001meeting on, forgive me. Uh, we do have a quorum. We do have Patty and Valerie missing, but we still are establishing with us through the quorum. So, welcome. This meeting is being webcast live and recorded. The recording of the webcast may capture images and sounds of those attending the meeting. At this time, I would like to remind everyone of the procedures for public participation in tonight's meeting. Members of the public are encouraged to attend and address the board on any agenda item or topic within the board's jurisdiction. Public comments will be allowed to a maximum of five minutes per speaker with a total of 20 minutes allocated for each item. If necessary, the president may adjust these times limits and ensure everyone has an opportunity to speak. Non-English speakers will be given a double time
002in order for a translator to be used. Speaker request forms are available at the entrance of the boardroom and may be handed to Miss Gonzalez prior to the public comment. Regarding complaints, if a concern is raised about an employee, the complainant will be informed of the appropriate complaint process. The the first step is for the complainant to submit the concern in writing to the district office, after which the district will begin the investigation process to address the issue fairly and promptly. Complaints involving child abuse or unlawful discrimination will be handled in accordance with specific legal protocols. Please note that any documents handed to the board during the meeting are subjects to public records request in accordance with the California Public Records Act. The board prohibits re retaliation against complaintants. All complainants will be investigated promptly
003and impartially. Please be respectful of the meeting process. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated and may result in removal from the meeting. Thank you for your cooperation. Could I please have um everybody stand for the pledge of >> allegiance? Ready to the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you everyone. Approval of the regular board meeting. Do I have a motion to adopt board meeting agenda for today, March 11, 2026? >> I'll make a motion. >> Thank you. Roll call. Sammy, >> I >> Sandra >> I. >> And I presentations. At this time, I will now turn it over to Superintendent Estina and Danielle Evers to present the district freeear alignment plan. >> Yes. Good evening, board
004president Cisneros, members of the board, staff, and community. Uh we're going to do a quick update on a three-year alignment plan. And this is really to kind of um give the board an opportunity to um you know kind of hear and see what we're doing here in the Cork Joint Unified School District versus what we're seeing across the state and um in some parts of the nation. And so we had a great conversation just to reference this with uh both of our uh union presidents and us as a group uh just to kind of you know get some um some input and feedback. We're definitely uh moving towards more collaboration. So I want to thank them. I know um DOS is here tonight. So I want to thank her u you know on uh representing
005CSCA and really trying to work towards that. So um and then Rosanne was there as well. So say so we're going to go through this. We're going to tag team it. uh M Alvarez and myself and we work pretty fast. Um so let's go go to the next slide. So first off we want to uh let everyone know that the board priorities drive everything that we do. So the board created priorities actually even before two years ago but then we revisited them two years ago to kind of realign them and reassess them, right? And revise them. And so this is a truncated version of those those priorities. The first one is a safe welcoming inclusive environment. The second one is high expectations and grade level instruction that uh as a board you're wanting to make
006sure that our students are achieving at their highest caliber possible and we see that time and time again. And then number three that there's continuous engagement from the board to the classroom. And then you know one of the things that always impressed me with with all of you early on was the fact that you said we want people to be engaged more than just at a ball meeting that we want like deep engagement. So that's something that we've definitely been working on. So next slide. So this is the current state of California. I don't know if those of you guys have been watching the news around uh school districts, but we've heard a lot around uh schools uh cutting uh programs uh laying off uh many in some regards hundreds of teachers, classified employees. Um
007there's a those are all headlines from from the news. on the right there's one that says what can schools afford expert discuss discuss teacher strikes and funding priorities up in the Sacramento area I want to say that a majority of those districts have either been on the verge of a strike or are actually striking and so that's happening also in um a little bit in the Bay Area but it's mainly um around Sacramento um it's been pretty pervasive and so um we know that that's happening for several reasons that we're going to go over today and also to kind of lay out what our plan is as a as a district as we go forward. So, um so the state you want to go over this side real quick. >> Sure. So, on the lefth
008hand side, it just gives some highlights about current trends statewide. Presently, there are eight districts that have certified um themselves as a negative certification on their first interim report and 45 that have certified themselves as a qualified status. The difference between those is a positive certification would say that a district feels that they can meet their financial obligations over the current year and the next two years. The qualified status would be a district certifying or stating that they feel they may not be able to meet their financial obligations. And then a negative certification would be they're stating that they wouldn't be able to. Um so they we are seeing an increased number of districts certifying as qualified status as a trend presently. Um there are this is the eighth consecutive decline in enrollment statewide and
009there are about it's a projected statewide enrollment loss of around 500,000 students. That's the statewide trends. But if we look on the right hand side, this is just another metric that we're looking at the revenue for districts. The cola that was provided to school districts is represented in the blue columns, but the green column is the actual increase in revenue from year to year for us at Corporate Joint Unified School District. So while in next year the cola is projected to be 2.41% the actual increase in revenue to us is representative of 1.55%. And then same similar not as much of a divide in the 2728 but still shorter than the statewide pull up. >> And one one of the things I do want to call out and thank you Miss Alvarez for the first
010eight it looks like 845th but it's 8 and 45 is um one of the markers that this came from actually from uh my fine format. Figmat is a group that will come in uh on behalf of the state to take over a district when it's fiscally insolvent. So they're the the experts that the state relies on to get the district back on track financially. And one of the things that he says that they look at is actually that this number because back in 2008 when the crash happened about almost 150 districts were um identified as qualified. And so the thing is that we're at 45 already and it it was 150 was the number. So we're getting close, right, as a as a state system. And so that's something that is alerting them uh to
011kind of keep an eye. So that's something we definitely want to, you know, be mindful of. Um thankfully we're positive, right, as a as we'll hear from Miss Alvarez tonight at the the inter second interim, but that that's definitely a marker to kind of think through. And then when the second interim hits what all districts are doing right now, that number might increase. So you might actually be getting closer to the 150 mark which is uh an indicator that we don't want to get close to. Next slide. So one of the things that uh we we've been doing this as a team we've been thinking through is that uh we need to have a plan for for 26 uh through 29 for the next three years. As the state says that we need to keep
012an eye on our budgets for three years a multi-year production. uh we want to make sure that we do that and we know that the board's been amazing in the sense of ensuring that this district is not only fiscally solvent but fiscally sound and not just living on the edge but we're actually doing well and that's because of your guys' leadership. So I want to thank you first and foremost for that. The second thing is that we remain fiscally solvent while aligning people and services to their current enrollment. So, what we've done in what we've been kind of operating off of is our current staffing is operating off of roughly 3,500 students in our enrollment, but we're actually at about a little less than 3,200 or hovering around there, uh, give or take. And so,
013we're about 300 students more than we actually uh that we should have that we have staff for, if that makes sense. So, um, if we were to put into a different, uh, you know, kind of state, uh, if we were a family of five at one point and we had five bedrooms, but now we're only a family of two, we're still operating as if we're a family of five, right? And that so that's that's what's there. So, we definitely want to have a positive certification, meaning we want to maintain that positive multi-year budget status, but we also need to make sure that we have workforce alignment at the school sites. So, we're not seeing a classroom with like 10 students and then one with like 20, right? because that necessarily wouldn't make sense. And so
014we have to kind of balance that out at the site level. So that's that workforce alignment. The service alignment is matching the district support both central and site support. So it's both right to match the the needs. Um and this was also informed by the school services report. If you guys remember uh about two years ago, school services came in and did an or audit. um you know uh and kind of said that uh compared to select districts and our current enrollment around 3200 at the time and said that we were dead last as far as the number of uh supports at at the uh to the district at the district side of things u not just in this building but across the board they looked at food services they looked at IT all those
015different areas and they said if we were to add seven people we would still be like number five out of six right so we would just barely bump So we have to in saying all that we have to have a balanced workforce overall both support staff as well as being able to be in the classrooms right we have to have that balance right and so that's where we're kind of really looking at and the bottom line is we want to keep recurring costs aligned to recurring revenue and current enrollment so we're not uh overspending when we have less students and we need to keep track of that right so that's what this slide is okay next slide So the next steps, what do the next steps look like for 2629? So we want to have
016immediate actions of budget framework that should be uh guided uh should guide our decisions. And so one of the things we're looking at uh is really looking at reducing through attrition first. So plan reductions primarily uh through attrition and vacancies and not um our goal is not to um really do more than that if we don't need to. Right? So what other districts are laying off that's not our that's not really our goal. Our goal is to say if there's a vacancy, we're not going to backfill it because again, we don't necessarily we're not operating off of five family members, operating off of less, right? So, we want to make sure that we're doing that first. Um, we do know that over time that we're probably like 12 teacher positions over. And then if we
017looked at like a um like a good classroom ratio, right? Class toteer ratio. And so um but then again we're not we're not recommending or even saying that we want to have any type of layoff whatsoever. It's the attrition you know we just wouldn't fill some of those classes right and balance them all so then they're they're more equal. Um the other thing is that we want to maintain classroom stability. So want to preserve the low class sizes and protect core student supports while reductions are phased in. So they're not we don't want to do the thing like one district up north just yesterday did a blanket uh pink slip to the entire district office and this is a district of 50,000 students or so. So that creates a lot of confusion, a lot of
018anxiety to the system. That's not what our goal is, right? We want to make sure that we are um doing our due diligence to to do it the right way, right? And so that's why we're even presenting this tonight and I'm glad that folks are here in the room to hear it firsthand because that's our goal, right? That the third thing is we want to review site and central support staffing. Again, we want to use best practices and the school services report to align central support uh roles and services to the actual needs. So, um, for example, if we had, uh, a boom in, uh, you know, uh, kinder, right, that we know that we're going to have to adjust like we did we did with TK and sometimes we're going to have to adjust
019again and that's a a reduction, right? because we we had to kind of balance out that way and we haven't been operating in that way but in order for us to remain fiscally solvent we're going to have to do that which is similar to what other districts do instead of having a knee-jerk reaction where we're seeing these mass layoffs that's where we want to be and then the fourth thing is we want to build a strategic plan and so we want to create a plan that guides the future resources and develop resource development and allocation around the board priorities and so this strategic plan would actually encompass the board and the priorities and the board developing board goals and those are high level goals like for example if you say as a board like we
020want to make sure that kids have high academic achievement well what does that look like so right now overall uh I believe we're in the low30s for ELA like let's say 34% of our students are are on grade level as a district you you might want to say that we need to grow at least a minimum of 4% each year for the next five years to get to you know 54%. So that would guide those would be the big goals and then under that go those goals would be um would be actions that the staff would develop with our teachers who are here tonight our classified uh uh team members even our parents and our students so they have voice in that as well. So it's really a strategic plan that is communitydriven and really
021um giving us guidance so people have a road map where we're going for the next 5 years. So it's not like you're kind of thinking through like well what's going to happen next year like you already know for the next 5 years this is what we're doing right and it get it gains clarity and then we know as teachers like I know as teachers in the classroom there's a there's a a term called the effect filter right of our teachers that are here when students don't aren't clear about what's happening in that classroom they get very anxious they're like what's going on I'm confused right well as adults we're the same way if we don't know exactly where we're going the same thing kind of happens so we want to make sure that we have
022that as well that plan. Okay, so that's a strategic plan. Um the the image on the right is basically just a budget decision framework around the uh this the stool the three legs of the stool for how we how we do uh budget decisions and we really look at revenue expenditures and the strategic plan helps guide that overall focused on the board priorities. Right? That's that's the C, right? So that's what we're really focused on and where we're going. uh in the future. Um but we just want to make sure we're clear on that. Okay, next slide and this is the last one. So the phase work plan alignment plan really looks like this. So in phase one, which is this coming year, um we want to fill we're going to only fill required positions
023including sped and other critical vacancies. So we have some sped vacancies that we need to fill because we're obligated by law to make sure that those are there. Um, but there might be some positions that we don't fill both on the classified certificate side because the numbers don't warrant those to be filled. So, we wanted the staff to understand because sometimes when someone leaves a position, someone else thinks like, oh, that's going to be open so I can go into it. But, we want to be clear and upfront and that's what we explained to our to our two union presidents was that we want to make sure that people are understanding why that's that might not happen. So, there's clarity, right? So, it's not like, oh, what are you hiding? We're not hiding anything. We're
024just being upfront like that might not be filled because we don't have the numbers to fill it. Okay. Um but then again, we're trying to make sure that we, you know, make sure that everyone has something, right? Um the second thing is develop some reassignments and transfers to balance out the classes, class sizes, and maximize resources. So, we, you know, are going to need to to move some some folks around. I'll give you one example just just you know as transparent being transparent. So at the high school uh we have a an ELT position right we flu it internally because that's a position that we need to fill with internal folks we're not going to hire someone from the outside because it wouldn't make sense right based on what you've seen today. So, first we're
025offering that position out to anybody in-house, but eventually we'll have to get to the point where we might have to have some discussions around someone actually just going in there, right? But we want to give those opportunities first, right? So, we're trying to be as fair as possible, right? And honoring folks uh you know, to be able to do that first, right? So, that's just kind of what's going to look like, but again, it's doing this versus having the headlines that we saw earlier, right? you're going to want to be there because that's not a good good space. And then offer retirement financial planning. So, I want to thank uh Mrs. Moreno and her team because they did a great job of bringing um West Coast um planning, financial planning that came in a couple
026weeks ago and they gave a financial planning class. I want to say like 14 or 15 people um were a part of that and they gave really good information and talked about what it would look like for you know someone to retire and and how they could help and they're providing their services and so I want to say like out of the 15 14 people want followup so a lot of times it's just not knowing right so we're busy I mean I'm already 26 years in and so it's like I haven't even commit with sters to even do my own, right? And so we're busy. We we we're so having those services come to our to our team is helpful that they can access that here versus trying to do some type of meeting later.
027Um phase two is a a kind of a continuence of phase one, just continue hiring only needed positions, looking at potentially reclassifying some coaching roles and aligning assignments to the highest needs areas. And so, um, you know, again, trying to make sure that everybody has a spot, but there might be some need for some reclassifications, those type of things. So, we're we're just planning for the future. And then continuing the attrition shouldn't reset. So, as people decide that they want to um retire, that we're just we're not going to backfill. Okay, that's that's kind of the the goal. Um and then uh release any pips and stiffs if we don't have that um you know that need to have uncredential teachers. Um and then phase three which you know this would be in 28 29
028which we would have a better understanding of what's going on the year before is this is where you know we wouldn't want to get to but if phase one and two don't generate the sufficient reductions the at least 12 teachers over time then um we would start to look at those the stiffs the pips the probationary teachers and that that would be the reduction there okay um but you know we definitely shared this with our two um units our our CFA and CSA just want to thank them for that collaboration. Um, and really again it's about, you know, making sure that we do it in a in a not a knee-jerk way, but a way that, you know, people number one are clear about the plan so they know. So a year from now, they
029can say, "Hey, I remember that meeting and they remember when they put this forth. This is exactly what's going on, right?" Versus, "Why is this happening?" Right? We don't want to get to that point because that's that's a scary place. So with that um the last slide is just really any questions any questions for the board questions you might have or feedback. >> I just had a little bit of feedback. It's important to have a plan obviously if you know things change and we have increasing population of students that will still continue to observe the teachers but it's also important and I appreciate you doing this because it will give them an opportunity to figure out what their options are. So thank you for that. Now we go to the middle and high school boards.
030Do we have we have a new student presenting today? Hi, welcome. Good evening board members, district administrators, parents, and community members. My name is Jaden Valdez, and I'm this year's JMS ASB vice president. Tonight, I would like to share some great things that happen that are happening on campus. The end of the third quarter is quickly approaching and the JMS students are preparing for the upcoming CAS test. as well as our second time taking the PS18 test. Mr. Gina and the Van JMS band continue to get ready for the Tilleric Band Festival on March 23rd and also the CM EA concert band festival on October April 10th. Mr. Auction continues to prepare as JMSD agreed for the upcoming player's bed and breakfast. Look for the more information as the play gets closer. The performances will
031take place on May 28th and 29th to conclude the winter portion of our sports seasons. The GMS boys varsity basketball team won the SA title for the second time in three years. Great job broadcast. The the spring sports season is now in full swing with baseball, softball, and track all working hard. The track team will once again host the genre invitational on March 25th with 26 schools and close with 1,000 students participating. We'll love to have you stop by the meet and see what a great event is is for the community. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share just some of the wonderful things going at going at our school. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Hey CHS, we have Jason, Jade, and Ashley. Welcome. >> Hello. Good evening, members of the
032board and administration. We're excited to share a few highlights from Corkran High School. First, we want to recognize our CHS symphonic band, which recently participated in a central section festival hosted by the California Music Educators Association, so CMA. Um, after months of hard work and preparation, the band earned a superior rating, which is the highest honor possible, and the program's first in many decades. We're incredibly proud of our band students for their dedication and for representing Corbin High School so well. >> Thank you. Uh our spring sports season is also just getting started and there is a lot of excitement on campus as our athletes begin competition. We're looking forward to cheering on our Panther teams and celebrating their hard work throughout this season. Our ASB leadership students are also working to bring more energy
033and engagement to campus during lunch on Fridays. They're organizing lunchtime activities while also playing music using our own our new Neptune music software, helping create a fun and positive environment for students to connect and enjoy time together. Things are starting to feel very real for the senior class as graduating is quickly approaching. Seniors are currently working on scholarship applications and finalizing their financial aid paperwork. It's exciting and a little surreal to realize that in just 62 days, the class of 2026 will be walking across the stage at graduation. Our CTE Pathway students have been hard at work since last semester preparing for and competing in the region 2 competitions through Skills USA. Students competed against participants from several counties including Kings, Fresno, Tallery and current and many more. Out of 25 contestants representing Portland High
034School, 16 16 students qualified with many earning first, second or third place medals in their events. These students will now advance to the state conference where they will compete against the top compet top competitors from all six regions in California. We wish them the best of luck and congratulate them on their hard work and accomplishments. Our A leadership class did an amazing job hosting our first rally of the semester during National FFA week. Throughout the week, students participated in themed dress up days that celebrated agriculture, all leading up to a fun and energetic rally. This rally includ included several agriculture themed games while still keeping the exciting school spirit and rally energy that students enjoyed. It was a great experience for our school and we hope to continue incorporating similar celebrations for other weeks and
035holidays in the future. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your evening. >> Go ahead and do the superintendent report. >> Yes. Good evening board president members of the board staff community. Uh just real short and I just want to thank everybody all the uh classified certificate staff. I've been walking classrooms seeing a lot of good learning happening. Um just engagement with the students. Uh today I was at John Mir and Mr. Whitmore Whitmore and I had a chance to meet with our English learners as they were doing a um kind of a kickoff for the ELPAC which I know is happening at every site. So thank you so much for that. Um we definitely are believing in our students and why it's important is because and we shared with this with them today the
036the middle schoolers is because it gives them more access to to um to electives right at the high school so they're not taking EL. So it's super important right just not just the fact that they're they're showing that they mastered English but also they have greater access to more more activities. So thank you again for all the work that you guys are doing there. And then again just thank you to um we had and we'll do this a more formal way but uh we did post last week we had our three uh education excellence uh winners and so I just want to uh again very fitting for art. We had uh Trefley Gina from the middle school who starts that uh that really that push for students to go into high school band and see
037those superiors. So I'm pretty sure we're going to see that for some time because they got so big last year at the spring festival. they were almost like, you know, slipping off the stage. There's so many of them that they could barely fit, right? So, and that's really a testament to them. So, I want to thank them for that. We had Lisa Gibbs for our classified. We had Dr. um Kathleen Suantes for our our administrator of the year as well. So, when you see them, thank them. Uh great job. Uh just, you know, definitely uh doing some great work. And then um last but not least um really we've had some uh really good uh things happening in our winter sports and so we have coaches that have really given their time and dedication to
038to that whether it's in uh middle school or high school. Um they they just done a great job. So we have a lot of students or a lot of teams that went to playoffs. Um and I know that spring is looking really good. Our girls softball team right now is four and0 and yesterday I went to go visit uh John Leer softball and baseball and the baseball team it was like the first inning I think and they were they have been batting for like 30 minutes. Uh so that just kind of shows the the kind of dominance that they had. So it's pretty amazing our our students really step up. So I want to thank thank them. So with that um I yield one time. >> Very good. Board of trustees points. Okay. Um I'm
039going to go ahead and report on a couple of things. first of all was we toured the CHAS. So, thank you Mr. Larkin for allowing us to walk in there. The classroom's very receptive. They they were um you know talking and giving me information as to what they're learning and stuff. So, it's always nice to hear what's happening. We did have Reading Across America where we several of us and other uh clubs in the community read in um I specifically read at Red Hart in Fremont. So, thank you for the invite. It was a real pleasure to be in there with the classroom and the kids and I appreciate that the invites on those and any of the other events that are happening within the schools. We really appreciate being on the invite so that
040we can attend and show our support and do what we can do as as you know you guys are doing your job and we want to recognize that. So thank you for that and that's all I have. Do we have faculty association? No. So no CFA. How about the California Police Association? >> Welcome. >> Good evening everyone. I have a short report for you today. So good afternoon board members and administration. Dosa Sandival CSA chapter president. Spring has arrived and with that comes spring sun and allergies. As you can tell by my voice, I suffer from those. I appreciate the extra hour of sunlight as spring sports are in full swing at both middle school and high school. We appreciate the collaboration by the district team and working with our chapter to reach the TA
041that you have reviewed today. It was many months of team meetings and negotiation sessions, but both sides worked together to reach a fair and fiscally sound TA for classified staff. A major highlight was increasing longevity amounts for our veteran employees, especially the ones who have committed 30 plus years of their lives to this district and the students. That is an impressive commitment and deserves to be compensated. Another highlight was getting the me reimbursement paid based on IRS rates. class classified staff always had to submit receipts and were only reimbursed the actual amount of their meals. Our bus drivers and nurses were the ones that struggled constantly to get reimbured for the simplest of meals and jumping through hoops for services they provided to our students away from the district on a regular basis because sports
042field trips and other extracurriculars that require coverage. Classified staff were the only ones that had to submit receipts, but now we are equal and treated just like all the other district staff. Um, just to touch on uh what Mr. Bzina mentioned earlier regarding the three-year alignment plan. Um, I really do truly appreciate the district um and the board for allowing the unions to come in and kind of be part of this process because I feel that it's very important not only for transparency purposes but for the um to ease the minds of our memberships that we are involved in this and every step of the way we have some type of input and we're collaborating on all sides to make sure that we make you know the best decisions with the best intentions as far
043as how that's going to affect our staffs with essentially affects our communities. is because the majority of classified do live in this community. Our students go to these schools. Um we've been here our whole life. So it would be a huge um um loss, you know, if we had to get to down the reduction of staff. So to be involved with that, we truly do greatly appreciate that. And hopefully we don't get to that point, but at least we know that collaborating together with the best interest of everybody in mind, we can come to what would be the best options in the worst of times. So, thank you for that. Um, and that's all I have for you today. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh, public comment and just quick reminder, the speakers have
044five minutes to speak on anything on the board agenda. So, we can go ahead and start. You can grab a pin here. First one is Crystal Aguiler. Good evening. My name is Crystal Agular and I've been the principal secretary at Mark Twain School. Um, I've served in this position for nearly 11 years and during that time I've worked with three principles and three vice principles. I'm here today to read a letter in support of our vice principal, Mr. RmIrez. This letter represents the voices of our staff and includes signatures from staff members who support him. I also have several letters from staff members who wanted to express their support but were unable to attend tonight um to read their letters themselves. So, they've been included with this letter that I'm going to read. And the
045letter reads, "To whom it may concern, we are writing to formally convey our appreciation and support for Vice Principal Robert RmIrez. We are deeply concerned by the decision to re remove Mr. Ramirez from his current position and wish to express our hope that Corkran Unified School District will reconsider this decision. During his tenure at Mark Twain, Mr. Harris has gone above and beyond his designated responsibilities as vice principal. He willingly assumes assumed additional duties and responsibilities during the prolonged absence of our previous principal. Among all of the administrative changes that we have had since Mr. Anderson's retirement, Mr. Ramirez has proven to be the most effective and supportive. He is truly a leader and our district will be making a big decision to let him go. Mr. RmIrez has fostered a positive rapport with our
046students as well with our credentialed and support staff. He has initiated improvements to our PBIS program while continuing to uphold student accountability for their behavior. He actively encourages our sore expectations and rewards students who meet those standards. Additionally, he has introduced more activities and has advocated for more supplies and rewards which has ultimately contributed to more positive school atmosphere. Mr. Ramirez has been the rock that has held our team together for the past few years. Many of our students look forward to seeing him each day. When he is unavailable, his absence is felt not only by the students, but as staff by staff as well. We implore the Corkran Unified School District to reconsider their decision to remove Mr. Ramirez. His leadership and dedication have had a profound impact on our school community and his
047absence would be a significant loss. We believe retaining him in his current position as vice principal is essential for maintaining the positive momentum and improvements that he has helped to initiate on our campus. We thank you for your consideration regarding Miss Timber's role here at Mark Twain. Sincerely, Mark Twain staff. >> Thank you. Next is Amanda Hernandez. >> Good evening. My name is Amanda Hernandez. I am your duty at Mark Twain. We are here today in regards and support for Mr. Robert Ramirez, vice principal at Mark Twain Elementary School. This isn't just about him as a person. It's about the positive effect he's created. Mr. Maris has contributions that have made us stronger. His efforts have changed behavior, inspired growth, and countless kids that have learned how much they are valued. Mr. Ramirez goes above
048and beyond, and he also has built meaningful relationships with our school staff. While we understand there may be concerns, we believe letting him go would be a great loss to our teachers and most importantly some of our students. We urge you to consider the value he brings and give him the ch chance to continue making a difference at Mark Twain. We ask that you hear our voices and consider the positive accomplishments he has made. When Mr. Ramirez is not around, his presence is truly missed and his departure would leave a great loss and void. Together we can together we can work and to keep improving to have a great fit one who really truly cares about student success. Thank you. >> Haley Stalinski. >> Did I mess that up? >> Sorry about that. >> Okay.
049to whom I'm in concern. I am writing this letter in support of Mr. Ramirez as well. I've been teaching at Mark Twain since 2020. In that time, he has been the best administrator I've ever worked with at this school by far. Many of the others did not correct negative student behaviors and simply would send him straight back to class. He's been one of the only ones who's constantly been supportive and present. He has stepped up to take on way more responsibilities than he should have in the absence of our former principal with minimal guidance and outside support. He is real and genuine, and he has supported me when I've had some of my roughest days in the classroom by covering my class and pushing me to take care of myself and my health. Ramirez has
050used money out of his own pocket to show appreciation for the staff on our campus, as well as provide home uh food to some of the homes of our students in need. Ramirez has also done more for our PBIS program than I have ever seen another administrator do in my nine years of teaching by providing activities, games, and incentives for the students on our campus. He has also made efforts to incorporate more community outreach by seeking positive male role models to be a presence at our school since so many children here do not have them in their personal lives. Mr. Ramirez truly cares about our students and our staff. Removing Mr. Mark Twain would be doing a disservice to our staff, students, and community as a whole. I urge you to please reconsider your decision
051as I believe it would be a great mistake. Kaylee, thank you. Now, Anna, my name is Anna Das. I've been um at Marine for about nine years now. Um it is with great sadness that I learned that the district is wanting to let Mr. Rides go. Um he's been one of the most caring assistant principles on our training that I've worked with so far. I respectfully implore the district to reconsider this decision. His departure would be a tremendous loss for our school. Since joining our staff, Mr. Amidz has made meaningful improvements to our school community. He personally removed the teachers lounge, purchasing coffee supplies and decorations to create a welcoming space. He organized the lost and found by providing racks and hangers to so students sweaters are no longer left in a pile. Um he
052also supported staff during a time without a principal. And he quietly care for students in need bringing food to the families and even buying a student pairs of socks and clothing out of his own pocket. Thank you for taking the time to review this request and for considering the positive impacts that Mr. is ask your student staff and Miss Gonzalez, are there any others? Thank you. Thank you for everybody this book. Um, share some more. >> Okay, welcome. >> Good evening, board superintendent Gina. I had that outside for dinner. That's uh that's my public comment. So, it's always good to be in Corker and uh I think last time I was up here was 18 years ago um were asking for classrooms for the after school program. I see some of the after school program
053staff here. Um but I saw a few of you at A um earlier um this year. Um and during ACCSBA launched a campaign and that's why I'm here on uh closing the achievement gap and uh with this campaign uh we are calling on the state to have a focused approach on closing the achievement gap or CEKC as I'll refer to it. Uh we believe the state needs a plan with the customer service approach where the state supports schools districts uh according to their local needs rather than just dictating and enforcing. It is a shift from compliance to more of a customer service approach. Uh we have co-authored four bills uh that will go on se in session in Sacramento uh starting this week. And in these bills we asked for annual benchmarks and transparent reporting
054requiring the state to assess its own efforts. Uh we have uh also asked for a separate dashboard uh to provide a clear and concise method to inform the public of the state's prog uh progress in implementing the state plan and closing the achievement gap. Um we've all we're also asking for a seat um commission that would be under the state board of education and the commission would help uh develop and recommend a publicly available system of monitoring the performance of the new and and existing state programs. So we understand that the state has scattered resources for targeting the achievement gaps but we want to have a clear focused plan. Uh we also know that the recent test scores show some improvements but millions of students are still uh testing below a levels um grade level.
055And so what we need is a state to have a a meaningful plan to address this. So CSBA is asking uh districts to pass resolution in support of our efforts of closing the achievement gap and and we understand it's it's not a moment, it's a movement. It's going to take years and it's going to take all of us to work on this. And so um I have forwarded a resolution to the superintendent and I hope that the district can support us by passing the resolution in a future meeting. That's all I got. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Again, I would like to thank everybody that spoke tonight and then we'll have our superintendent with you. Thank you so much again. Okay, we'll continue on with the action items. Consent agenda. Uh we
056did have on the consent agenda that we're going to have our attorneys Megan Macy for the shirt to will be tableing for another meeting. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Make a motion. >> Roll call. Sammy, >> Sandra, I tend regular board meeting minutes on February 25th. I normally didn't have them listed for me to read. It's that changed. Okay, very good. So, we'll move on to personnel. Consider the approval 2026 2027 calendar. Do I have a motion? >> I'll second. Roll call. Sammy >> Sandra >> I and I consider the approval of 2026 2027 declaration of need. Do I have a motion to approve? >> A motion. >> Okay. >> Roll call. Sammy. >> Sandra. >> I >> and I consider the approval 202526 classified certified and confidential management tentative
057agreements, disclosure of collective bargaining agreements and salary schedules. Do I have a motion? I motion roll call Sammy Sandra >> I >> and back in business consider the approval 2526 second interm report. Miss Alvarez has a pre presentation for us. >> Yes. So we kind of touched on a portion of it already but we'll go dive a little bit deeper into it right now. Yeah. >> So this is our second interim report and next slide. Where we are at in the cycle. I presented this um annual cycle at the last interim report and we were over on the right hand side at first interim. Now we're moving along into our second interim report at the bottom and leading into our budget adoption process for the upcoming year and then we'll circle all the way back
058again through this next slide. Some overall highlights is that the district does have sufficient reserves. We're required to have 3% based on our average daily attendance, which we do. Um, that level for us is 2.04 million. And the other main highlight is that we are self-certifying a positive certification, which we kind of talked about previously that it's either the positive, qualified, or negative, but we are able to maintain that positive certification. And looking at our enrollment, which again we kind of touched on already, is that we have seen a declining enrollment trend over the past few years. The uh 2526 school year, we already have that enrollment figure. That's determined based on the number of students enrolled on o the first Wednesday in October. The upcoming years are just estimates using the trend data from
059the previous years. And this slide gets a little bit busy, but it's real funny. We have um it's just an analysis or comparison between our enrollment, which is the number of students that we have enrolled in our district. That is the the lighter or medium shade of blue on the left hand side for the current year 3 3,156. that compared to our average daily attendance or the average number of students attending school which we have projected at 2,922. So a bit of a gap there. And then our darker blue column is showing us the level that we're funded at. So we are funded at either the greater of our current gray column, our prior year gray column, or an average of the three. And for us that is the average presently. and an overview of
060our general fund revenue. We have 67.3 million projected for revenue. 75% of that is coming from our LCFF calculator and the rest or not calculator, the the formula itself. And then 15% from state grants, 5% from federal grants, and then another 5% from other sources like interest or some other small revenue. That compares to our general fund expenditures of 67.9 million as of present projections. 69% of that is salary and benefits. We do generally want to see that being higher, but some impacts or unique circumstances for our district is that we do have a significant amount of one-time expenditures in our total expenditures which changes that that percentage overall. That is a common theme across the state. Um, but additionally included in our expenditures is a agreement with a thirdparty group to do our uh
061expanded learning opportunity program. So that moves out of salaries into our operating expenditures and and shifts that percentage as well. this um just taking an overview look of an expression of our expenditures and this just gives an idea of the district priorities. So 77% of our expenditures are focused on instructional and people services, 12% on maintenance and operations, 7% on administration, and 4% other outgo payment and SUPA um payment for our county level. And looking at those two together, 67 million in revenue, slightly less on our expenditures or a little bit more, excuse me, leaves us with a deficit or decreasing of our fund balance by roughly $500,000. But if we dive into that a little deeper and look at the two different sides of the budget, both our unrestricted and our restricted. The unrestricted
062are funds that we have more discretion over how we spend those dollars. The restricted side are grants or revenue sources that have strict specifications on how we spend that money. Oftent times we receive the money in one year and have requirements on occasion to spend it in that year. But other times we are able to spend it over the next few years. So the maybe one more year, two more years. When that happens, we see the revenue maybe in our current year. It increases our fund balance and then we're spending it down that next year or spending into our savings though it is for an intended purpose that we're required to spend it for. Looking at our multi-year projection just the current year and the next two out years we do have um we are
063able to certify that positive certification because we are able to satisfy all of our obligations and we will have a projected positive ending fund balance. the factors that go into this multi-year are looking at our LCFF funding from year to year. Um what it is for us specifically at corporate and not just adding that overall cola any step and column changes that are projected any retirement benefit changes that are dictated to us. We don't get to set those rates the state sets those. um and any reductions from onetime grants both for revenue and expenditures. And this is where we have that similar slide where part of the multi-year projection is yes we have a L a cola from the state in our blue column of 2.3 for our current year 2.4 in the next and
0643.06 but actual revenue for Cork Unified is an increase in revenue of 1.22 1.5 or 2.45 45. So, I mean, it's part of the conversation. It's part of the planning to make sure that um we're still fiscally solvent and taking into account all the other operational increases, whether it be uh electricity or gas like we see at our own homes or with step and column changes with the salary schedule movement for staff. In addition to the the cola, if we look into that change in fund balance over the next few years on that multi-year, again in the blue, if we add the blue and the gray together, it comes to that peachy or orange color, the unrestricted side where we don't have specific requirements on how we spend the dollars, we're seeing positive increases to
065our fund balance. Whereas on the restricted side where we have those requirements and we're required to spend down the funds, we are we are doing that again and spending. And overall this district's a summary of the fund balance between all funds, general fund, adult ed, preschool, cafeteria, maintenance, and um special projects. But we are we do have a fund a positive fund balance projected for all of our funds and we are spending down in certain areas as uh needs arise whether it be like larger facilities projects or just planned facilities projects that come up. Any questions? Hear any questions? Do you have a motion to approve? A motion second. Roll call. Sammy. >> Sandra. >> I. And I consider the approval resolution number 1415, budget provisions. And do I have a motion? >> Roll call.
066Sammy. >> I. >> Sandra. >> I. And I. Resolution number 1417 approving and authorizing contract for purchase of Chromebooks. Do I have a motion to approve? A motion. I'll second. Roll call. Sammy, >> Sandra, >> I. >> And I. Future agenda items. The following topics have been identified for close session. Oh, I'm sorry. Do we have any for future agenda items? Okay. The following topics have been identified for close session. Conference of labor negotiations, public employee discipline release. Do we have any um public comments on close session items? No. Okay. Hearing none. Now at 6:26 go ahead and return to close session. Thank you.