next Tuesday, summer school's almost over. Um, I would ask that everybody take a good rest because I don't think it's going to get any easier next year. We'll be opening a new school. We'll be making a lot of changes. We're going to not have as much staff. Um, so I would suggest that everybody get some rest. And um, and again, I've always said I would rather you have you come up here and and tell me what's on your mind than you sitting at home just criticizing us. I I appreciate people who get off the couch and come and and tell us what they're tell
044us what they're thinking. So, um, with that, uh, that's my report. Yeah. Uh, Trustee Gonzalez, I have no uh, Trusty Tortes. Thank you, President. And thank you everyone for attending and and uh being uh open with your concerns and issues for you know the community and especially the students and uh um Trustee Yokuna is correct. You know I come from the Sultan Sea area district but I'm also part of the Native American community which was hit hard also by ICE. And we have a sovereign nation that, you know, we we we pride ourselves on and and and I always say the community, not just uh, you know, the Native American, but we're all indigenous as far as we see. So, we see the community just like that. So, we try to protect everyone. But I
045think in in talking about what what's going on uh now, it's going to go on for the rest of the next three years, the community can support. I heard you know we what we can do and we can do more what we can by uh relaying the support to the constituents that the other ones that we've elected with more power than what the board has. We need those people that are at the state level and the federal level to lobby for this school district and to lobby for our kids. because if we don't have anybody fighting for our kids in Washington DC, this is just going to get worse. So my call to the community is to have everyone find out, contact, and if you need help, we can get you the help of who's
046your constituent, who's your politician in your in your area at every level to combat this. And and they need to be aware that these kids are just as valuable and just as equal as any other kid in the United States. and and that's what we're up against. So again, I would implore the community to find out what we can do. And it's Washington DC. That's where we need to be. We need to find everyone that we can to support the congressmen, assemblymen, senators, everyone that they can to fight for the students within the Coachella Valley Unified School District. Thank you. President uh Trust ADO Good evening everybody and thank you for being here. Thank you for your public comments. They're always important for us to hear from community. Um I had the opportunity along with
047my colleagues to attend the adult school graduation and I believe there's 520 graduates. Um so I'd like to thank uh you know thank you for the invitation from the adult school and thank you colleagues. It was it was great to be there. Um, I I also like to thank staff that are departing our district and uh I'd like to wish you well on your new new positions and uh you know this is um I believe that you know uh given given our districts some of our challenges. It just better prepares you for some of the things that you'll face in other districts and it actually supports your growth because you've already been through some certain situations. Right. And I'd like to say just to um Dr. Sparza, I know a question was asked me by
048community is is to make sure that our our parents have access to our schools, you know, even though they might have issues with getting identification. So, um I know that it's always a security issue to make sure that parents, but I I hope that you know during these tough times of uh just uncertain times that we can support our parents to make sure that they have access to our schools as well uh when they're out there and that our staff is able to also support our parents uh that are trying to pick up their students and and or participate in school activities. Um, I'd like to thank all the summer school staff that I haven't had a chance to visit the schools, but I will before the 10 days are up. Um, I'd like to
049thank all our staff who are putting summer school together. Um, I know that that my biggest fear is that the numbers will decrease based on what's been going on in the community and that even next school year we might see a decrease in student and our student population. And that only means that we have to uh you know re rework reook at our budgets and rework what what our our plan. But we hope that we can continue to do the best that we can as a school district. There are we we're facing challenges just like others are. But we have to work hard and and work together to move forward, right? And we may disagree on how we get there, but we got to work together to get there, right? And it's not that we
050disagree. We we may have disagreements but we have to work through those disagreements to make sure that the students have what they need. Okay. So um so Dr. Spars I would also like to a presentation. My request is just to um see if the data has come out on our students uh sort of um I know the CAT scores um were coming out. So my request is to see a board presentation on our on our schools to see you know how they improved. I know we've seen preliminary data, but I'd like to to see a presentation during this during the uh board meeting. And that's that's my report, Madam President. Thank you. Okay. Uh Trusty Garcia, thank you. Thank you to everyone who has spoken to us. We hear you and we need that. We
051need to hear from our community. We need to hear from our employees to keep us informed on what's really going on on the ground. Um, I think everyone who has been with us this year, who's staying with us next year, as soon as we began the process and understood that we were going to make difficult decisions, I knew we were going to lose people. And it broke my heart because everyone who works with our students from the ground up, you're all important. It's a learning community and you all make an impact. So, it's never been easy for me to make those votes. Um, completely understand the need for grace and planning for next year. Um, and thank you for keeping us on our toes. If things aren't being implemented, we need to know that so
052that they are. We we need um the summer to work out kinks so that next year is as smooth as possible. Um, as far as the immigration and our response to that, um, I know I've heard about asynchronous work for students who need to stay home, making sure that we can do that even in the next year. Um, I'm I want to be careful about data though. We don't ever want to have data that that um, ICE or others can use against us. So, we have to be really careful about the way we keep track of things. But we absolutely need to be there for our community. Um that's I mean yeah I have family that is not um safe or comfortable right now. So absolutely um making sure that we have the resources but
053we're very careful so that we're not putting people in jeopardy in with our in our way of helping people. Right. But um absolutely a um a plan for asynchronous during the regular school year. so that our students aren't falling behind in in areas that we know it's it's going to come up. It's going to continue to come up. Um so really making sure that we have clear plans for that. Um and a discreet way of of getting that to them. Um I know that uh the next school year is going to begin in just a couple of days. We are still hearing plans and how they are going to work out. So, it's still something that we're working on to make sure that um next year is as clear as possible for us all. I
054thank you for making um asking pointed questions about our budget. It's very important that the public can follow along with us um so that it's clear this um school funding is not a clear thing and um with our presentations and such should be so that anyone off the street should be able to follow along and that it's not something that um you have to go through multiple I mean it our budget is over aundred pages every time we submit it but it doesn't mean that we can't make sure that the public can't follow along. So, thank you for that because it is important and that is why we're here is to make sure that our community understands. So, we still have a lot of work to do. Um, we thank you for the comments and
055we still have things to work on. Absolutely. Thank you. Um, good evening everybody. Thank you all for your reports. um on my end uh definitely has have had a lot kind of reflecting the last two weeks. Um there's definitely you know been a lot on my mind. Uh I want to thank Veronica for you know the comments that were made um on multiple items but I um you know recognizing and expressing gratitude to our staff. I think it's really important. So, um, you know, the last several months as we've been working on, you know, our fiscal plan and our stabilization plan, um, you know, we've had to make some really hard decisions and, um, you know, I'm really grateful for the staff that we've had, um, and that we have and continue to have. Um
056I think last week um you know as mentioned immigration um the various agencies that came through our community it just really made me think a lot about um just the way in which our staff really step up right uh for our students for our community. Uh definitely made me really proud of every single person. Um I think um you know being in education myself, a lot of my students were also impacted and so I know that I was in communication with our staff here um just trying to see how we were going to support our students and our families. And so I really appreciate just the ability for everyone right from our bus drivers picking up students from staff picking up our calls um trying to support you know with some of the mental health
057um needs. um our principles, I know that they had to reschedule a meeting just so that they could be um at our sites uh supporting our students and so um you know despite a lot of the challenges that we speak of our district right everyone stepped up that day and so I I really want to express my gratitude to to each and every one of you all for doing that for our students. Um I also had the opportunity to join the adult school graduation and um one of the speakers uh shared a quote that I uh really resonated with. Um so she said uh she quoted Confucious uh our greatest glory is not in ever falling but in rising every time we fall. Uh really meant a lot to you know the circumstances that we're
058going through as a district, right? Um they're very difficult. um it's hard to hear the stories of our staff every single board meeting, right? Um and the conversations we have outside of the of the, you know, the podium and the and the district meetings here. Um so it's definitely been um heavy one, right? Um just being able to um take those uh make those hard decisions, right? But really want to thank everybody uh for their hard work this last year and um just the the work that's going to continue to happen that we still have to do right the coming months. Um I do want to recognize that um you know Miss Boss has announced that she's stepping down uh after seven years. Uh we really appreciate her for her service to our district. Uh
059we are still waiting to hear what will be the next steps. Um but we do um want to acknowledge um you know her her service uh to our district and um I'm sure we'll continue to see her involved in in our community and our district. And I think that's it for me. Thank you. Uh superintendent's report. Good evening everyone in the audience and everyone who's with us online. Um I want to just uh talk a little bit about our summer uh school EXLP program. It's been a great success. So, we want to thank the staff for that. Our students across CVUSD are engaged in hands-on learning uh through expanded learning experiences, activities that include art, dance, yoga, cooking, and educational field trips. Recently, over 700 students went to multiple sites from multiple sites uh enjoyed
060uh going to a field trip in our community and it was to the movies and learning about our community building and making sure that they're be provided those enriched activities. So I want to thank the expanded learning program along with summer school program for that. I also want to thank our English learners, I'm sorry, our early learners uh who are supporting our youngest students. Our early learners program have scheduled teachers training on learning Genie assessment tools. They ordered all the classroom materials for uh UPK for next year. Actively working to reach 100% preschool and head start enrollment by the first day of school. And so I really want to thank them for being out there and so early on trying to recruit. So thank you to our early learner program, college and career. I wanted
061to uh mention that we're preparing our students for a life after high school. Over 549 College of the Desert transcripts were processed for our high school students to support academic planning and dual enrollment. So over 500 students will be in dual enrollment classes. Additionally, we have our students at West Shores that are going to be provided a health pathway for the first time. So, it's going to launch in 2526 school year offering students 18 college credits and 12 of which will be dual enrollment at no cost to them and their families. And so, I wanted to just put that out there. Um, as uh Mr. Akuna, board member Akuna has stated celebrating the retirement of Marie Paratt, director of college and career. Marie Paratt has done a lot of work here in the district after
06211 years of dedicated service. We proudly recognize her outstanding contributions to CTE and CVUSD. CTE program growth, oh my gosh, it went from 12 programs to 25. and she launched 20 new middle school programs, ensuring seamless pathways from middle to high school. She also worked on curriculum and work-based learning expansion to offer our students jobs outside of the school district for learning experience. She's done so much and so uh we extend our deepest appreciation for all your time and we congratulate you on your retire retirement. Um, I also want to thank all of the employees of the district. I know that this is not an easy time as we close this chapter of 2425 school year. Uh, especially for those who are leaving due to our budget crisis. This year has not been easy for
063several people, but when you're no longer going to be employed, that is a lot and that is really hard. And so I want to thank the employees who have been with us who will be leaving us. Um we wish you the best. We are still working to ensure that we can support you however we can in providing the different workshops. I know HR has provided some workshops in order for um our employees to learn how to apply for unemployment. We're still going to be giving the the uh food boxes uh from our food services program that collaborates with some of our farms here. And um we truly appreciate you and we hope that you do find employment quickly. We hope that for some, you know, uh reason or another that we can get a hundred
064million or $200 million gift in the a check in the mail and possibly bring people back. RCLE, don't listen to that. But I I truly appreciate the work that all of you have done. I truly appreciate the unions who have come to support and to speak on their behalf and know that we appreciate you too. Thank you. Thank you. Uh moving on to information presentations, we have uh 7.1 Karen Penton local performance indicators. Oh, it's just information. Okay. Do we have any questions from the Okay. Uh 7.2 we have Tara Hitchen. Uh overview of CBUSD gate plan. Okay, perfect. Good evening, President Vargas, members of the board, Dr. Esparza and cabinet. My name is Tara Henchin and I'm one of the directors of MTSS Academics Elementary. I will be giving you an overview of our
065gate plan for the upcoming school year. This plan was created with input from teachers and educational service staff to ensure best practices for our gifted and talented students. Does it go? How does it go? Do we need a clicker? Okay. Um to summarize our vision for the GATE program, we want to ensure that we are recognizing and nurturing the diverse abilities, talents, and potential in all of our students. The first part of the plan lies in identifying students who would qualify for gate identification. This would be done through universal screening in grades two and four utilizing multiple measures which include teacher and parent voice based on assessments and many other opportunities to measure intelligence capabilities through this program. Each school site will be supported by a designated gate site coordinator who will assist with the
066identification and assessment process to ensure appropriate student placement. And once identified, gate students will have access to a variety of after-school enrichment opportunities focused on project-based learning. Additionally, we will ensure that gate identified students in secondary are appropriately placed in advanced academic pathways including dual enrollment, honors, and AP courses. As part of the instructional approach for gate identified students, we aim to provide a rigorous curriculum that incorporates depth, complexity, novelty, and acceleration to meet the needs of advanced learners. By implementing research-based instructional strategies, we will promote inquirybased and problembased learning models that align with California standards and integrate steam focused best practices. This plan also includes ongoing professional development for all educators to build their understanding of gifted education practices and ensure equitable access to services for all identified students. Our goal is to equip
067teachers with the tools and strategies they need to effectively support gifted learners and foster their academic success. An essential component of our gate plan is parent and community engagement aimed at strengthening communication and collaboration among schools, families, and the broader community. This includes hosting gate parent nights and establishing a gate parent advisory committee. We also seek to build meaningful partnerships with community organizations to further enrich student experiences. Our plan also includes strategies to monitor program effectiveness by analyzing data and the trends to ensure equity and academic growth amongst our gifted learner. We are committed to making datainformed decisions that guide continuous program development and long-term sustainability. This program is funded through LCFF supplemental and concentration dollars under LCAP goal 1.3 ensuring that adequate services are provided for our students. The allocation supports both personnel costs
068such as teacher stipens and non-personnel expenses including testing materials and curriculum resources. Thank you. Any questions? There any questions? No. No. What's this? Oh, sorry. I apologize. What's the total number of gate students that we have currently right now? I don't we haven't identified students in a really long time. We haven't really had a program. I think um we would have I can get those numbers for you. Um I'm not entirely sure where where we stand right now, but I know it would mostly be students that are secondary if we do have any that are identified. Thank you. Mhm. Other questions? So, this is a program that we began planning late last year. Uh we did have several teachers and parents who came to us and talked to us about the gate program. And so
069I experienced being a student in the gate program and I asked when I when I arrived here, why don't we have a gate program? And they said, well, we used to have it. So that's why there'll probably be some secondary students in there. But it's about making sure that we start those assessments and we start identifying those students. And I know it's going to be students not just academically gifted, but you know, talented as well. And that's the multiple measures part. So there's different um rubrics that are used to determine their talent. So it could be that they have, you know, a variety of talents, not just the academic piece. But we want to hone those, you know, refine those. I was going to ask in the multiple measures do you consider like language or
070Yes. And there is a part for the language piece. Um so there like I said there's about seven or eight different um rubrics that we're using to determine and trying to get really that whole child looking at the whole entire child and what they bring and what their talents are. Thank you. Um if there's no more questions uh we'll move on to 7.3. Uh Tara Hinchen umformational presentation on read with me program. So, I'm going to go ahead and introduce Sean Webb. He is um the director with the read with me. And so, I'll turn the time over to him. Excellent. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Esparza, board president, cabinet, and board of education. Thank you for having me. Uh, as Tara mentioned, my name is Sean Webb. I'm the director with the Riverside County
071Office of Education of Literacy Outreach. And with that, my primary responsibilities are to oversee this amazing organization called Read withMe. Uh up on the screen here, um I want to share a little bit about Read withMe. You could see that is our mission statement, but I think the mission kind of speaks for it when I share about the pictures. Uh the the two pictures in the middle there, you could see one of our volunteers working with students in your classrooms. At the bottom there, you could see uh student student working one-on-one with one of our volunteers as well as at the bottom lefthand corner. That's another part of our program where we provide books in a uh the form of a book fair two times a year for students to be able to take home.
072So, our TK through 2 grade students take two books home the year uh twice a year as well as our older students take home one book. And then I included that top picture there because it's quite fascinating. You may have seen it in the desert sun in February was featured because read with me. We have three generations in that picture that all volunteer for us. And there you have the mother, you have her her father, and you have her son. The two adults volunteer at Peter Pendleton Elementary School. They're there multiple hours a week volunteering their time. And then their son who the the lady's son there who goes to um he's a student at Xavier. They have a partnership with the neighboring district at Desert Sands where they go over to Martin Van Beern
073Elementary School and volunteer there. So that's just a little bit about what our program does. Uh a little bit of history as as I shared um the the program here started in uh 2004 from Robera Klene. Anybody on the board know which school they started at first here in Coachella Valley Unified? Mecca School. And I was actually a teacher at Mecca School when they started. So that's kind of fascinating that it it's kind of come full circle. But we serve all three school districts here in the Coachella Valley. Uh we provide volunteers in classrooms, tutoring and mentorship as well as we provide books to students. Now we're called Read with Me and I'm going to talk about how that's kind of transformed in some of the other places as well. With me tonight, I have
074our u couple of our regional coordinators Alena and Michelle who oversee our CV Unified Schools. If you could just Thank you. And then we have Bruce Hall. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. And then we also have Bruce Hall who oversees our West Valley schools. And then running around behind us is our IT and technician, uh, Stfan Povic, who, uh, helps us out a lot. But, uh, some of the things I want to kind of brag about with Reed with me, this last year, we were nonprofit of the year for the city of Cathedral City. We actually service two schools in the Cathedral City, as well as we were nominated for Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce nonprofit of the year, and we also had a citizen of the year out of uh, one of our
075staff members. So, that was pretty awesome. So, how does it work? read with me. So, one of our regional coordinators will go ahead and work with a school site. Um, usually your site administrator will assign a teacher on special assignment, maybe an assistant principal to work directly with our our regional staff. And our regional staff will then go ahead and work with that staff member to survey the teachers who wants a volunteer. Once we find out what that number is, we go out in the community and we recruit them. We recruit to get the volunteers from churches, from different country clubs and organizations. We have seven different spots where buses pick up and bring students to your schools. Uh from there, once we recruited them, we work handinhand with your personnel department. Jasmine is awesome.
076I know Bruce and Alena and Jasmine have ongoing conversations to make sure that our our volunteers are through the process so they're ready to go. After that, we orient them. We bring them through an orientation and a training. Some of our school sites, like at Palm View, we've been there so many years. Mrs. Alvarez, she brings us in and has an orientation with the volunteers. So, some of the school sites a little bit more in depth, some not as much, but handinand we do work with them um in those atmospheres. And then they get their assignment, they go into the classroom, they're working one-on-one, we're working threeon-one, and it just kind of works. We ask for our volunteers to give a commitment of eight times. Chances are they do it a lot more than eight
077times. And our volunteers are typically in classrooms from November to April. You might be asking, why did they miss the beginning of the year and the end of the year? Most of our volunteers are snowbirds. They're ones that are volunteering their time while they're here um during the school year. And then we do have some year- round volunteers that don't use use the bus as well. That there is a little time frame of the schools that we've opened up with Read withMe starting in 2004. Uh you guys can take a look at this. Um the picture I want to point out in the picture there I I talked about how Read withMe has kind of morphed. Uh Mr. Morris there as well as his wife Jeanie. Uh Jeanie is our president and she dedicates her
078time at Sal Martinez and she has been for over a dozen years along with her husband. Her husband is a very gifted person with rating as well as very gifted in math. He worked for Boeing. He was an executive for Boeing. A lot of our volunteers have those types of things in their background. So they bring that to the classroom. He also works with kids in math. So he's got like a little math with me program going on there as well. It's kind of special. So our to date our partnership from 2004 to 2024 you could see the stats there 3,000 unique volunteers that we've supplied classrooms over 90,000 hours provided um over a million dollar spent in books and then just this last year alone uh 253 volunteers in classrooms. Now these stats are
079actually a little bit skewed because uh these were stats at the end of April um in in May. That's kind of when I submitted the slides and so forth. So the numbers are actually a little bit more than this right now. And then you look at the amount of books that we provided in schools and then in the community. So you might be asking what are the community events? Well, we've partnered with the Coachella Valley Library. Any public event they had last year, we provided books for them to hand out. We pro we partnered with the Galilee Center, partnered with CV Rescue Mission. Any type of opportunity for community events, we enhanced it with providing literacy activities. And then lastly, you know, I am the overseer of a nonprofit. We are uh funded by grants,
080donations, and so forth. We are partnered with the county, which is absolutely amazing, which helps to provide the transportation to bring all the buses to the school sites and so forth. But I I just want to make sure that, you know, as a nonprofit director, I want to make a little pitch. Uh my pitch is I would love to be able to work with CV Unified. Uh as you know, we're going to be in every one of your elementary schools next year, but I'd also like to work with your ELO programs. Um you you have access to videos there of the last two years where we've worked with partnering districts here in Coachella Valley. Um how many you've heard of math field day? We started literacy field day. I want to try and coin that.
081I want to have it be fun. I want them to enhance and see literacy in those ways. So we've done those the last two years with our partnering districts. We'd love to be able to do something similar for CV Unified in the future. And then lastly, if you're a Barry Manalo fan, this is a direct opportunity where you can support Reed with me. Uh we're one of the 25 charities that are being um awarded that night uh those five concerts. So we'd love to see you there. And uh I just want to say thank you very much for having Reed with me part of CV Unified. I've been part of CV Unified. I was in the district for a couple of years as a teacher at Mecca. Um you may not know I was your
082head football coach at Desert Mirage when they first opened up. So have a lot of ties to this district. So thank you very much. And uh just want to mention Dr. Esparza, thank you for joining us at your uh your first board meeting with Reed with me. We appreciate it. But I do want to open it up for questions. Are there any questions? Oh, yeah. President Vargas, I I just personally wanted to thank you for the work that you guys are doing. I I think um the impact, right, is it it really goes unnoticed. The magic that happens when a child learns how to read. Um the opportunity for a child to take a book home. Um 300,000 books in the last year. Uh that's a lot of books. Uh, and and I think those
083children having those books and I've seen the content. It's in both Spanish and English. Uh, it just creates a lot of magic. And I don't know how many lives you've changed by by the work that you guys do. And I know there's a a real strong commitment that goes beyond uh why you wake up to go to work to earn money. There's a there's a commitment that that comes in your spirit and your vibe and and and wanting to make a difference in our community. I just wanted to personally thank you guys. Thank you. Appreciate that. I I do want to note that uh with our data assessment over the last couple years, when a student works with one of our volunteers compared to not working with a volunteer, our students are working with volunteers,
084their scores go up at least 66% or better. And that just tells me it works. So, it's it's an easy thing to ask for. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty. Just also want to say thank you. I I when I'm doing my classroom visits, I do see the the volunteers. Thank you for the work that you're doing and for uh I mean just just the numbers, you know, tell the story and and hopefully when we get a presentation soon about our data, we'll also be able to just say thank you again. Right. I can't wait to show it. It's always great. Thank you, Mr. Wood. Other comments, questions? No. Thank you so much. Lastly, I'll point out uh at your seats, you should have received a read with me bag since sac. So,
085when you do your classroom visits, please hand that to a child. In there you have a sample of our books, both English and Spanish, a sample of some of our literacy activities that we we participate with the kids with. So, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you. We do. Okay. Next item 7.4. Uh Daniela Tavare business services restricted general funding balances and financial report. Is this a presentation or just information? It looks like it's just information. Um do does anybody have comments or questions on Okay. Uh so we'll be moving on to administrative services. Uh we have 8.1 approval of RCE uh authorized signatures. A motion for approval. Do we have a second? Second. Uh all those in favor? I I. All opposed? Abstensions? Motion carries. Um 8.2 two uh Dr. Francis Esparsa
086approval of agreement with Daniela Tavarees of support in the business services department. Do I have a motion? So move. Do I have a second? Second. Um any questions, comments? All those in favor? I I oppose abstensions. Motion carries. 8.3 uh approval to increase Oliviveres Maduga Law Organization 202425 fiscal year amount to provide counsel and other legal services. Do a motion? A motion the same. A second. I have a second. Any questions, comments? Questions? All those in favor? I oppose. All right. And abstensions. Motion carries. Motion carries. Uh 8.4. Approval to renew contract with Olivarees Madruga Law Organization to provide counsel and other legal services for the 2025 2026 fiscal year. Do I have a motion? Motion for approval. Do I have a second? All the uh any questions, comments? No. Uh all those in favor?
087I All oppose. I I abstensions. Motion carries. Okay. Uh action item action educational services 9.1. We have Soro Sanchez requesting approval of comprehensive school safety plans and instructional continuity plans for the 2025 2026 school year. Do I have a motion? Motion. A second. Second. Any questions, comments? Uh, all those in favor? I I oppose abstensions. Motion carries. 9.2. Uh, Soro Sanchez. uh requesting approval of renewal contract agreement with Riverside County Latino Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services for the 2526 fiscal year. Do I have a motion? A motion. Do I have a second? I'll second. You second. Okay. Uh Trusty Akuna seconds. Um any questions, comments? Any comment? I just have one. And just to reiterate what I said before, um I mean it's unfortunate um you know to that we had to make
088some of these cuts but again I go back to the point and it seems like it's one per site. I would remind that our schools are not all equal and the equity part of it is what I have a very concern about. We have especially elementary schools who have you know 350 students and we have some that have a thousand. And so I would like to make sure that when we're implementing this, as you guys are going to be doing, that we keep that lens on that equity part of it, not simply every school gets one just because it sounds good. You know, that's that would be my only my only thing about that. Um, with some of the cuts, it's going to be even harder to do, but I think we should always keep
089our lens on that equity part because of that. And then obviously the high schools, the middle schools, you know, Toro Canyon is a lot larger than both Bobby Duke and CDA. Um, and so I just want to make sure that when we're implementing this that we keep that in mind. Uh, you have a question. Yeah. I mean, I I'd like to see this contract go beyond the bell and uh provide services after school. That's just me as a board member. I think that um students after school could benefit from having uh therapists. So those are my comments. Um, other comments? I had a I had asked about um you know as we are making these cuts how are we filling the gaps. Um so I had asked staff about you know what are we doing
090um to provide the additional support. I I think the challenges that our community face are are still there, right? And so just thinking about all the other supports uh that we do access and I think they had mentioned that we are still working with um you know like Riverside University Health that also provides um for crisis um interventions and things of that sort. Um so maybe just reminding staff that there are um other tools that we're also utilizing. I don't know if you wanted to share more but No. Okay. Um, do we vote? All those in favor? I I oppose. Uh, abstensions. Okay. Uh, motion passes. Um, 9.3. We have uh, Soro Sanchez requesting approval of the local control accountability plan 202526. Uh, do I have a motion? Motion. A second. Second. Uh, any questions?
091Uh, all those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. Uh, 9.4. Uh, Sokoro Sanchez requesting approval to for the of the 202526 consolidated application uh, spring release. Do I have a motion? Motion to. I'll second. Any questions? All those in favor? I I opposed, abstensions. Motion carries. 9.5. Uh, Zakoro Sanchez requesting approval to purchase student iPads and cases from Apple, Inc. and headsets from CDWG LLC. Have a motion. A motion. A second. A second. All those uh questions. All those in favor? I uh post. Abstensions. Motion carries. Uh 9.6. Uh so Coro Sanchez requesting approval of LCAP federal addendum 2025 2026. Do I have a motion? Motion second. Any questions, comments? All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. 9.7 Sooro Sanchez requesting approval to purchase student hotspot monthly services for one year from
092CDW uh G Inc. by Kaji Inc. Uh do you have motion? A motion. A second a second. Trusty Garcia second. Um any questions, comments? Just some discussion. I just a question maybe not discussion. Do these types of um are these are we picky bagging uh back on other service providers or are these going out to public bid or or we're just picking a contractor? Staff's coming. Hello everybody. Um we're using um uh contracts through the um uh through the uh reseller. So So these are already contracts that are um vetted through the uh state agencies. I see. Thank you. Take it back. Other questions, comments? All those in favor? I I oppose. Abstensions. Motion carries. Uh action. Business services. Um 10.1. Uh Daniel Tavarees. Authorization to approve resolution 25 2025-68 and cumber funds for the
093following fiscal year 2025 2026. A motion. Second. Any comments, questions? All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. Um item 10.2 Daniela Tavarez adopt board resolution 2025-67 classifying components of the ending fund balance. Do I have a motion? Motion the same. Second. Second. Any questions, comments? Uh all those in favor? I. All those opposed? Abstensions? Motion carries. Uh 10.3. We do have a quick presentation before we get a motion in. I'm briefly going I'm briefly going to summarize a overview of what was presented at a our last board meeting in regards to our budget uh for 2526. So as far as uh fiscal year 2425 uh we're estimating at uh having an ending balance of 119,717 uh 593. I know there was some earlier questions in regards to this ending balance and I'll I'll
094I'll answer them when I get to one of the last slides. Um of this 119 uh million 50 million is restricted. uh 48 million is committed to the stabilization plan. I know there was a question earlier about uh committing funds. Um these are the funds that district needs to commit in order to uh meet our our reserves and when uh a later slide when I get to my I'll be able to explain further into it. Um reserve for economic uncertainties is 12 million and additional commitments is 8 million and our required reserve percentage is 3%. The budget assumptions used for fiscal year 2526 is a proposed COLA of 2.3. Our projected enrollment of 15,540. Our projected funded ADA uh 14,561.65. Our stores remain stable at 19 uh10%. Our purse decreased from a 27.05 to a
09526.81. Our contributions are estimated at 59 million and our estimated and duplicated count uh and I'm sorry our duplicated percentage is estimated at 94.43. When we move on to uh fiscal year 2526, we are estimating an ending fund balance of 100 million of which 45 million is restricted revenue, 43 million is committed, 10 million is reserved for economic uncertainties. Uh 500,000 is unassigned and that's uh the 10 million is what meets our 3% requirement. Our multi-year assumptions for fiscal year 2627 um our cost of living is estimated at 3.2 uh for 2627 and for 2728 3.42 42. Our enrollment for 2627 15,263 and for 2728 14,986 our projected ADA uh 13,855 for 2627 for 2728 uh 13,604. So you can see that that decline uh uh in ADA our estimated and duplicated percentage uh 2627
096is at 94.64% 64% 2728 94.93 and the calsters and p uh projected rates. And this is our NYP. It's small but I can share it with anybody. Um if you would like to request a copy, I can email it. Um I don't know. Can we zoom in cuz I did want to touch I know there was some questions on our ending balance and then scroll a little up like can you scroll up uh I'm sorry down to kind of see the bottom numbers right there. So I know there was mention on fiscal year we do have an ending balance estimated of 119 million that's combined. Both are unrestricted and are restricted. So, um, it's it's been mentioned before that our ending balance is kind of like our savings account. So, um, if we think about
097having a checking account, a savings account, and a paycheck. If our paycheck every month is less than our household bills, we need to be pulling from our savings. That's our ending balance. So, if you see uh 2425, we're estimating a combined ending balance. That's unrestricted and restricted, which um restricted means is dollars that are already uh committed and they're uh specific for certain allowances and we're spending our carryover. Unrestricted is kind of like what what we don't save there. It's kind of what we're putting back into our savings. So, if we focus on our ending balance, we can see that in fiscal year 2425, our ending balance is 119 million. But when you go into 2526, it has decreased to 100 million. If you go into 2627, it's coming down to 67 million. And 2728,
09841 million. And that's combined. In order to meet our reserves, we need to when we talk about we need $10 million for our 3% or $12 million for our 3%. That money needs to come specifically from our unrestricted side of the house. So to kind of put things a little bit into perspective, one month of just salaries and benefits, not even our liabilities or our other expenditures is $24 million. So when we get to year uh 2728 and our ending balance is $41 million, that means we would only have two months of salary and benefits. So the fact that the ending balance is not in the red, that's actually a good thing. It means that you know we still have cash but if you look and you uh take a look at the NYP you
099can see how our cash is decreasing because every year the numbers in red that means the deficit spending. So if we get um for example in fiscal year 2425 374 million in revenues but we're spending 403 we were negative spending 28 million. that 29 million comes from our savings accounts. And just like in our regular household, the more withdrawals would we do from our savings account, if we're not putting back in, eventually that savings account depletes. Um, when we get into fiscal year 2728, in order to meet our 3%, the number right there is highlighted in red. 9.3 is required to uh be cut from the budget. Um, and it will most likely come from program reductions. The district needs to work on identifying, you know, how that um those reductions will be met. But
100if by the time we get to fiscal year 2728, $9 million is not reduced from the budget, then we will not meter 3%. Sorry, can I go back to the slides? And I know I'm sorry, I know this is really small, but if anybody would like a copy, go ahead and email me and and I'll forward you a copy. You might be attached to the agenda as well. Oh, there we go. I I I have a question. Yes. If you're are you are you pretty much done? Uh one more slide. This is the last one. I'm sorry. So, uh this is just a summary of the MYP um that I was just talking about. Um the change in fund balance which is that is our deficit spending combined both unrestricted and restricted. It listed it
101will list it by year. In 2526, we are spending 19 million more than what we are receiving in revenues. In 2627, we're spending 32 million more than what we're receiving in revenues. And in 2728, 25 million more. So, every year that we are spending more than what we are receiving, we have to uh chip into our savings account. And you had a question, Mr. Gonzalez? I do. Um I I um I I feel kind of weird like saying this, but I'm going to say it. I I knew this was going to happen two years ago, right? We we were on a pattern where we the then superintendent uh basically wasn't giving the board the information that we needed. And and I seen this happening. I I share it with my colleagues and I don't want
102to be that guy that said I told you so. But basically I was told that that's the way public agencies operate that they run out of money, they lay people off and then they get money again and then they hire people. And I I just felt that it was it was a very uh very careless way to be running the district. I think the unions were made aware of the fact that if we gave away our reserves that we were going to come to this date where we were going to have to lay employees off and and it was the attitude was it is what it is. So here we are. But in your in your projections uh question is in 2627 I think um you have a cola of over 3%. uh of over
103three points and then I think 2728 you again are over three even though at 2526 uh we we think it's going to be about 2.3 is that the number that's correct. What happens if we just get 2.3 or 2.5 and not the three? Where where are we at? What is what is that half a point move uh what does that one point difference mean to our budget? That means we just are spending more. We receive less revenue. So I understand. So what what in in numbers what does that number reflect? One one point less one point less. I would have to go back and calculate it. I wouldn't know it off the top of my mind, but I can have that. But it's in the millions, right? Yes. Okay. And so I, you know, I
104I think this is a a greatl looking plan. Uh I I think uh projecting, you know, something over three for 27 and 28 I think is a bit ambitious, but but it is what it is. And I hope that it's more than that, right? because it'll make things easier. But I think we need to Dr. Sparsa pay attention to that because uh this could this could again happen, right? And let's just be proactive and understand that when we have a little bit of money in the bank that that we need it for situations like this so we're not having, you know, 160 layoffs, right? Um I I I just again challenge the board with with being realistic. I I'm I'm really happy that you came on. It seemed like before you um we could never
105get a clear number and it will one day we had a lot of money, the next day we had no money and and it's just very refreshing to have somebody that can put together numbers with this detail and and we just got to pay attention. I think it's important to emphasize that right now we need to monitor our our ending balances, our cash balances because um if anything's taken away from tonight, just like I mentioned, remember that one month of just salary and benefits is $24 million. If our ending balance is depleting, that means the district wouldn't even have money to make payroll. I'm just talking payroll. Sure. um and we add the rest of their liabilities, one month expenditures for the district runs between 35 million and 38 million a month. So when we
106have uh when we look at an ending balance of $41 million, it is a lot of money, but that's a a district our size, it it's one month. Yeah. When you're when you're playing with those kinds of numbers, it could go bad really quickly, right? Yes. And we just got to pay attention. Correct. And I think it's an opportunity for us when we get back, we might have a little bigger reserves. And the unions come and say, "Hey, we want more money because you have money." Uh we again we're going to have to remind them that one day we might not have money and then and then look what happened. Right. Correct. I think to open the questions and discussion, we had to had a motion right in a second. No, no, we haven't question.
107Uh question uh other questions? If you're taking a motion, I'll motion to approve. Okay. I think a second. A second. Okay. And you had a comment? No. Oh, okay. Trust comment. Yes. Thank you, President. Um, and thank you for the presentation, Daniela. But I just want to reiterate what I said earlier is that we're facing unpredictable times now. And just to show this budget, I think we're looking at best case scenario, which I don't think we're headed for in the next 3 years because there are cuts being made, like I said earlier, that we have to stop. There are federal cuts being made. If there are schools that have the word migrant, if there are schools that have the word language, dual language, those are being on the table in Washington DC, and those are
108being cut. Those are the words that are being used. There are lawsuits against colleges right now that are serving um Hispanic by affirmative action saying that it's discrimin reverse discrimination. So that is just going to trickle down to schools and since the colleges are are being sued for uh giving Hispanics the equality which I think we all deserve, uh it's just going to it's just going to be worse for the school. So, we have to word smmith, change the policy, change the wording, whatever we need to do. But again, my re reiteration is that the community uh talk to your politicians about fighting this um discrimination that's happening in the federal government to make these budget cuts. Again, what we're seeing here as far as the budget, I think is a is a status quo
109scenario and I think it's probably just going to get worse as we report uh throughout this next year. And that's my comment, President. Thank you, President. If I could be recognized for one final comment, Mr. Tortois, I I completely agree with you. I would ask you to recognize that the these are unprecedented times. We have a we have a leadership that there is no rhyme or reason to the practice, right? It's just overt racism. I mean, just calling it what it is, right? And so, as we look at our representatives and we ask them to do something, I mean, really, what are they going to do, right? If they control the House, they control the Senate, and they control the the office, uh, really, we're I I think the reason that I bring these these
110numbers uh, and question whether we're going to get into the 3% or the three and a half or the four, I don't know. I mean, California's, you know, very committed to public education, but but I think public education in its entirety, we're going to start seeing cuts as it as it relates to dual language and programs that we offer. We're going to it's already happening and and how ex how crazy it gets. Um, look at the streets of Los Angeles last week. I mean, it's you would think you're in a primitive country. It doesn't look what the practice what's happening to our community right now. The way uh the way we're being violated uh is is is unprecedented. Who would have ever imagined that in 2025 we would have this type of condition in this
111country. But it is what it is. I I I I think the challenge for Dr. sparse and the cabinet is going to be paying attention, being proactive, as you said, disguising programs, right, by not using language that we, you know, proudly put out, right, but doing maybe the same thing. Um, we just got to pay attention. Do you have a question? Thank you so much for the presentation. Hopefully, it did illuminate a little more for the questions we had in the audience. Um, I hear my colleagues and their in their uh quest to be careful, but I do also want us to push us to be creative. Our district and our district's makeup is really unique. I would say 98% Latino with a unduplicated pupil count of over 94%. That is we're talking the highest
112in the state of California, the entire state. So, we get concentration funding that is higher than most of California. We have to be careful, but we don't want to lose programming for our students that clearly need it just because we're being careful. When we lose funding, absolutely, we're going to need to pivot. And I and I do push us to be creative in that way. But we don't want to do a disservice to these students and this community that is going to be hit just because we're afraid. We have to be careful. Absolutely. But creative because we don't want to do a disservice. We talk about equity all the time. Our entire district is equity honestly like needs it. That is why we get the funding that we do. So I just want to make
113sure that we keep that front of mind. We get this funding for a reason. We want to make sure our students are getting what they need. President, one final comment, point of clarity. I I would never recommend cutting a program if we have funding if we have a funding method. It would be irresponsible and a disservice to the community. But I I we have to be vigilant. Uh other questions, huh? Just one quick. Okay. Uh well, let's no questions. Okay. Go ahead. I have some comments. Ju just want to um say thank you for the presentation and I and and uh we wish you well as you continue on and uh don't forget to watch our board meetings and make sure that we're uh towing the line with the with the budget. So thank you.
114I'll keep an eye on you guys. Um call for the question. Thank you. Oh well I had some questions. Um there was a slide on the assumptions those are when you say assumptions those are provided by the legislative analyst office school services. Those are the recom I'm sorry I can't it doesn't doesn't go back. So these are not assumptions that we're just making assumptions. Um these are provided by they by school services. These are our recommendation uh assumptions that are recommended to be used when we're building a budget. So when we're Yes. So when we're building our budget that we're using what they're projecting and and uh taking into account a number of things, right? Um, real quick, just not to interrupt, could you explain what school services is? Danila, could you explain what school
115is? So, school services, uh, school services of California is kind of what provides guidance to, you know, the CBOS's uh, at school districts. Um, they they analyze when the governor releases the budget, they analyze, you know, what what's coming down the pipeline, what they're going to release, makes assumptions, recommendations. They have a bunch of experts that just focus on this. And then um we go we attend two meetings. In January it's when the governor uh releases what he's proposing his proposed budget and then in May is you know the revised budget. Um I think uh like two three days ago I got an email that uh they have uh made an agreement. Um, so it's just uh it's a it's a entity that uh provides guidance and services to to school business officials. So just
116to be clear, it's a an informed like it's not just a a three looks nice. We're going to put it into our budget. It's actually an informed information that is provided to all LEAs, all districts, and that's what they use to come. Um the other question I had um and maybe it's a comment. So I think last year um initially there was an assumption on the cost of living I believe um so this assumption um doesn't always take into account so for example this past year we had the fires um in LA um it's significant enough where maybe the state doesn't receive the same amount of like tax revenue or property taxes and so that has an impact on the cost of living right that's correct or like the assumption Absolutely. Okay. So, those are
117things that you know I mean we can't so sometimes when um there's deferrals or or taxes are able to be submitted later it kind of puts sets us back because they only are they based you know their cola on on assumptions on what they're thinking they're going to receive. So if tax revenues are higher or lower then that impacts. Okay. The other thing I wanted to note, so it says here projected ADA. I think um you know to the comment that our we have such a high unduplicated percentage of students. Um I had a conversation with the parent and um you know ADA attendance is just so important for our district, right? Um we have to have our students coming into school um with the presence of immigration our communities. I I I think even
118just it's concerning, right? um that it could have an impact on our budget. So, having that in mind, um as we updated some of these numbers, we we we did uh take that into consideration, the political atmosphere, um that it will potentially impact our enrollment in fiscal year 2526. Okay. And the last comment I was going to make, um, so we just spent the last, uh, several months, right, uh, looking at our staffing, um, you know, working with our HR. There's legal processes, there's deadlines. Um, it was mentioned earlier, the cut to our migrant funding. Um, it's June 26. How does the how does the cut to a program like migrant ad have an impact on our budget or so when we heard about um the potential uh reduction in funding for migrant and possibly
119English learner that that's has not been um included in in this you know as we hear more if that's something that will move forward um the district will have to make the determination you know at that time if if those programs are reduced and if they're not then it's something that the general fund would have too. So when Okay, so just to so that I can make sure I understand. So when we have a program that's cut, if let's say we have a certificated staff member that's funded by that program because it's June 26, we still have to keep that staff. In this instance, um summer layoffs might be approved. So, there's something um that allows for summer layoffs that it's sometimes not uh approved, but now because we heard about this reduction just recently
120and it wouldn't have been able to meet the March 15 deadlines um there there has been um conversations that potentially summer layoffs would be uh approved by the state. Okay. Otherwise, we would have to keep that staff and that would be reflected in that of course cost of correct. that's rolling over. Okay. Um trying to think if there's other questions. Um yes. So just a clarification. So for the projected ADA, we're still in a average a blended average at this point. Yeah. Prior. So if there was a shock, it would be smoothed out by by threeyear average. So we wouldn't see the impact next year. we would see um the impact and moving forward in 26 27 and 27 28. Okay. Um any other comments, questions? Just a final comment. I we we almost could
121I think we could employ two employees to go make sure kids are coming to school and and it would incrementally pay for itself. I mean just by looking at, you know, patterns of truency and making sure, you know, house visits, making sure kids are coming to school and why they're not if they're not, right? Anyway, I call for the question. Um, okay. We have a motion, a second. Uh, all those in favor? I I opposed. Um, abstensions. Motion carries. Um, a action items. Thank you, Daniela. Um, action items, human resources. We have, uh, I'm sorry, the Beyond the Bell coordinator job descriptions. Do I have a motion? Okay, we have a motion. Do I have a second? Oh, second. Okay. Do we have uh questions, comments? A question. So, this hasn't changed since the presentation
122where three of us didn't like the layout, right? This has not changed. This changed from three coordinators to two, one classified and one certificated. Other questions or comments? Oh. Uh, I mean, I think I think the the plan worked to move one particular coordinator out and that was the whole plan from the beginning. Uh, again, this is the approval of the reorg is this just the approval? I I don't remember us re uh approving the reorg itself, but this is the approval of the reorg because we're changing the the coordinator's de. Is that what we're doing? Yeah. Okay. Just to know we're basically firing another person so everybody understands that and that was the plan from the beginning. Other comments, questions? No. Um okay. Do we we have a motion? We have a second. Uh
123all those in favor I. All those opposed? I abstensions. Motion carries five one. Okay. Uh moving on to the consent agenda. All matters listed under consent calendar are considered by the board to be routine and will be acted upon in one motion. There will be no discussion of these items prior to the time the board considers the motion uh unless members of the board or staff request specific items to be discussed and or removed from the consent calendar in which in which event the item items will be considered separately. The superintendent, assistant superintendent of educational services, assistant superintendent of businesses, business and finance and assistant superintendent of human resources recommend the approval of all consent calendar items. Uh, do I have a motion to approve the consent? A motion to approve the consent calendar respecting
124any board member wanting to pull a specific item. Do I have a second? Second. Are there any items that would be folks like to pull? Okay. Okay. We're not pulling any items. Um, all those in favor? I opposed. abstensions and Mr. Adono stepped out. Uh we have no closed session. So moving on 17.2 motion to adjurnn. So move. Uh second. I'll second. Okay. Uh all those in favor? I uh post abstensions. Thank you.