001Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting to order at 5:00 and announce that the board will meet in close session to address items 1 through three. Mr. Superintendent, do we have any blue cards on items one through three? We do not. Thank you very much. Then I will close public comment and recess into close session. All right, everybody. We're going to get started in just a minute. So, if everybody wants to find a seat or find a place to watch, that would be great. We'll give you a couple minutes to sort of settle down. Wonderful. It looks like we didn't need all the time. All right. I'd like to call this meeting back to order at 6 o'clock and announce that the board met in close session and no action was taken. Good evening
002and welcome to the Elkrove Unified School District's board meeting. Live streaming of full in-person board meetings is available to the public by using the link located on the district's website. Today's meeting is being video recorded and will be available on the district's YouTube channel. We encourage you to attend meetings and share your feedback with the board. Your active participation is valued and contributes to the decision-making process. Some notes on public comment. During regular board meetings, the public may make public comment for items on the agenda or items not on the agenda. Requests to make public comment will be accepted for an item up until the board president introduces the item. Generally, members of the public will be given three minutes to address the board. If there are 15 or more comments on a specific item,
003the board will reduce individual comment time to two minutes each. If there are 30 or more comments on a specific item, the board will reduce individual comment time to one minute each. Individuals may not defer their time to another individual speaker to increase their total speaking time. Please be mindful that district students may be watching. You are encouraged to address the board and the public in a respectful manner such that all of those observing from children to adults are made to feel welcome, safe, and valued. The board shall not permit any disturbance or willful interruption of board meetings. Persistent disruption by an individual or group shall be grounds for the board president to provide a warning and then to terminate the individual's privilege of addressing the board. And I will note ahead of time, it
004looks like we have more than 15 blue cards. So if you are here to make public public comment for an item not on the agenda, that will probably be down to two minutes. So please take a moment to adjust your speaking time if you practiced for three minutes ahead of time. All right. Okay. I will turn it over to our student board member to do the land acknowledgement. We acknowledge that the Elkrove Unified School District administrative facilities and schools occupy the unseated territory of the Miwok, the original people of the skies, land, and waters where we work and learn. The Miwok have cared for these lands since time immemorial. They continue to teach their traditional knowledge that comes from and responds to the needs of the land and people who share it. May our daily
005lives and work, teaching, learning, leadership, and community engagement support the evolving vision of the Miwok for their community and these lands. May we strive to acknowledge the past for the betterment of our future generations. May we look to our tribal partners, the Wilton Rancheria, the descendants of the original people of this land, to assist with the successful education of our community. Thank you very much. to do our flag salute tonight, I'd like to invite up uh Miss Christine Chand and uh Principal Frey. And before you get started, we will we have some words uh for you Elro El Edward Harris Junior Middle School is honored to recognize Miss Christine Chand as an educational partner. The Elkrove Unified School District recognizes Miss Chan for her long-standing commitment and contribution to the school's programs, staff, and most
006importantly, the students. Miss Chand is the proud mother of Amari and Amir Fenley. Two outstanding future college graduates who are eighth graders at Edward Harris Middle School. Before attending Edward Harris, Amari and Amir started in TK at Roy Herburger Elementary. Throughout their time at Herburger and Edward Harris, Miss Chand has served thousands of volunteer hours by volunteering in classrooms, chaperoning events, helping at athletic events, and most recently supporting our families and students on the first day of school to ensure that students could get their schedules and find their classrooms. Miss Chand has also served on the PTO where she helps plan numerous events for staff and families. Miss Chen not only shows up to help at our school, she embodies the very nature of an influential community member. She believes that it takes a village
007to ensure all students get a world-class education and put and she puts it in countless hours to make Edward Harris Junior Middle School the absolute best place to be. We are honored to have Miss Chand here. Thank you, Miss Chand, for everything you do for the Edward Harris community. [Applause] And now we invite everyone to stand and join us in the pledge. Please join me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Let's give him another round of applause, please. All right. And next. All right. Our next up, next item is resolutions. Uh, so first up is high school voter education week resolution. Mr. Schwitzer. Good evening, Board President Vargas, members of
008the board, Superintendent Hoffman and Miss Avalos. I'm here tonight to share information on our voter education weeks. California Education Code 49040 designates the last two weeks each September and April as high school voter education weeks. Voter education weeks provide an opportunity for students to become actively engaged participants in our democracy and to put these students on a path to a lifetime of civic engagement and voting. We strongly encourage our high schools and students to participate in the high school voter education weeks and engage in our students in pre-registration, voter registration, mock election, and mock trial activities. This evening, the board of education is requested to approve resolution 16, 202526, and to declare September 15 through 26, 2025 as high school voter education week. Thank you very much, Mr. Yang. Are there any blue cards on
009this item? board president. There's no blue card on this item. Very well. Then I will entertain a motion to adopt resolution number 16 which proclaims the period from se September 15 to 26th 2025 as high school voter education week. So moved. Moved by Mr. Yang, seconded by Miss Ballerini. Is there any discussion on this item? Seeing none, I will all those in favor please say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Next up is Phil Filipino American History Month. Mr. Dr. Collier. Good evening, President Vargas, members of the board, Superintendent Hoffman, Miss Avalos, colleagues, and members of the public. As part of the board of education legacy of advocacy for equity and value of diversity within our school district, members of the board of education have an opportunity to recognize
010October 20, 2025 as Filipino American History Month. The FilipinoAmerican National Historical Society established Filipino American History Month in 1988. And subsequently every October, many communities throughout the United States and its territories have celebrated this occasion, not only to commemorate the anniversary of the presence of the first Filipinos on US soil and to observe its heritage, but also to recognize the social, intellectual, and economic contributions of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in this country. The California Department of Education first recognized Filipino American History Month in 2006. And the state legislature passed two bills calling for the integration of Filipino American history into curriculum. Assembly Bill 199 focused on the contributions of Filipino American veterans in World War II and Assembly Bill 123 focused on the Filipino American contributions to the farm labor movement, including leaders like Larry
011E. Leong. Filipino Americans play a vital role in the Elk Grove Unified School District community, including more than 3,000 students who identify as Filipino. Throughout the year, the contributions of Filipino Americans are presented in the regular curriculum. However, this special focus for one month serves as a reminder of the combined contributions of this group. In support of this resolution, the curriculum and professional learning department will provide sites with resources regarding Filipino American history through art, music, and dance where the integration of arts specifically supports Filipino American history month. The resources will include those developed by the educational equity department for teachers and students. The board of education is requested to adopt resolution number 17, 202526 designating October 2025 as Filipino American History Month. Thank you very much, Mr. Yang. Do we have any blue cards
012on this item? Board President, there's no blue card on this item. And I will entertain a motion to adopt resolution number 17 designating October 2025 as Filipino American History Month. So move. Moved by Mr. Yang. Second. Seconded by Miss Berini. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Next up is Hispanic Heritage Month. Dr. Collier again. Yes. uh for Hispan Hispanic Heritage Month. As part of the board of education's legacy of advocacy for equity and the value of diversity within the Elkrove Unified School District, members of the board of education have an opportunity to recognize September 15th through October 15, 2025 as Hispanic Heritage Month. In September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week. The observance
013was expanded in 1988 to a month-long celebration from September 15th to October 15th. America celebrates the culture and traditions of United States residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, and Spanish-sp speakaking nations of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. September 15th was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16th and 18th, respectively. Throughout the year, the contributions of Americans with Hispanic heritage are presented in the regular curriculum. However, this special focus from one month serves as a reminder of the combined contributions of this group. In support of this resolution, the curriculum and professional learning department will provide teachers with resources regarding
014the Mexican muralism movement as a means of integrating arts into the classroom that specifically celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month month. The resources will include those developed by the education equity department for Elgrove Unified School District teachers to use with their students. The board of education is requested to adopt resolution number 18, 202526 designating September 15th through October 15, 2025 as Hispanic Heritage Month. Thank you very much, Mr. Yang. Are there any blue cards on this item? Board President, there's no blue card on this item. Thank you. Then I will entertain a motion to adopt resolution number 18 designating September 15th through October 15, 2025 as Hispanic Heritage Month. So move. Can I by Mr. the item, please. Yep. As soon as we get a second. Second, Miss Second by Miss Baldwin. Board discussion. Miss Baldwin. All
015right. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Collier. Thank you for the cabinet for bringing this resolution forward. Um, I just have a few things I want to say. Um, I'm really proud that we are a district uh that not only honors, recognizes, and welcomes Latino and Hispanic students, educators, staff, and families, but also deeply values your contributions to our community. As we consider the resolution uplifting our Hispanic community, please know that you are seen, you are heard, and I stand with you because you are integral to our district's mission and success. The presence of masked ICE agents near schools, homes, and workplaces has created a climate of fear and uncertainty for families across our nation. Recent news reports have indicated that families in our district have been directly impacted. Our state and community should be safe
016spaces, places where children learn, families gather, and dreams are nurtured. However, these spaces are being disrupted by intimidation and surveillance from the federal administration, the EGSD families and the community. Please be aware that ICE cannot enter schools, purchase or churches or hospitals without proper legal authorization. You do not have to open your door unless ICE presents a warrant signed by a judge. You have the right to remain silent and speak to a lawyer should you need to. If any of our families require resources and support, please know that our district is here for you. We are committed to providing the necessary support to ensure your safety and well-being. Thank you to the families and the community for having open and honest conversations with your children about what is happening. Continue to validate their fears and
017reassure them of your love and protection. If you need mental health resources, please inform your school site administrators and they will work with their teams to ensure the appropriate referrals are made. You are not invisible. You are not powerless. You are part of a community that refuses to be broken by fear. Our district cares and is committed to ensuring that all our students reach their highest potential. It is because of this commitment that I stand in solidarity with our immigrant community and families impacted by these alarming ICE raids. I invite our local and regional leaders to join in solidarity to ensure the safety, dignity, and hope of our community. It is imperative that we continue to work together to protect our children, our families, and our future. Our district is committed to ensuring students safety
018and well-being, and we will continue to stand with you in these challenging times. Thank you. Thank you. Any other board member discussion? All right. Seeing none, uh I uh we'll move to a vote. All those in favor, please say I. I. Okay. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Next up, student expulsion and involuntary transfer recommendations. Uh would anybody in the audience like to address the board in close session regarding a student expulsion? Seeing none, then I will entertain a motion to approve the recommendation for student expulsions. So move. Moved by Mr. Yang. Second. Seconded by Miss Alviani. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Request for return from student expulsion. I will entertain a motion to approve the recommendation for students seeking readmission to Elgrove Unified
019School District from expulsion. Need a motion. So moved. Moved by Miss Albiani. Second. Seconded by Mr. Yang. All those in favor, please say I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. All right. Now, we're up to what I imagine most of you are here for. Um, which is public public comment for items not on the agenda. Um, before we begin, it sounds like we have over 30 blue cards. So, that means public comment will be one minute each. I know. So, please prepare yourselves appropriately. And with that, I will hand it off to Mr. Yang to get the blue card started. Yeah. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Uh we have total of over 40 blue cars for from public comment and I just want to apologize uh first if I mispronounce your name. Uh feel free to
020correct when you come to the podium. All right. Um I'm going to call the person to come to the podium and I'll call the um person who's coming after. So just be prepared. So the first speaker is uh Amenda Scott followed by Nick Kate. Good evening. I'm here to speak today on behalf of our students with disabilities and the families who entrust our schools with their care and education. Right now, our special education classrooms are in crisis. Too many classrooms are operating with unfilled vacancies, revolving substitutes, and staff who are stretched beyond their limits. This instability does not just inconvenience our schools, it directly harms children. Students who need consistent trained support are instead experiencing constant disruption. Their learning is interrupted, their safety is compromised, and their dignity is diminished when there are not enough
021qualified adults to meet their needs. Families are witnessing their children regress. Teachers and pair professionals who remain are burning out under these conditions. I have a lot more to say, but Courtney's going to finish it out for me. I'm tired of being here. I have a child at home with disabilities. I don't have time for this. I'm exhausted. I've come to this board so many times. Please do something. Thank you. Up next, Kate Mun, followed by Iette Jackson. Good evening, President Vargas, members of the board, and Superintendent Hoffman. I'm here tonight to emphasize the importance of school social workers in our secondary schools. Secondaryary social workers are vital members of student support teams. Just ask any counselor, administrator, teacher, parent, or student. Adolescence is one of the most critical and complex times in life. Students
022are navigating identity, peer pressure, academic expectations, and challenges in home or in community. Social workers are uniquely trained to bridge the gap between school, family, and resources, helping students not only stay in school, but thrive. Research shows that students academic success is directly tied to their social, emotional, and mental well-being. Schools with adequate social work support report higher graduation rates, lower absenteeism, and fewer disciplinary incidents. For every $1 invested in school-based mental health and social work, schools save $7 in improved outcomes, and reduced costs. On-site daily. So, daily social workers provide vital mental health support through short-term counseling, small groups, crisis intervention that students otherwise wouldn't get. They lead PBIS tier two of three team and supports. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you, [Applause] Evette Johnson. I'm sorry. Followed by Torah. You tell me when to
023start. You could start. Okay. Good evening, members of the board, Superintendent Hoffman, and community members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. My name is Evette Jackson and I am proud to say I am an elementary school counselor. Elementary school is a critical time in a child's development academically, socially, and emotionally. It's during this time that support from trained school counselors can help students build strong foundations, emotional intelligence, and healthy coping strategies. Elementary counselors are trained educators with the mental health lens. Elementary counselors have master's degrees as well as pupil personnel services credentials. Um, we teach whole class lessons, individual one-on-one support, and many other things. We are also among the trained staff on campus who are tasked with responding to crisis, conducting risk assessments for harm to self and others, safety
024planning, and more. By investing in elementary school counselors, we're investing in mental health, safer schools, and long-term student success. I would like to introduce my tiny but mighty team. As you can probably tell by the shirts, we're all here together. Um, we love our jobs and the work we do every day to support our students. Currently, our funding is set to end and we appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Next, Tora, followed by England. Good evening, President Vargas, members of the board, and Superintendent Hoffman. I'm here to advocate for school social workers. Right now, many of our positions are funded by funded by temporary grants. But the needs we meet are not temporary. Every day, we support students facing homelessness, foster care, poverty, and serious mental health challenges. Together, social workers and counselors
025form the safety net that keeps students safe and learning. At the end of last year, a student I had worked with who had previously been homeless told me that the time he spent in my office literally saved his life. It's not uncommon for us to hear this. We are used to protecting kids. We are used to fighting for them, especially when they've lost hope themselves. It is our job. As a school social worker, I don't often find myself advocating for my vocation. I know the teachers, administrators, and students at my site understand the value of social work in schools. They've experienced it firsthand. But when I hear about the potential loss of 14 social work positions, I think of that student and the thousands of kids like him in our district right now. And I
026feel I have a duty to fight for us so that we can fight for them. That is why we need a permanent investment in school social workers and counselors. Our students lives and futures depend on it. Thank you. Thank you. Up next, Pington James followed by Matt Nutri. Good evening, council. Uh I'm Pendleton Burner and uh I would like to propose uh a project labor agreement with uh our local unions, the sheet metal workers that I work for. There's also pipe fitters here and uh I think it's in the best interest of the school district that we unionize and uh uh advocate for union work so that way we can ensure quality work uh with upcoming schools and improvements to our existing schools. Uh and with that uh please take that into consideration. Thank you
027for your time. Thank you. Up next, Matt Notrab, followed by Mr. Raymond. Good evening, board members. It is my honor and my privilege to be here tonight. I um I am Matt Newtonboom and I am an electrician with IBW Local 340. I represent many members throughout Northern California, but I'm more than that. I'm a resident of Elkrove and I'm a graduate of Valley High School in 1994. I had a nice speech prepared for you today that was roughly two minutes long. Uh, but this the the the long and short of it is is that once upon a time before I found this union, I was the son of a single mom graduating high school trying to find my way. And this union pretty much gave me everything that I am. I was transported into upper
028middle class. I was able to buy a house in this community. And we would like to share that with your students. We ask you to consider partnering with us on a community workforce training agreement. Thank you. Thank you. Up next, Kayn Raymond, followed by Karini Garcia. Kayn Raymond. Okay. Good evening. I'm here tonight as a teacher at Samuel Duckman Middle School to advocate for continuing to fund and provide dedicated AVID curriculum coaches for our schools. The AVID coaches are the curriculum experts and the entire backbone of AVID programs at schools like Samuel Jackman. If you remove funding for the AVID coaches, the few that we have left, you will be effectively abandoning EGUSD AVID in its current form. More importantly, you will be abandoning the district vision of every student is learning in every classroom,
029in every subject, every day to prepare college, career, and life ready graduates. Because at title one schools like Samuel Jackman, you will remove our ability to keep AVID certification, which is our greatest chance for students to become college, career, and life ready graduates. I urge you to continue the AVID funding for AVID curriculum coaches so that schools like ours can improve our curriculum and also improve our ability for students to achieve grade level standards. Thank you. Thank you. Up next, Karini Garcia, followed by Amber Bernett. Good evening. My name is Karen Garcia and I'm the AVID coordinator at Toby Johnson Middle School. I'm here today to speak on behalf of the AVID program and the students whose lives it has profoundly impacted. AVID stands for advancement via individual determination. And it's not just another elective
030class. It's proven system that equips that equips students with the skills, confidence, and opportunities to pursue higher education and succeed beyond high school. The mission of AVID is simple but powerful. To close the opportunity gap, our AVID team makes a direct impact on the direct education of our students by collaborating with AVID coordinators and teachers to improve and grow our AVID programs at 61 Elgrove schools. At the same time, they indirectly impact every student in the school district by training teachers to integrate AVID strategies um into their lessons. The results speak for themselves. Nationally, AVID students graduate high school and attend college at significantly higher rates than their peers. Locally, we've seen students who entered AVID unsure about their future grow into confident leaders. If you take away our AVID team, we would not only
031be removing our AVID, our talented educators with extremely important positions, you would also be taking away opportunity, mentorship, and help from students. Thank you for your time. Next, Amber Bernett, followed by Jesse Green. Hi, good evening. My name is Amber Bernett and I have two students with disabilities and I'm here to talk about the persistent PARS shortage and the slow but seemingly methodical intentional dismantling of the special education services in this district. I will focus on one item tonight since we're so limited on time. The most troubling thing that we're hearing on campuses right now is that uh the term additional adult support is being used in IEPs in lie of the mandate to pro or having to provide a pair for these students. And this is un and if these folks are additional adult
032support, they don't have to be a parah. They can be a yard duty and they can pop in and since there's no service minutes assigned to it on the IEPs and the refusal to do so by the department, then they are having yard duties step in. And if a yard duties in a class for 20 or 40 minutes a day, there it is. There's the additional adult support. This is alarming. This is a huge safety concern. and wholly unacceptable. Thank you. Next, Jesse Green followed by Ba Zen. Thank you. Thank you, President Vargas and board members. Jesse Greer with the operating engineers local three. Um, just wanted to point out an important fact. Uh, city agencies, uh, PLA projects were completed 19% faster and under for school districts, PLA projects were completed 17% faster. Um,
033and I know everybody likes to save money, so that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. Next, Bill Linten. Uh, good good evening everyone. I'm really uh pleased to be here as a school counselor myself and a father of two students in EGUSD. I'm really proud to be in this district, being here for the past four years, and working at W Trail and seeing all the school counselors here. Shout out to everyone out there. Uh I'm just really proud because every day we work really tirelessly hard to support our students academically, social, emotionally and improve their college and career. I have a case of 350 students and every single day I work with them and try to get to know every single one of my students. This funding to support students really important. You want
034to make sure that every students is being served and supported. So I encourage you to make sure that you back up your claim of making sure that all students are valued and seen by providing the support with the counselors. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Ya Kaka followed by Kevin Bura. Hello. Good evening board members. My name is Yela Kakar and I work at Charlesm Mack Elementary in the Valley region and John Airheart Elementary in the Laguna region. I will be honest. I w I was and still am feeling incredibly nervous speaking in front of all of you today. But I did this thing called affirmations right before coming here. And let me tell you, it helped for a good five minutes before the nerves hit again. Um so I tried something else called finger breathing.
035You don't need anything else but your hands and your breath, so it should be easy. This also helped me, but I couldn't shake off that feeling of doubt. What if I shake choke up? None of the words come out or what if I say the wrong thing? And then I remembered something I learned that I share with my students all the time. A simple yet powerful gesture that makes you feel like you can take on the world. And that is called the superhero pose. I tried a combination of the superhero pose, deep breathing, and my affirmations. And that is what brought me here to stand in front of you all today with my head held kind of high. Um I might still sound a bit nervous and that is totally okay. I am an immigrant
036child in front of highly respected board members speaking on why we are important and that is not an easy task. Sorry, your time's up. Thank you. Next, Kevin Ferrer, followed by Briana Williams. Good evening, President Vargas and board members. Ken Ferrer, executive director of the Sacramento Building Construction Trades Council. We are here petitioning the board to enter into a community workforce training agreement for the district's construction projects which will be uh which will help the local community with with projects that and make and living in wages second to none benefits and creating career pathways into our 28 apprentichip programs. Thank you so much. Oh, and by the way, I would just like to reaffirm that the the young lady that was before me, I thought she did a great job. Thank you. Next, Brianna Williams,
037followed by Courtney Aroada. Good evening, members of the board, superintendent, and community members. My name is Briana Williams and I'm proud to be part of our small but mighty team of elementary school counselors. I work at Prairie Elementary in the Valley region and Raymond Case Elementary in the Monterey Trail region. I'd like to share an example of how I build connections with students through a tier one intervention. At my school sites, I read the Little Spot series of second and third grade students. Each week, I focus on a different emotion, reading a new book, and then leading an activity related to that emotion. This not only helps students develop a foundational understanding of feelings and emotions, but it also allows me to connect with every student in that grade level. When I enter their classes,
038students excitedly greet me with their pointer finger waves and asking which spot we are meeting this week. These weekly interactions create lasting bonds over time. Students become familiar with me, seeing me not only as a counselor, but as a safe, trusted adult on campus, someone who is there for them and who will have their back. I'm running out of time. Okay. Um, anyway, so I I don't have enough time to finish it, but thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. Thank you. Just remember when your time's up, there's going to be a sound. I know it's really quick. All right, up next, Courtney, followed by Tori. Um, good evening. I'm finishing up Amanda Scott statement from EG Speaks. Our disabled students are our most vulnerable learners and rely on structure, consistency, specialized care,
039and are paying the price. This is not equity. This is not access, and this is not acceptable. I urge the board and district leadership to take immediate action. Prioritize the urgent recruitment and retention of qualified special education staff. Provide competitive wages, adequate training, and real support to PAR professionals, support staff, teachers, and our bus drivers. Ensure each and every student in special education has the consistent specialized care they are legally and morally entitled to. Our students with disabilities matter. They deserve classrooms that are safe, stable, and equipped to help them thrive. Anything less is a failure of our responsibility to them. EG speak stands in solidarity with the ATU and we strongly urge the district to support our bus drivers. They deserve benefits and equitable pay. These employees are essential to our children's access to
040education. All right, that's it. Thank you. Next, Tori Shelley, followed by Marley Maguire. Good evening, President Vargas, members of the board, and Superintendent Hoffman. My name is Tori Sie, and this is my fifth year as the school social worker at Cassumnus Oaks High School in Pinkerton Middle School. And like my colleague shared earlier, we do a wide range of services to support students, including um being the PBIS tier 2 coordinators at our site. And since the district has had social workers in that in those positions, our PBIS tiered fidelity inventory scores have increased at each site. This year, Cassuma Oaks High School achieved platinum recognition, the highest recognition possible from California PBIS. This would not have been achievable if my position was eliminated. We we recognize the district is in a dis difficult financial position
041which is why we recently agreed to participate in the children and youth behavioral health initiative which will allow us to bill medical and private insurance for our services receiving up to $132 for each 53minut therapy session. I have also applied for and received $2,000 of grant funding to implement programs on my campuses. We have the capacity to recoup funds for the district. Sorry, your time's up. Up next, Marley Maguire, followed by Dena Svenson. Good evening, President Vargas, Superintendent Hoffman, and board members. We're all here today because we share a common goal, ensuring the success of every child in our district. We invest in textbooks, technology, and teacher training, and rightly so. But there is a critical, often overlooked investment that yields profound returns. continuing to fund full-time school social work positions. Our students are navigating
042a world far more complex than ever before. Many arrive at school carrying burdens from outside the classroom, including family instability, housing insecurity, food scarcity, or mental health challenges. These are not academic issues. But they are profound barriers to learning. A student who is hungry or anxious cannot be expected to focus on math and history. This is where a school social worker becomes an indep indispensable part of our team. We are trained professionals who serve as a bridge between the home, the school, and the community. We identify students in crisis, provide one-on-one counseling, connect families with essential community resources, and deescalate conflicts before they become disruptions. We are not just reactive, we are also proactive. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Dena Svenson, followed by Karini. If I mispronounce your name, please correct me or correct us.
043Good evening. My name is Dena Severson and I'm a proud Elco resident, parent, and an employee for the last 25 years as a school counselor. In the years following the pandemic, our district demonstrated foresight and compassion by utilizing grants money to significantly expand student support services. Elgroveve made the decision to prioritize mental health, academic intervention, and college and career readiness, resulting in the addition of 14 new school counselors at the secondary level. This meaningful investment reduced average counselor case load from 500 to1 to 350 to1 and that shift has made a powerful tangible impact on students lives. As you begin to deliberate on the budget for the upcoming school year, I respectfully urge you to maintain and deepen this commitment to counseling services across both elementary and secondary levels. The grants enable these critical positions
044are set to expire after this year, but the essential need for robust academic and emotional support will persist far beyond that timeline. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Karini Garcia, followed by Jamie King. Karini Garcia. Okay. Garcia. Uh, Jamie King. Oh, yeah. Karen, I think left. You left maybe. Okay, that's fine. All right. Jamie King. Yes. Thank you. Good evening members of the school board and superintendent. My name is Jamie and I am here tonight to speak about a program that is making an incredible impact on the lives of our students and that is AVID. First and for and most importantly, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you. Your decision to use SSR funding to support AVID from TK through 12th grade is in my opinion one of the most impactful investments this bo this
045board has made in our students futures. I'm here tonight as a testament to that. For those who may not be very familiar with AVID, it is more than just an elective class. It is a comprehensive schoolwide system implemented across all 61 of our schools. This system trains our teachers to teach students through what we call wicker, writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading strategies, which brings the curriculum to life and aligns to our district's framework for highquality instruction. Because of this important work, we are proud to announce that in the addition to John Reef Elementary, two more of our elementary schools, CW Dillard and Barbara Comtock Morris, will become AVID showcase schools this year. These showcase schools will serve as an invaluable resource providing opportunity for teachers to see AVID in action. We invite you to
046join us. Thank you. Up next, Jamie King. I'm sorry. Wait. No, this is no Korean. Korean just went, right? Okay. Karen's not here. So Jamie King just went, right? Okay. All right. Okay. Bren King followed by Jamie Laughlin. any of your names call to be up next. Uh well to follow up, make sure you get yourself ready. We got a lot of uh more speakers to come. Thank you. I'm sorry. What was the name? Bren King. Bria King. Sorry. Okay. Hi there everybody. My name is Bria and I a recent Monterey Trail High School AVID graduate. Being in college with the tools that AVID has given me has tremendously aided in my success of passing classes. Not only has AVID taught me proper note-taking techniques, it has also given me the confidence to find community
047in every place I go. Two and a half years ago, if you would have asked me what AVID is, I would have said, I think it's just some sort of college prep course. Because I was given the chance as a new student to join AVID my junior year, I now know that AVID is a family. Sure, we go through ups and downs. And I say downs with quotations because in my head I thought eight focus notes and summaries every two weeks was the end of the world. When just like all things in this program, it's just preparation for success. For reference levels, a statistic um the average GPA of a AVID student and California is 3.4. Mine ended up being a 4.1 by the time of graduation. I thank AVID from the bottom of my
048heart for the community it's brought me in times of joy and times of emotion. And I could not imagine where I'd be without it. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Jamie Llin, Heather Chang, and Kathy, followed by Sheni Brown. Hi, I'm Jamie Laughlin from Union House Elementary and I am a fifth grade teacher here with my colleagues Kathy Bjorkquist and Heather Chang. Elementary AVID is the foundation for AVID in our district. As a Title One teacher, it has become apparent that closing the achievement gap has become harder. Thankfully, with the support of our AVID coaches and program, we have been able to make huge strides and create growing number of AVID students for our middle school and high schools. These are the best professional developments that we receive and have provided the highest impact in our
049classrooms. These amazing coaches work tireless tirelessly and they take texts from us at all hours and um continue to support your goal of being college and career readiness and I hope you save their program. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Up next, Miss Brown followed by Henlin Hernandez. Hello, my name is Chenise Brown and I'm an esser funded counselor representing Edward Harris Middle School. I'm beyond nervous, so bear with me. I'd like to share some data. 33% is the decrease in counselor case load. 650% is the increase in academic interventions offered. Small group counseling has increased by 300%. Parent workshops have tripled and 733% is the increase in dual enrollment requests made by eighth grade students. Because the esser funded position allowed all of these amazing things to happen. Edward Harris is a proud RAMP recognized
050ASKA model program. We're one of only 33 schools in California and one of two in Northern California to be recognized. Lastly, the district has a goal of universal as a act, excuse me, access. The idea that all students, regardless of their background or identity, have equitable opportunities. Counselors and wellness providers are ground zero for helping to implement and provide universal access. Please help us to contribute the absolute best to our students of Elkrove Unified by making all SR positions permanent part of your budget. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Eglund Hernandez followed by Sarah Eststera. Hello. Good evening. My name is Evelyn Hernandez. I'm a former AVID student from Monterey Trail High School. I joined AVID because of the amount of resources and opportunities that they offered their students. U my first AVID class
051my freshman year. I walked in and I felt instantly welcomed. See, being an AVID isn't going isn't like going to a regular class. For me, my AVID class felt like home away from home. AVID has always been my safe space. I've created friendships with my peers and bonds with my teachers. High school is rough and while most feel alone and scared in high school, I never did. My average teachers always had my back and always there to help me with issues academic or personal. Most if not all of my fresh my favorite cherished memories in high school were not going to school events like dances or football games. They were, believe it or not, going to my AVID classes. I don't believe AVID program should be taken away uh because other students deserve to experience
052being part of the AVID family and it would be a shame to deprive other students of being part of the AVID family. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Sarah Estrada followed by Lewis Leon. Hi, good evening everyone. My name is S Estrada. I am an avid teacher at Valley High School. Um I have a very simple message. I am here just asking that you continue to fund our AVID coaches. Um we know we all know that as teachers we never have enough time in the day to do anything. Um it has been really instrumental to have the AVID coaches support us because that has really helped us in the classroom which ultimately has led to higher student success. Um, I am asking that you please continue to fund these positions because if we lose our coaches,
053that ultimately means that it's going to make our jobs exponentially more difficult in order to implement a successful program which will ultimately lead to um our students and it'll hurt our student success. So, please, I am asking you and I'm here to support that we continue to fund our AVID coaches. Thank you. Thank you. Up next, Luis Leon, followed by Hi Chen. Hello, my name is Luis Leon. I am a product of Algrove Unified School District. I grew up in Valley High. I went to Prairie Elementary, Jackman, Samuel Jackman Middle School, and Valley High School. If it wasn't for the AVID program today, I would not be here standing in front of you as the AVID site coordinator, AVID teacher at Valley High School. I can tell you right now that the AVID program started
054at Valley High School 35 years ago has made a significant difference in people like me who are first generation uh students coming from immigrant families. And I can tell you that we have so many people here representing the AVID program. We ask you, we implore you that you continue to invest in our programs and invest in the uh education of our educators as well as we continue to send students to college and I can tell you as a testament uh for the last six years as the AVID coordinator today. We have students in Ivy League schools and all across the the state of California. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next, here Chan followed by Ryan. Good evening everyone. My name is Hian Chan. I'm a lead counselor at Monterey Trail High School. Access
055to school counselors allows students access to every subject every day. Universal access cannot happen if students do not feel safe in their body. No learning can happen if students do not feel safe in their body. Please take a deep breath with me and may you so be moved. I wanted to speak to a number of things. Our early prevention and early intervention is the stuff of critical hope and possibilities. We must invest and maintain maintain and sustain and grow our elementary school counseling. There is an issue of access that can only worsen if we do not pay attention and and take action. A large body of school counseling outcome research over the past 20 years is testimony to what can become of access to school counselors. Okay. I wanted to speak to that as students
056are arriving to school every day, basic needs unmet, and we are of the source that school counselors can meet students as we are uniquely trained and are made to serve our students in this way. I have so much to say. Okay, sorry the time's up. [Applause] Thank you. Next, Ryan Antonet, followed by Theres Jamie. Okay, I think it's going to take teamwork here. So, my name's Ryan Utenri. I'm a EGSD secondary AVID counselor, and I'm here to support in solidarity our counselors, our social workers, and our AVID coaches that are here today. And we really need to emphasize that these are temporary positions we're talking about that will not exist after this year. And I have the belief that this board and this district is going to invest in our students and their future. Because
057realistically, the 15 incredible elementary school counselors you saw back there, they serve 30 school sites impacting over 23,000 students. We have 14 secondary counselor positions that are on temporary funds permanently or partially. So, we need to really invest in those positions as well as our social workers. This is the safety of support we want to build in Elkrove Unified. We have the people already. We just need to continue investing in them. Not just temporary positions. We need to make them permanent. But I believe in this board and this district as a community member, as a parent, and as an educator. So, thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Up next, Terresy, followed by Carame Cordell. Oh, it's Hores. I wrote my last name before I wrote my first name. So, thank you very
058much to the board members and the superintendent for taking the time to um take into consideration the project labor agreement. Here we are sitting together. We um want I'm an advocate for this in lie of me coming into the trades as a kid. College is not for everybody. We want to continue the education, not only me but myself. We want to continue the education and guaranteed local jobs for our for your students. The community workforce training agreement will actually give them a possibility to be injected into the workforce, not having the obligation to make a successful living only going to college, being in debt, but they can start a solid apprentichip not only with us, but with any of the Sacramento Sierra building trades. And we are ready for these apprenticeships. We have these apprentichips
059set up and established. And in consideration to your guys' time and everybody else, I'd like to recognize all my peers and thank you very much for being alongside with us. Everybody in the trades, greatly appreciate you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Up next, Carmen Candell, followed by Laura Lebertos. [Applause] Carmen going third time. Carmen. All right, we'll come back to you. Okay. Laura Lambert, followed by Lesley Oman. Good evening. I am here tonight to make an impassioned plea to keep the funding for the district's AVID program. As a 31-year teaching veteran, I have seen many programs come and go over the years. AVID is one that stands above the rest. In my opinion, it is one of the most critical investments our district can make because of its profound effect on student success, teacher
060collaboration, and on school culture. However, a program, even one as good as AVID, cannot make lasting change if the funding to support it is cut. I do not want to see this happen with AVID. Teachers are collaborating effectively. Students are starting to see consistency in AVID implementation at different grade levels, leading to better student outcomes. School cultures are improving. But all of this takes time. The success we've had is due in large part to the outstanding AVID director and coaches who have worked tirelessly to bring support to every single school in our district. Working with them has been such a positive and effective experience. Please do not cut Abbott. Thank you. Next, Lesie Bowman followed by David Edwards. Good evening. My name is Lesie Bowman. This is my 29th year of teaching in the Elgross
061Unified School District. I come before you urging to keep the funding for AVID and our curriculum coaches. I recognize the coaches support, guidance, expertise, and willingness to go above beyond for all of us. These competent and effective leaders jumped on board with us as we were embarking on new territory. Their generosity and knowledge created an environment where our school thrived. We don't know. Sorry, we wouldn't have implemented a schoolwide TK sixth grade program so quickly. It's what's best for students. Without their coaching these past four years, I am not sure we would have transformed Dillard into a showcase school in just three short years of implementation. Their belief in AVID is contagious. The coaches have been an integral part of our learning across grade levels. The district courses that they offer are superior to the
062countless courses I've taken in 30 plus years in Elkrove. In addition, the coaches write, create, and manage our Avid website. The website is a gold mine for re resources, videos, and lessons. The website allows teachers ac Thank you. Sorry, your time's up. Thank you. Next, David Edwards, followed by Don Culie. Good evening. David Edwards, CW Dillard Elementary School, AVID Showcase School. Um, AVID's an important program to our school. We just became a showcase school. Uh, we want to continue to do so. cannot do without the support of our AVID coordinators. Uh because without them it wouldn't have happened. Without them it will not continue to happen. Um other positions that I know that are really important to our school are AIT position. Um our AIT specialist Debbie Capola is a phenomenal woman and you're going
063to have to trust me because I don't have the data. Uh she has taken in more kids and then pushed them out because they are reading at grade level thanks to her and her position. um that it's an important position that needs to happen. Other things that are important for our school and positions at this district, vice principles, campus security, PAR educators, our counselors that are here today, we need people to support us. If funding is a question, then the answer should be the people that support our schools. Funding this to support our schools shows first. Without people, without support, teachers can't teach and students can't learn. Thank you, Mr. Cruy. Followed by Brett King, but I thought she went earlier. So, I thought it was on the three minute cycle, but this is the
064one minute cycle. Uh, good evening, superintendent, ladies and gentlemen of the board. My name is Don Kulie Davyy. I'm going into my 26th year here at transportation. Are we here again at a stalemate? I've spoken in these meetings before and felt that we were fairly successful in fighting for what are for our worth in those times. It's hard to understand why we're always the ones fighting and it's always feels like we are the last ones to be considered. We are a vital link in the chain that served the children and the families of this community. Throughout my career, this is what has happened most negotiations. Our department isn't on the agenda of a board meeting is always an open forum where the board members do not have to respond to our struggle. I'm also here
065tonight. I'm sorry. I'm going to lose it. Please do not misunderstand me. I love this job. I have served my community's children, staff, teachers, and students as well. For my as well as my fellow brothers and sisters for almost three decades now, and I'm very proud to do so. I believe it takes a very special person to do what we do. I know it does. I challenge you, any of you, to come to transportation and ride along with us. Thank you. Sylvia Lopez. Sylvia Lopez. Sylvia. Okay, she's coming. There's a big crowd there. Thank you, Barbara Edgar. My name is Sylvia Lopez Garcia. I'm sure you guys know who I am because I've been up here several times fighting for our rights, fighting for our fair fair pay and for our benefits. This is my
066team and this is not even a portion of it. I got attendants, mechanics, more attendants. I got people that work in the office that do the scheduling. We are the veins. We support our children and transfer our kids to the schools, the organs that make our our community grow. This is not okay for us to be up here begging for pay just to keep our people here. They're going to Sacramento. They're getting paid more there at other districts. We are the largest district serving 68 schools. We carry about 10,000 children daily. I do an average about a,000 miles a week. And that's just me. Our mechanics, it's a joke. $21 starting. Come on now. They don't just work on our buses. They work on our on all vehicles, district ones. Carri your children. Please think
067about that. Thank you. Your time's up. Thank you. Thank you. Up next, Edgar Borto do followed by Kimber. Hi, good evening, president, board member, superintendent, and community. My name is Edgar. I'm here on behalf of our bargaining units, our members. We come with deep respect for the district, our students, and our families. Many of us given decades of service here because we love our kids and our community. But love no longer is enough to sustain us. Pay is a major concern. Benefits are another co uh challenge. Education and tra uh contract protection matters too. Those are all being ignored. They all showing you a beautiful picture of sunrise. But reality is we're still underpaid as drivers. We have a 5-hour contract when you start at 21 an hour. Mechanics will like to learn more on
068EVs, not just the safety aspect of it, but reality is the manufacturing deep integration of it. We're missing that when it comes to benefits. Just right now, a few weeks ago, I had to share my members the increase again. What we're asking is not luxury. We're asking for fairness. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Next. Thank you. Next, Kimber Tostado followed by Cara Brown. Kimber is not here. Okay. All right, you could go, Miss Miss Brown. All right. Good evening. My name is Clara Brown. I've had the privilege of serving as a school counselor for approximately 24 years now with experience at every level. 14 years in high school, four years at the college level, and 28 years supporting youth in the community, and now four years as an elementary counselor. Through all that experience, one
069truth has always stood out to me. That urgent need of social and emotional skill development at an early age. That realization is that led is what led me four years ago to transition from high school counseling into elementary counseling. I knew that if I wanted to help shape our children, our current students, our future residents and lawmakers and leaders, I needed to begin at that foundation. And I left a job to take a pay cut to come to Elkrove Unified in a temporary position. I was in a tenure position. I wanted to give some examples, but I'm going to kind of skip over that. We have young people that I've serviced before that have come into groups raging and we've learned we taught them how to deal with their emotions to the point where they
070weren't getting in trouble anymore in school. They were being successful academically and socially and emotionally. We have parent groups as well. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Last but not least, Diana Youngness. [Music] Good evening. My name is Diana Yennes Pittinger, a 25-y year educator and first generation college grad. I am the site coordinator at avid site coordinator at Barbara Comtock Morris Elementary School. a title one school working to close the achievement gap. I'm here to uh basically beg you to please keep our AVID coaches. The strategic decision to implement them has made a remarkable difference. They are not just consultants. They are truly boots on the ground educators who understand our schools, our students, and our staff. The support they've provided as we implement Wicker has resulted in instructional rigor
071and excellence. That's what our students and families deserve, and our teachers deserve the support to make it realistically feasible. We heavily rely on them. It's honestly the best program that I've seen in my tenure and I have seen student success. I respectfully urge you, please continue funding our AVID district coaches. They are not an extra. They're essential. We can't do this work alone. We need them to sustain the implementation. If we're truly committed to our mission, preparing every student to be college, career, and life ready, then this is the kind of support we must protect. And yes to counselors and our other workers. Thank you. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. That concludes our blue car on public comment on an agenda. Board President, turn it back to you. Thank you very much. So we did
072have a couple of people who uh did not come up when their names were called. Is there anyone who thought they submitted a blue card and did not get called? Sa. Okay. So there there's a couple blue cards that is not on this item. Those ones will be called later. Naming committee. So it'll be later. There's two of them. Richard and Lewis. Perfect. Was there anybody else? Anyone else? Okay. Did you submit a blue car, sir? What's that? Did you submit a blue car? Um, yeah, we did. Do you want to hand me the cards? You want to give me the ones that were not to show up? Well, she put it in there with this. Okay, that's fine. Okay, go ahead, sir. Uh, thank you school district for having us here. My name is
073Roberto Trevino. I'm a 30-year union taper. Um, we're here to advocate advocate PLA. How many people here would like to see PLA in Elkrove School District? All of our We take a lot of pride in all of our work we do. I had the privilege of working on the um Sky River Casino that came under budget and I don't know if you guys had a chance to visit it. Very beautiful. As far as Thunder Valley, all of our workers are are trained extremely. We we we go through training every month. We're on um we have CPR training and we those guys never get hurt. So I just want to say um I think Elkro School District has the best schools and you deserve the best quality workers here also. Thank you very much. Thank you
074sir. Yeah ma'am. What is your name? What is it? The last one. Did I call your name earlier? Did you filled up a blue card? You did it to the And what was it? Yeah, if they came if there there were a few blue cards that came in after public comment started. So we did. So we held those because the because we we held them. So those So if a blue card came in after I opened the item, we do not take those. So I apologize, but you feel free to come back at our next meeting and fill out a blue card and we'll take it then. Okay. Sorry. That means it ends the blue card on this comment. Appreciate it. Just want to make sure we got heard from everybody we could. Um so
075thank you everyone. We really appreciate the community feedback as always. Um, this is a huge and important part of what we do. Uh, if anybody did not have an opportunity to speak and wants to, I invite you to come back to our next meeting or feel free to send the board an email uh with any comments and uh you have or if you would like to expound upon what you said, feel free to send us an email. So, um, with that, if anybody brought up anything specific, uh, the administration will be responding to those, uh, and and will reach out individually. Uh otherwise, let's take about five minutes for folks to, you know, circulate out if they need to and then we'll be back. Thank you very much. All right, board members, let's start making
076our way back to the podium. All right. Should be good. All right, let's bring it back. Still missing one board member. Oh, she's in the back. Be a little loud. Oh, wonderful. There we go. All right. Thanks, everybody. So, let's bring it back together. So, we are on to the consent agenda. Uh, would any board member like to pull an item from the consent agenda? All right. Seeing none, I will entertain a motion to approve items 1 through 46 on the consent agenda. Move. Moved by Mr. Yang. Second. Seconded by Miss Ballerini. All those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Next up, bargaining units. Uh, would any of our bargaining units wish to address the board at this time? I don't have a timer. Right. Not that we'll be,
077but I just want to make sure. Um, good evening. I wanted to share a couple of things with you, um, with the board and with the community. Um, in 2012, some of you weren't here, but a handful of you were, I addressed the board regarding healthcare. At that point, we were going to go from a no pay system to $300 for a family. Currently, what we're 13 years later, we're looking at an increase of $500 more a month for people who cover our family. Our um wages haven't gone up that much per month. I really think we need to take a look at some of the challenges that we've heard tonight on all levels from elementary all the way up to high school um mechanics, school bus drivers who I see as early as 5:00
078a.m. in the morning out on their routes. Um and I see them in the evening when I should be at home, but I'm not because I'm still in my office. Um they put in a lot of time for all of our kids, all of our families. Um special ed who we serve as young as three years old. Um the IEPs and the families we're supporting. This is our first exposure to our to our school district, to the education that they're going to have for the next 12 years. And we're all trying to advocate for them. But advocating for them is also having folks who have a livable wage. I sent you guys a letter on August 22nd just to take a look at the impact the financial impact it'll have on not just CSEA members
079but on all classified members. And um I think it's important for us to reflect on how that'll impact the social and emotional well-being of our employees because we do focus on that for the children we serve. But those serving the children also need to be acknowledged. So I just wanted to share that with you as a classified employee who came to Elgrove Unified for the benefits. So thank you. [Applause] Good evening, President Vargas, Superintendent Hoffman, ladies of the board, gentlemen of the board. My name is Crystal McGee, president, business agent of ATU 256. and you've heard a couple of um my people come and speak to you. I remember the first time I came and spoke to you, I said I was going to be transparent. I would come back and here I am again.
080I was looking at this agenda and I was amazed by all the excellence that we have on this. I was amazed how our Elkrove School District product Valley High 1988 class of 88 where we got the ex that one year we got that uh presidential award back in the day when they gave out presidential awards. Valley High was one of the first ones to get it. I'm dating myself. With that being said, we've always been an excellent district. And when I was looking at the agenda and then I had some brothers who were here, um, union brothers who want to brothers and sisters who want to come to our district, what lets me know that we're doing something right. We're doing something right. But with that, we have all this advancement, but we don't have
081advancement when it comes to our health and welfare. We don't have advancement when it comes to our pay. We don't have advancement, but we're building new schools. We we're on track in the next 10 years to add five more schools. Um, a middle school, Brancher Kdova, and at the same time, like the the young lady spoke about, we're at $21. We all struggling. We all here. We all know that times are hard. We're in a different time. We normally don't negotiate you like this, but times are different. and I don't have the ability to talk to you in close session like my cohorts do. So that is why I'm in front of you today. With that being said, I won't be before you long, but I want you to know everyone standing here are 10
082feet 10 toes down as they say, which means we will be here every if not every what? every day, every day, every night. We will not stop. They are not going to stop this goround. We will not settle. So, I appreciate you. I hope you see us because we see you. I come to you because you are technically you are the people that we need to come when we need help. So, we're asking for you to see us. We're asking you for you to hear us and we're asking you to be do the right thing and continue the excellence that this school district is by giving us yes the out of the mouth of babes. Thank you. [Applause] Hello uh President Vargas, Superintendent Hoffman, Miss Avalos, the school board members, cabinet and audience and brothers
083and sisters. Um I will s stand up here in solidarity as well with the discussions about the salary schedules and especially with the benefits uh health and welfare with the rising costs that are coming everybody's way. um we are all all feeling that in our pocket, but truly with the classified employees um especially those that are a part-time and part-time or split shift, they're not getting not necessarily always getting their full eight hours. So that is something that we do need to look together as a group. I know we have several different ways of doing that um as our individual unions, as a group of unions through our joint healthc care um coalition. So I know there is a path to work together and I know that my brothers and sisters and I on the
084labor side are looking forward to having those hard discussions coming up. So I do want to you know I um I ask me is with you on that one. [Applause] But I also want to speak about the um importance of all the different positions that have been up here talking. We've heard from avid school counselors, social workers, psychologists. we are all aware of what is approaching June of 2026. Um even to the fact that there are you know discussions about separation agreements so that we know what our staffing would be for the 26 27th school year. So there is a lot of discussions out there and I want to acknowledge the importance of all of those programs and all of those people. Um, but as ASME president, I also represent some of those people that
085are going to be affected by that. And I've talked about it before and I once again we have a a co a coalition, a group that's working together that our LCAP is working together to try to find the best way and prioritize for a recommendation to the school board about what positions, what programs we see as what the priorities are. So I want to respect that pro that process. I look forward to it. We have brought in um our gentleman Mike from the Arbinger Institute to help us guide through that hard work because it is going to be hard work. Uh the ASME positions that are affected is really uh the S SOA choose at the elementary school, the elementary campus supervisors and we have a few few other positions here and there. I know
086we have a regional team program technician over in um homeless education, the safe department and a few other little one-offs. But, uh, the other thing that I really want to bring to the forefront as we're doing this hard work with the LCAP and that June 26th deadline, and I'm going to be my robot here, is we need to think about the other support staff. As was mentioned earlier, we are a growing district. We are currently the fourth largest school district and I think we're trending to be number three in the next few years. So that's student population, that's increases in schools. We had a reference to the next 10 years, it's five schools. I want to up that one a little bit, but I you know, um but if you look at the facilities master
087plan and the need that we have for these for the schools to be not modernized, to be rehabbed for the grounds, you know, we want a shade tree here, but we don't want it to drop and it's dropping sap on the on the playground or on the sidewalks. We need grounds people to go clean that up. We've got increasing student enrollment. We've got increasing texts that are being processed through CPL, through warehouse. We have all these other support staff positions. I don't want to lose sight of moving forward. I know we are looking at our um what our staffing needs are for 2627 because of the sun setting user funds for June 2026. But we got to look beyond 26 27 school year. We need to look the next three years, the next five years.
088What is the impact that we're going to need? We talk about how we our students come first and they do. But how are the students going to be successful and safe in school if we don't have that classified support staff there to help them? We don't have maintenance. We don't have grounds. We don't have warehouse. We have 16 people, I think, in payroll to do the payroll for 6,000 employees. And that's going to grow because we're adding staff. When we add the new schools, we get the teachers, we get the principal, we get the custodian, we get the FNS workers at the site, but we get the custodians, but we don't get warehouse. We don't get accounting. We don't get maintenance. We don't get grounds. That's why I keep bringing this up. I want to
089be able to be forward thinking and let's be proactive to this. So, that's my soap box. I appreciate you everybody let letting me speak because I don't want to forget about what our needs are going to be in two years or three years or five years down the road. I want us to be working together and know what's coming in our future. Um so make sure I hit all my points. Um I think that's about all that I have is I just I look forward to the hard work that's coming. I understand it's going to be hard work, tough discuss discussions, tough decisions need to be made so that the schoolboard can have the recommendations from the employees of the district, the different bargaining units as well. I look forward to that. I know it's
090going to be hard, but I look forward to it. But I really want to make sure that we are so forward thinking. We're not just thinking about one year and the impact of all the great programs, AVID, social workers, campus supervisors, they're all great things, but we also need to think what are our staffing demands going to be in two years or three years as we continue to grow into that third largest district. Thank you. [Applause] All right. Any other bargaining units scanning? I'm seeing none. All right, we are moving on. Next up, reports and discussion items. Uh, our school names committee recommendations. Dr. Coats. All right. Good evening, President Vargas, members of the board, Superintendent Hoffman, Mr. Miss Avalo, staff and community. Um, really excited tonight to be presenting on the school names committee.
091It's been a really wonderful process um and a great way to learn about Elkrove as a district, the history uh as Miss Campbell just mentioned, we do have schools that we are um that are under construction. We're growing and they need names that are not just about their geographic areas. So when we're thinking about the school names committee, everything is done uh and grounded in our learning vision. Um we think that through how we construct the schools, how we're thinking through it, and then very specifically when we're talking about names in particular of elementary schools, which is what we're going to discuss today. It's the impact that um of the area, the the people in the area or the geography of the area that really kind of represents um the entire 320 square miles of
092Elk Grove. So tonight I'm going to give you an overview of the school names committee um the process that we've used um and the recommendations for two of the elementary schools um both uh grant line 208 and the Arbor Ranch elementary schools. Um important to know that we're not taking any action. This is really just a report out on the process. Um we do have some members of the committee in the audience. um I will give them a shout out um here pretty soon. Uh it's a it was a big night for them to come and um we'll hear from some of them as well. So just to ground us in the um in the work that we're doing. So uh we are the fourth largest district. We are 320 square miles and currently we
093have um Grant Line 208, the blue star to the very top of your map uh is under construction and moving very fast in the Rancho Cordova area. It's very exciting. Um down more central uh and left than the red star is Arbor Ranch. Uh and we are set to break ground in March. We have some other items on the agenda regarding Arbor Ranch later this evening. And then um the middle school high school that was referenced earlier, the tenative location is that green star. So just to ground us in where where are the schools that we're talking about tonight and we'll be specifically talking about the grant line 208, the blue star, and then the red star as well. So, we do have board policy and administrative regulations that um helps staff determine how to
094facilitate the school names committee. And so, our board policy 7511 says, "Names for new schools shall be selected by the board of education from a list of not more than three submitted by a citizens advisory committee whose members will be selected by the board." And so, that is really what we're doing here this evening. Um, the admin regulation gives us more insight into how we approach it and what we're looking for. I won't read all of this, but what I wanted to do is just share because we're focused on elementary, the regulation really focuses um on item number one, elementary school shall be named to reflect the cultural diversity of the district, after persons or places prominent in the history of the area, which is now the district, or after persons who have made contributions
095to the education in the district. So, when we take a look at elementary schools, we're really looking kind of more localized in that particular area. And then as we go to middle schools or to high schools, it starts to get maybe a broader lens. So just keeping that in perspective. Um you're going to find it's really incred like a very difficult decision um that is going to be um made this evening. So a lot of really great people and recommendations have come forward. the process of the selection of the committee. Um we had had um in years past a school names committee. Uh and so all of those former members who were still interested in being part of that committee were invited. And then um with uh the new board um forming a new governance
096team early this uh early in 2025 um you all were able to um provide some names for the committee as well. And so that becomes the construct of the school names committee. Um and then myself and uh Lori Laaporga who's not here this evening but really just facilitate the process with the committee. So, um, we have a really incredible, um, diverse group of committee members who have really put in quite a bit of time already. And what I tell them is they're in for the long game because of the schools that we have coming forward. So, it's it's really not one and done. But, I do know um, Dennis Bucher is here in the audience. So, thank you so much, Dennis. Um, Iet Jackson was here. Did she stay? She did not. I just want
097to shout out those. Um Richard Padilla showed up. He was in class tonight and came. I know just for this. Um uh Louie, um Louis SA is right here. He's about ready to make some public comment. And I don't think anyone else is in the audience that I can see. But I just wanted to shout out those that have come um tonight to um share their support and perhaps make some public comment. So we started meeting back in May um going through a lot of the just what the process is, the policy, the admin regulations, how we've worked about uh worked it uh in the past. And I'd be remiss if I didn't just bring up the legacy of Miss Elizabeth Pinkerton, who has historically facilitated the school names committee and has been an advisor
098um not able to facilitate herself, but has brought all of her rich history of the school district. Um that has really informed um how we've um went through the process and um conducted reviews to get us to where we are tonight. All right. So, the schools we're really talking about tonight is Grant Line 208, uh, the in Rancho Cordova and then Arbor Ranch in South Elove. So, I'm not going to read all of the biographies. We did attach a full bio to the board agenda. Um, and so when we talked about grant line 208, uh, it we talked and we agreed that we were going to send no more than three names. And so these are the three names that the committee has moved forward. Um, one is Lester Hol Elementary School. So some of
099you that might be a familiar name. Lester Hol was a Cordova High graduate and he has been a trailblazing journalist and trusted newsreaker for nearly 40 years. as the first black male solo anchor of a major new network newscast. He also a champion for education mentoring youth through media wise and spotlighting key issues like pandemic learning challenges and student support programs. His influence continues to inspire future journalists and uplift diverse voices. So he did grow up in the Rancho area which is why his name was moved forward. There was also uh a lot of discussion and um al like for Cypress Grove Elementary School. Cypress Grove is a prominent name in the area representing the community development, a nearby park, and the street where the school is located. Um some some were uh reluctant at
100first to recommend because they're cypress trees are not native to the area, but there is certainly a lot um and they liked the connection with growth. Um, Golden Oak Elementary School is representative of the golden appearance of the area's landscape and the abundant native oak trees. So, those are the three names that the committee is bringing forward for consideration for Grant Line Elementary School. For Arbor Ranch Elementary School in South Elove, um, we have several names. Um, we did include one geographic area. So, I'm going to read the short bios. We have Glenn Brunswick Elementary School. Glenn Brunswick began as a school bus driver and rose to become a beloved teacher, and principal in the Floren area. Beyond education, he served as a minister, youth counselor, and coach, deeply impacting generations of local families. After
101World War II, he offered vital support to Japanese American children returning from internment, helping them heal and thrive. Our next name for consideration is Dennis Bucher Elementary School. Dennis Buer, a fourth generation Franklin resident, dedicated his life to public service and preserving Elgrove's history. After 34-year career with the California Franchise Tax Board and military service, he became a key figure in local preservation efforts, restoring historic homes, and leading the Elkrove Historical Society. His decades of civic involvement make the naming of Dennis Fucher Elementary School a well-earned tribute to his legacy. All right. Um, two more names for consideration. We have the Evet Rolette Elementary School. Iet Rowlette began with Elkrove Unified School District in 1987 as a parent and quickly became a community leader. She helped launch the district's first healthy start program and led
102family support initiatives. Her first or her her work with First Five California and the California Department of Education advanced equity in early education and title one schools. Her legacy of advocacy and mentorship continues to uplift Sacramento County families. And finally, uh, Poppy Ridge Elementary School. Each spring, California poppies blanket the land in vibrant orange, earning their place as the state's official flower. Poppy Ridge Road in East Franklin honors the historic Poppy Ridge Dairy, once owned by relatives of educator Harriet Eddie, namesake of a local middle school. So those are the two schools that we're considering. I'm going to um move to any questions or discussion and comment for sure. Um future names, future schools rather um that we'll be coming back and continuing to do the work of the committee will be the Sun Creek
103Middle School in Rancho Cordova and then um the Sun Creek High School in Rancho Cordova. um and then likely many more to come after that. So the next steps from this is to take any feedback um or discussion from the meeting and then um based on these recommendations and what we hear this evening um bring back a final recommendation September October and we will continue to work with the committee to name future schools. With that I turn it back over to you. Thank you very much, Mr. Yang. Do we have any blue cards on this item? Board President, we do have a couple blue cards for this item. Calling up Lewis Sea, followed by Richard Padella is okay. I'm just using using this monitor. Okay. Yes. My name is Lewis SA and I have the
104privilege of being on the uh school naming committee. Thank you, Beth. Um, Kristen pretty well explained almost everything I was going to say. I wanted to highlight the your choice of having her as your facilitator and Lori as her assistant. She keeps us all in line, gives us opportunities to speak, give our opinions, and we have lots of opinions. It's very diversified. you put together 18 individuals that are giving you guys really honest, well thoughtout choices. Um, how we narrow it down to three is unard to understand because we have hundreds and hundreds of options. um we all have our own uh interests and so we we say what we say and anyway I don't know how you guys are going to be able to decide between those three or four schools because there's a
105a lot of really good information. I wanted to support one person uh on on the schools. Um he's not in education but his name is Dennis Busher. He live he lives in the big blue Victorian just down the street from the school. He's been four generations of uh born and raised in Franklin. He's really promoted history in our community. He's been on the preservation committee and um he's developed a 20,000 ancestry uh family community tree from Franklin that spread to El Grove and spread to Slooh House, Rancho Muria, the whole community. He's done a lot. I just want you to pay attention to him when you decide on the school down there in the south area. Otherwise, oh, I was visiting Elizabeth Pinkerton just a couple days ago and before I left, I asked her,
106is there anything she wanted me to say to the school board? And she says, "You guys are doing a good job." So, you're all going to be reelected. Anyway, thank you very much for the time. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next, Richard Padera. Good evening everybody. Um hello President Vargas, uh Mr. Hoffen, Miss Avalos. Um I want to start by expressing my gratitude uh to Miss Davis for selecting me uh to serve on this school names committee as it's been a pleasure and an honor to be chosen. Uh I also wanted to thank Dr. Coats for leading our meetings uh and ensuring that every voice and opinion is heard from everyone in the room. Uh, also I can't forget Miss Laorga for making sure that we all had all had all the information
107we needed to make the recommendations that you have today. Um, I believe that a school names a school's name is more than just a sign on a building. It represents history, values, the people and places we choose to honor future generations. I know it has been past practice and board policy to name elementary schools that reflect diversity of the district or after people who have made significant contribution to education in the district. I bring this up because I want to make sure that this is not forgotten. I do believe the process and committee we have is excellent and allowing the community to have input is also fantastic. I truly believe that diversifying the names of our schools sends a powerful message that every student belongs, their heritage matters, and their identity has a place in
108it in our shared story. A school named after a trailblazing woman, I'm sorry. A school named after a trailblazing woman, a civil rights leader, a scientist of color, or an artist from a marginalized community is more than symbolic. It's an act of recognition and empowerment. I want you to imagine a young student walking into a school named after someone who looks like them, who shares their background or who fought for the opportunities they now enjoy. That student gains not only pride but also a living reminder that greatness is possible for them too. Diversity in a school naming is not about erasing history. It's it is about expanding it. It is about ensuring that our public spaces honor the full spectrum of contributions that have shaped our society and that every child deserves to see themselves
109reflected in the stories we lift up and the names we choose to remember. So, as we look ahead, I want to make sure that we are being intentional. I want to ensure that we choose school names that reflect the diversity of people who live in those communities. Names that inspire, include, and unite. Because the names we put on our schools are more than titles. They are lessons in belonging. They are invitations to dream, and they are promises of a future where every voice matters. I I say that um this has been a great process. This is not a critique. I just want to make sure that that doesn't get forgotten when we do name schools. Um you know, again, it's been a pleasure. Um, and I appreciate the honor of serving this community. So, thank
110you. Thank you, President Vargas. This ends as blue card in this item. All right. Thank you very much. So, we are on to board member discussion. So, board members, um, I will start on this side with Miss Davis this time. Well, I thank all that have been a part of pulling these names together. I I requested the list and of the all the names that were submitted and it just went on and on and on and on. So, for you guys to narrow that down um to what you have um that saying I I would have liked to maybe be seen other names for the grant line school. I I like when elementary schools are named after people in our district. Um but I understand the reasons why those were submitted. Um I do had
111a question why we're getting four names for Arbor Ranch when it said you're only submitting three names. Yes. Um so little stretch outside. Um we moved one forward that was just geographic um in location rather than a name only because there is sentiment on the committee um that some um don't don't always believe that we should name after people that we should so we wanted to submit at least one non-name um option for the board's consideration. Okay. Thank you. And once again, just want to thank everybody who took the time and effort to to bring this information to us. I know you guys all have jobs and things that keep you busy, so I appreciate that time and effort. Thank you very much, Miss Albiani. Well, I'll echo those comments. Thank you for your time
112and your attention to these matters very much so. Um, and I think something that's really important to me is um that we follow our policies and our and our established and printed guidelines. um it shouldn't matter when I don't sit in the seat because we have guidelines and policies that we follow and and so um respecting elementary schools shall be named to reflect the diversity of the district after persons or places prominent in the history are persons who have made contributions to education in that district and I find the first second and third are a little bit different and they really do they're a little bit different and so um as we reflect on that um I would just ask that we consider consider even if one of these names might be a perfect choice,
113maybe it's not the perfect choice for an elementary school is my was my only thought when I was looking at that. Um, not to discredit why it rose to the top, that's easy to see, but I think when you are making hard decisions, um, going back to the the print is the way to help make those clear. Thank you, Mr. Yang. Yeah, I uh also think that um it is uh important to follow our guidelines. I agree to that for sure. Um our guidelines are are are being written um based on based on um gathering past experience and what's appropriate was not appropriate. So that's why we have guidelines. However, um I'm pleased to see that we have um all of the areas, seven areas represented uh in the committee and um yeah, we are
114not there but the folks are are put forward are folks um with um experience that uh really um represent uh diversity and uh different areas of uh expertise. Uh so I I am looking forward to see um the final names being chosen soon. But uh so far those names are pretty good. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. John. Uh I would like to thank the committee for coming up with these names. I also appreciate the fact that um the school names were well a majority of the school names were named after um figures that were prominent in our district and coming from a background where it's re um um relevant to the area and they've not only that but they're also um diverse and I think that's really important since we are a diverse
115school district and as um sorry but I forgot your name um oh Mr. Richard had uh mentioned earlier, I think it is really important for the um for students to walk into a school knowing that it was um named after them because that in itself feels like they're being represented and they're what they've done to the community holds a value. But that's all I have to say. Thank you very much, Miss Balerini. Okay, I too um appreciate everybody's hard work on this and I think everybody probably can guess which school I'm most excited about, but I I am excited about both of them that we're looking at names for tonight. And um one of the questions I had is is I see on the one for Arbor Ranch, we've got Ivet Rolette mentioned there and
116I'm trying to figure out why for that area when her husband Al was a member of the board and he actually represented in area 7. So I I was thinking was that ever a thought and maybe Rowlette Family Elementary or or something like that. is was that did that come up at all or can that come up? I I I think the answer is yes, it can come up. The discussion that we had in particular about grant line um from those that were representing um area 7 in very specifically Rancho Cordova was to have if they were going to name it after someone that lived in Rancho Cordova. So that was that was the dialogue and conversation. It's also why um two geographic locations came up for Grant Line specifically. Okay. All right. I just
117I would like to throw that one out there as a possible idea as well since Al was on our school board and he's on some of the buildings around here somewhere, I'm sure. I'm not sure which ones. Um, and for the one the Arbor Ranch one right now, I actually nominated uh Dennis Busher for the committee and I understand he he's he can't even vote on it because he's he's one of the people thinking I was like, "Oh, darn. He actually lives right around the corner from me in the blue house." So, um, that's very cool. Um, a lot of the names there are great. Um, Poppy Ridge is the name of the street there, too. And actually, I don't know if everybody even knows this, but when Franklin High School first opened, it was
118the school it was on was not Whitelock like it is now. It was actually Poppy Ridge and it was very confusing, which is why they changed it to Whitelock because everything there was Poppy Ridge there and then Juted over and then was there and it was crazy. But anyway, um that's my thought. I um I'm okay with some of the other names for um the one up in um area 7. I just I think that Miss Heidi over here may have some more words on that since it's her area. I feel like I should kind of let her have a say. All right. Thank you. Before we jump forward, Miss Albiani, you had one question to ask. Oh. Um Lester Holt has been offered as a as a choice. has is there any way we
119contact him or uh get it approved or We have not contacted him. We're we're going to bring it up for discussion. Should that be a name that we would want under consideration, we would attempt to reach out. His parents are, as I understand, are still in the area. Okay. It just it's just kind of a weird disconnect if all of a sudden you found out that someone named a school after you, you never heard about it. Does that make sense? That's fair. Thanks. Thank you very much, Miss Moore. Uh thank you. Uh so I did poll um individuals in my area or gave them the opportunity to reach out to me. Um and the consensus that I received was um Cypress Grove Elementary. Um actually not one person um voted or recommended um Lester Holt
120and um no one actually um recommended or wanted Golden Oak. One person said instead of Golden Oak, Golden Prairie because we have the prairies um in that area. So Cypress Grove was um the unanimous decision from those who did give me feedback. Um and the reason that people were the people that did not like Lester Holt Elementary said that um they didn't he went to Rancho Cordova High School which is not part of our district and we you know we're south of Douglas and we are a very unique area. Um you I feel like you have to live out there to understand it but we're part of Rancho Cordova but we kind of like aren't because we're part of the Elkrove Unified School District. So, we're kind of like our own little community. So, I
121feel like this this name needs to be representative of our community. Um, and as it was mentioned, Cypress Grove um is the is the name of the community development, a park, and um the road that it's that it would be built on. Is that correct? So, I feel like that would be representative of the community. Um, I understand that traditionally we um may lean toward um naming schools after, you know, prominent figure, but I think if we're going to do that, it needs to be um on target for the community. And um and I think um you know, we have we have so many schools that are not named after individuals. We have Sunrise Elementary. We have Sierra Enterprise Elementary. Uh I think CW Dillard is named Everson is it? But we have Cassum. Wait,
122we have Cassumnis River Elementary. I mean, I'm sure there's more, but those are just some that come to my mind. And they still have great sense of community like the Sunrise School. Everyone loves Sunrise. They have a Sunrise mural that they just put up. It's their community. So, I still think that you can have that sense of community. um without naming you know after a prominent figure in the area. Um so that would be my input and I like I said that is the input I've received from community members in that area. Thank you. Thank you very much Miss Baldwin. Thank you. Appreciate the efforts that went into uh coming up with these item uh options for us. um definitely made it a lot easier for us to um not have to come up with
123such a robust list uh and one that is representative. I agree that we should follow the policy um and that we really need to ensure that this name the names I agree what's been said by colleagues in the community that there's a lot of power in a name and when I visit the schools I that's the first thing I ask tell me about who Marian Mix was tell me about Joseph Sims tell me about consums what does that mean to you what does that mean for this community and the identity uh that it creates the culture that it enhances uh and the pride that is developed over time through the students, the staff, the faculty. Um and I really think it's important that we also be authentic um in the naming of our schools. uh
124particularly when we think about the indigenous peoples that were here, the indigenous and native plants um sites and I think there's a lot of power in that in the ability to say to our kids, this is the history. This is where before these buildings were here, the people that lived here, uh the things that grew here that were native. Um because those things are uh hard to find. uh they're not as abundant as they used to be. And so I think there is a lot of power in that. Uh but I do agree that it needs to represent the diversity of our district and so we be thoughtful in that process. Um the names that are here, these are good options. It will definitely be taken into consideration. Uh and I just thank everybody for
125the effort they put into this process. Thank you very much. Um I like my colleagues I want to thank everybody who was involved in this process. This is uh both a wonderful and great part of our job um being able to select these schools the names for these schools and also a uh oddly stressful part of our job because we're inevitably going to disappoint somebody. Um, so the some of the things I some of the things I will uh point out um just from my vantage point and what I'm looking for. Um so I am I think the opposite of Miss Davis. I actually don't love the idea of naming schools after people. Um, I think as we have seen in the past probably decade, um, that gets school districts and places into trouble. Um,
126because 30, 40, 50 years later, you learn more about the people who they're named after. Um, now I in no way, shape, or form think that is true of our district. Um, I'm sure all of the people we've named schools after are wonderful human beings who've done an incredible amount of work and uh are dedicated to our community. But just in general, not something I love. Um I also one of my concerns around it is also um it tends to freeze an image of the community that many many many years later may not be accurate anymore. Um, I know one of the things, um, I heard when I was running, uh, you know, for this position was someone mentioned, you know, our schools all seem to be named after the same group of people. Um,
127and I now go around and visit schools and realize that's not true. Um they there are many of our schools are named after a very diverse array of people who all have a lot of really interesting things to teach our students. Um but the fact that that impression is there is somewhat problematic to me. Um so anyway, so that's why I'm just generally not a huge fan of it. That being said, I have no problem with naming, you know, our elementary schools after individuals. um what I would be looking for and what I am looking for in in those names um is first someone who's important to that particular community. I think it's really really important um you know that these schools reflect their specific communities and I recognize that's difficult in a lot of
128cases because we have newer communities right these these schools are being built in communities that didn't exist 10 years ago um and so you know but I still think it's important that someone that a school in Rancho Cordova have a name that is associated with Rancho Cordova I I think that is a valuable and important saying um that a community see itself reflected in the name on you know the name on the school right same thing for Elkrove right a a school in South Elkrove should um be named after someone who reflects that particular community and I don't want to say that there are individuals outside of that community who haven't done incredible things there are as as we've seen in this list right there are people in Floren in the Floren area who've done
129incredible work and should be recognized Um, but I want to make sure that our communities see themselves in these schools. Uh, and that means a preference for or my my thought is a preference for people um who have some connection to that community specifically. Um, another thing is I would prefer to see a relationship with Elgrove Unified. Um, I think that, you know, it is perfectly fine, um, to name our schools after mayors and congress people and, you know, um, you know, popular individuals, uh, you know, or or, uh, accomplished individuals. Um, but we are an educational institution. I would prefer to see us have the names on our schools be somehow related to education, right? If not educa, well, if not EGUSD specifically, than education in general. Um I just think that's important for
130what we do. Uh and the last thing that I will say on this is that one of the things that I have really enjoyed um similar to what a lot of my colleagues have said already is that I get to go to these elementary schools and schools and learn something. Um you know every time I ask what does your name mean or I go somewhere and I'll suddenly learn about uh how they've integrated the name of their school into their culture. That's amazing. And I and I learn something new. and all so many of the names uh in our elementary schools. It's someone who's done something really interesting and really important. Um and I think that that is, you know, that's part of what we do. We're an educational institution. Our the names on our
131schools should teach something. Um there should be some educational value uh in how we choose to name our schools. Um and so you know whether it is someone who's done something really amazing um you know like Mary Sukamoto right it is great example of someone who's you know naming that school gives us an after her gives us an opportunity to uh educate the community about all of the great work they did. So um so those are the just some of the thoughts that came out in in this. I know that we are not making a decision now and so uh you know I will not in any way shape or form try to uh you know suggest one or another but um I think those are the things that are going to be in my
132head when when I'm thinking about this. So thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Moving forward, we have some public hearings and action items. So, I'll start with our tenative agreement between Elkrove Unified School District and the California School Employees Association 24 2425 and 2526. Uh, Mr. Riley. Thank you, President Vargas, members of the board, Superintendent Hoffman, Miss Avalos. the tentative agreement between the Elkrove Unified School District and the California School Employees Association CSEA for the 2024 2025 and 2025 2026 school years has been ratified by a vote of the CSEA members. In addition, educa education code section 3540.2 stipulates a fiscal review by the Sacramento County Office of Education of negotiated agreements to determine the financial impact of the agreement on the district's budget. Therefore, the AB1200 report which provides the financial analysis
133of the tentative agreement is attached and was submitted to Skoey for their review and approval. The EGUSD board is now asked to approve or ratify the attached 2024, 2025, and 2025, 2026 tentative agreement. Thank you very much. I'd like to open public hearing and ask if there are any blue cards related to this item. President Vgas, there's no blue car on this item. Very well. Then I will close the public hearing and entertain a motion to approve the tenative agreement between Elkrove Unified School District and the California School Employees Association for the 202425 and 202526 school years. Move. Moved by Mr. Yang. Second. Seconded by Miss Ballerini. All those in favor, please say I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next up, William sufficiency of instructional materials. Miss Blumquist. Good
134evening, President Vargas. Schoolboard members, Superintendent Hoffman, and Miss Avalos. In accordance with Williams legislation, ED code 60119 requires that the governing board of a school district hold an annual instructional materials public hearing to determine whether the district has sufficient textbooks and instructional materials. Under this ed code, the board of education shall make a determination through a resolution as to whether each pupil, including each English learner in each school in the district, has sufficient textbooks or instructional materials in each subject of English language arts, mathematics, history, social science, and science. That these are that these are aligned with the academic content standards and consistent with the cycles of the curriculum framework adopted by the California State Board of Education. Ed code 60119 also requires that the board of education make a written determination as to whether
135each pupil enrolled in world language or health has sufficient textbooks or instructional materials as well as the availability of laboratory science equipment applicable to science laboratory courses offered in grades 9 through 12. So resolution number 15 certifies that in fact each Elkrove Unified School District student does have textbooks and instructional materials cons consistent with these guidelines. Therefore, the board is requested to approve resolution number 15 certifying that EGUSD is in compliance with ED code section 60119 ensuring that each pupil has sufficient instructional materials. We're 100% perfect always. All right. Thank you very much. I'd like to open the public hearing. Are there any blue cards on this item? President Vargas, there's no blue card in this item. Very well. Then I will close the public hearing and entertain a motion to approve resolution number 15,
136certifying that the Elkrove Unified School District is in compliance with education code section 60119, ensuring that each pupil has sufficient instructional materials. So move. Moved by Mr. Yang. Second. Seconded by Miss Bowwin. Is there any discussion on this item? All right. Seeing none, uh, all those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next up is our public hearing on suitability of real estate for use as a new elementary school. Dr. Coats. All right. Thank you. Um, so this is split between two items. We'll have the public hearing first. I'll give you the background and then the action item is actually where you vote on the resolution. All right. So background. Um this is the public hearing on suitability of real property APN1320050174 for use as
137a new elementary school. Um the district intends to acquire the reserved 10.01 acre property located the northwest corner corner of Ashler Drive and Terara Franka Way for the new Arbor Ranch Elementary School. The property has been indicated as the most suitable site for the new Arbor Ranch Elementary School based on the California Department of Education standards and district's environmental review. A public hearing must be conducted prior to acquiring the property for school use based on California Education Code. Uh and so we're hearing the uh the public hearing will be now and then we'll um move the resolution in the next action item. So, some background, the property was received as a phase one environmental site assessment that was submitted into the Department of Toxic Substance Control on May 20th, 2025. The phase one environmental site
138assessment determined that there's no further action needed, indicating that the property's environmental conditions pose no significant or hazardous environmental concerns. It was also determined that the proposed land acquisition is exempt from squa review because it does not involve any immediate development or physical alterations to the site and therefore has no potential for environmental impact at this stage. Additionally, the acquisition aligns with the city of Elkrove's general plan and the Laguna Ridge specific plan, including applicable land use designations, zoning, and school sighting criteria. The acquisition is consistent with previously certified environmental impact report for the Lagona Ridge specific plan and no further review is required at this stage. Um therefore um the district is asking to open a public hearing um and then consider resolution five in the action item um evaluating the property under the
139state site selection criteria, approve the purchase agreement and find the ex uh acquisition of the property exempt from SQA. So, at this point, we're asking the board to hold a public hearing regarding the suitability of the real property for use of the proposed Arbor Ranch Elementary School. Thank you very much. Then I will open the public hearing and ask, are there any blue cards on this item? President Bis, there's no blue card in this item. Very well. Then I will close the public hearing and we are moving to the next item. Okay. So along with the um public hearing, the district is recommending that the board of education adopt resolution 5 2025 2026 evaluating the property under the state site selection criteria, approve the purchase agreement, and find the acquisition of the property exempt from
140SQA. Thank you very much. All right. Uh Mr. Yang, are there any blue cards on this item? For president, there's no blue card in this item. Very well. Then I will entertain a motion to approve resolution number five which evaluates the property under the state site selection criteria. Approve the purchase agreement and find the acquisition of the property exempt from SQA. So moved. Moved by Miss Ballerini, seconded by Mr. Yang. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. All right. Next up is resolution for readopting the 202425 GAN limit and adopting the 202526 GAN limit. Good evening, President Vargas, trustees, superintendent Hoffman, Miss Avalos, colleagues, and community. The board is asked to adopt resolution number 13 for 202526. The GAN resolution establishes the estimated 202526 appropriation
141limit which is a constraint on the growth of government spending funded by tax revenues at 661.6 million for 202526 and the recalculated actual 202425 GAN appropriation limit at 621.6 million. The GAN report is derived from the unodudited actuals report. Thank you very much. Uh, Mr. Yang, are there any blue cards on this item? President Valkus, there's no blue card in this item. Excellent. Then I will entertain a motion to approve resolution number 13 establishing the district's GAN limit for 202526 fiscal year and the recalculation of the 2024-25 appropriation limit. So move moved by Mr. Yang. Second. Seconded by Miss Bowwin. All those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening again. Don't go anywhere. Next up is the 202425 unodudited actual income
142and expenditures. Miss Watkins. Thank you again. Uh this evening I will be presenting our unodudited actuals report for the year ended June 30th, 2025. Our unodudited actuals report is the next step in our perpetual annual reporting cycle. At this stage, we are reporting our ending financial position for last fiscal year 202425, which is our new starting balance for the current 202526 fiscal year. In December, we will review our current year status with our 2526 first interim budget report, followed by the January governor's budget proposal for next year 2627. Oops. The unodudited actuals are the final district reporting for last fiscal year. It is an accounting rather than a budgeting process that reports our year-end financial position prepared using technical accounting principles, state guidelines, and standardized state software. This will be the official information used for
143state reporting that is seen online in our ed data on the CDE website and it provides the public with access to timely and comprehensive data about all K12 school districts in California. It is reviewed by the Sacramento County Office of Education prior to being sent to the state and is audited by independent auditors. The following three slides show information for our general fund overall, both unrestricted and restricted sources. An overall total of 91% of our district's general fund revenue comes from state sources with 72% from our general purpose local control funding formula supporting all students. 77% of our total general fund is spent on employee salaries and benefits. 17% of general fund expenditures are for services and other operating costs and 6% for books, supplies, and capital purchases. 85% of total general fund expenditures are
144spent on instruction and pupil services, 10% on supporting our facilities and inter fund transfers, and 5% on general administration to support district operations. This slide summarizes the variances since June's estimated actuals and the overall increase to our total general fund ending balance of nearly $42 million. All variances are reviewed and analyzed for future budget projections. Unrestricted ending fund balance increased by $6 million. We recognize $9 million in additional unrestricted revenue from interest, lottery, aortionment add-on, billables, and donations. We recognized additional expenditures of nearly 2.3 million, including the 202425 amount for our labor agreements with EG teams and NUHW that were settled since the approval of the estimated actuals. Our contribution to restricted programs in support of meeting student needs increased by nearly $595,000. The restricted ending fund balance increased by 35.6 million. We recognized an
145allowable reduction of restricted revenues totaling $22 million because of an accounting principle called deferred revenue where revenue is recognized as we spend it and carries forward into the current year. The $57 million reduction in restricted expenditures are for multi-year awards that also carry forward into future years. This slide compares the unrestricted general fund at estimated actuals, unodudited actuals, and how the updated ending fund balance of nearly $69 million becomes our new beginning balance for the 2526 budget year. Column C includes the variances described on the prior slide. This slide reviews the components of the $69 million unrestricted ending general fund balance. The balance is designated as non-spendable, committed, assigned for specific purposes, reserved for economic unassert uncertainties, and unassigned. The first component shows 1 nearly 1.4 million non-spendable reserve that includes our revolving cash account,
146inventory stores, and prepaid expenditures. The nearly $4.6 million commitment was board approved for recruitment, retention, and continuity strategies and is dedicated to labor agreements to offset increasing costs of the employee share of healthcare. The $15.5 million assigned balance is identified for pending labor agreements yet to be settled for 2024 25 and 2526. Carryover expenditures and instructional materials 22.4 4 million is our state required minimum reserve for economic uncertainty calculated at 2% of total 202425 general fund expenditures equivalent of only one week of payroll. The balance of 24.8 million is unassigned and available only 350,000 greater than our June estimate. These are the components of restricted ending general fund balance. These balances are all categorized as legally restricted for these specific programs and include 32.6 million for expanded learning, 23.7 million for the arts, music, and
147instructional materials discretionary block grant and 36.9 million in learning recovery block grants to support positions and initiatives previously funded with ESSER funds as well as 15.9 million for VAPA education to highlight a few. These next two slides summarize the balances of the funds outside of the general fund, comprising an additional 456 million in ending fund balances. These are our next steps in our accountability process for the unodudited actuals. As I shared at the top of the presentation, the Sacramento County Office of Education will review our report and will forward it to the state department of education. The report will eventually be given to ED data and will be publicly available on the CDE website. Our external auditors will will audit our financials using professional standards and state audit guide. The audited financial statements will then
148be forwarded to the state and will be received by the board of trustees at a public meeting early next year. And of course, as always, I would not be remiss to acknowledge the team. And there are thousands of hours spent by the entire district team over the last four months to close the books and report on the unodudited actuals. We receive funding from close to 350 distinct sources and it is the collective district work by all of us that result in this report. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you. Thank you very much. Before we get to a vote, board members, any questions? No. Okay. Um then I will let's see. Nope. Before we do that, um Mr. Yang, are there any blue cards on this item? President Bus, there's no blue on this item.
149Thank you very much. Then I will entertain a motion to approve the 2425 unodudited actual income and expenditures. So move. Moved by Mr. Yang. Second. Seconded by Miss Baldwin. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right, we are on to board member and superintendent reports. Mr. Superintendent, anything? I do not. Thank you. Okay. Any board member reports? Looking looking, Miss Baldwin? Just getting it ready. Uh just wanted to report out that the 2 by 2 with the city of El Grove was completed this past couple weeks here. Uh it was a successful meeting. We were able to share items of mutual interest and confirm the processes for the superintendent search uh and the coordination with city and community input regarding the qualities
150our next superintendent should have. We also mentioned uh got a chance to have discussion around new construction sites. That was very helpful. Thank you very much. Any other board members? All right. Seeing none, then we are adjourned at 8:23 p.m. Thank you very much.