001good afternoon and welcome to the elro Unified School District special board meeting live streaming of full in-person board meetings will be available to the public via the Zoom platform today's meeting is being video recorded and will be available to the uh will be available on the district's YouTube website all right let's start with uh our land acknowledgement um I have Seline so uh Beth would you care to do our land acknowledgement happy too we acknowledge that the Elk Grove unified school district administrative facilities and schools occupy the unsuc unceded 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 and Memorial they continue to teach their traditional knowledge that comes from and responds to the needs of the
002land and people who share it may our daily lives and work teaching learning leadership and Community engagement support the Evol in vision of the Miwok for their community in 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 a successful education of our community thank you very much and Dr Collier will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance sure uh please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance place your right hand over your heart ready again 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
003thank you very much all right let's dive into our work of the evening board this evening will be considering candidates to fill the provisional vacancy on the board of the Elkgrove Unified School District we appreciate the interest that has been expressed in joining our board and we are excited about the opportunity to make this important decision for the benefit of those of you who are viewing this meeting please allow me to review the process that we will follow under the California Education Code the school board has 60 days from when a vacancy is created on the board to fill that vacancy tonight we consider making a provisional appointment within this 60-day time frame the appointment is made based on a majority vote of the school board this appointment will become effective immediately the term of
004the person appointed to the board depends on the term of the person who vacated the board position in this case the term of the former board member Gina Jamerson was set to end in late 20 20126 therefore the person selected for this provisional board vacancy will hold office until the next regularly scheduled election for District board members which will be November 2026 during the 2026 election a person will be elected to fill the 4-year term of the office for trustee area 4 the California Education Code recognizes the appointment as a provisional appointment that can be challenged if a sufficient number of individuals submit a petition calling for an election because of the cost of a special election we hope that such an election will not be necessary the Sacramento County registar office has estimated that
005a special election will cost the district approximately $330,000 the seven candidates being interviewed were selected by the board subcommittee after review of the applications received in the superintendent office all applicants met eligibility requirements and are being interviewed the initial order of the candidates has been determined using a randomized selection process each candidate will be asked four questions with a time limit of 5 minutes per question and a closing statement public comments will be heard after all candidates have completed their interviews after public comments comment each board member will be given an opportunity to identify candidates that stood out to them and explain their reasons board members may also use this time to explain the considerations and the qualities they are looking for in a future board member no motions will be taken during this time
006once every board member has had an opportunity to speak board members will be asked to identify their top three candidates a ranking sheet has been provided to each board member to assist them with identifying these three candidates once every board member has ident identified their top three candidates the board will engage in an open-ended discussion during which time the board president will accept motions and votes may be taken until such time as one candidate receives four votes in favor of their appointment once any motion receives four votes in favor the discussion ends and that candidate will be sworn in as the new trustee for area 4 again we want to thank all of the candidates for their interest in serving on the board of the Elkgrove Unified School District our decision tonight will be a
007hard one regardless of what we decide we hope that this process will encourage all of the participants and anyone else in the audience or following this process to consider running for the school board in the future all right so I think that means we are about ready start we okay yes we do have a couple minutes I do want say just a um if the board hasn't used one of the ranking sheets before just as an idea how this is this could be helpful for you so as a general rule what you'll do is when the first person interviews their name will go in the first box and then after the second person interviews uh whichever one you think um you think was ahead of the other you would put their name first and then
008the second candidate second after the third one so so in the end you'll have your candidates um in the order and then so just a helpful kind of tracking sheet for you not required to be used but sometimes it just helps when you're listening to a number of interviews um that's your call and if you want to start right at you know 4:15 so that the the time but that's you're the president you get to make that decision all right um so we have about five minutes um so uh Mr guel I see you're here so uh if you want to collect your thoughts we will prepare ourselves if anybody has any questions um and then we will start the interview uh promptly at 4:15 e e e [Music] all right so a brief uh
009explanation of what we're going to be doing here so um this interview should take about 25 minutes we have five questions to ask you well four questions plus a closing an opportunity for a closing statement um each question you'll have uh five minutes to answer the question the U my timekeeper right here um you should have it the time in front of you there's also a clock in various places if you need it um and I think that's about yellow turns yellow when it's one minute so you'll you'll have some heads up um but all right so I'm going to hand it off to our first uh question asker uh Miss Davis an effective board member requires both public meeting attendance attendance at school events site visits and hours of preparation what do you feel
010are the elements of a high functioning school board and how would you contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board well first good evening board president Vargas Board of Trustees superintendent Hoffman um thank you so much for inviting me to interview this evening uh for ELC grve Unified School District trustee area 4 I'm Dr Bryce gigel and I'm excited to share more about my background my values and how I would approach becoming a elgrove unified school board of trust with this first question an effective School Board is built on trust collaboration and a shared commitment to Student Success the part that energizes me the most about becoming a board member is attending school events and visiting School sites where I can celebrate the hard work of our students Educators and staff these experiences provide valuable
011insights into the district's strength and areas of growth ensuring board decisions are informed by real experiences and Community needs I am fully dedicated to the time commitments required to serve effectively on the egusd board I have the unwavering support of my family my wife Lisa who is also a school principal Harper our second grader Becket our K Gardner and Fitzgerald our TK next school year uh and yes they're all named after authors because their parents were English teachers as well as the encouragement and support of my superintendent and District leaders um where I'm currently employed this backing allows me to prioritize board responsibilities while maintaining my deep commitment to public education a high functioning board operates on The Laurels of Prof professionalism integrity and in and transparency as outlined in our egusd governance handbook some
012of the key Elements of Effective governance includes operating openly with trust and integrity while transparency builds public confidence and strengthens Community engagement we all hold a collective responsibility where our board must function as a United uh governance team while upholding greed upon norms and protocols respecting diverse perspectives recognizing differences among board members staff and the broader Community promoting inclusive decision-making understanding the role between the board and staff respecting that distinction between governance management ensuring the superintendent and his staff can effectively execute their responsibilities I added this one where we have a commitment to effective communication where there are no surprises there's no surprises between board members and the superintendent and and likewise to contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board I will prioritize being a listening leader actively engaging with students staff and community
013members allows the board to make decisions that truly reflect the needs of who we serve to achieve this I see our our board committing to hosting listening tours with students providing students with a platform to share their experiences and concerns ensures that policies are designed with their best interests in mind conducting empathy interviews with staff engaging directly with Educators and staff especially in programs that may require some improvement allows for more meaningful reciprocal dialogue and collaborative problem solving and lastly thinking of ways how we can participate in board agreed upon meeting structures like 2 by tws uh with concerned staff or constituents providing an Avenue for constructive discussions and resolution of issues in a respectful and solutions oriented manner ultimately my goal as a board member is to Foster inclusive collaborative and transparent decision-making processes
014that upholds the values of egusd by prioritizing open communication respecting diverse perspectives and staying committed to Student Success I will work to ensure that the board remains cohesive and an effective governance team thank you thank you very much for our next question Miss Alani please share your experience in leadership roles and any examples of working in education generally the community or community service or specifically within the elk grve Unified School District as a dedicated educator and Elk grve resident I bring a wealth of experience and commitment to supporting EG usd's Mission over my career I've had the pleasure of serving in varied roles I've served as school principal in two communities director of curriculum instructor coach English teacher substitute teacher and a founding board member of a charter school these various roles have honed my
015leadership collaboration and service unto others my unique educational background including a doctor in education and a degree in Business equips me to approach complex challenges with both a practitioners perspective and an academic Insight on the operations of a learning organization I have had the opportunity to work alongside amazing students Educators and families who are dedicated to student outcomes some examples of my work that directly correlate to student students increased feeling of connection and belonging on campus are where we have fostered a school climate that have produced over 95 active clubs across our school establishing programs such as peer counseling as an added Mental Health Resource while building student leadership efficacy and in addition of is leading our school team through three major construction projects in our CTE building that supports robotics Agriculture and transportation our
016Innovative stem building with our science and math classes and our Aquatic Center all while increasing the a through G college readiness indicator with our graduates as a board member I understand my role will be to support superintendent Hoffman and his staff to ensure students have an increased sense of belonging and achievement as I would want for my own children I am dedicated to supporting the success of egusd by ensuring our school board remains student centered in our discussions and our decision making with my background in education and serving on site council at ston Lake Elementary gohawks each experience has provided me Insight on addressing local needs while fostering community that enhances our schools in addition it truly has been a joy to serve as a youth soccer coach for Kuma CST we building relationships while
017teaching skills to young players has been at the Forefront these moments have strengthened my connection to El Grove and deepened my dedication to create opportunities for young people to thrive in these roles I understand the importance of a strong partnership between families schools and Community to support Student Success and to ultimately create a thriving El growth while I have much to learn I believe I can bring a holistic perspective to serve on the board and I am eager to listen partner and contribute to EG usd's continued success thank you very much for our third question uh Miss ballerini okay Dr gual please explain your definition of the following as it pertains to your role on the board of education transparency inclusion equity and accountability great question I would Define educational Equity closely to how the
018national Equity project defines it where each child receives what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential it is important our district continues to pour into our students who are furthest from opportunity through relationships and equable systems in turn I see students and families having Equitable access to their education imperative one example is supporting language Justice programming for interpretation and translation services for the home language egusd serves I'm reminded of my in-laws who are an integral part of our children's lives where English is not their first language and in my experience as School leader when we can align counselors and our staff who speak the same language of a student's home language then we see increased connection to school especially in the post-pandemic age where the mental health needs are at an
019all-time high among our youth with this I Define inclusion by celebrating the diversity of our schools the beauty of L Grove is our diverse Community where we can embrace our differences and teach acceptance of all backgrounds Creeds and identities some examples include supporting our students with IEPs as general education students first standing in solidarity with our lgbtqia plus Community lifting up and celebrating the voices of our historically marginalized black and brown communities while acknowledging that being multilingual is a real life superpower as a father of three biracial children it is important that as a board we take a clear unequivocal stance against hate or any acts that would dehumanize another individual we know these types of Acts can harm our historically disenfranchised community members the most as a board it is also our imperative to
020ensure transparency where there are clear structures for collecting input and feedback to ensure that we are creating a shared egusd Vision where the community can see themselves in the design of our schools the lcap is a tool which prioritizes transparency and input from educational partners in developing a collective responsibility which outlines goals and strategies to support student growth and success the lcap allows the board to review data and trends that inform us on how to make decisions for improving our district it's important that we hold feedback loops with our community to collect input while following through on the strategy set in the lcap and clearly identify when a priority Chang changes and explain why as an acting school administrator I have written lcaps and subses and I am personally invested in the district's success while
021understanding the diverse needs of our elro families thank you very much for our fourth question Miss Moore can you please identify three issues facing the elro Unified School District and explain how you would work with the board to address one of the three issues absolutely and first off I just want to recognize El Grove unified boast a lot of successes as we know such as a robust Academic Program Mental Health Services and having dedicated highly qualified Educators to name a few and if you haven't already today remember to thank a teacher the three issues facing egusd from my perspective as a perspective board member would first be placing an emphasis on student safety well-being and attendance student and staff safety is always going to be Paramount EG usd's attendance Improvement program to collaborate with safe
022centers and counseling services nurses to address barriers to student attend Nance and Improvement engagement is is great and we know when students are feeling safe we know when students feel safe are connected to trusted adults and peers and when they have the appropriate Services they that meet their needs is when their attendance begins to increase at school second focusing on our 2024 through 2034 facilities master plan and addressing the need for new schools Innovation and expansions to meet changing enrollment and demographics as you all know measure n approved by voters in 2024 has been critical in supporting and improving our schools third we will continue to focus on the implementation of the Arts education ro road map through prop 28 funding to expand Elementary Arts programming ensuring Equitable access to Arts education and response to
023community interest the one I'd like to dive a little bit deeper on is with our facilities modernization and expansion being an extensive Focus for the next decade for our district and I I believe I can support in this area with my recent experience leading our school team through the three major construction projects I understand understand the importance of including the voices and insights of those who will be using this space for years to come I would love to work with the board on ensuring transparency and accountability and the use of measure in funds through the citizens oversight committee collaborating to guide facility planning and project execution throughout EG usd's facility subcommittees ensuring educational partner have a voice throughout the build process leading to spaces that truly meet the needs of students and staff being an
024advocate for environmentally responsible and costeffective designs that support modern learning environments and lastly collaborating with District leadership to align facilities projects with the district's educational vision and long-term growth needs by addressing these issues with a focus on collaboration transparency and Community engagement I'm committed to supporting EG usd's continued growth and Excellence thank you very much and uh now uh please take five minutes to give us a closing statement M today but I wanted to share a little bit about the why my leadership story has been been defined by these moments of perseverance throughout my life from growing up in a broken home being raised in a bluecollar family where my father was a truck driver and my mother a telephone operator and being able to glean from their incredible work ethic or the moment that
025I failed 10th grade English plot t I taught 10th grade English or maybe it was the moment of struggling with depression as a team myself for the moment I heard the words from my guidance counselor who said College was just not in the cards for me and yet there have been many positive moments where Educators shaped my life and who I have become today like the moment during my senior year of high school a former history teacher saw me in a hallway and asked if I've applied to college yet this was not only the first time a person associated my name with being College Bound but also provided me with the agency and self-determination to consider choices for a life that included a postsecondary education from these moments I became a first generation college graduate
026and came back to serve as a high school English teacher at a charter school located a few blocks away from the home I grew up in my goal as a board member is to ensure that our system is set up by Design to support our students and not by chance like my journey was and I carry that with great pride and responsibility and serving more students and families at a scho as a school administrator today the potential of serving in a role in The District my children attend schools only fuels my commitment to serve the community that pours so much into them as an egusd border trustee for area 4 I will have unyielding passion to ensure our district and our schools provide Equitable support on individual student needs it would be a great honor
027to serve our elro community alongside you and I thank you for your time and consideration today thank you very much I appreciate it all right board members uh it seems we've got about 10 minutes until our next interview so please take that time to collect your thoughts and if you have any questions let me know e e e all right I think we're ready for our next candidate Miss Tong welcome and thank you thank you very much for joining us um so just very briefly how this is going to work is uh the board has four questions for you five minutes each and then we'll offer you an opportunity for a closing statement all right right I will pass it off to Miss Davis for our first question an effective board member requires both public
028meeting attendance attendance at school events site visits and hours of preparation what do you feel are the elements of a high functioning school board and how would you contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board thank you for the question I would like to first start off just uh thanking the board uh for giving me this opportunity and uh superintendent and uh for this very open you know selection process um I myself um are coming here really as a long-term resident of el growth specifically in District 4 area and U have uh two children who um graduated from the elro school district area and now have all gone to colleges and uh master program while I still have many niece and nephews who are continue to going to school in the elg school district which
029is the reason why um some people ask like hey you Mt Nester why are you doing this because we have continue many many um children through our family who continues to benefit from the school uh El gr School District that said the specific question is about the fact that how do you prioritize time giving this is a great involvement of time in order to be effective in this role um I'll give you a example why despite the challenges of you know everyday priority especially um You probably have seen from my um application um I do have a a fairly uh uh uh I'll call it uh engaged day job uh being serving on the uh Governor's cabinet running the operation for the State of California but I still made a decision to run for this
030or or be competing for the appointment of this particular position because I felt it's an important role to play as a parent as a active member of the community and as someone that have also gone through a public education system so much so when the application period was open I was actually living in Los Angeles in respond to the devastating uh wildfire and um two days before the application period was due all I had access was the phone and ability to print and I actually do not have ability to actually type out the allocation because I'm on the field that's why yes my application is handwritten in in this electronic age and some might wonder but if that's an indicator of why you know how important is when I dedicate my um mind to do
031something I will make time to deliver I will make time in this case if I am lucky enough to be appointed um to the board member I will make time to make to visit the schools talking to the staff talking to the students talking to the faculties talking more to the parents who I have heard from many many in my neighborhood are very very invested in making sure that their children get to continue receive the best education possible in the El School District those time invested is going to result into a better collaboration with the board better collaboration with the district better representation of The Voice of the students the parents that we're going to be representing so um I just want to use that as a a small example and while you know time
032is challenging but if you put your mind to it you can might make the right decision thank you very much all right uh next questioner is Miss albiani hi please share your experience in leadership roles and any examples of working in education generally the community or community service or specifically within the Elkgrove Unified School District um I would start by saying that um you know from an education specific um uh uh experience especially after listen to our first candidate he definitely said the bar High um so I'm not a educator you know firsthand but I am definitely growing up um have grown up in the Educator's family uh both of my parents uh were College professors when they were back in China and when we immigrated to this country um gosh how many years ago
033now nearly 40 years ago um they both also taught at the Sacramento City UniFi District which you know throughout our entire bringing we were surrounded by you know many of the conversation related to uh education education system public education system itself I myself as I mentioned it's a product of the local education system that said um currently in the role that I'm serving um for the State of California I am on The Advisory board for California State University um specifically focusing many of their academic advancement focus on Tech and Innovation I am also serving at the um California North State University Board of trustee where the focus there is developing you know curriculum as well as various supporting ecosystem to make sure the university and the health education continue to thrive um in addition to
034that um back to a little bit about the community service I always said my day job is um uh you know in the Professional Services as a public servant but my real job is really a volunteer in the community where I involve in moldable community organizations um including uh the Youth Sports leadership in our Grove including um the fact that I started a youth leadership program with a local Rebels basketball organization and when my children were going through the outgrowth systems they were both in the music program the U uh video production program the sports program and all of that uh the parent teachers organization the fundraiser event we all have stand behind all of those of uh concession stance and lastly um in term of further uh contribution to the city of El Grove
035I've also served two years um in the uh City Planning Commission between the time of 2016 to 2018 thank you very much for our third question uh Miss ballerini push this button there we go Miss Tong please explain your definition of the following as it pertains to your role on the board of education transparency inclusion equity and accountability our start I will start by speaking to um my understanding of what each one of these means and I'll and then I'll elaborate how I see myself um you know in the as a you know a a contributor in the port of um education transparency to me is a necessity to earn the trust of what you do in supporting the people that you represent and in order to really represent a VI you know uh the
036their voice you have to do everything that you can to Showcase and to be transparent and to demonstrate that what you do is outcome driven how the decision come along what's the rationale behind it not every decision probably you know is going to be the the best decision decision at the moment but if you take the time to explain and you take the time to um communicate well and you take the time to to meet with your constituents and represent in the voice that is a investment to the transparency site in order to build that level of trust inclusion I think this is at this day and age given how diverse the elro um school district is and the residents of elro this is abs absolutely something that we not have to practice every day
037and and and probably I always say should be part of our DNA respecting the different perspective respecting the different um experience respecting the different um approaches on how people solve problem and respecting the different outcome whether you agree or not agree but creating in an environment to allow people to feel safe to express their opinion to feel safe that their opinions will be heard and respected is really you know I believe it's the D DNA of a healthy community and equity in this case is you know Equity opportunity for students Equity to our educator Equity to our staff who's making our school system you know really robust and and and and um continue to thrive and Equity actually also goes to many of the parents who are very very eager to make sure that they
038contribute to the growth of the elg grth district in a healthy Manner and providing those opportunity if someone you know cannot attend the meeting in person we go to them if uh folks needs additional resource that they may not have access to we take the extra effort to provide that and really speaking from more of a apparent perspective um not the the work that I do on a on a daily basis and not um you know that as an educator itself but as a parents We Believe having access is the best way to demonstrate to our students that Equity is something that they could strive for as they are growing up in the environment supporting that and lastly accountability accountability sort of I shouldn't say sort of accountability to me completes the full cycle as
039transparency if a board member do not take accountability for their action how would that board member earn the trust and respect for the people that they represent accountability in many cases you know it may not be easy um because it maybe in a in in in a in a tough posision that you have to make a tough decision and at the time you're like wait a minute am I making a decision or later on could be a very you know a negative outcome but do you go out and be accountable for that that to me it's very very important and to not only practice that but continue to encourage your colleague in the board to have this type of operating principle transparency and accountability I believe is a necessity to make sure that this board
040received the highest um effect efficiency in operation as well as receive the support from the community thank you very much for our fourth question Miss Moore please identify three issues facing the Elkgrove Unified School District and explain how you would work with the board to address one of the three issues in looking at uh uh the various issues or topics I should say prob me issues of topic is a better word than issue that the board has addressed I do have to give a lot of um compliments for this sport having a very open an and and uh dialogue and talking through the rationale which is what I stated earlier that the transparency and accountability of this I do believe the board's already exercising that the top three issues that in my mind as apparent
041that are tracking for the school district are one the facility upkeep the expansion that and the recently with the support of the measure and what is accountability and and and the ex implementation of that budget that is something that I believe not only the school district but probably any you know public entity being funded um by the taxpayer money are running to this challenge of how do you balance a budget or how do you you know giving a limited budget with the growing need how do you balance the various need and not put the district into a deficit and of course the foundation to all of that and I do believe this is a a a very important topics for the board to continue to work closely with this district is what is a positive
042supporting environment for the workforce in this case the workforce is of course the educator all the staffs who are you know keeping the grounds of of the facility keeping the grounds of the school keeping making sure the students are safe all the support services on top of the administrators every day having their hard job to making sure the school district is running at the most efficiency as possible all of this together are providing a a healthy and safe environment where our students can really be striving and that to me the facility budget and the Workforce Development um it it's it's it's something that I would be interested to work on um when I uh if I'm again fortunate enough to be appointed to the board in term of one of those three issues I would
043probably sink my teeth in even more it's actually the uh budget side of it and is no different than the um entire State of California operation that we have to run even though um you know we can say hey we have already have a balanced budget or we can foresee there is going to be a deficit coming in even in the time there is a surplus continue to find efficiency you know from how we operate in order to drive other support or opening other programs or perhaps um uh continue to innovate in order to for the school to expand in the way without extra cost that type of operational mindset an Innovative mindset really needs to go into the consideration when you're talking about a tough budget year and this is something I think perhaps
044with my background as administrator and needing to do this level of work for the state of California I believe that it's a value I can bring forward to this board lastly just to close on on that that the school district itself doesn't operate on its own right if I you know looking at the superintendence here there's many states and local and you know Federal Regulation you have to be dealing with and many of those policy decision would also impact a school's operations health and or school's operations wellness and having the ability to really interpret as well as when needed challenge you know some of these policy in order for the betterment to support our students and our teachers and our staff in the district it's an experience that I would bring forward to this board
045and I think that's why to me having a healthy budget is really a kernel to a healthy district and that would be an area that I would be interested in work on thank you very much and now please take five minutes to give us a closing statement I would first to say that again especially ese after hearing our first candidate Dr gilo's um interview I'm my I I'm really really happy for the boore with the uh caliber of candidates that you'll be seeing tonight I know I'm the number two I've looked at everybody's um application online I think that speaks to how successful you all have been and the school district have been that's why you can ex you know attract all these talent coming out and wanted to serve in this role so for
046that I do want to congratulate uh to you already personally I probably you know aren't the most articulate uh when it comes to um you know the best way to run a a a a Schoop boore but I can say I'm invested so much from a fact that from a parents perspective who are those that may not be the most articulate but have the heart in the right place because the parents are the one that are advocating for their children who wanting that level of highest quality education and as a um someone that grow up English as a second language as someone that grew up from a family that immigrated to this country with nothing in their hands and with someone that was able to um you know receive the the the the benefits from
047public education this is very personal to me from a sense that if there's an opportunity to for me to give back I would love to have the opportunity um to be uh to to involve in that I do not have and I would not be uh right if I'm standing here telling you that you know I know everything about what a school district is I know how to be a board member I would not be honest with that but what I have is a interest to learn an interest to grow with you and continue to explore based on my experience that I have from my work and my other community involvement how to incorporate that into the operation of the district as mainly how to be a board member that represent the diverse voice in
048our community so I want to thank you um for the opportunity um as I said I think you have many many many highly qualified candidates and so regardless whether I get picked or not um I would continue to be um a resource to you all and hopefully an active member in the community and especially District 4 thank you very much we appreciate it and um to you and uh Mr gel I forgot to mention um we are going to have be interviewing candidates uh from now until about 8:00 um so if you you know want to stick around fantastic if you need to take a dinner break also fine um and then we'll have public comment and uh after that the board will make a decision and we will we do anticipate making a decision
049tonight so please do at some point come back to that yes thank you very much thank you all right board members we have about 11 minutes until our next uh next interview e e e all right I think we are ready for our next interview so miss Knox welcome uh thank you for coming um to give you a brief uh overview of what we're going to be doing so we uh this interview should take about 25 minutes we have five questions or four questions and an opportunity for a closing statement um and each question you'll be given five minutes so Miss Davis take us away an effective board member requires both public meeting attendance attendance at school events site visits and hour of preparation what do you feel are the elements of a high functioning
050school board and how would you contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board thank you um so the first thing I think about is student student centered decision-making so making sure that all of our decisions that were that are coming across our desk are that students are being considered first and foremost and that as we're discussing different policies and um different questions that come up always keep keeping students centered first the second thing is collaborative governance making sure that we're all working together as a board alongside our superintendent to make sure that all voices are heard it's also important that the community is a part of that collaborative governance because they have a huge part at the table because what their experience is is different than the board and it's different than um the superintendent
051the other thing that I would add is transparency and communication it's really important that um one the community is trustworthy and they know that we're trustworthy and so making sure that we're being honest and transparent about issues that are coming across our desk sharing with them what we can share um as well as making sure that um I'm building that transparency with you all um one thing for me is I'm new to something like a board um so this is very new so I can't pretend to have all the answers so being transparent about that I think is very important and knowing what my shortcomings are but knowing that I'm also eager to learn and contribute to the conversation is going to be important um how I would bring cohesiveness is making sure that we're
052having um strong clear dialogue with the community I want to make sure that um I'm being honest and clear and that they feel that they can be honest and clear with us um the other thing that I would bring is making sure that um we're collaborating um alongside them um and um the other thing that I would add is also making sure that the community's voice is Incorporated in the conversation um so that that would be how I would contribute to the cohesiveness of the board thank you very much our next question Miss albiani hi please share your experience in leadership roles in any examples of working in education generally the community or community service or specifically within the Oakgrove Unified School District thank you um so my career started as um someone coming into
053a nonprofit out of college I went to the University of Nevada Reno and I studied educational leadership after leaving the University of Nevada Reno I started nonprofit work at City of Refuge in Sacramento it's actually in the Oak Park area and in that role I worked as the co-director of shop which was a social emotional learning program that we did with Title One schools in the area we worked with atrisk underserved female students specifically and we talked with them about their identity and also those students that were having issues with um just behavior and things like that we found that shine was very beneficial to them to connect with other students in that type of format um outside of that role I moved to director of Workforce Development um this role I worked with mayor
054Steinberg's strong program um and in that program we worked with interns across the city of Sacramento as well as employers so I helped with internship placements I did orientations as well as did some parent engagement meetings I did some home visits to make sure that students were supported and that they knew that I was going to be someone who would be more than just a career coach but also Mentor them um and then through that I was the liaison between the student and the employer so anytime a student had an issue um at their employment um I would work with them to try to solve that issue um one example would be one of my students had Transportation issues she did not share that with the employer so the employer was under the impression that
055she just was not motivated and so I worked with the student to really understand what was going on and then brought the employer into a meeting and we were able to talk through that issue and the employer was actually really understanding and um was willing to work with the student so they could continue employment um so that's just an example of how I would work as a liaison between a student and the employer um the other role that I have is now and that's with educational results partnership I work as director of Outreach and engagement in that role I serve as um really a liaison between uh school districts and um our data system so for a while we had the cow Pass Plus data system so we worked with districts on what their um
056Data Insights were telling them and then how they could use that for grant opportunities and also find different Pathways for improvement um in that we shared best practices so I'm very familiar with working with um different districts throughout the state of California and elgrove unified school district is a part of that as well um personally um a lot of the students that I interned at um City of Refuge I still Mentor now so some of those students now are graduating from college they're finding you know some bigger jobs so one is going to be um getting their Ms in school psychology and actually going to get that covered through their job so um those are one of the great stories that I have and I'm hoping that I can continue to Mentor different students so
057that they can continue to have that person rooting for them making sure that they can go all the way in their career thank you very much for our third question Miss ballerini okay Miss Knox please explain your definition of the following as it pertains to your role on the board of education transparency inclusion equity and accountability um so transparency as I stated before it's really important that one we Foster trust and we do that within our board as well as the community so it's important for me to be um transparent about what I know and what I don't know one thing that I did before this meeting was try to read up on all the board policies and I I couldn't do it um but I got kind of far in that but I realized
058I wasn't going to be able to become a master of the board policies um so just understanding my limitations I think is really important um but that's something that I will be honest about throughout the process um inclusion is really important because I believe that there are a lot of voices that are not at the table um so making sure that those historically underserved groups are at the table whether that's students needs Community needs those need to be in the conversation as well Equity is really important goes in right in line with inclusion um so making sure that we're prioritizing policies um prioritizing student voice and making sure that those things are considered when we're talking about Equity because we know that everyone has a different need so I don't want just to get stuck
059on focusing on one group of students but making sure that we're thinking about the whole um because those are students in outro unified um accountability is another important factor I think that one thing that's important to me is ethics um so making sure that I'm adhering to board policy um making sure that I'm following communication protocols is important um and also just being accountable to each and every one of you so how I represent myself um outside of board meetings in the conversations that I have I think it'll be really important um to be accountable to each and every one of you the community and all of the students thank you very much and for our fourth question Miss Moore please identify three issues facing the elk grve Unified School District and explain how you
060would work with the board to address one of the three issues okay um so I noticed that there were um some issues that came up around infrastructure and Facilities so that's one thing and I know that measure n has passed so I know there's discussions about um maintaining or maintaining facilities and also expanding facilities um so that's one issue the other issue is the budget um that budget is a state issue but I know that that's something that we'll have to deal with here um so making sure that you know we're allocating funds in the right places will be very important and then Staffing um I saw that there will be uh push to hire 200 um either staff administrators or teachers by 2526 um so making sure that we're um bringing the best St
061that we can to serve our students um one of the issues that I would tackle and I would just use this as a best practices because again I I'm learning and I'm gaining experience as I go but one thing that I would do when um face with any of these issues is one going to our board president to make sure that I'm following communication protocols um so anytime an issue comes up I would make sure that I'm communicating that first second I would work with my constituency group my community to understand what their needs are and once I understand those needs I can formulate those and bring it to the board from that point I think as a we can deliberate together um as one voice and figure out the best path forward but one
062of my um real passions is making sure that I'm advocating for The community's Voice making sure that one that they can trust that one you know when they're telling me things that it's just not going in one ear and out the other but that I'm bringing it and actually advocating for those to be considered on the board thank you very much now please take five minutes to give us a closing statement thank you um so so I'm deeply committed to students that's something that I've always been passionate about um I went to Pleasant Grove High School graduated in 2010 um my Avid teacher Miss bees she was someone that um really saw something in me I never thought about college and I never thought about what I would do in my career um Miss whis
063is now retired um she's worked really really hard but she's someone that I think about um and who I want to emulate so I'm now not miss whis but I'm Miss KNX and I want to be able to make an impact with students so making sure that they feel that they can be something um giving them encouragement um as well as being on this board and being a representation of something that they can do um I never thought I'd be before you as a um trusty interviewee but here I am um and I want to just you know do my best to not only make my um Community proud but the students proud and my mom proud who's a single mom um who put a lot into me to be successful and get me to
064where I am today thank you for your time and consideration thank you so much um so we will be interviewing candidates until about 8:00 so feel free to stick around or uh take a dinner break at any point in time but um after we do after about 8:00 we will go right into um public comment and then board deliberation and we do anticipate making a decision tonight so thank you very much you and board members uh we now have a uh we are ahead of schedule so we have a healthy dinner break um so we will take a break from this until about 6 o'clock so we will be back at e e e all right let's return to order our next interview is Miss dilia Ballwin I feel like I want to come up
065there and Shake Your Hand welcome and thank you for joining us um so just to give you a brief rundown of uh what we're going to do so this interview is going to take about 25 minutes we have uh four questions and then an opportunity for a closing statement um each question and the closing statement uh we have about five minutes for you and uh Miss ballerin will be keeping time uh so with that I will hand it off to Miss Davis for your first question an effective board member requires both public meeting attendance attendance at school events site visits and hours of preparation what do you feel are the elements of a high functioning school board and how would you contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board thank you and I just want
066to start off by saying thank you so much for allowing me to come and share a little bit about myself and um how I'd love to come and serve with you all up here uh so the elements of a high functioning School Board I see are six clear goals and vision having a defined Mission and set of strategic goals to guide the board's activities is essential to create our shared purpose and keep us motivated to accomplish common objectives second effective communication by having open and transparent communication the board can function more responsibly to the needs of our district it is important for board members to feel empowered to express their ideas and concerns in the spirit of fostering collaboration and Trust internally with internal and external strategic Partners third diverse representation having a variety of
067perspectives will enrich board discussions diversity whether it's skills backgrounds or experiences enables the board to approach challenges from multiple angles and find innovative solutions Four Strong leadership effective leadership among board members and the superintendent is essential to collectively guide activities and reflect the mission and vision of our district and enhance our performance and reaching our outcomes fifth trust and respect it is pivotal to build positive collaborative relationships based on mutual respect and dignity for each other in order to build trust we end Rapport which enhances effective collaboration to achieve our goals and six development and commitment to continuous Improvement ongoing Education and Training for board members helps us stay informed about best practices in governance and education which will provide for more informed decision making to contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board I
068commit to living out these elements the board can count on me to engage actively in meetings and discussions to help Foster comrad and ensure an important perspective is heard I will promote inclusivity by encouraging my fellow board members to share their perspective in addition to mine to help identify various viewpoints and ideas to strengthen our board's overall cohesion I will support the transparent practices of by advocating for open communication about decisions challenges and successes we can build and maintain the trust and rapport with our Strate IC Partners to reinforce our commitment and Collective goals to ensure our students reach their Highest Potential I will engage in authentic relationship building with my fellow board members it is important that we get to know each other and understand how we came to be in these roles as
069we all clearly have a commitment to Student Success I will you can count on me to commit to continuous Improvement by promoting a culture of feedback and learning in preparation for this appointment process I researched helpful resources on the California Schoolboard association website to identify professional development opportunities to learn how I Can Be an Effective Schoolboard leader I am excited for the opportunity to complete the foundational courses that include orientation for new trustees effective governance student learning and achievement in regard to PO policy and judicial review fiscal responsibility with key financial concepts for new board members and advancing budget priorities and advocacy these foundations will support my growth learning and to best work collaboratively and cohesively with the current board with a commitment to these principles and these practices I'm confident that we can achieve
070a higher level of functionality and cohesiveness ensuring better governance and ultimately enhan ing educational outcomes for our community thank you very much our second question is with Miss Alani hi hi please share your experience in leadership roles and any examples of working in education generally the community or community service or specifically within the elk grve Unified School District yeah I currently serve as a City Commissioner for the diversity inclusion uh commission where I have worked collaboratively with other community leaders to ensure grve is and continues to be a city for all while serving uh while serving I have stewarded the creation of elk grve land acknowledgement and supported the efforts to um implement the pride flag raising at City Hall during the month of June in solidarity with lgbtq plus Pride events that take place
071regionally both achievements continue each year from their Inception and are clear evidence that elk grve is living out its commitment to being a welcoming City for all additionally as a commissioner I help organize and volunteer the annual Multicultural festival and other events through the commission's cultural connections uh event series for the past two seasons the Multicultural festival and I worked uh uh for the past two seasons of the Multicultural Festival I worked in collaboration with eg speaks CSD the city staff and to create a sensory room for families to attend the festival um who also need a break from the high sensory activities of the larger event this addition to the festival enhan the event to be more inclusive for Elk grve residents I also serve as a board member of EG speaks a Grassroots
072Community Action Group dedicated to supporting families with disabled loved ones and Educators who are committed to special education services thriving to support our most vulnerable community members I'm also a mother of neurode Divergent children who attend lagona Creek High School Elliot Ranch Elementary and John aart Elementary my children's part my children participate in mainstream education and special education so I'm actively involved in the my children's teams to ensure that they're successful in accessing their education through both 504 and IEP processes I have served as a School site Council parent uh to help identify the best use of funds and support the elcat process and finally I am an avid sports fan of Laguna Creek High School and thoroughly enjoy engaging with with and building Community with the soccer and volleyball girls teams families and unfortunately
073I am missing my daughter's playoff game tonight they are in mered um battling it out um in their first playoffs so it's been a while since Laguna Creek High School girls have made it to playoffs so this is a very exciting time for them uh and I have served and volunteered in my children's schools for field trips classroom help and schoolwide activities thank you very much Miss ballerini with our third question Miss Balwin please explain your definition of the following as it pertains to your role role on the board of education transparency inclusion equity and accountability thank you in the context of being a school board trustee who is responsible for district policy and selecting and holding accountable the super intendent transparency inclusion equity and accountability are absolute tenants that must be met to serve
074responsibly and ensure District live District lives out its mission of all children reaching their Highest Potential transparency is Paramount as we are entrusted by our community to do what is best for all children and families who entrust their most precious humans to grow learn and develop we are significant part of the village that uplifts our future leaders and contributors to society therefore the actions we take must be clearly communicated in an accessible manner to students parents Guardians Educators and the community at large as I mentioned being a village for children we cannot do it alone we must be intentional with our strategic Partners to ensure we are fulfilling our responsibility to our community the district is in the business of creating effective educational experiences so all children reach their Highest Potential and that requires being
075inclusive by collaborating with leaders who are aligned in that goal there is Great Value in partnering and repres partnering with represented leadership to better understand the full picture of the challenges are classified and certified staff face and ensure that we are investing appropriately in their quality of life and dignity as they are providing for the well-being of our students additionally partner with parents groups and local Advocates who give voice to our most vulnerable will keep us keep our Focus broad so that we are not narrow-minded in our decision making partnering with students is a key is key because this they are the best litmus test to gauge how District policy is supporting their success upholding Equity is how we ultimately are accountable for all our students reaching their Highest Potential itial we only need to
076look to history to acknowledge the devastating failures of public education on underrepresented student populations egusd is not that District because it upholds firm the value of equity and inclusion and that is lived out through the educational Equity team and the district's commitment to diversity equity and inclusion we must continue to be a district that supports Fair outcomes for diverse students and staff by treating them in ways that address their unique advantages and or barriers finally with accountability we must act responsibly to address our fi our fiscal needs to meet our district requirements we have a fiduciary responsibility to students and families of our district and we must meet the state requirements by utilizing resources appropriately and I'm committed to ensuring the greater needs of this of our community will always take the top priority thank
077you very much Miss Moore for our fourth question please identify three issues facing the elk grve Unified School District and explain how you would work with the board to address one of the three issues thank you three issues I see the district facing currently include State funding from the governor's budget appears to provide one-time discretionary funds to help with rising cost and liabilities for local educational agencies clearly more stable funding would be much easier to work with when planning for district needs in addition the wildfires have strained resources and with the LA tax extension State revenues will be impacted a second issue facing the district addressing inconsistencies of school leveled classes available in neighborhoods throughout the district for special education families are expected to send their children to as many as four different schools before
078they reach the first grade this makes it difficult to cohesively be a part of a school Community when there's no expectation of staying at that school site beyond the for beyond the school year mainstream education provides for stable enrollment for families during the elementary years from TK to sixth grade personally this has happened to our family as our youngest attends pre as our youngest has attended preschool through um special education and he has been enrolled at Doner Elementary folks Ranch Elementary back to Donner Elementary and is now enrolled at John aart where he is finishing kindergarten in March we will learn if he needs to be at a new school site for first grade a third issue is adequate transportation for students particular particularly for families with multiple students enrolled in elementary middle and high
079schools as many of the schools start at the same time it's nearly impossible for families to get their students to school on time which drastically has an impact on student attendance I personally experienced this as my daughter and two sons must be at three different School sites around the same time we currently have a bus that picks up our one at home and then we must take our other son to the neighborhood school to catch his offload bus to his school and then finally get our daughter to lagona Creek High School as a school board member I would work collaboratively with our colleague with my colleagues to review District policy to ensure that it is not causing barriers that result in challenges for families with District provided Transportation I would request internal reports on the
080state of our District transportation pinpointing any challenges that impact student attendance and to better understand the effectiveness of District transportation I will also work collaboratively to learn how District leadership has identify Transportation issues and brainstorm how to support efforts to address Transportation needs while also visiting various elementary middle and high schools to hear how the transportation needs are being met and learn how students attendance may be impacted collecting this information will result in more informed board decisions finally any board decision that leads to improvements of our transportation challenges I would commit to sharing those out to the community Through appropriate and accessible platforms thank you very much now please take five minutes for a closing statement thank you so again thank thank you so much for having me tonight this has been truly an honor
081um I too would never have um thought that I would be in this position so I am just very grateful to be here um sharing a little bit about myself with you all I am deeply committed to educational success of not just my children but all children in our community I started my career as a classroom teacher and continued my journey as an educator by supporting the first generation and lowincome students achieving college success I have taught developmental language arts courses and Community College and provided students um student sorry excuse me and have provided student Support Services to cowork student parents enrolled in Los Ros Community College District though I have switched career paths to Human Resources with the California Department of Human Resources I am still very committed to educational success of our students
082in Elk grve as a first generation lowincome college graduate myself I know firsthand the impact of having a quality educational experience and I know that egusd is providing high quality education to ensure all students reach their Highest Potential I commit to contributing and supporting the mission and values of our district my children are 15 6 and 5 years old so I am in this for the long term I have no political ambition to truly want and I truly want to serve our community in this role because it directly aligns with my passion to serve students to thrive and reach their fullest potential becoming a school board member aligns directly with my passion and commitment to our community and I value to work collaboratively with parents students Advocates school and District leaders represented associations our teacher
083for our teachers and classified staff to ensure our district invest appropriately to meet our common goals of our students succeeding in our community I will bring a perspective that is representative of many families that make up the lagona 4 area I honored to to serve and be a resource that our community can rely on I'm committed to working through challenges to find solutions that are best for our students and support staff to continue to do the great work they do every day thank you very much uh thank you for the time and um we so we will be interviewing candidates until about 8:00 um if you need to leave that's fine uh if you'd like to stay but but uh we do ask that everybody come back uh around 8:00 so that we uh cuz
084we do anticipate making a decision tonight so thank you very much thank you again I appreciate it and board members we have about 10 minutes until our next interview e e e all right the board is ready for our next interview um Dr McManus white didn't think I saw her all right well want to see oh perfect I'll just keep this handy hello welcome thank you so much for joining us uh so really quick rundown of how this is going to work um this interview should last about 25 minutes uh we have four questions and then there will be an opportunity for a closing statement each uh you know each question and the closing statement we have uh five minutes for you um and Miss ballerini will be keeping uh keeping time so with that
085I will toss it to uh Miss Davis for our first question okay an effective board member requires both public meeting attendance attendance at school events site visits and hours of preparation what do you feel are the elements of a high functioning school board and how would you contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board okay first I want to address the metin of the start of that before it even gets to the question you know being timely present site visits and my hope is that through my application and letters that have been sent in on my behalf from community members that that is evidence that I possess those qualities and skills so I wanted to address that first second of all elements of an effective Schoolboard well um first of all I want to start
086with my own personal motto none of us is as smart as all of us um something I live my life by and something that I will bring as the foundation to this this group um so with that in mind um first off I think very important to have goals and Visions um as a school board member and just like we ask our teachers to do backwards mapping I would think that that would be a good practice for board members also to start with the end in mind where do we want to be and then backtrack how are we going to get there what steps will be needed um next I think it's very important for Schoolboard members to be lifelong Learners um I can only assume that we are all you know in that same
087frame of mind about being lifelong Learners because you're here you're devoting your time um to all kinds of new elements and issues that face our students in our schools each and every day and year um next the qualities that I think are important are already outlined in your question number three where we were we going to be asked to Define things like transparency accountability Equity I feel that those are all qualities of a effective school board and sorry you know starting with accountability we're accountabil we're accountable to our community that's who we're serving we're accountable to one another to show up prepared to be knowledgeable to be asking the relevant questions involving the stakeholders um Equitable removing the barriers that might be um limiting people to share in these Endeavors so I think that's important
088also um so there was Equity being account being accountable to one another and accountable to our community um all that being said how will I fit into this and be a cohesive member I am a servant leader I am not coming with my own agenda a political agenda I'm coming with the group's needs in mind and working together collaboratively as a group um and the group is more than just the group here it's everyone who's here it's all of our unions that are serving our student students in so many different capacities it's our parents and it's our community also so um involving all of those elements will help me to Be an Effective and cohesive member of this group and really relying on my background and firm belief in being a servant leader thank you
089very much our second question is with Miss albani hi please share your experience in leadership roles and any examples of working in education generally the community or community service or specifically within the elro Unified School District okay I'll start specifically with elro Unified School District as you know from my my application I've had two children now functioning adults great citizens um went through the elgrove unified school system and I have a grandchild who will be entering the system in about a year so I'm fully invested in continuing my support and work with the elgrove Unified School District um on a professional level I am a professor at saak State and work in their single subject teaching credential program and we have collaboratively with the other professors 140 students in the single subject um teaching credential
090program and we have many placed here in El Grove so I definitely have a pulse check on what's going on in the elro school schols I'm in the elgrove schools too because I do su supervise student teachers and as you know site visits are a valuable resource in gleaning information morale um a sense of teamwork you know all of those things so that's my experience specifically with elgrove unified now in a broader perspective my leadership and educational background is um quite varied actually I started as a classroom teacher high school English for 17 years and I reluctantly left the classroom I was very much encouraged slash pressured to leave the classroom to have more of an impact so initially I started as a um instructional coach at a large Comprehensive High School with about 2100
091students where I was responsible for tracking data noting instructional Trends doing data walks and instructional walks with admin leading teachers on data and instructional walks also and then um sitting down at the table um analyzing what we found coming up with a plan of action um implementing professional development followup more data collection more walks more professional learning um just just to really focus on the instruction at that one site from there I became um a par Consulting teacher within the district and that's where I worked with struggling teachers who had received poor reviews um again very datadriven um you know what was going on in the classroom what we were seeing how people were feeling and then coming up with an intensive plan to work on that teacher's instructional um practices their classroom environment the
092norms and so on um from there um my last position before I retired from um my district was as an instructional specialist in the language development office where I helped to oversee 10,000 English Learners and within that role um lots and lots of hats that I wore um but the main number one responsibility was adhering to all of the state and federal regulations that go along with English learner and the specialized money that accompanies those students also you taking note of our duly identified students with you know who are identified as special ed and as an eel putting on districtwide trainings um there was about 40,000 students in the district and about 3,000 teachers so putting on you know series of dayong trainings focusing in on designated ELD integrated ELD um language-based instructional practices um
093I also uh presented at national conferences such as California Association of bilingual Educators National Association of bilingual Educators I also built the Seal of biliteracy program within our district um started the first year with 60 seniors who earned this award and when I retired there were over 400 seniors earning this prestigious award that they can use when they're applying to colleges scholarships and even employment proving that they truly are career and college ready I also built the pathway to biliteracy program for the elementary students it it's not a nationally recognized award but it shows them the pathway to the Seal of B literacy because the seala by literacy is something that can't just be started your senior year it has to be started your freshman year and you build towards it so yes let's start
094it at the elementary school level get our kids excited get them into uh the mode of wanting to earn this distinguish award thank you very much Miss ballerini has our third question okay okay Dr mcmanis White please explain your definition of the following as it pertains to your role on the board of education transparency inclusion equity and accountability okay can I ask for you to repeat those terms at any point I can repeat them right now if you'd like okay or okay transparency inclusion equity and accountability okay all very important terms in the community setting the education setting and working beautifully with my um with my philosophy of being a servant leader so first transparency um like I said I am coming with no hidden agenda no political agenda um I've been very transparent in
095my application and not only with this process transparency is so important with all all stakeholders as I mentioned before there are so many moving pieces to a child's educ ation in elgrove unified from site administrators teachers um the janitors the secretaries the bilingual assists the yard Duty people everyone plays a role and the more transparency we can have with each of these members of our group um the more buyin there's going to be in our common goal of working together for our students um second in being inclusive um we want to take down barriers that are there that are preventing people community members from being involved in the school setting um actively working for our students and you know some examples of that is that you do hold your board meetings online that removes barriers
096for people who have transportation issues um translation services for students for parents who English is not their predominant language their strongest Language by chance which I there's many languages within our district um so the more inclusive the more people feel involved and have buyin into our shared Vision third Equity correct right again goes hand inand with being a servant leader respecting all points of view work working for the good of the group not for singular gains um and the last trait you mentioned accountability account very accountability got it thank you um we have to be accountable on so many different levels first and foremost to the community to those who are sending their dear children to us um we need to be responsive answering their phone calls answering their emails um trying to get them
097the answers that they want working with them for Resolutions um we have to be accountable to one another um I know that you did a lot of back work getting ready for today reading all the letters the applications um putting in time collaboratively um that's accountability and like I said one of the the important foundations of this work could you repeat the question again oh sorry that was the last one yes all right thank you very much Miss Moore has our fourth question please identify three issues facing the elk Unified School District and explain how you would work with the board to address one of the three issues this was a tough one um because there's so many you know points of interest um first of all as is evident from my application is campus
098security the security of our students getting to and from school um I just going to mention that one that's not the one I'm going to address because I did address it in my application but that's definitely one at the top of my list the second is The Chronic absenteeism um I have to admit that I was surprised when I started doing my data dives into the schools within area 4 and seeing in general at least a 20% absentee chronic absenteeism rate and actually Joseph Sims with an improved 25% um that was at school my children attended so um it I was a little sad to see that um but again I saw that it was addressed in the lcap it was a goal there's um resources being put to it I know it will be
099monitored so again that's not what I'm going to address my third concern is that that I'm going to address is that only 50% of elro unified's English Learners are showing progress we have 10,000 English Learners that means that 5,000 students are showing no progress and in fact when you dig into the data about 20% of them are losing progress meaning they scored poorer this past year than they did the year prior so that was that was alarming to me and as I dug in deeper into our multilingual Learners and the resources available to them there were several things that I took note of um first of all there's a a beautiful there's beautiful presentations on the web page um for multilingual learners but when you go to the links many of the links don't work
100or they lead you to a Google doc that we don't have access to that was a little concerning um it's not read readily available because the link doesn't work what um curriculum is used at the high school level um the the curriculum that is used at the elementary level wonders that's another topic to talk about um for another day um another area of concern with English Learners in general was that at the high school level the offerings of ELD at the high school level are are quite limited and actually you could have a freshman come in at one of the higher ELD levels and not reclassify and still need more L and there would be none available to him they would run out of classes so I'm wondering what would happen at that point um
101I was also concerned to see that English Learners were mentioned on the lcap but they were really only mentioned as to what they were there was no talk about the data am I out of time oh okay I just see some looks going on um there was no talk about the data there was no plan of action um and so this was concerning to me um integrated dis integrated um elg was only mentioned again as a definition of what it was there was no Pathway to what that looked like at the high school level or at the elementary level so I just I saw a lot of gaps that um alerted me and got me thinking and the beauty though is that these are all things that can be addressed easily with data walk instructional
102walks with admin at the site with teachers at the site I see that there's quite a few support staff in the multilingual office perhaps you know working with a trainer of trainer models uh with them where they're trained to be doing you know these data Gathering and walks and then coming together with the stakeholders and coming up with a plan it's it's not something that's requiring additional funds um I'm about not just investing more and more in programs it's working with what we already have and there are some defin definite language-based instructional practices that are e easily implemented you know sitewide districtwide um and so that's one way that I would propose to start um working with this challenge thank you also if I have time I noticed there again was only the definition of
103the Seal of biliteracy there was no pathway of how elgrove unified seniors can achieve this prestigious award I was surprised by that and there was no mention whatsoever of the pathway to biliteracy which as I've explained before is a pathway to this prestigious award for our seniors so again notes of concern there but again um easily addressed thank you very much uh and and that was all of our questions so now please take five minutes uh to give us a closing statement okay well I first want to say that I I really believe that this practice that we've gone through here tonight is um an Exemplar example of what a functioning Schoolboard and Community looks like you clearly had a goal in mind that everyone has shared and you've worked collaborative collaboratively on to F
104fill this position um that was step one you've been very transparent with the community um with the process and the expectations you know that's a second high quality um example right there third you have been accountable to the community and to those who have applied for this position taking the time to read the applications the letters um to do your homework so you came into this prepared so that you could work together collaboratively and efficiently so I just wanted to you know point that out that um this has been a great example of how the school board works um next I just I wanted to say that um you know it's been an honor to have the time here to share my thoughts my vision my beliefs and My Hope Is that I've given you
105several snapshots of what it would look like sound like feel like to work with me in this setting I know it's hard because I've been talking um but really I'm a a very engaged listener I'm an observer I use my words carefully but deliberately things that you can't see in this process but again hopefully evidence through my application and through letters that have come in um and I just want to end with saying it would be an honor to work with you and the community and all other stakeholders um to continue the good work that's already in place because there's so much to celebrate in this District I mean I could make a list of all of the classes the programs the sporting um opportunities available to our students um there's a lot of good
106things already there that of course still need effort and concern and Vigilant oversight um but there's a lot of good things but there's also as we know areas of concern where we can shine a light collaboratively each with our own lens as we work together and the community to find the best outcomes for our students who we're working for so thank you for the opportunity thank you very much we appreciate your time um we anticipate continuing interviews until about 8:00 so if you do leave please come back promptly after that we do anticipate making a decision tonight so thank you very much board members we have about seven minutes until our next interview e e e all right we are ready for our next interview next up is Mr Ali Moa thank you so much
107for joining us just giving you a lay of the land before we get started um so this interview should take about 25 minutes we have four questions and an opportunity for a closing statement um each of the questions in the closing statement uh you'll be given five minutes and Miss ballerini will be keeping time for you uh with that with that I will hand it off to Miss Davis for our first question an effective board member requires both public meeting attendance attendance at school events site visits and hours of preparation what do you feel are the elements of a high functioning school board and how would you contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board you know in my experience in serving on boards and working with boards uh some of the key elements of
108a high functioning School Board would be having a common goal in vision and having a commitment to those goals and vision as a board uh would be certain to be very effective another element would be accountability driven um where we can focus on common policies that will improve uh student achievement and also staff working environment I think is very important uh another element is collaborative relationship and that collaborativeness has to be not only with each other but with staff the community internal and external stakeholders uh which leads me to my next thing is uh align the ability to align and sustain resources within the district working together to align and sustain those resources such as whether it's professional development uh Community engagement uh those type of uh ideas would be sufficient uh the the board
109would have to lead as a United Team uh where they would work hand inand in showing common support with superintendent working together in alignment of each other if if you both have the same common goals and both on the same page in the same message going across to the community I think that's a very effective board uh and lastly uh continuous team development uh for not only the board but staff uh in the district as well as far as what I can bring uh to bring cohesiveness uh to the board uh I feel that in my personal experience I could bring uh a work ethic of collaboration um also as well mutual respect and when I say mutual respect we're not just talking about listening to each other but actively listening and truly understanding the
110opinions and perspective of each board member and then lastly being accountable to each other being accountable is more than just showing up it's about being prepared it's about showing respect to each other it's about show respect to the community and understanding that the decisions you make as a board affects the community as a whole thank you very much Miss albani has our second question hello please share your experience and Leadership roles and any examples of working in education generally the community or community service or specifically within the Elk Grove unified school district I'll start with just some generic or standard leadership roles that I've uh positioned myself into as far experience goes I'm self-employed self small business owner uh I I lead a group of Staff uh to make sure that we provide services to
111our community in addition to that I've served on many Community boards uh starting with the Sacramento mon New Year where we host probably one of the biggest events of the year in the Sacramento County also developing and starting uh nonprofits I've started two nonprofits that give back to the youth in Sacramento County uh specifically education uh related I've served on I I have served on School site councils at M Garvy Elementary School in addition to also serving as an alternate to the superintendent's um advisory committee as well in 2022 and 2023 my entire life uh I've always believed in volunteer services and so I've engaged myself in a lot of community services um I've developed a tree planting program in El Grove and they work we work with El Grove students giving them the opportunity
112to to come back to the community plant trees in the community and having an ownership stake into the community and I'm pleased to say we've planted over 100 trees over the last two years in El Grove alone i' I've you know coordinated numerous blood drives with the American Red Cross in El Grove and in addition over the past 10 years I have volunteered and dedicated my service into youth sport and trying to help out the youth as well thank you very much Miss ballerini has our third question I want to get your last name is it mua or MOA either one's fine but mua is the okay I don't want I don't want to make a mistake okay Mr mua please explain your definition of the following as it pertains to your role on the
113board of education transparency inclusion equity and accountability my definition of transparency is open and truthful communication with one another and also with other internal and external stakeholders having no hidden agenda giving truthful opinions and be willing to accept the opinions of others as it relates to inclusion inclusion would in my opinion what that would be is making an effort to include all internal and exteral stakeholders respecting and taking into account all of their opinions what I've learned over the years in serving on boards and just working in organizations that when you really listen to others opinions it can help reduce conflict it can improve problem solving abilities and also enhance communication skills with each other with Equity uh my definition of that is eliminating Equitable practices and also ensuring that each student and staff member
114receive their services that they need to be successful in our district there is no one solution to the entire District each student and staff member needs specific services in order to be successful and as board members uh if we collectively can uh give that Equitable Services it'll be really uh important in addition to equity of course the diversity Equitable and inclusion of all stakeholders lastly with accountability as a board member you have to make yourself available you have to be available not to the other board members but to your community to stakeholders to always be prepared or board meetings to be prepared for events to be prepared to support and have uh conversations with your board members that can move forward in a positive direction and then lastly with accountability is being having having open
115communication with internal and external stakeholders because we are serving our community and without having that open communication with them we won't understand if we're doing what's right for our community or not thank you very much Miss Moore has our fourth question please identify three issues facing the Elkgrove Unified School District and explain how you would work with the board to address one of the three issues you know I never see things as issues I always see them as challenges uh things that we can over come collectively some of the challenges that I do see U that that is affecting the O Unified School District uh that was mentioned before is chronic absenteeism um Dei diversity Equity inclusion with that coming up that's an issue um academic performance for groups uh while El Unified School District
116may have an over Brad high achievement percentages within some of those subgroups U subgroups category uh population is suffering and not doing well but as far as how I would address one of these issues whether it be chronic absm uh academic performance uh my general uh policy or way to attack a challenge is one to develop some type of a committee or group of individuals who can first discover and analyze the data once we can gather and analyze the data that's causing the issue then we can engage internally amongst each other in addition with ex external stakeholders to find out what they believe are the issues and also potential resolutions as well providing the data then back to the team to discuss and finding a solution and then my third step is creating a test
117environment whether that's creating a Sandbox or a test environment where we can apply theories or strategies of how to resolve issues and see the outcome of those issues based on measurable goals if we reach the measurable goals that we set out for then the board can apply districtwide I think that's an opportunity that I would apply in there measurable goals I mentioned that I mentioned that um having something that we can measure our decisions up against is important so we would know the level of our success and that's just not measuring the successful level of what we accomplished but also measuring the engagement level of our community and stakeholders as well then lastly and most importantly is uh collectively making a decision often times you will find yourself feeling like you have found the answer
118to a solution but it may not be the right solution as a whole in working with your community team to to come up with that collective decision is the best way to go and so that would be the way I would approach resolving any challenges that I would be facing in the AL beautifi School District thank you very much and that is all the questions we have so please take five minutes to give us a closing statement all right well thank you all for your attention today um you know one of the things I've recognized and learned through my personal experience about leadership is that it's not about one person or one person that's really strong on the board but it's more about a group of people working collectively together and achieving results together if
119appointed to this vacancy what I can assure you is that you will have my full commitment my full my full respect compassion and collaboration in making okra Unified School District better for all students and staff that are involved so thank you for your time and I appreciate thank you very much we appreciate your time um we anticipate uh continuing to interview until about 8:00 so if you go anywhere please come back by then um and we do anticipate making a decision by the end of the night thank you uh board members we have about 18 minutes until our next interview e e e all right we are ready for our last interview of the evening Mr Mark Ellis good evening welcome fantastic and I hope all of you are doing fantastic we're wonderful it's you
120know anyway welcome thank you so much for joining us um just to give you a brief overview of how this is going to work um this interview should last about 25 minutes uh we have four questions and an opportunity for you to give a closing statement uh each question in the closing statement uh we'll give you five minutes to answer uh Miss ballerini will be our timekeeper right here um so without further Ado I'll hand it off to Miss Davis for our first question an effective board member requires both public meeting attendance attendance at school events site visits and hours of preparation what do you feel are the elements of a high functioning school board and how would you contribute to the cohesiveness of the egusd board hi first of all I think that uh
121the most important uh element of a high functioning board is to be able to listen you're listening to the public you're listening to your Administration those who support you here you're listening to students and faculty um the old adage is that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we listen twice as much as we speak and I firmly believe that is that uh listening is the first and foremost step um to being a successful board secondly I believe in honest and open communication um let's not lie there's going to be times of discontent on the board there's going to be disagreement there's not going to not every situation is going to be full alignment and when you're behind those um chamber doors that is your opportunity to be honest and open with
122each other um but you have to still do it in a respectful manner you have to be able to you take your turn and then you listen and it's someone else's turn and you hopefully get to uh a position um that people can that the board can agree on um third thing I think uh to be effective is to be able to Prior I board has to consider needs and they have to consider their wants there's not a school district in this country that doesn't have more needs and wants than money okay and being able to say I've got X dollar and this is what I need to focus on is we need to cover the needs first and then if there's xus y left over then we can do some of these wants um
123what I bring to the board is I am a known collaborator there's a huge difference between collaboration and compromise by definition compromise is a lose lose situation I give up this if you give up that collaborate is I'm going to bring the best I have to the board and I hopefully you bring the best you have as well and if I can get on board with 75 80% of something you want and you can do likewise with something we'll have a deal I will vote for what you want and you will vote for what I want it's not a perfect solution but it's better than no solution and uh or it's better than a stalemate and so what I bring is I bring a spirit of collaboration with my fellow board members thank you very
124much Miss ballerini has our second question I'll to the second question oh I'm sorry hi Miss albani has our same question oh good please share your experience in leadership roles and any examples of work in education generally the community or community service or specifically within the elk grve Unified School District oh thank you so uh I have a parent of three daughters who were students at Charles Mack Harriet Eddie maguna Creek High School the California monor project Joseph ker and kassum Mok High School um been an active parent um from the time my very first daughter was in kindergarten at Charles Mack I was the School site Council um uh chairman at that school um over the years I have been um a volunteer parent I've been a band parent um I was even a
125girl scout leader at one time um in uh to uh show some of the ultimate sacrifice of supporting the school district um we even hired the Kum nuk Jazz Ensemble at my daughter's wedding that was a true Financial commitment to this school district um outside of the school district I've also had other opportunities uh I was asked to uh if I'd be willing to teach in an after school program uh in the Sacramento School District at Caroline wiel I taught oceanography to fourth and fifth graders for an after school program uh it was a wonderful experience uh for them lastly I want to highlight um in my my professional career with US Army Corp of Engineers I was deployed to Iraq for a year in 20052 2006 in addition to being the on officer one
126of the things I did was I was also leading a program that did restoration of public infrastructure police stations fire stations medical clinics and schools and schools was my passion there and during the rehabilitation of these schools we put in new doors and new windows we provided electricity we had running water and toilets that actually flush okay and then we would actually when these schools open we would go to the school and to see the excitement on these children you know with their uniforms their white shirts and bosses and navy blue jumpers and pants in the backpacks and to see The Joy on their face for many they were going to school for the very first time this was a period of time after Saddam Hussein had destroyed that country in the whole infrastructure the
127schools were so limited at the time that many of the parents or many of the schools could only send one kid to school because they were that impacted and that the parent had to decide what child do I send and it's not necessarily the oldest oftentimes it was one that they deemed to be the smartest they would take and that kid would go to school come home and teach his siblings everything that he could remember in that day now that entire family of children that entire neighborhood had the opportunity to go to school and we did this over and over and over and to think that I had a part of that I was leading a program to rehabilitate these schools there's nothing like seeing the Joy on the face of a kid on his
128first day of school thank you very much Miss ballerini has our third question Mr Ellis first thank you for your service welcome that's not of the questions but I can say the please explain your definition of the following as it pertains to you pertains to your role on the board of education transparency inclusion equity and accountability thank you so uh first of all transparency I I look at transparency as being able to add Clarity to an item you know to an issue or a concern or whatever um it is removing things like doubt and vagueness and uncertainty um if this was you know court of law you would say it's simply tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth that to me is transparency don't lie tell it as it is um
129inclusion you probably saw uh in the letters of reference that I provided I am a come one come all person I have no um restrictions on uh whom I associate with and so for me inclusion is being being able to incorporate um groups of people or in this case students who may be at risk of being left behind a specific example um would be uh inclusion could be to develop a strategy or an approach that would um incorporate special needs students into a traditional classroom I'll tell you why this is important is one for that student he has got a label on him from other students but now he's being included or she is now being included that boosts that individual students self-esteem tremendously that he is not or she is not in a special
130class or a special program they are in a mainstream classroom and it does volumes for them to actually progress um because they're not being pigeonholed uh and labeled as a special needs student so to me that inclusion uh is important um Equity is to me being able to um treat people fairly I just mentioned labels um I would rather have somebody when I think of equity I want person to be described by their character I want somebody if they were to describe me I want them to say Mark is an honest individual he's kind he's a hardw he has a sense of humor I don't want them to say well he's short he's got blue eyes and he's handsome I that's not what I'm looking for see I think we need to focus on an
131individual's character and to be non-judgmental when it comes to equity um I think that diversity inclusion equity and accessibility lead us to a sense of belonging and lastly with uh accountability accountability is is being able to acknowledge and own your own actions whether it's good bad or ugly you own it there's also a a sense of timeliness with accountability accountability isn't something that happens a month after the fact you can also with accountability say upfront I'm going to put this out there and if you got a problem with it I'm the guy I own this and so I see that as accountability thank you very much Miss Moore has our fourth question please identify three issues facing the elk grve Unified School District and explain how you would work with the board to address one
132of the three issues okay um I I I think I've focused on some of the same things um that some of the other candidates but one thing I I do want to bring up as an issue is sources of funding um not going to talk about the budget but sources of funding the school district receives federal funds state funds County funds a variety of funds and sometimes oftentimes These funds have strings attached to them and it is the board's um opportunity to be able to figure out how to enact policies and programs that are able to um conform within the boundaries and the constraints of what those strings might be um and that's a challenge I re recognize that's a challenge for them uh a second issue that I think faces the board is some
133of the uh statistics um High School graduation rates treny rates um and I I won't belabor those um but lastly the one I really want to focus in on is literacy at the last board meeting or previous board meeting there was a a group of individuals who got up and talked about third grade uh literacy and um the metrics there less than half of the students in this school district are at par in third grade and why that is important is that in third up to third grade students learn basically by listening to a teacher in fourth grade they have to start to read on their own understand material their homework is based on their reading I have a friend she teaches fifth grade she has a student 10 years old who said I can't
134read fifth grade I can't read fourth grade I can barely read why am I in this classroom and you know and his and he was concerned at 10 years old recognized that there's going to be a problem if they continue to do this so I think that the district has to figure out um programs that can help raise the level of literacy in third grade it has to be one of the major focuses is on reading um and because that is what is going to set that student up for success in future grades thank you very much so that is all the questions we have so if you'd like to take five minutes to give us a closing statement sure well first of all I want to thank you guys all for giving me the
135opportunity to be a trustee um on the board um I think about the word trustee or trust and trustee defined one of the definitions of a trustee in Websters is a person in which something is entrusted it seems very simplistic doesn't it but what the board is entrusted with and not so simple is the education of children um the board has to be able to um follow there's federal and state laws there's the code of Education you have to um be able to execute the curriculum for grade specific children those things we've talked about opportunities for all we've talked about inclusion of all we've talked about Equity of all we've talked about the love of all we've talked about non-judgment of all but I don't want these just to be discussion topics I don't want
136them to be a concept I want these to be actions in the elro school district I believe that those things are what is the embodiment of this School District Board in 2017 I returned from yet another tour after 15 months in Afghanistan stand and uh I got home 2 days before Thanksgiving and a week later I was asked to leave again to the Northern California wildfires which many of you remember and uh and so I went I was the resident engineer up there in Yukaya for the cleanup effort on mesino and and Lake counties one day a journalist went out in the field with me and at the end of the day he said he said I you wear many hats he said said you are an engineer you are a planner you are a
137lawyer you're a grief counselor and you're a missionary and that last item really caught my attention and I asked him about why did he say missionary and he said I watched you go from trailer to trailer on an empty lot and knock on doors you don't know who they are and yet you greeted every one of them with an enthusiastic smile and asked how they were doing these people would invite you in and they would tell you their story about their loss they would give you a glass of lemon a rice tea many of them cried most of them gave you a hug and said thank you for your your work I say that not to Pat myself on the back but I say that to illustrate what kind of a person what kind of
138worker I am when I accept an assignment to go and do that's what I do and if I am chosen to be a member of this board I will go and do thank you thank you very much uh please stick around we anticipate making a decision tonight all right so we have I believe we told uh folks that we anticipate um public comment starting at 8:00 and so we are going to break until then um just to make sure that everybody who is interested in public comment will have the opportunity to get here and fill out a blue card so if you are here for public comment please uh please remember to fill out a blue card uh and you can hand to either Lisa at the end right here um or the superintendent up
139here uh and we will make sure to call you for public comment thank you very much e e e all right let's bring it back so it is now 8 o'clock um if anybody H out there has a blue card that they have not turned in now is the time all right perfect um then we have all the blue cards we are going to accept um so some quick information on public comment during special board meetings the public may make public comment on items that are on the agenda individuals with comments on General School District issues May address those at the next regularly scheduled board meeting requests to make public comment will be accepted for an item up until the board president introduces the item this is me introducing the item we so we're clear
140um 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 the board will reduce individual comment time to 2 minutes each individuals may not defer their time to another uh 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 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 so we have over
14120 uh blue cards so that means uh public comment will be limited to two minutes per speaker um and with that I think we are ready to go so miss ballerini take it away okay first up I have Kirk Thompson and on Deck Charlotte I didn't know any of these people that showed up today I I don't live in the area and I so I had no idea who any of them were so I came here today I just wanted to get a feel for them as people and for those of you that are still here I want to thank you for putting your name up it's uh it it's a scary thing it can be a scary thing even a regular job interview much less a public one can be a scary thing so
142I appreciate you guys doing doing this and taking the time what I came up here to say is that what I was really looking for was just uh authenticity um we had several people that came in very prepared some people maybe a little less prepared but a little bit more more kind of off the cuff and that's all great but what I was looking for mostly is is this somebody that if they were representing me in my area would I feel comfortable emailing them talking to them pulling them aside during a meeting something like that that's what I was looking for as basically an outsider in some respects and the person that demonstrated that the most to me was Mark Ellis I like I said I don't really know anybody that went up but he
143was the one that stood out the most for me in this process um and in the interviews so I'm here just to put my full support behind Mark Ellis I really think he'd make a great board member and a valuable asset to your guys' team thank you okay I have Charlotte next and then Rett panel I too have to agree that that's tough to interview in public um I think every one of them had a great quality about them I I thought that was very good um it's basically you know many of the things that we have talked about in Schoolboard meetings language facilities um especially this last election showed that constituents changed due to wanting change so two incumbents were kicked out are not voted for um my big concern is the time management
144I'm looking at some of their issues their work um I think it's great that they want to do it but I don't see many of them having the time to take to fill this position um again just big thing account accountability towards the public I think there needs to be better teaching support for school sites um and the common goal everyone should be working together especially with all the staff so I feel that um many of them will work with the staff I believe that but we need a person who is willing to go and do what is needed for the children the staff and the community and I recommend Mark Ellis thank you okay I have Rhett panel and next up Denise gaos or Gatos um okay I want to thank everybody who came
145and applied I think that takes a lot for you to do I'm looking I want somebody who's going to be real and honest not be afraid to say how they feel even though everybody else might say no but still be be strong enough to voice their opinion and I think that one of the things they said something about visiting sites I hope they can really visit the sites cuz been volunteering haven't seen bu there yet that I know of they could have and also to be there for the individual child the child who really needs help so that nobody can be left behind and um also to have time to talk to the teachers cuz the teachers really know what's going on not the principal or the vice principal teachers are with the children every
146day and I want somebody who will listen to to the teachers about the children because the children are the most important aspect each child is an individual and you can't Clump them all together say oh everybody in this group cuz this program is good that's not true you know each child is in individual and I work with individual children to help catch them up because they're behind and I think that's important for whoever's going to be on the school board to be there for the individual child we are all different we all learn differently and we all have our special strengths so I think that is important and um I liked what Mark had to say I felt like he was real and he was very honest and I appreciate that okay Denise and then
147Heather Mason I think or Masson one of the two hello trusties thank you for having us all here um and I am here in support of my friend of more than 25 years Dr Anita White and um she is um has been a good friend of mine for over 25 years and um as I live in area four um where she lives as well and I raised my daughter there uh we went through Elkgrove Unified School District and I know that Anita will fill a void um she's a passionate mom Grandma um teacher educator and um she'll she'll inject passion into the board that is needed in today's educational climate um I am uh the past president of Laguna Sunrise Rotary Club and um Anita has been uh a big supporter um of of our
148fundraisers she's a supporter of all the community events that happen in elg grov and she's lived in elg grve for I don't know how many years but um she the thing that stands out the most to me about Anita is that um ever since I got to know her 20 plus years ago she um has always been so passionate about the students that came into her classroom and um she cared not only as an educator but um her she was compassionate about their needs um whether it be a meal or a clothes or something that um she would give basically the clothes off her back to help other students and I know in uh in um being a trustee that she would put that same passion into um being on the board so I appreciate
149your time thank you very much is my time up oh okay okay thank you um and I just appreciate the time thank you okay there we go I have Heather and then Angela bees good evening president Vargas and trustees thank you for having us here tonight my name is Heather masan and I am here to recommend Dr Anita White for District 4 I am a resident of grow of my children went through all the schools in this district and I'm a neighbor and friend of Anita's I would love to see her represent our area she's a mother a grandmother and a business owner in the community and she's committed to helping children and has a great passion for Education she's also active at the college level which I think would serve to support out grve
150students I think she'd make a great addition to the O grve Board District and thank you okay I've got Angela and tell s is after that good evening and uh superintendent Hoffman president Vargas and trustees uh hats off to you number one I know it's been a long day and I appreciate your service to our city and all you do um I am here uh to tell you that I am proud resident of elro for the last 40 years my husband and I moved back here and we are involved in as rotarians hrove chamber members I am an also serving as our Cuma CSD president at the moment I came to put a face to the name to letter recommendation for Dr Anita White as well I met Dr Anita White back 10 years ago
151as I know her as Anita through rotary of Luna Sunrise Rotary as well we served on different projects and fundraisers her passion for youth is always top of mine she's very involved and cares about our residents um our sons went to school together I know that she cares deeply about each individual person and them being successful um I I'll keep this brief and I know she understands what it is to be a servant leader I think she's a great listener she' make a great addition to your board thank you for your time I know you have a big decision tonight and thank you again for your service okay I have t Suds and after that Brian cool well good evening board members uh as someone who's kind of sat here with y'all uh I'd like
152to say one oh I like to say one uh we've all been here for quite some time and it was kind of cool watching all of this um next to that as someone who is from elgrove and who's been through the entire process from uh Elementary School all the way to high school high school at Valley Middle School at Toby uh Elementary School at Stone Lake and now at College at University of the Pacific and have served on board myself um this has been a pretty cool process to witness and just be a pretty cool process to be in the space a lot of y'all don't know me don't know y'all U just being transparent uh but nonetheless I'd like to to find out what way can a student Ser on this board in what
153capacity uh so we have student board members um so our student board member is not here tonight but every year we select a student board member to serve on this board okay and then uh when you say every year you select a student like to serve on this board what role is a trustee because like everybody was talking about area 4 I guess I'm from that area because I grew up in lagona as well so I guess I'm from area 4 um are you talking about as trustee or are you talking about um as a as as a trustee they're elected by the students um um at each school there's a process to elect the and then there's a committee um of the board um that selects them and then the board votes votes the
154person on okay and this is high school or this college students who are making the selections okay so you're a college student would have to go visit high schools and go talk to is that the process you're say we I can have somebody follow through the the whole because actually it's open right now we're in the middle of doing the process so I can have one of our folks Mr schwitzer who's a superintendent for secondary education he can take you through the whole process okay sounds good thank thank you okay I have Brian and after that jeny Ferraro all right good evening everybody thank you here for Gathering here today I'm honored to speak on behalf of a remarkable individual who is seeking to become a board member of our schools B bwin with a
155heart full of passion for Education Vision grounded in the needs of our students she is the candidate who truly embodies what is the meaning of what is the mean what what is the means of advocating for the schools I've had the pleasure of DEA for nine years out of those nine years married for five and whatever if we're in the classroom community events during school sporting events she has consistently demonstrated a commitment for her children's education she understands that our schools are more than just buildings they are a heart of our community one of Delia's most admirable qualities is their ability to listen and collaborate with diverse groups from teachers to parents to students she approaches discussions with an open mind and and a genuine desire to understand all perspectives which is crucial role for
156the school board I have seen her facilitate constructive dialogue that led to actionable Solutions making her a natural leader and Advocate an advocate for our communities and educational needs uh let me share a quick story last month I was deployed in um Southern California to help fight the fire and Wildland fires um that was a challenging Mission lasted for 21 days uh during that time um my thoughts were with my family but my heart was was grateful for the remarkable support I had at home with my wife Delia while I was away she took care she took care she took care of our three children um managed them getting them to school helping them with the homework and um cheering for them with their sporting sporting events not to mention our two dogs also needed
157and attention also um she navigated all these responsibilities with um great grace and um that's uh all I have to say all right that's it sorry your time is up all right I have jensy Ferraro and Amanda Scott uh good evening I just want to thinkk second or third or whoever was how many times we said it but thank you for doing this process it's um been very inclusive of the community and I truly appreciate all the effort that's going into filling the seat um I am also here tonight um to that was a great hard thing to follow but um Delia has been a tremendous asset to my personal life and my community and the biggest thing that I am hoping that you are seeking out and the person to fill this seat is
158a connector she has done a tremendous job of connecting my family families that we are building Community with with other members of the community that can possibly help us if she wasn't the one she helped us find the person and I am also so very grateful for how inclusive she is to all children There's No Agenda it's just to make sure that every child has a chance to thrive I'm grateful she's come into my life and I am grateful that she has the opportunity to possibly represent our students and our families on the school board so thank you okay Amanda is up and I have Don abalon next good evening I'm a parent of students here in elra Unified School District and a community organizer and I'm here to speak in support of a candidate
159I feel has the qualities and the skills that you are seeking and that the community I think really needs at this time I recommend Delia Balwin for the vacant trustee position I have had the privilege of working alongside of and collaborating with Delia on community events and issues that impact disabled community members especially disabled youth Delia has both professional and lived experience that I believe would be highly valuable to our school board she is an incredible colleague and Ally with values that are unwavering she would provide representation on this board for families with students that receive special education services her passion for Student Success and Equity is essential for this board with her experience in Human Resources I believe she will also be a valuable contributor to higher level decision-making in the best interest of
160Educators and staff in addition to students Delia has proven to be a trusted public servant across many settings I hope that you will strongly consider her as the truste for area 4 thank you okay I have Don and next up Judy brush hello my name is Don abalon I am here in support of Mrs dilia Balwin for the area for trustee vacancy on the egusd school board Miss Mrs Balwin is an extraordinary candidate for this role she is very caring towards me and my peers she is very Fascinate to see children grow and be the best they could be she's the best supporter and very passionate about seeing children driving reaching for their goals whether it's in academics or in sports she is also a Wonder of advocate for disabled children with her experience she
161knows how to be loving and nurturing at the same time help disable children to reach their goals as well I am very confident that she will be a great leader to our community and I strongly encourage you to pick her as as a leader for our community as our next for trustee okay we have Judy brush and next up Cheryl hun well thank you all for listening to our comments um I'm here to endorse dilia Balwin to become a trustee on your board I've known dilia for over 10 years since she first came to the Sacramento area where we worked together and during that work I saw her passion for the students I saw her amazing work ethic and I saw how the rest of the staff really respected her I'm fortunate enough to have
162become her friend after we were colleagues and I've had the opportunity to watch her raise her three children with Grace and encourage their education um and it's been a wonderful thing to see I've also um become proud of the fact that she's become such a um involved member of the community with her volunteer work and things like uh student site Council and I think that those are all wonderful qualities that would make her a great trustee and I hope you'll consider her for that thank you okay I have Cheryl up and and Choy Chow I believe next good NE uh good evening president Vargas and trustees um thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight I my name is Cheryl Hune I'm a 35-year resident of the city of elgrove and I currently reside in
163area 4 um both of my daughters uh attended elgrove Unified School District Schools from elementary school through high school and I'm here tonight to express my support for Dr Anita White as our area for trustee I believe Dr White's long career in education her experience as a city of El grve uh business owner um her community involvement makes her the perfect person for our area for representative um I believe Dr White will work with you with our teachers with our District staff with our parents to ensure that um each and every one of our children in our school district will receive a quality education and a positive School experience and again I just wanted to request um that you appoint uh Dr Anita White as our area for trustee thank you okay I have Choy
164and next up Dustin Noble um how are you today board members my name is Choy I am here in support of my friend Delia Balwin um she I am here she's um the candidate for the volunteer position for area 4 I have had the privilege of being around Delia and have seen her firsthand deep commitment to educational success especially creating an inclusive and supportive environment for neural Divergent students Delia has a wealth of experience that uniquely qualifies her for this role she has served as a School site Council parent representative at Elizabeth Pinkerton middle school from 2021 to 2023 where she demonstrated an exceptional ability to collaborate with school staff parents and students to advocate for her theor for her meaningful change her passion for neurode Divergent inclus inclusivity is not just theoretical but grounded
165in her professional and personal experiences as a parent she is a tireless advocate for expanding acceptance resources and support for neurod Divergent children in the educational system with 16 years of experience in education Delia has worked in multiple departments including a secondary classroom teacher College Outreach and success coordinator and a college instructor in developmental education her diverse background in both K through 12 education enables her to bring a holistic perspective to the table understanding the needs of students at various levels of the academ of their academic Journey her dedication on to Student Success extends far beyond the classroom as someone who is deeply invested in students and services and higher education Delia knows the importance of equal opportunities for all students particularly those who face unique challenges she is passionate about leveraging her experience to
166advocate for policies that promote neural Divergent inclusivity and ensure that all students are given the tools that they need to strive what truly sets dilia apart is her genuine enthusiasm to serve her community she is eager to bring her perspective as both a parent educator and an educator to the school board ensuring that all voices and all families are heard from the schools of places where every student feels valued and supported I wholeheartedly believe that Delia would be a valuable asset to the egusd school board thank you my name is Choy okay Dustin Noble is up and then I have Nick Wooten next thank you so much uh board members um I'm here in support of Delia Balwin um I have had the pleasure of working with her numerous times in my work in this
167community um with the city with the Multicultural Festival um seeing her advocate for students with disabilities um seeing her passion and her drive and the qualities that she would bring to this board you all know what I'm passionate about um I'm also passionate about seeing a diverse board I am passionate about someone that can look through an inclusive lens and advocate for the most vulnerable um we're in a very uncertain political climate um with things being raised about federal funds being cut the Department of Education um things that are funding Ida uh those are things that impact my community greatly and I know that with things changing of dime these days I need someone on this board in conjunction with all of you that is going to continue to fight for the these things and
168the most vulnerable to ensure that these things do not go to the Wayside um and that can be very difficult and I understand the challenge that comes with that specially when we're talking about money um but I know Delia personally and I know that she would continue to fight and Advocate at for my community and that is why I am humbling asking you all to consider for this trusty position thank you okay I have Nick Wooten and Rachel browny good evening board members my name is Nick wooden and I'll be actually reading a statement from chairman Jesus Tango chairman of Wilton Rancheria and first partner Raina Tango says i' want to thank you for the opportunity to share my wife Raina Tangos and my shared appreciation and support from Miss Delia balwins candidacy for area
1694 School Board member as a citizen and current leader of Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe I feel it is my duty to emphasize the importance of placing someone on the board who possesses the intention commitment and knowledge needed to nurture and guide the Future Leaders of Tomorrow this this is deeply personal to me as the policies oversight and decisions made by this board will directly impact our trib's children including my own with several of our children attending egus schools it is essential that decisions reflect our combined and shared histories after reviewing the candidates and reflecting on the current makeup of the board it is hard not to question how well the board represents one of the most diverse cities in the nation the lack of representation is even more glaring when we consider that our
170schools serve a student body that is 30% Asian and 28% Hispanic or Latino representation matters without it the needs and concerns of underrepresented communities risk being overlooked dismissed or neglected a reality my people have experienced all too often our support for Miss Balwin is born from her extensive experience as an educator and her commitments to all children especially those whose needs are often ignored since meeting Miss Balwin we have seen her firsthand dedication to advocating for neurode Divergent children and ensuring parents receive the support they need to navigate complex systems like 504 plans and IEPs equity and education has always been Paramount in her work Miss balwins values and experience make her an outstanding choice for the area 4 School Board she embodies a kind of leadership that can help ensure every child regardless of
171their background or abilities has the opportunity to succeed thank you okay I have Rachel and after that I have Keaton good morning everyone or excuse me good evening everyone it is getting late it is getting late thank you for hearing my comments board and the public my name is Rachel browny I'm here in support of dilia Baldwin for um trustee you've all received my comment letter um and I want to emphasize that I have witnessed firsthand the energy and passion that Delia brings to supporting her family friends and Community I met Delia when she first moved to Sacramento and took her first Sacramento job in education working at St hope schools from there Delia has had a productive journey in many different aspects of Education from being a classroom teacher in secondary education um at
172the in secondary education and at the community college level to serving in volunteer roles including Sacramento site Council parent representative at Elizabeth Pinkerton middle school and for the elk grve city of elg groves diversity and inclusion commissioner through all of these experiences I've seen Delia handle complicated stressful situations with pragmatism and positivity focusing on solutions that are fair and inclusive thank you okay Katon and after that I have Maya I start whenever good evening everyone my name is Kon Lou and I'm a student at kassum Oaks High School I am grateful to be here in support of Dalia bullwin Miss dollia is a personal role model of mine who serves as a strong leader in our community I know Miss Dalia genuinely cares about our about students because she consistently encourages me and my peers
173to work hard and Achieve our goals always offering her support and guidance as a student I am confident that Miss Dalia will be a great leader for our community and strongly encourage you to select her as our next area for truste thank you you okay I have Maya and Eva is after that good evening my name is Maya Graham I'm a student at kumus Oaks High School I'm honored to speak today in support of Dela Balwin Miss Balwin is a dedicated and inspiring leader in our community she consistently encourages students like myself to work diligently and to pursue our goals with determination Mrs Ballwin challenges us to grow step out of our comfort zones and strive for excellence knowing that we are capable of more than we believe sometimes um she generally cares and our
174success is she generally cares about our success and is always kind and caring as well as welcoming I have personally experienced her kindness through the way she always makes time to listen uplift those around her and offers her support at all times if I am ever in need of a helping hand I know I can reach out to Mrs Balwin and she'll be there for me she would do anything possible to make sure that I'm okay and to offer her support I'm confident that Delia Ballwin will be an incredible area for trustee her leadership genuine care and dedication for our community make her an ideal candidate for the role I encourage you to support her knowing she will continue to inspire and uplift all those that are around her thank you for your time okay
175okay Eva and then we have Mindy after that good evening trustees thank you for your time and dedication to our students I stand before you today as a member of this community suggesting you our standard of choosing a Schoolboard trustee that is the trustee needs to needs to prioritize what should be the core mission of our schools academic achievement every decision made by this War should be centered around one critical question will this improve students learning resources should be directed towards evidence-based instructional strategies high quality teach and rigorous curriculum standards that challenge and Inspire our students we also need accountability we must measure progress analyze outcomes and ensure that interventions are effective transparency in academic performance and a commitment to continuous Improvement are essential however lowering academic standard to let every student to get an
176A is cheating is absolutely not acceptable supporting College admission based on Dei not Merit is also not acceptable we would support a trustee who has a genuine heart in students who has been a teacher a parent in Elo School district and who knows the system well we do not need big names big titles No Matter What ethnicity you are which political group Endor you our students future depends on the quality of Education they receive today let us ensure that our school our schools are places where every child is equipped with the knowledge and skill they need to suceed and the candidate that we support today is Anita White thank you okay I have Mindy and last up I have Cara Sims good evening thank you for this process I'm here tonight to express my thought
177on the candidate for the school board position it is important for us as a parent to focus on qualifications that directly serve our children's education we are looking for a candidate who is a parent or a grandparent who know what our parents expect our kids learn from school that is quality education in academic and sports we are not interested in any candidate with professional titles or political experience what matter most is that the candidate should be commitment to our children's quality education the candidate should willing to listen parents voices the candidate has ability to make student centered decisions profession naal titles and political experience means nothing if decisions are not made in the best interest of our case a school board member should not use this position as a stepping stone for their political Ambitions
178because school board is not a political platform it is a it is a space for those who are truly dedicated to our community ated ucation thank you for your time thank you all right Cara you are last up oh wow I'm last okay hi my name is k Sims I actually don't live in El Gro but I am a behavior analyst and I've served the elve Community for the last 11 years um I do frequent schools um to collaborate with um the neurod Divergent population I've had the pleasure of working with Delia Balwin for probably almost three years now um we've sat through quite a few collaborative meetings together with teachers we sat through IEP meetings and if I had to describe her I would say she is somebody who is committed to progress individual
179children's progress she's somebody that I can call and like hey do you know of anything like any resources in this area so she's definitely very involved in her community she's willing to participate in anything and just does it to the best of her ability I'm definitely someone who is open pays really close attention to detail and is just here for the people that she serves and on this is actually my first board meeting so thank you this has been very enlightening um I do think that in addition to all the qualities that you guys are looking for for someone to serve on this board you also want somebody that has a voice somebody that stands for something so I think that you will find that in deia bwin thank you that's it all right thank
180you very much um before we move on to uh board consideration uh want to take the opportunity to say thank you so very much to all of the candidates uh it we do not make this process easy for you um that is intentional uh we and we are incredibly thankful for all that you do for the district and all that you do for our community it does not go unnoticed um and so again thank thank you all so much for being a part of this process uh and for your dedication to our community and this District we we really really appreciate it and you know regardless of what happens um we look forward to continuing to work with all of you uh in the future and to the members of the public who spoke who
181sent in all of those letters um many many many letters that we read uh thank you so much for your engagement this is an incredibly important process um this is a process process like like our Board elections this is a process that only happens once every 2 to four years uh and so it is incredibly important and Incredibly valuable that you are as engaged uh as you have been in this process so we thank you very much for your support and feedback um you know and support of these candidates uh it does not go unnoticed so thank you very much um let's see so before we get to uh board consideration I do want to give board members a couple of minutes to collect their thoughts uh write down any last notes they need uh
182before we move on to that so let's take uh we will take 4 minutes and we'll come back at 8:45 uh ready to discuss e e e right now I have to for all right everybody let's bring it back all right so now we are going to move into the final stage of this process which is the board deliberation um so to go over again uh what that is going to look like so now each board member will be given an opportunity to identify candidates that stood out to them and explain their reasons board members may also use this time to explain the considerations and the qualities they are looking for in a future board member no motions will be taken during this initial time once every board member has had an opportunity to speak
183board members will be asked to identify their top three candidates a ranking sheet has been provided to each board member to assist them with identifying their top three candidates once every board member has identify their top three the board will engage in an open-ended discussion during which time the board president will accept motions and votes may be taken until such time as one candidate receives four votes in favor of their appointment once any motion receives four votes in favor the discussion will end and that candidate will be sworn in as the new trustee for area 4 all right so with that uh we will start discussion with miss albiani me um I I can't thank the people who came enough um standing at the podium and putting yourself out there just shows what a commitment
184you have to Children the things you said every single one of you have spoken to parts of my heart parts of the reason I sit here you are servants to our community and I I I just can't thank you enough um this is a this is not a fun part of the job um this is very hard and and I don't want anyone to feel judged or little less than others I came here with a very clear idea of what I wanted and it's based on my past um a very important part for me of who was going to come and serve on our board next as a parent that has children in our school district right now and I currently do not and I have and and I feel that leads a lens that
185is very unique when you serve on the board and we currently only have two members that have children in the school district right now and I think that's a missing piece we have up here and so that was very important to me that wasn't the only consideration for me but I will I will say that was very important to me um I appreciated people who spoke to the idea of governance um we are in a governance role there are organizations we we work with csba and learning our role better and doing our best best way to work as a group that allows us to be successful and so I appreciated any any mentions of governance I appreciated the value of Dei that came through in many of the candidates um the beauty of elk grve
186is our diversity was stated um I think nationally Dei is under attack and I believe it's misrepresented often and what Dei means to the people on um this board in our city is very dear to who we are as a city and I think we value that very highly um as a board we valued it we have put money behind it we have done training on it and I believe we need we need people that agree with that and I truly didn't feel like anybody didn't but I just that's a very important message for me to hear from the people that were here I appreciate people who mentioned the elcap they understand the process and the challenges of the budgets we have and our budgets are have to be put out for 3 years yet
187are not guaranteed with money and those decisions that have to be made I appreciate people that talked about every part of our organization um we we do not run the school dist we are the leaders of our school district and the importance of us being in our community and being with Community but our teachers are are on the front line and our par Educators and our custodians and our school secretaries and and the people that that all do that work so I appreciate people who recognize that and so that being said that's sharing some of my thoughts when I was listening to people and I really um felt two people stood out for me so I'm going to go ahead and um dilia and Bryce were the two that stood out to me I I
188hope you accept me using your first names um so that was what where my two stood out and that those were some of the reasons I came to that conclusion excellent thank you very much uh Miss ballerini would you like to take it as our number two sure first off I wanted did all the students leave already darn it no there's some maybe some back there I just want to say students getting involved in this type of thing is wonderful I'm I'm so excited to see it when I when I ran for this position how long ago two months ago three months ago um my grandkids went out with me and and their friends were like what what's going on why is your grandma doing is it's it's a way to see them get civically
189involved that I I never thought would even happen so dilia kudos to you for being so involved in their lives that that's just awesome um everyone I just don't we have seven positions no it's hard I I I especially enjoyed um Miss Knox um you're a graduate of our schools that was wonderful for you to come back and want to be a part of this and I think um continue on with what you're doing cuz you're on the right Road heck I'm here at 66 so you got time let's just put it that way um everybody else I I really appreciate it Mr Ellis I I very much felt your heart my husband's retired Coast Guard so I know how it is to be gone for long periods of time and to go places and
190help with things that you you never thought you'd see and then they come home and deal with it it's not an easy thing um let's see uh all of you had so many wonderful characteristics it's it's really hard to limit it um I I just I I just am not sure what to do about that except that I have to do something so this is this is it okay um my top I'm going to do top four cuz I can't just do top two um dilia Balwin a Dr gule Dr mcmanis White and Mark Ellis are my top four that does not mean that the others that I didn't mention were not wonderful and all of that there are a lot of other volunteer things that you can do here in in the district if
191you thinking about it we've got measure M measure n there's all kinds of citizens oversight committees don't give up if you've got the fire in you that you want to be a part of it we would love to have you at whatever level you're willing to come in and that is me thank you excellent uh Miss Moore thank you I'd like to Echo some of the um the thoughts uh that my colleagues shared uh I would like to thank all the community members that came out tonight and um shared public comment um all the letters that came in and um most of all thank the candidates that came um out tonight because I know that is really putting yourself out there um I think this that we this process was um that we held this
192process um very professionally and it was a transparent process and that's what I wanted um because it was an appointment I wanted the community to be involved as much as possible and so I appreciate the subcommittee and their work and that all seven candidates were put through tonight um so they all had an opportunity and then that the community had an opportunity you know to see their applications to hear their um their interviews and then to make public comment if if they wanted to so um I'm appreciative of that process um my my focus um coming into tonight and as I read applications and letters emails that came in listening to public comment and and then the interviews um my my focus is as a parent um that we have individuals on the board who
193care about all parent voices who care about transparency with parents and uh and then another really important focus is um a candidate that is focused on high quality instruction and I feel that we are getting away from that sometimes by trying to put our our hands in so many different programs that we are not um always keeping the focus on quality education preparing our kids for college and that was indicated in some of the numbers that were shared in the interviews there's a lot of things that we can do better um so that our kids are are prepared um for college or career and also so they are successful uh literacy was mentioned that's something that we really need to focus on so that our kids can be successful uh if if our kids can't
194read they can't be successful so we need to get back to the basics with some things uh another Focus that was mentioned is English Learners um and that you know that's one of the um student populations that we do need to um address we've talked about that before and you know in our lcaps and in other conversations um so with those things being said um the the top three candidates that I have have um our number one Anita mcmanis White number two Mark Ellis and number three uh Casa Casa Knox and uh just briefly some of the reasons that um you want me to share my reasons now or later okay so with with Miss mcmanis White I was very impressed um first of all she's a she's a longtime Community member and that's important
195to me she raised two kids in the school district and she's now a grandparent um and then and hearing from people within her own area about her character and her service to the community that's very important to me um I really appreciated her wide variety of experience in education uh and not only as a classroom teacher but she um helped students and staff and throughout her applications she also mentioned the importance of including parents for Student Success and we know that when you include parents um with First Student Success that they um statistically they are more successful and so I think that's important um and um I you know she has like I mentioned um she uh before is a priority for our our district is supporting English language Learners and that is um a
196strength that she has an experience that she has and she spoke to um ways that she um you know that we can improve in that and I agree with her so I appreciate her experience with that um I like how she said that she had no political agenda um and um she mentioned you know that she wants to be accountable to parents and that parents are sending their precious children to school which is true and we need individuals who recognize that um and who want to be transparent and supportive of all parents um another important thing was that she supported campus Safety and Security and that is very important as we've seen recently um that that is becoming more uh of a concern to parents that I hear often and so we need to have
197um a candidate that recognizes that um and and then also she was a business owner in the community which I believe shows that you know just another level of her um her care um and involvement in the community with Mark um I just really appreciated that he one of the first things he said is that he wants to listen to the public and that is so important to me because before I was elected I was a parent and I did not feel that I was listened to and that's part of the reason I ran for Schoolboard and so um I appreciated that he said he wanted to listen to the public because that's why we're here we're here to serve the public and serve our constituents um I like that he's a longtime resident of
198el grov school board or El grve uh El grve City and served in multiple capacities with um with um students and you know uh has a serving heart and then I like how in his definition of equity he mentioned um the importance of judging people by their character and not being judgmental um and um making sure everyone belongs and and I love that definition and then of of course he focused on literacy um as one of the things that we need to focus on and I agree we need to focus on literacy and um and get back to a focus on our Student Success in basic um basic things like literacy um and then with uh Kisha I hope I'm saying your name correctly um but I just really appreciated um that she she talked
199a lot about community and I I felt that I connected with her because I felt that she wanted to um listen to the community and be transparent and that she was here um to serve and she also had um experience various experiences um in education and mentoring students um when she talked about Equity she talked about listening to all groups which I think is very important and I appreciated that and again she talked about listening to constituents uh so those are I I do appreciate everyone that came out and everyone as Miss Alani said everyone um said something that was important and um you know you all took your time and much effort to be here and so I really appreciate it thank you very much Miss Davis I too want to thank everybody who
200come out and I've shared with my board members that if I had to do do it this way I don't know if I would be here today um I think the campaign was a lot easier than what you guys had to deal with today um I had a hard time making the decision of three so I'm actually going to put four names forward um educa people in education was big for me right now we have a lot of members on the board that come from various walks of life um but education wasn't one of those other than us being involved and working within it some um so the names that I'm putting forward is uh Bryce I I think his background in education is great I think his family has brought him a good understanding
201of diversity and what our families face out there um I do worry about the time commitment I know as a principal what that commitment is at at a school being a school secretary um but he assures us he's able to do that um I'm also putting Delia forward uh sped is a special interest of mine having a child that was in special education um the diversity piece was big for me and your HR background will also help us also um I'm also going to put Amy Tong forward I think moving forward in the future her background in Ai and in technology will bring something to the table that a lot of us are lacking as 60 3 I'm not great at technology um and I don't got my 13-year-old grandson to help teach me at
202um at the meetings my last one I'm putting forward is Mark Ellis um even though he doesn't have a background in education being a military child I know what it takes for the people who leave home and go do that work and come back um takes a lot of dedication and commitment to others not not yourself um i' like to literacy his willingness to have honest discussions and I liked his come one come all um it's kind of how I live my life um so I don't mean to complicate it anymore by putting for forward but those will be my choices yeah and for now for this part of the process as many as many as you want but eventually we do need to start narrowing I think so I think kind of what you've
203seen already from from from colleagues is how difficult this decision is going to be um I think you know most of the candidates have now been named um I I would agree with my colleagues who observed that every every candidate had something to say that resonated with me and um I I remember as I was initially reading the applications um you know I had a thought in my head that these are going to be the ones that you know I would support and these ones over here like they're just not ready or there's something else you know and just not and then um as the letters came in and as the interviews went on things changed everybody said something that sort of made me rethink um so this has been a you know a really
204interesting process uh you know going through this um so just to kind of talk about some of the priorities I had and what I was looking for um you know first I was looking for a commitment to the District um and you know not just the district but also a community service mindset somebody who uh is active in the community um you know active in the district is ideal um but if not active in the district I want to see that they're doing things around town I want to see that they're engaged I want to see that they're sitting on a board or commission or something because you know first and foremost obviously we serve students but this is a labor of love this is something you have to be committed to it it is
205a public service um and so that is something that I'm looking for in a candidate is that mindset that understanding that what we do is a public service um second I'm also I'm I'm a dork uh I'm a nerd I love education policy um and so I was looking for somebody with knowledge of Education policy um one of the things that I was really sad about when uh my colleague um you know uh uh Nancy uh things change um when my colleague Nancy stepped away is really um losing that perspective that knowledge base that she had um her expertise in not just education policy but also budget and state policy and all of those things that she really brought wrapped in in in one and so I was uh I had my eye out for
206somebody who could fill that role um who could provide a lot of that uh you know that information to us and so that's something that I was looking for um I was also looking for some who uh would have a perspective that was uh both Salient in the district so something that's important so you know like Miss albani a parent for example um you know but also a perspective that we don't necessarily have on the board already right um because there are a lot of perspectives out there there are a lot of different people a lot of different groups out there um and we can only represent so much and so um this is really an opportunity for us to look around the table and say okay who who is not here um whose voice
207is not being heard uh and we have the opportunity to be inclusive in this moment in a way where uh in elections the public makes those decisions for us um and that is entirely within the Public's discretion to decide who sits on this board but we now have an opportunity to look around and say okay how can we be a little bit better how can we bring in new voices um and so that was important to me as well and then the last thing I was looking for was I wanted to hear a commitment to all students um that for me is foundational to what we do uh you know I it's you know it's one thing to talk about all of the uh you know all of the service things that you're doing all
208of the wonderful things that you're doing we all have lives outside of this um but the candidates who are constantly bringing it back to students bringing it back to education bring it back to our campuses that's what I was looking for um because that is that's what we do here that's the ball game so okay having said that um um I will also take this opportunity to uh you know lift up four names and then we will narrow uh as we go but um the four people I wanted to lift up uh first um Miss Balwin uh she's a parent in the district um she brings that education background uh experience as a teacher um the training having a Masters in Education uh I have one too so I know that that is uh not
209easy to do and also uh you know speaks to her ability to gather knowledge uh you know and and uh have that information at hand um I thought you know something that came through in her application and in a lot of the letter letters was a compassion um you know she the it was tangible for people they could feel that she was compassionate not just towards students but toward towards other uh people towards other parents towards uh other volunteers um and the fact that that kept coming up over and over and over and over again um even in the letters that were not form letters uh that to me was was huge and that's one of the things that I think is really important um the fact that she's very involved um both uh you
210know in the city and in the school district which is not an easy thing to do um and then uh the last point I'll make on that one on uh Miss bwin is I think that special education perspective is so important to what we do right now um it is a perspective that uh unfortunately um you know Mr uh Carmen forina um had that perspective on the board before as somebody who worked with uh students with special needs for a long time and uh when he moved on from the board uh we did lose a little bit of that and so um seeing someone with a special education background and understanding really I think is adds would add a lot uh would add a perspective to this board that would be very very valuable um
211the next person uh who stood out to me was uh Miss Amy Tong um I think she is a recent uh former parent in the district um one of the things that really stood out to me was her knowledge of uh budget and state level uh issues those are things we deal with on a regular basis um I you know again that was something that uh you know Nancy brought when she was on the board um and something that I was very sad to lose and so that's something that stood out to me um you know from her and I think think that she would bring a lot to our board governance um if she was on the board and you know I think it's it's interesting because I wish I could take like three
212or four of these candidates and just squish them together um because I think each of them bring something really interesting um you know and the thing that really stood out to me uh from Miss Tong's application was really this idea that she would be great at governance um she would really be good at this uh the budget the lcap the things that require an eye toward detail um and also the things that we do on the day the policy work um I think she would be excellent at and that would be a real uh contribution to the board um I I also appreciated that a lot of her work um a lot of her work was Statewide but she also had a lot of local work as well um so that was important and then
213I also agree um you know Mr gule uh or sorry excuse me Dr gule um uh again parent um I one of the things that I think we do a really good job of as a district is um valuing uh the an outside perspective um that we want people to not just we love our elro people like don't get me wrong we love our outgrow people but um there is a value I think we see a value in somebody having experience outside of el grve as well and then being able to bring that to us so that it makes us better uh as a district and so so that was one thing that I really appreciated about him is that he brings the educator perspective but brings it from another area and I think that
214perspective um if you know combined with ours would make us better it would give us things uh areas to improve um it would give us a a broader perspective on the things that we do and so I think that would be wonderful um I also appreciate that he just hammered home over and over and over this uh you know the idea of being student centered that really resonated with me um you know he repeated it all you know a number of times um you know I have it just in my notes just on that column uh you know that commitment to all students is just filled in with you know the things that he was saying and I loved that and his uh definition of equity uh each child receiving what they need uh you
215know is basically my definition of equity um and so I you know I thought he was just wonderful he was one of the ones where um you know before the meeting I I definitely identified him as somebody to keep an eye on and then you know his interview really just blew me away so um and then the last one uh you know is uh Miss mcmanis White I think excuse Dr Dr mcmanis White yes um and I think again you know a lot of it has already been said by others um who spoke about her but uh you know the community involvement is just amazing right she's very clearly been deeply involved involved in the community for a long time that really comes out in her application and in the letters and so that was
216really important to me I think the perspective of business owner would add a lot to this board um you know I think that it is a perspective that we don't have on the board um you know and a perspective that we could benefit from um and then she talked about Educators a lot and I agree the uh you know her perspective on English English language Learners um would would add a lot to this board so um with that uh so anything else any otherwise I think we are ready all right so I am now going to force my colleagues including myself um to narrow ourselves down to three so give me so I'm going to give everybody 30 seconds a minute um and then I'm going to just going to go down the line and
217you have to give me no more than three and that's how we're going to narrow this down all right so let's take one minute and then we're going to do it okay Miss Davis I need three names uh Bryce Amy and Delia all right in that order or just those three okay so not ordered no less than I'm just waiting for the screen to update see we have it behind us all right Miss alvani gonna stick with your too all right Miss ballerini okay I'm gonna go with Bryce dilia and Anita okay there's more any changes going to stick with your three all right thank you right oh making it difficult for me all right um I'm going to go with Miss Balwin Miss Tong and Dr geel all right so so it looks like
218so it looks like we had two pretty clearly rise to the top um Dr guel and uh Miss Balwin so with that information now I will open it up to the board um this is an opportunity to continue to discuss um I will accept motions if anybody would like to make one um and as a reminder uh we need four votes in favor uh even though there are five of us we need four votes in favor um to appoint someone to this seat so would anybody like to start our discussion don't everybody jump up at once I'll say something um just to follow up on Miss White's um her experience I just think that she to me she presented the as the most well-rounded candidate for the things I was looking at as a former
219parent longtime El Grove resident uh a grandparent to a incoming egusd student a business owner and then her extensive um experience in the in education and serving not only students but staff and then also connecting with uh parents and then as I mentioned her um experience with English language Learners is something that I think would be very valuable to us thank you very much anybody else I'll be on um I this is very hard um these are two excellent people and and I I don't think we could lose um we're we're either way um is going to be great um so when I listen to other people speaking and um try to take into consideration some ideas and some more things that were said um I do appreciate Miss Baldwin's passion for um the special
220ed children um a mother of a 504 child um I I I believe that's a unique lens to bring to our to our board that um and and then it is is equally countered with someone who has so much experience in the education and expertise world so I'm not sure I needed to talk because I really I I've been pretty solid on those two from the start um but I I'd be very interested in hearing more thoughts from anybody else before we entertain a motion okay Miss Davis Miss ballerini Miss ballerini okay so one thing that concerned me from when I read all the applications and I kept going back and forth and back and forth with them over the weekend and this week um is Dr guel is a principal in in another District
221entirely um like you said he could bring some things to us but I I wonder about availability of time um principal at a high school I if if and I know Davis High School is very active I I don't know how he's going to have the time to come to our schools and visit our schools and and do all the things we expect him to do as a board member um and there are one thing that is kind of mentioned in the questions but not fully is that once a month we have an all day workshop meeting that I'm not sure how he'd be able to come to that because I think they kind of need a principal at Davis um that's my concern there and as as far as Delia goes um yes I
222read all all the letters and um she she definitely has clear goals and vision I really like the way this is all right you're going to find out some of our weirdnesses here he's a he's a geek and I I really like the way you clearly concisely said your your six things your Mak an effective board member I like the way you numbered them you put them down you like that that that I I don't know that really did it for me I I I thought that was a very effective way to put it Forward um how you feel and I appreciate all of the things that you do for the community um and my grandson well they're they're actually both on the Spectrum we just haven't gotten one of them identified yet um and
223so I have that coming forward too um they're they're not my children but they're my grandchildren and as as one of them said the other day Grandma we spend about half of the day at school about the quarter of the day with you and we only see our parents for about a quarter of the day and I thought wow that's so true and so many kids that's what happens um you know they're lucky to I mean I feel they're lucky to have a grandma to be able to come home to um it's just we're lucky that they have a good experience at school we want to feel good about going to school and I I think that your work with eg speaks also um I I really admire that because that that group has really
224um kind of been a very big information gatherer for me I've I've been able to talk to them about quite a few things I've gone to some of their um their meetings that they've had and learned a lot um I just like the way you were prcise in your answers but I I still got the feeling that you know what you're doing that's my two cents worth there you go Miss Alani um it seems like we have one of those meetings every month but we really don't I promise there a few times a year three they they they feel like every month because they because we did them because we did it in January and we're doing one in March but it's four I think it's four four a year during the day but and
225but it's a valid point but I I also think he he did speak to it when he came and one of the letters of recommendation was from his own superintendent a board member so um but it is a valid concern I I also miss Davis I too as I expressed earlier have that concern of time management but I also have that same concern with Miss Tong um both you you guys are doing amazing things and you're spread pretty thin out there um dilia you as well um one thing that impressed me out of these three was the one that had students come speak for them they need to have a voice in this process too and and deia was the only one that did have students um as well as parents and co-workers come speak
226um going back to the statement that was made our gentleman who was speaking for um our tribe our our board does need to reflect our community um it right now it doesn't and I think dilia would be a big piece of that to the board and a voice to the people who aren't being heard at that point um but like I said all three are amazing candidates it's a really hard decision here well I will entertain a motion if anybody would like to seems like we have sort of coalesced at least have an idea it would any a motion you like to make a motion I would like to make a motion to a point Anita a mcmanis white motion is on the table to appoint uh Dr Anita mcmanis White is there a second
227fortunately motion fails for lack of a second thank you anybody else like to make a motion I'd like to make a motion to nominate dilia Ballwin motion is to nomin is to appoint dilia Ballwin uh to the position of trustee for area 4 is there a second second second excuse me um motion by Miss ballerini second by uh miss albiani any additional discussion feedback all right then we will move to a vote uh all those in favor please say I oh wait no we need to do a roll call excuse me see I put down my script for two seconds I'm here I was on that what I'm doing all right excuse me we will have a roll call vote uh all right so starting um Miss Moore how do you vote no Miss ballerini
228yes Miss Alani yes Miss Davis yes and I am a [Applause] yes there being four votes in favor Miss uh Miss dilia Baldwin is appointed to the position of trustee for area 4 all right so congratulations to miss Ballwin you have been selected to fill the provisional vacancy on the school uh on the school board for trusty area 4 and will now be sworn in by need to hit rice up to come Chris would you like to take it Miss Miss Balwin you can either be sworn in by Mr Hoffman Mr Hoffman or myself it's up to you got to give him something to do in advance right be prepared try to keep people so I I Delia bwin there we go uh do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support and defend
229that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of California and the constitution of the State of California against all enemies foreign and domestic that I will bear true faith and allegiance that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States to the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state county in the constitution of the State of California and that I take this obligation freely I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion or purpose or evasion and that I will well and I will well and Faithfully discharge the duties and Faithfully discharge the duties upon which I'm about to enter upon which
230I'm about to enter thank you so much a photo or be great all right with that we are adjourned at 9:30 p.m. e