LASD Board Meeting - May 19, 2025

001Good evening everybody and welcome to tonight's board meeting. Like to call our regular meeting to order. A thank you. A recording and or broadcast of this meeting is being made at the direction of the board which may capture images and sounds of those attending the meeting. I will now take the role. here. Calling him Steve. I'm so sorry. Jim is here. Stella here. And hi, Shelley. Sir, I'm here. Sorry. Worse. Would any board members like to provide comment on tonight's agenda? the pledge of pledge. Oh gosh. Sorry. Sorry. Thank you. Do we have any uh students who would like to lead us in the pledge of allegiance tonight? We do. We have and thank you tonight. Please aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one

002nation under indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. How? Now, would any board members like to provide comment on tonight's agenda? No. Okay. Then, can I please have a motion to approve the agenda as presented? So, move. Thank you, Vladimir. I have a second. Second. Thank you, Jim. Right. I wrote an S. I have motion to approve tonight's agenda as presented was made by Vladimir and seconded by Jim. All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Thank you. Motion passes unanimously. Close session report. Um after tonight's open session, the trustees will reconvene to close session and then report out afterwards. Superintendent's update. Sure. A few things to share. I don't know if anyone else had an opportunity, but I was uh invited as were uh you all and was able to attend the algebra

003inclusion project over at Egan Friday. I just attended one of the periods um in this Venus classroom and it was really fun. I probably talked to five or six students about how they have used math to redesign the classroom in a more inclusive way. Um, and it was really fun for them to hear them talk about um, their expanded understanding of inclusion um, both at school and around our community. They were able to highlight places that they're seeing in our community that could be more inclusive to people with disabilities or people who might have some different needs. So, that was really wonderful. I always love um, being able to talk to kids about their projects. Um wanted to thank our PTA and LAF leadership. We have been meeting all year long once a month on

004Fridays in a collaborative group um really to figure out how we can build a stronger partnership um and kind of create an uh we are LD identity. You've seen this on a lot of the t-shirts and what have you out and about. Um, and so that that idea really came from this leadership group on campus. And so we've been making great progress this year. Hope to continue to see that progress next year with both building that LED identity and helping all of the groups reach their um fundraising goals for the year next year. So we're working on more collaboration than we've had in the past around those ideas, which is wonderful. Um, I had the great privilege of riding in a fancy car at the pet parade on Saturday and it was really fun. I

005saw pigs, maybe one pig, not plural, one pig, goldfish in a bowl, lots of dogs and cats. Um, it was really wonderful and wanted to thank uh, PEU and Jenny Peek once again for organizing all of the schools and this we are LSD. We had a great big banner in the front and then all of the schools. I saw mentor tutor connection also back there. Pat, you were leading that charge. But it's always a really fun event and I love to see our kids there with their pets and crazy costumes and it's just a fun community event like no other. And our Egan kids um played their instruments which was fun too. Marching along. Um what else do I want to say? We received Eric received a really nice um note from Dan Rich from

006CS CSA. They recently had their ribbon cutting um for the new community services agency. And so just wanted to thank the board and LAD for helping them in their transition process. You know, they used the old Joann's fabrics as their temporary housing, but they're back and open and able to serve stu uh families across our community, which is wonderful. Um, this Thursday we have our last round of open houses, Oak, Loyola, and Sanorita. So, if you're available, um, you're going to go to Oak. So, um, if you're available, wonderful. They always love to see you there. We also have the Egan concert this Thursday after open houses. And then next Tuesday and Wednesday, our block group um, musicians are performing next week. And a little sneak peek, Block was at Disneyland this past um weekend

007and I believe they did very well and they may have won the whole shebang once again. So I will ask Mr. Spinator for the details, but I know they did very well and Mr. Lewis um runs an exceptional music program over at Lock. And lastly, a reminder that Monday is Memorial Day, which I just kind of realized on Friday. Um, so this Monday is Memorial Day and our schools will be closed in observance of that. I think that is my list. Coming to a quick close. Thank you. May is a busy month. May is a very busy month. Thank you. All righty. We're going to move on to literally the best part of our meetings, our school presentations. We're so happy that we have Cington here tonight. Yes. You want me to go up there?

008Sure. That would be great. Good evening, board of trustees and our esteemed cabinet. Thank you so much for being here. I'm Kevin Armstrong, principal of Cington. Um I'm not the most important here, most important person here tonight, which leads to many ways. We're going to present to you. Um as you know, you've seen lots of examples of deeper learning throughout our presentations, right? And so one of the things that we decided to work on last year and sort of take a risk in trying this out was this defense of learning project which now has been renamed to reflection of personal growth. We know that deeper learning is an incredible piece and our CNI department has done a wonderful job at supporting teachers and students with this. But we want kids to leave our sixth grade

009class moving to middle school and so on thinking about themselves as learners. And so that's really what this project is about. Um and so thankfully Mr. Stewart, Miss McInness have taken on this work as well for this year. So I'm going to hand it over to them and let them talk about what it looks like currently and then you're going to hear our kiddos talk about it. Thank you so much for having us. All right, you guys are up. So this project in this project students are asked to respond to the driving question, how has your experience at Cington shaped you as a learner? And so they work um in a group and they plan and deliver a presentation to a review panel at the end of the year comprised of typically one of the

010sixth grade teachers either Miss Mcn or myself, a um mentor teacher and a peer mentor, both of which they self- select at the beginning of the process. Um and we have learning behaviors over here from our wheel um that we connect back to what we do with the panel. Um, additionally, the panel confers and they have a presentation and a debrief so that students can kind of get that feedback. Um, and this will determine whether they pass with distinction or if they need to resubmit. Um, Jason, do you want to take the top tip? Yeah. So, I think, you know, it provides students with an authentic task related to our LD student experience and our emphasis on deeper learning. And I think one of the major goals is to increase student reflection on themselves and

011their learning growth over time, both as students and outside of the classroom as well. And we see this a lot in their presentations. They're going to incorporate things that happen outside of their world in school, but also inside. So, it's nice to see those two things bridge. So, you're really working with like everything that the child is going through at that particular time. Um the really great thing about this project coming into it, this is the second year for Covington. Um but coming on board I really appreciated like the student voice and choice and so we've taken that and we really embedded that with a couple different things. The first being environments that are filled with safety. We really want kids to take be brave, take a chance, tell us really what's going on in

012their life or whether they're dealing with things that we may not know about. Um, which has been really great to see that like super honest reaction from kids of like, yeah, I am dealing with this and I'm moving beyond it. Um, the other really great thing I enjoyed was the positive developmental relationships that connects directly back to the teacher mentors. You're going to have a student, Helena, talk to you about that. Um, actually both of our students were working with this uh teacher mentor and they've uh they've really grown from this experience as well and it's been great to have the kids reconnect with teachers they might have had in the past. That's great. So, I think we'd like to welcome Helena to come kind of share the mentor experience and Katalia will share her

013um project that she created. Hello, my name is Elena Hong and I would like to explain how having a teacher mentor helped me in the process of creating my reflection of personal growth project. Before I begin, I would like to thank my teacher mentor, Mrs. Mas, and my sixth grade teachers, Mr. Stewart and Miss McInness, for choosing me to do this speech. Mrs. Mas was a really supportive teacher last year and I chose her because I felt like she would be able to support me with my project by helping me through the process of writing a script and making a slideshow. Having a teacher mentor who knows me as a person has taught me what and has taught me before was helpful because she was able to guide me through the process and give me

014suggestions on what I should put in my script. She helped me proofread my script and practice my presentation. She also helped me incorporate personal details into my project. For example, I have been in Cington leadership for two years now, which Miss Masi helps run. Mrs. Masi has guided me through various project and leadership activities where she has helped me grow. She reminded me to include personal examples of my chosen learning behaviors such as respect. Like when I play sports, I need to show respect towards my teammates and the opposing team. Kas Pereira, who is my peer mentor for this project, also helped me in the process. She also made sure this script makes sense and added things that she thought would add depth to the project. Now she will present her reflection of personal growth

015project. You too just I'll click it and then I'll change the thing for you. On there. Yeah. Okay. Hello, my name is Catalina Stannis La Pereira and this is my reflection of personal growth project. The topics I believe that I have grown in are contributing to discussions and solving challenging problems. Some of my favorite hobbies that I've shown some of these learning behaviors in are math, karate, and basketball. The first learning behavior I'm going to talk about is contributing to discussion. To start in fourth grade, Miss Even House's class, I wasn't very good at sharing my ideas with the class or taking feedback from Miss Even House. When she gave me a three on one of my writing assignments, I didn't ask her for feedback or ask her what I can do to get a

016better grade next time. Fast forward to fifth grade, I started sharing my ideas a bit more, but I also started to ask what I could do better on my work. Even though I asked for feedback, I wouldn't completely I wouldn't completely apply this to my assignment. But now in sixth grade, the first trimester, I got a three on one of my writing assignments. The next day at school, I immediately asked Miss McInness for feedback on what I can do better on my next piece of writing. In the trimester to follow, I applied the feedback and ended up receiving a not only did I improve on contributing to discussions in school, but I also did in my extra math class. This year at RSM Russian School of Math, I was nervous to speak up and share

017my answers. I didn't feel feel comfortable with so many new people that might laugh if I got a question wrong. Each week, my teacher, Mr. Vasa, would call in people to answer questions as he tried to push myself and others out of their comfort zone. As I was answering questions and getting them correct, I realized how low my confidence was and how much I second guess myself. To this day, I am still building my confidence and not worrying if I make a small mistake. Now, let's move on to solving challenging problems. Ever since I started elementary school, I put pressure on myself to do better and to be perfect. As I climbed up the grades, the pressure kept increasing. Each day, I tried to hide who I was, and I didn't have as much fun

018in school because I set an expectation for myself that was impossible to reach. With all these expectations I set for myself, I wasn't able to enjoy school and other activities to the fullest. I never noticed all the weight I had been putting on myself until this year on our way back from our sixth grade our sixth grade wall in Western. My teacher, Miss McInness, made me realize how hard I was on myself. And when we talked when we talked on the bus ride home, that was the moment when I noticed how much I kept to myself and how many emotions I kept in. There on that bus ride was when all the emotions that had piled up inside for years came spilling out. My shoulders felt 10 times lighter now that I cried it out

019and finally talked to someone about it. Right now, I am still working on trying not to hide my emotions from everyone and not setting impossible expectations for myself. But I'm continuing to work on these skills. A lot of these learning behaviors can play a role in my future. For example, contributing to discussions can be very helpful when I'm working with peers or colleagues. Sharing my ideas can be very helpful to the group and help accomplish different tasks. This learning behavior could also be useful in middle school and high school when I need to ask for feedback on an assignment. Another example would be how solving challenging problems could play a role in my future. When I go to middle school and high school, I'm going to have to meet the expectations of not only two

020teachers, but seven different ones. This will be a challenge that I will need to overcome to grow as a learner. Solving challenging problems could also apply to things when I get a job. Solving problems with colleagues and other and other people will be a big hurdle, but because I already have practice solving challenging problems and coming up with compromises and solutions, this will come easier to me. Lastly, I will reflect on my journey as a learner. I believe that I've grown not only as a learner, but as a person that can express their emotions and realize how much pressure they are putting on themselves. I also believe that my journey as a learner has shaped who I am as a person and how how I will continue to live through life. By taking this time

021to reflect on this wild ride starting in kindergarten, I realized that I need to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying not to hide my emotions from other. I want to thank Miss McInness and Mr. Stewart for helping me through sixth grade. And I would I would also like to thank Mr. Armstrong for supporting not only me but everyone on this campus as much as you can. Finally, I would also like to thank all my past teachers and my past principal, Mr. Spiner, for shaping the life. Thank you. Thank you very much for sharing. That was awesome. This is their first time running through it. And they have When is your final presentation? Is it this Friday or next week? Wednesday. Wednesday. Next Wednesday. So, fantastic. I think you're very prepared. So,

022um I think it's still a work in progress. I think this is our this is our second year doing this. One takeaway from last year was really kind of putting more effort into building out the opportunities for working with uh teacher mentors. So, kind of kind of um giving teachers a little more input on what we were trying to accomplish and what was expected of their meetings with the students. And then just starting earlier in the year to allow more time for for meetings with those metro teachers to build a genuine relationship that they could um so that they could work more effectively together as a team. I think going forward next year we're looking at improving the reflection piece. Uh we started at the beginning of third trimester this year. So I think next

023year we're thinking of planning um where students will maintain a portfolio from the beginning of the year and throughout the year of work samples but really building in that reflection component to where every work sample that they select contains a reflection focusing on their growth as learners both inside and outside of the classroom so that when we get to the end of the year they have plenty of examples already kind of um selected and gathered that they could go through when when planning this this presentation. And we're hoping that they can do this reflection process, maybe not the entire project. We'll wait for that for sixth grade, but the reflection process in fourth and fifth grade so that by the time they get to sixth grade, they've already gone through some of these cycles and

024they know some of these learning behaviors already and they're not having to look through a sheet and wonder like which one should I choose and, you know, getting feedback from them. We want that to be authentic from them. Um, and I feel like we achieved that this year, but we want them to really get into the routine of it. Yeah, we are seeing some interest in the other staff also that have really enjoyed the process of seeing their students that have already moved on come back to them and kind of see how much they've grown. So, we've got a lot of positive feedback from from the teacher mentors and and wanting to kind of increase their reflection practice, too. So, we're really excited for that. Any questions? Yes. Uh, does every student have a network?

025Yes. Every student has a mentor and they also have peer mentors. They either have one or they have two. Yeah. And some students select past teachers, some students want somebody new and they select sometimes district staff or secretaries or different people on campus. And so it's it's really neat to see all the kids team up with with different types of people for different reasons and kind of develop relationships. Yeah, they were really excited about that component. So we had several students that sought out somebody from outside of our school and so uh Sarah Gerlinger was overwhelmed or inundated with students saying like please two years in a row. She's been fantastic and the kids have really enjoyed that experience. So, it's been nice for them because they really wanted to step out of the bubble

026of Covington and get feedback from somebody new. Um, and that's been a really overwhelming positive experience for these kiddos. Yeah. Some of them even requested Cherry Poso who retired and came back just to do the project. So, that was kind of funny, too. Yes. And we've also included like other staff as well. So, there was a lot of requests for our school librarian Mara Starky. Um, and then also our principal, Mr. Armstrong. So, I feel like the kids in general are seeking out these people on campus and now they're identifying them through the project as someone they could see later as a as a mentor or a role model, which has been really great. Any other comments? I I love I love how you've structured this so that it it ties back to the portrait

027of the learner and the LD student experience. I feel like it's like a very practical like it all sounds very theoretical, right? the student experience in the fourth but this is like a very practical application of it and I'm so proud of you both you guys did a great job I know it's not easy presenting in front of your board but we are here to serve you and I'm so happy to see like how you're doing this um the level of self awareness that I heard in Catalia speech was just really amazing I could see you like you know four years from now eight years 10 years from now like that's just going to really serve you well so thank you so much thank you for your bravery and your honesty Thank you so much

028for doing this. Of course. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Thanks. Thank you. Would any board members like to provide comment on tonight's consent calendar? Okay. Then may I please have a motion to approve the consent calendar as presented? Thank you, Vladimir. We have a second. I'll second. Thank you, Stella. Motion to approve tonight's consent calendar as presented was made by Vladimir and seconded by Stella. All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Thank you. Motion passes unanimously. Right. Moving on to employee requests to address the board for the Losto Teachers Association. Allison White. Oh, hello. Nice to see you again. Thank you. as we get to the end here. Um I was thinking about the the way to kind of encapsulate I think for teachers we all in different roles experience the same rhythm to

029the school year. It's such an a unique thing compared to I think working in the private sector. Um, and there's the moods that are coming over teachers right now. Celebratory, right? We're close. Um, exhausted, right? Can I get some more? Can I get a few more things done that I want to get done with kids? Have I reached the students that I wanted to reach? Um, to the extent that I wanted to reach them. Have I helped children and families in the way that I thought I could at the beginning of the year? Um, and what I realized is I was kind of landing on what's the mood that really resonates. It doesn't happen yet, but it will come as we hit that summer pause for teachers. And that's really what I want to kind

030of convey is this invisible work that's going to go on over the summer. It's not necessarily something anyone is going to see. Um, but it's and it resonates so much with the presentation you just heard. It's it's a reflective mood and and I think all of us that are in classrooms every year, we have this privilege of getting to pour our heart and soul into the best work that we can do with our students. And then there's an end point, a stop, and we get to do it again the next year. But with that time of reflection, what went well? What was the struggle? What did some students struggle with? But more importantly, why? It's the why that's so important to think as you reflect as we reflect over the summer. What made that successful?

031What things were surprising to me? And I just think I don't even think teachers talk to each other about this, but it goes on. It goes on when they're hiking. It goes on when they are um you know potentially traveling or just hanging out at home. So, I think that that quieter invisible work that we all don't see is really what allows teachers to not only recharge their battery to come back ready to to learn their new students and bring a new set of goals um to to make a difference for those kids. So, I just I want you to know that as we get to the end here, I think we're almost down to to single digit days, maybe two more days. Um that we're all excited to to bring the year to a

032close with our students and send them off. Um but in that same ending, we're already getting ready for the new beginning. It is definitely a continuous cycle. Um and we bring everything with us each year. um and think a little bit more about how can I take what I learned about students last year and bring it to the next group of kids. So that's just a little kind of thought, you know, the way I think teachers are thinking right now that I wanted to share with you and thank you for your attention. I'm going to pivot with Mrs. McDonald's permission. Um when I met you last I guess it was March 3rd when my little hairs um came and presented their deeper learning inquiry project I had said we would do we would communicate with

033you about what happened next and so it has been an ongoing as I laid out for you um and I I'll explain Sandra will have this in her office but it's interactive writing which means students are for TK students they're beginning some letter formation in a way that is applied to an actual communication piece. Um, obviously I did the spelling. So, at this level, I'm doing the spelling for them, but they're doing the letter. We draft the sentences together. Um, so we said, "Dear Trustees and Mrs. Pagonle, um, it has been a busy spring." Uh, in the eagle's nest, three chicks hatched, but one died in a snowstorm. Very sad. At first the chicks were white, then they turned gray. Um, um, now they have brown feathers. Their names are Sunny and Gizmo. Love the

034TK class at Oak. And our little PS is their wingspan is almost six feet, which yes, we So the research that continues follows their questions. So shocking. It is amazing. Um, and I so excited. I I love this. Please come to our classroom. We're happy to uh tell you more. Um, but yes, so we have been doing more research. What their questions have not stopped. And we were all amazed. So, this tied in nicely with measurement unit, right? So, we get the tape measure out. What does that look like? Um, so anyway, so I'm gonna get some student art down here and then some actual photographs. I will give that to you. Thank you. Thank you. So happy to have the return. Yes, they have uh it really was enjoyable for them to come and

035speak with you. So, thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you also for hosting me at the ref council meeting. I will mention that my board comments, but I wanted to thank you. Thank you. Right. From the California School Employees Association. No, all right. Thanks, K. All righty. To provide public comment on an agenda item, speaker cards are to be submitted to the superintendent. Speaker cards will not be accepted once public comment begins. Your name will be announced when it is your turn to speak. Moving on, community comments. This time is reserved for members of the public and employees to address the board on items that are not on the agenda. The board is not permitted to discuss or take action on non-aggenda items except to instruct the superintendent to review the matter

036further, report back to the board at a subsequent meeting, or place the matter on a future agenda. The board may make a brief comment or ask clarifying questions. Looks like tonight we have one person, Dimmitria Bell or Dimmitri Bell. U will give you three minutes. Hi, good evening. So, I'm actually here tonight as a parent of a sixth grader may remember me from a month ago. I had shared some uh concerns about my son who's on the wait list at Egan. Um I'm just following up on my public comment and also an email I sent you guys today. So, I do urge the board to clearly communicate how this is going to be handled and how you plan to resolve this equitably. I've received no further communication about this and it's extremely frustrating. I'd like

037to try to have direct communication happening to meet with anyone in person, just have some clarity on how this is being handled. I was a little shocked today to hear a friend of mine who's submitted their registration the first day they were eligible back in the fall and they were put immediately on the wait list. So it just seems a little shocking that a lot of the nonLD kids are on this wait list and it seems extremely unfair. So I would appreciate somebody to follow up with me so I don't have to escalate this further. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, on to action and discussion items. Special education updates. Start with another one. No, for the next hour. Good evening, our members who I've got some friends today. So, Christina Marada, our special education coordinator,

038and Erin Grizzald, who is our Los Altos behavior services labs behaviorist, and she's a board certific. So, for this update, so you guys wanna want to stand, you can sit until it's your um for this update, we're choosing to focus on one aspect um of schooling that just kind of infiltrates everywhere and student behavior. Maybe it's because we have 12 days left and maybe it's because it's the emails I get all the time, but we want to um share with you a little bit about um student behaviors and I'm sure you've heard with teachers um superintendent and even through negotiating that this is a concern for for all right um but I wanted to let you know that we are not alone. Um since the pandemic we have seen an increase of challenging behaviors at

039schools um especially in our younger grades TK through first grade. And this is a trend seen across our nation. I think Edweek just did a poll and they recently showed in in 24 2000 I think January 24 came out with a study thousands upon thousands of educators half of about 40% of the educators said that they'd seen an increase a dramatic increase of behaviors in their classrooms than in 2019. And so if you take that for Los means one out of every two of our teachers have seen an increase in behaviors in their classrooms. And that's quite a lot. Um we know our youngest population is our most vulnerable. Um on a side note, even for students who have been identified with a disability early in life, we are seeing longer wait times for them

040to receive early intervention. Um and and that is not necessarily the population that I'm that I'm talking about. This is for everyone, but that is a subset that in the past prior to the pandemic, students who have been um identified early with autism might have coming with a pretty robust program. We are seen to and families telling us they're on a wait list for quite some time. So that does impact um their access. Um another thing that um we have seen a big change in is adverse childhood experiences. I don't know if this is a term that you guys have heard. I'm sure she before, but um really what it is is a potentially traumatic event that happens anytime between birth to 17 years old. And these are a range of experiences that kids can

041have um and it affects all aspects of their life in their social emotional um developmental and even physical um health. This could be abuse um neglect and inconsistent parenting due to mental illness of the parent, maybe drug or alcohol abuse of the parent or even divorce as I did. Um bullying, homelessness, um community aspects, the pandemic shutting down if that family unit was really impacted by it. wildfires having to move. I mean, there's a lot of things that that can attribute to what we would call an adverse challenge. The impact of these can be huge. There's learning and long life behavior challenges, emotional challenges. Um, we know that um neuroscience has taught us that when they have like a reaction to stress and that adrenaline and cortisol will continue to be flooded in your brain,

042that's called toxic stress. And that is what we see in students. We see um if they go back to the ACES they're saying that like one of those things that could happen maybe um they witnessed an abuse or homelessness happened or that would be a one and um about 64% of our population have at least experienced one. And so um having a score of four means exposure to about four um is the key marker that really impacts the growth and development for students. And so thinking about four different experiences through your life and how that and how the resiliency of students it's not that many it's going to happen. So um you are seeing we believe that that's part of the impact that we're seeing for students for that are coming in young we're seeing

043more impact and when that cortisol is released and that toxic stress is happening these are the symptoms that we see in students and all of those can manifest as the potential that someone may say they're coming with some sort of learning challenge or behavior problem that a child who falls asleep in class we've seen them and they wake up and they're very irritable they have trouble sleeping so during that they're just running on um on red all the the rest of they feel like they're complaining of sematic symptoms in their body and trouble with concentration. So these are what we're seeing as an increased level in our younger grades especially that are contributing to the teachers showing us that we're having more behavior problems. Um we know that research has there's been a lot of

044research on behavior because behavior is not new but pandemic didn't start behavior right it's happened. Um we know what um what interventions are not effective and what interventions are effective. So non- effective are the ones that we usually think of a punitive measure just meeting with the student. Um referring to special education for behavior is actually does not have a very good um impact effect size. What we do know works are some of the things that in Los Altos we've been able to put into place and we're going to share with them. We know that positive behavior supports health like social skills training token economies all of these things um we know have that higher effect size of being able to tell us what works for students. the wheel. You heard it earlier, but um

045curriculum and development have gone through and they talked about those two. The positive development relationships and environmental environments build safety and belonging the giving the student the teachers training in those are core is a core foundation for being able to set students up for success in classrooms. We have psychologists and behaviorists at all of our sites. um and they're there to support the students and the teachers that maybe need a little more help and to help guide the principles. Um we do feel that we're lucky to be here to support. We're going to talk a little bit about what are the we the actual interventions that we have. So what we um have in place as as part of our multi-ter system of supports um and how we really look at what the resources students

046need is looking at tier one, tier two, and tier three. So we're going to go over specific examples of what the tier one supports and structures we have support all all our students then going into tier two for some that need a little bit more and then going further for what are the more intensive supports that we need for few students that really need more of that individualized attention that we have. Um so what we do have uh for tier one there's we're going to go over the direct teaching of rules and procedures. Tier one really are the proactive strategies that we have in place. Um, positive behavior supports that we're going to go over with parents. Safety care, the training that all of our staff, including administrators, go through as a proactive measure and

047and reactive measure sometimes. Tier 2 um supports in kids stars and play zones, behavior strategy plans, proactive and reactive that are very student specific. Um and then tier three more of the intensive support that social the types of social skills group therapies the the types of supports or behaviors provide and then when is it that it's appropriate for students to have more intensive supports so that they can function in a classroom meaning when they need instructional assistance and behavior technicians to support their learning with the teachers um in any of their learning environments. So for preventative practice tier one preventative practice for all students we are very intentional with teaching our students our classroom rules and procedures. We have our um you know social emotional learning character strong is something that um all students are

048exposed to. Um we have positive behavior supports um and then safety care uh training. Jar can go over what are the proactive tools that we use for positive behavior and safety care. Yeah. So, just going back though to some of our present behavior supports. We do a lot of training and teaching with staff around what those tier one supports are in classrooms. Um, we've helped to put together a checklist, a a checklist for them that teachers can have access to to see what can they do to help build these relationships with all their students. Um, last year the opportunity I met with all the TK and K teachers and their staff and we got to do a training around this and give them some of that extra support. So that was good to be able

049to start it when they're really young. Um, but one huge thing I think that we do here is safety care. So that's our crisis management training that we do. And almost every special education staff member is trained in how to manage crisis behaviors, but also a lot of our general education staff. So any staff that has a student in their classroom that has a little bit extra challenging behaviors or they want to come and learn more, then they can come to this training. One reason like we've chosen this training is because it really focuses a lot more on the proactive side and how to prevent behaviors from occurring instead of just focusing on that reactive side and like how to manage it once they happen. So we really spend a lot of time to be

050able in this training to be able to provide this to all of our to our staff. Um so that's one huge thing. And then when we get to two or tier two, um something I think that's unique that we are able to also provide in this district is um it's called kids stars and then another program is play zone. So kids stars is um we have a target student which is a student that does receive the specific service. However, it is open to all students uh within their grade level. So, especially for kids starts, it's a kindergarten, it's a first and second grade social skills program where we work on um sportsmanship and compromising and coping strategies. And each week it's a set curriculum. And the way that it's structured is um there's a student,

051our target student, but then all the students who are in the first grade class are in a rotation schedule being able to come. So, they're all able to learn all these strategies and skills within their classroom. And then our other big program we can do is called Play Zone. And that's where we can set up. We've been setting up structured play opportunities out at recess. So, we have a lot of students who don't always know what to do or need a little bit more structure and guidance and so we're able to provide them with different opportunities. We I've since I've been here, this is I'm finished my 12th year, we've been able to provide it almost every single year and I want to say actually this is the first year we just haven't had the

052staff available to provide play zone. So, we haven't been able to have that on our campuses, our elementary campuses, but in the past, we've been able to have it at most of our campuses. So, hopefully we'll be able to bring that back in the future because I know it was a nice place for a lot of our kids who do have these challenges to be able to go and get some more support. Um, and then yeah, and then the our tier three is, you know, that top tier level who need that little bit more support. Um then we have social skills groups that we have access that they have access to. The behaviorists and the psychologists we run these groups together. And then as the behaviorist we provide consultation. We help set up programs. We

053we meet with teams um and psychologists to help set up different um behavior strategy plans for our students. And then we obviously we have our direct staff. So then they're the instructional assistants or behavior techs that can go in and provide direct support into the classrooms. So yeah, so that's looking at things like each of the different laws that we provide. Um so our we really want to say that we're grateful for the supports that we um we had some you know we were the ability to be ahead of the curve of the challenges after the pandemic. We had structures in place. We had people, we had trainings, we were able to do that. And we do know it's a budget time and so we are looking at, you know, kind of being able to

054right side and adapt to the changing needs of our students. But we're in a much better place than a lot of our districts who are SCR who are working really quickly to build the what we have, right? And so, um, we the psychologists, um, at each of the sites are integral as part of that tier one support, um, being able to work and then they work very closely with our behaviorists that go about, um, they we have three main behaviorists that help run the rest of the programming for students, the schools. Again, a lot of our program is for students with IEPs, but what you just heard about really, we are able to blend that support into a lot more people, right? So with the kids stars that is for someone who might be on

055an IEP as a target student, but then you just heard that like the rest of the class gets a social skills built into it by being able to be part of that. So there's a lot of ways that we kind of build our supports and that the the rest of the the group is able to kind of learn from. Um we are we do have some changes that we wanted to be able to go on and be able to build um help with capacity. Um, we want to make sure that, um, we can move into more of a coaching model instead of a direct service so we can build capacity with our teachers and the staff members at the site to be able to have those skills and be able to come in and support

056as needed and to be able to streamline the supports that we do have. Um, but we are very thankful and we feel like we've been in a good spot um, with all the supports that we do have. [Music] Okay, that one's ahead. Do you have any questions? Thank you so much. I love hearing about the stuff that you and your staff do. Um, any questions? Um, for your tier three support, do you pull kids out of the classroom to offer that support or is that done in the classroom? Both. I mean mainly we do mainly a lot of pushin support of helping to support the students and teach them strategies that they can use within the classroom. So the goal is for us to fade out. So we might initially provide a little bit of

057pull out to teach a little bit more direct instruction but then we'll quickly try to push back in to happen in the class. Have a question. Do you um offer any kind of support to the families because we're working with the kids here and then they have to go home to an environment that may not support the good work that we're doing or might be chaotic about that. Absolutely. I mean I think so we spend a lot of our time leazison is on with families um but also our psychology students and a lot of their time really working closely with families even in that tier one tier 2 time connecting with outside resources if need be connecting with um therapy if needed within our schools outside of our schools and then if they are part

058of a an IEP or something where they do have additional services part of your job is workingly with outside supports and services and the parents and making sure that the child has continuity back and forth Absolutely. Yeah. And it is standard collaboration for us to work with, you know, private or homebased ABA comp ABA companies or behaviors do that. And it's through that practice that we started getting a lot of anecdotes that they are they don't have a private home provide, you know, um um ABA therapists um to for us to collaborate with because they're on a wait list. A lot of um parents are sharing that the uh resources out there have been depleted during the pandemic. there's not a lot of um ABA or um RBTs, registered behavior texts, going into the homes

059to support students. Um and so those are um a lot of the sharing that's coming up in preschool where they get most of that early intervention supports that we're um starting to learn. Um and so we're doing a lot more collaboration directly with families um instead of collaborating with home providers because they're needing that support. And we're looking to change a couple of things because um again it's that TK kiddos where we don't we don't know and then they come in. And so we're we've done a lot of um different assessments and and preschooler student might not qualify for our program. Um behavior is not one of the 13 eligibility categories. And so um but we've kept note of who the parents are and we've kept some we told them that we'd like to be

060able to help them do some um you know things before school to help with the transition on to school and help the parents be on the same page with being able to get the student ready for some of the behavioral kind of expectations. So that is something we're thinking about. How do we support a little bit more the incoming kiddos maybe with some more structure? That's great. That's really good. before they come. Yeah, private. [Music] Any other clarifying questions? If I go to public comment, I think we have one for public comment here. I get to speak to the parent side and I'm going to try to get Terry because you guys got to see Emma at your last board meeting and she's here and she came because of Aaron and the team. We were

061one of the families who has almost never gotten outside support. We have been on weight list after weight list after weight list and every time we change insurance which has happened every time we change jobs we start at the beginning again because a lot of them work with one of them and I currently have put out a million applications and don't have any support and I get it from her resource team especially they spoke a lot about you know just the support they had but also the resource and the instructional assistance. Emma has two instructional assistants. One who is actually CSEA employee of the year for Springer who's been with her since kindergarten. And so when she doesn't feel well, they know right away in a way that almost nobody else does. They can say

062they offer a support and she just went, "No, thank you." and went to lay down. And they know her so intimately in a way that I feel like only I know her. And it means so much to have these people that I trust my child with on a daily basis and it just means a huge amount. We just had a big meeting. We all saw all these same changes and they were giving me lovely ideas. How could I support her at home? What could we change? Back and forth. We had five, six hours of just how could we all work together on be on the same page? And for us, the thing I repeat to families is Emma's growth is incredible. And it doesn't mean she looks like another student. That does not always mean

063success. And just also reminding families when they're concerned about other students in class. Ms. Pierce adore her and they support her in wonderful ways and her amazing growth does not mean just she looks the same as them and it's still so wonderful to have her included. The fact that she's enthusiastic at school. For me, the thing I repeat every time is she misses going to school during the summer. And that's all we want for our children is for them to have a place. They feel loved and welcomed. And she misses all the people every year. And she's so excited to come back. And it just means so much as a parent because that's really all you want. And I just really appreciate having the supports I've had for all these years. And so it's just

064really wanted to share a lovely story about how wonderful it's been. Thank you so much for sharing that. Any goosebumps? Oh gosh. Okay. Um, any further board discussion? All of you, all four of you put like a big lump in my throat. So, thank you so much for the excellent, amazing work that you do. Just to say thank you does not feel like enough to capture what you do for our kiddos. So, thank you so much. Thank you. teacher. Another good one. I've been excited about this one actually. Teacher induction program update. We're excited about too. [Music] Uh next week our third cohort of uh inductees will have a culminating event for the year where they basically exhibit their learning. They have an opportunity to share the work they've been doing this year um and

065to reflect on their growth. And uh it's one of the highlights of our end of the year to be able to go and and hear the things that our new teachers have worked on with their mentors over the course of the year and how they've transformed. It's it's also a timely time for us to be coming to talk to you because we're in a particular part of our accreditation cycle that we'll tell you a little bit about today. Oh, I'm actually beginning very far away from beginning teaching practice intentionally. I'm going to talk about expert teaching. And it's so interesting that we just had Allison here who actually represents a truly expert teacher, but she spoke about these two points very clearly when she talked about the arc of the school year and the kind

066of reflection teachers engage in as they think about what has happened and what might happen next to better serve their students. So in in the work of um developing teacher expertise, there's really two main things that are named that are central to teaching that really reaches kids. The first one is that expert teachers have a clear developed vision of what classrooms ought to look like and feel like. And that's something we intentionally work on developing that vision with our newest beginning teachers. The second thing is that expert teachers are deeply critical of their own teaching practice and they seek to improve based on their reflection. That's exactly what Allison was talking about. So, this feels far away from beginning teaching practice, but it's so deeply connected because it informs where we're headed with this newest

067cohort of teachers. Um we are aiming to build habits of practice not tell people how things ought to be done because every work that happens with kids each year is responsive to the group they have at that time. So developing those habits is absolutely critical. So now we move to this other idea of what's true for beginning teachers and in many ways this is actually true for all people who work this 180day school year this incredible arc. I we you talked about this joyful anticipation that begins to occur at the end of the year, this uptick, this uplift. The thing for new teachers though is the highs are particularly high and the lows are particularly low. So this graph doesn't come out of thin air. Um this is from Ellen Moer new teacher center and

068this really does represent a very real trajectory for our beginning teachers as they develop their craft. But imagine going at this alone. And if you think about that, when you really hit that dip there, we call that phase disillusionment. Um really to be clear, these are attitudinal phases that someone is experiencing. This feels like a very true reality. So we want to hold and honor both things. This reality that people are navigating as they aim to serve kids and this hope, what we believe and know for the craft of developing expert teachers, both are true. and mentoring is central to um navigating this and understanding these challenges. So clearly about uh five years ago, we decided that um it was in the best interest of our teachers and our students that we start an induction

069program here in Los Alto school district so that we could textualize the work that our new teachers do to the very specific work that we do in Los Altos with our students. Induction though serves a very important purpose uh as far as um clearing teachers credentials and it we are a state accredited program in order to be able to help teachers clear their preliminary credential. That's one purpose of it. The other purpose of what we've already been talking about is that teachers set goals that are related to the California standards for the teaching profession and they work with their mentor over the course of two years. It's a two-year requirement and they meet weekly. the mentors in their classroom watching and giving feedback. And they engage together in action research to identify something that they

070want to do to support students and a theory of action that if we do this then we believe this will happen and they put that action into practice and then look at what it did and then reflect on the changes. This sort of habit is actually not too far from what Allison was talking about either. this sitting back and I've tried these things this year and now I'm going to think about how it worked and make some changes for next year. It's that habit of mind that we're working to build for teachers. Uh we balance that work with uh the just in time that supports that is needed. So when teachers are in that dis disillusionment phase, they need something a little bit different that is just about what you need right now, today, this

071week. Um, and so our really highly skilled mentors do that balancing act with teachers. We've been in business for three years now and uh served a small number of teachers over the years. Um the teachers in our program are um either brand new to the teaching profession or coming from an outofstate um job or a private school job uh where they need still to meet the requirement for teacher induction. And so consequently we have year one teachers, year two teachers, and we also have teachers in the program who are working on an early completion option. So they don't have to because of their broad experience don't need to complete the full induction experience. Um yeah, so Greg just talked about how trained our mentors are. They are highly trained in coaching, but the thing about

072mentoring is you really have to understand the unique context of the beginning teacher and what's true and real in their world. Um in particular coupling the long-term goal work with the Justin type support that's very real. So when I talk about mentors being highly trained, it's really in the art of having a coaching conversation. It's not merely about giving advice or getting you through this situation by oh do this. This is the thing to do. The reality is these teachers are going to be in this prof. We want to sustain them in this profession and they need to have the habits of mind in place to be able to um build this practice more independently. That doesn't mean we don't still seek collaboration. That's an important component of being a teacher. But it does mean

073that you eventually do not have a mentor with you every step of the way. So we talk about what it is that mentors do in their coaching conversation. There's really three main things. We think first about offering support and what that looks like, but that's really just one component. Um it's really important to create cognitive challenge for the teachers that they can start to engage in that kind of reflection that allows them to do thinking that leads to learning. What is true? What is the habit of practice I'm developing? Um, they also help them facilitate a professional vision that really gets at the how classrooms ought to look like and feel like. So, this is we I really hats off to our mentors who do incredible work. They're so incredibly skillful in the work they

074do with teachers. What it looks like, what it doesn't look like. So, a mentor absolutely is a guide in the process. So, induction does include a portfolio. there are things that have to happen because it is a component to clear a credential. Um, and they are a guide in that process to help it make be meaningful and tailored for that teacher. They do offer advice and provide support. That's that's true, but that's also not the only thing. They're always promoting reflection and in their um their development in their mentoring and coaching practice, skillful questioning, effective questioning is a is a key component. and they personalize the program, which is why we believe so strongly in having an in-house program that it allows us to do that even more um in a way that supports our

075unique context. What they don't do is engage in any formal evaluation, any evaluation whatsoever. Um they do not share confidential details with principal or with anyone else. They're really trusted person. Um they don't recommend hiring. Again, that's connected to evaluation. They also don't do the heavy lifting. So they're there to support, but it's to help you think through um challenges. So one thing to note is there is a clear separation between the system of evaluation and the system of of coaching. And that's that's really intentional to give teachers that uh that trusted person in the practice space to do really intense work. Um the work of teaching is incredibly complex and they need that practice space to do these kinds of things. We collect survey data each year from our teachers um in the program.

076Uh and over the last three years, these are just three statements. 90% 97% of our teachers agree that my mentor guides me through induction processes in ways that make me feel make make the processes feel meaningful and relevant. My mentor believes in me and pushes me to do be better. And my relationship with my mentor is positive and I feel safe with them. Uh I'm not going to read all of these to you, but there are some themes that we notice that have emerged in in comments in our survey. A lot of them have to do with the quality of feedback that teachers get from their mentors, constructive and meaningful feedback. Um that the process of analyzing student work together and um making plans and hearing mentors um solutions and ideas really helpful for them.

077Um, and they often mention this combination of just like we talk about with students, balancing care and push. So, our teachers feel like their mentor really cares about them and they believe that they can do better. Um, in the one of these lines, I'll just read one little part to you that this mentorship experience not only enhanced my teaching skills but also also boosted my confidence in addressing various classroom challenges. And that that often is the the net outcome for our participating teachers that they they walk away with this sense of confidence that they that they can do this job and do it well. Um we are in the process of full accreditation right now. Um, as I said before, we started thinking about this program about five years ago and in 2021, we went

078through all of the prerequisites um to become eligible and then in 2022 got proision provisional approval uh to begin our program. So, we've been operational now for three school years and uh next year we will have a site visit from um the CTC. Um and we will be hopeful that we anticipate that we will get full institutional approval in 2026 at the end of next school year and then we'll be on a seven-year cycle for accreditation. Um it's it's very exciting for us because we've put a lot of heart and soul into this work. Um I think we have several mentor former mentors in this room. Jen I think was a former mentor. Jen was too. Yeah. Um and Sandra McGonagal. And so we all have a particular um affection for this important work that

079we do with teachers and we're we're pleased that we're moving forward with this because we we do great things for teachers every year. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Oh, does anyone have any clarifying questions? Are there any requests for public comment? Public comment is closed for discussion. Yeah. That's my question. Why do you do the mentors? And um who mentors the mentors? you or me. Okay. Um, I'll start. Um, our mentors are instructional coaches. They're fully released from the classroom. We really believe in that practice that it best serves our teachers to allow them to have the opportunity to really um expand that role and to receive the kind of training that you're talk talking about. So, we do have fewer instructional coaches than we've had in the past. So, we used

080to have a much bigger IST team. Um we currently have have two ISTs and so we engage in I I'm essentially I I work with them very closely um ongoing support. We we call it a forum where we come together um uh around practices connected to coaching and mentoring. So we look at specific needs for mentoring. We use the word mentoring when we talk about beginning teaching practice and coaching more broadly when we're talking about all teachers. Um there's also we've sent uh our newest coach to what's there's a particular training we sent her to but uh a very uh particular new teacher mentor training that was four days I believe very comprehensive and she engaged in a cohort. So um they're they're experienced teachers and also experienced in LSD so they understand deeply teaching

081and they understand deeply our context here at cool. Yeah. Very cool. Yeah, and thank you for asking that question because um I remember when the coach brought up this whole induction program and how excited you are about it and um so it's really great to see how far it's come along. I was always thinking about, wow, what a great program. We're creating great teachers, but what I'm getting out of today's um conversation that we're creating great mentors, too, you know, and so that was something that I didn't kind of see would come of it. So, it's very exciting. We have the best mentors. You do. It sounds like it. So, this is very exciting. So, thank you for all the hard work you put into it. Thank you. It's a lot. It's a longterm vision.

082I literally remembered you being excited about it. Oh yeah. Yeah. It was a shared vision. We made it happen. Are making it happen. Thank you. Any other All right. Thank you guys so much. All right. Our next agenda item is the LD pre kindergarten certificate of compliance. Okay. Well, I think Gregory is coming back to talk about this. No, I can talk about anything. Coming back. Uh we are um okay, let me wrap my head around this just a second. Uh so we are in a position where we have um continue to have TK openings just like so many schools around us as TK continues to expand and the state's requirements around the qualifications for um TK teachers uh are really important. We need TK teachers who understand the differences between teaching three and four

083year olds and teaching 5-year-olds. then there are many 5-year-olds and up. And so um there are three possible pathways to obtaining the certification to um to teach TK and LEAs are are responsible for ensuring that teachers meet one of those requirements. So our ask is that to to do this that we um create a certificate of compliance um that we can um award to teachers to show that they have met those requirements. Um and you'll see I think in the packet that one of the ways is that they have 24 early childhood education units. Another way is that they um the TK3 credential have a TK three. I don't remember the name of it. I was trying to think of there's a there's a specific name of a credential that they need to have. And

084the third is that they have um experience with um preschool age children. Um and we can set the criteria for what that means. Um and so you'll see that there's a process that we're proposing where um teachers would uh in order to meet that third requirement uh there's a list of things that they could uh do to satisfy that requirement. Um and uh we believe that those things that we have selected are a rigorous way for teachers to show that they are knowledgeable about the the demands of teaching very young children. So that is the overview of that. Does any parent qualify for the three to four year old? You would like to be a preschooler. Okay. I would like to be a TK. Thank you. Thank you for pinching. Um, any clarifying questions? Okay.

085Are there any requests for public comment? Public comment is closed. Uh, would any board members like to provide further comment on this agenda item? Okay. Then may I please have a motion to approve the LD pre kindergarten certificate of compliance? So motion. Thank you, Vladimir. May I have a second? I'll second. Thank you, Stellar. Any further board? Okay. Motion to approve the LD pre kindergarten certificate certificate of compliance was made by Vladimir. Seconded by Stella. All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Thank you. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you so much. All right. Next, Mr. Wall to walk us through the transfer of development rights purchase and sale agreements amendments. That's great. Is your great point help? So, yeah, this is been a long time transfer development, right? If the original project was Malone Guyire and

086Malone Guyire uh went to the city in late 2020 the our board of trustees approved the TR agreement for 19.5 million in March 8th of 20 uh 21 so it's been over four years now and uh we received a deposit of $585,000 Maloneire has been working hard in feverishly but the city of Mountain View has been unable to get such project entitled uh we are hearing that will be on the agenda for next meeting with the city next Tuesday night. Malone Guyire uh decided to sell their um TDR their agreement uh to Brookfield who's doing business at Orion Vacc Village Development. Uh and we went brought an amendment to that uh agreement to change the title to them. Uh that was in last November. And then we're bringing this amendment to clean up some of

087the language, some of the terms. Um and then so there has to be an amendment and we want to get this amendment approved by the board uh before it goes to city council. Uh we've been working hard with Malone Guyire and Brookville to make sure that we are um good partners with them because it is a development in the city of Mountain View. It's not good just for the TDR program, but it's good for development for the city and to build development out there. So we feel this is a good agreement. Uh it's been reviewed by legal counsel. It's an action item. So, we're asking the board to approve this amendment to the TV for the sale payment. Thank you. Does anyone have any clarifying questions for Eric? Okay. Okay. Are there any requests for

088public comment? Public comment is now closed. Uh would any board members like to provide further comment on this agenda item? Okay. Then may I please have a motion to approve the amendment to the agreement for the transfer of 150,000 square feet of development rights to Orion B. Sack Built Development Property LLC for the Malone Guyire Brookfield San Antonio Center phase 3 project. So move. Thank you, Vladimir. Uh you have a second. Thank you, Stella. Righty. Motion to approve the amendment to the agreement for the transfer of 150,000 square feet of development rights to Orion B. Sack Village Development Property LLC for the Mal Merone Guyire Brookfield San Antonio Center phase 3 project was made by Vladimir, seconded by Stella. Any further board discussion, right, then may I have Oh, all in favor? I Any opposed?

089Any absention? Great. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. and Eric budget review committee report item also tonight uh the 20 this is a discussion I'm sorry discussion item um but this is the report that's uh that was developed by budget review committee we met several times this spring to look at the challenges that we're facing uh in this upcoming budget year um and these are the some of the recommendations staffing is the biggest expense for the district and we've been working very hard we've been using the term the three years of right sizing our staffing to match enrollment. Uh and we wanted to kind of show so you could see over the se last five years you can see the budgeted position. So when the board adopted the budget these were the positions. Uh you can

090see a 2122 uh slowly coming out of co we had an increase. A lot of those positions that went up were actually as a result of extra people we hired with one-time funds. uh as those funds have been exhausted and depleted, the district enrollment was also declined at the same same time. So we reduced the admissions by over 30 uh throughout the budget and at the end of the year sometimes you might have money in the budget for position but they might not be hired. That does happen at times or somebody will leave in the middle of the year and we decide to not hire them back. So that's why sometimes the budget actually ends up happening is a little different. uh in 24 to25 reduce another 16 budgeted positions and going into next year's

091budget will bring bring us to the board uh for the public hearing June second we'll be bringing in 48 FTEES and it's called full-time equivalent uh so we might have 500 employees but we have 48 full-time equivalents because some of them are part-time and so if you like for example the Kinder aids who do great jobs there uh they work six hours a day but not eight so they're they're 75 FTES So there are some challenges as we've been talking about in the last several years. The committee recognized that um you know we call them unfunded mandates uh and they really are. I mean TK is a wonderful program. We can all acknowledge that but it's very expensive which we've been talking about here hiring. We're going to have 10 TKs next year. That is

092a challenge. Uh we have to buy furniture, equipment, supplies. Uh we have to have staff. We've talked about proper credentiing and then also the aids that go along with it. So it it's also an impact on our facilities to make sure we have the right classrooms for them. Uh ELOF is a great program. Um our participation in ELOF is has been growing. We we have to offer that though for 30 extra days. So we have great EOP providers that you approved tonight on the consent agenda. Um and then the universal meals program is partially funded. I could say it's not completely unfunded, but it's still an impact or a general fund almost to a million dollars uh of our contribution to make that fund solvent. So, these are challenges that every district is facing. So,

093we're not alone. Uh, but we don't get extra money for the TK kids. Um, we haven't heard that there's going to be any changes uh in Sacramento for the budget year. So, we'll see as as we're sorting out the May revis. Uh, there has been talk about canon basic school districts receive some funding for TK. Uh, we don't think that's going to there's just too many challenges that the state is facing to try to fund all districts. Um, so we'll see how that goes. But these are some real ongoing challenges that the district has been grappling with for several years and we will continue to do so. But the number one thing we've really been doing and I really appreciate everybody speaking tonight is we are a kid business and it's not just about money,

094but we are we're giving kids great educations and and we I love our new logo and I I I had my shirt I wore the other day. Um but we are very proud to be LD and continue offering great programs. But our budget re review committee really knows our challenges and so we're going to be working hard to look at our staffing very closely. And then um the number one thing really is making sure that uh to maintain the stability and quality of our educational programs um and really how are we going to really work hard to roll up our sleeves and reduce our budget deficit and then make sure we do not spend onetime reserves for ongoing uh programs. Um there really is not a clear clarity if there will be any one-time money

095this year at the state. It's been talked about, but until we see the government and the budget signed by the governor, we'll we'll deal with that first for sure. So these are some uh basic recommendations. Uh the budget review committee knows there are some challenges and we really appreciate every Allison was attended a few meetings. So thank you Alison for coming. Uh we really appreciate that Kimberly was also there. So thank you Kimberly. So we do appreciate the partnership. We have board members on it. Um just so thank you for being up this box. Thank you. Uh any questions for the board? Brian. Um so what are the 13 FTEs that where the where are the reductions coming from for next year? the combination of instructional assistants. Um that's mostly the ones from behaviorist from

096special education department. Um we have a couple like maybe one one or two teachers for like uh that are retiring and we're absorbed at the middle school but mostly on the classified side maybe two FTEs on the certificate side that's actually this this includes adding 3.5 FTEES for the two TK classes right so it's so it's a net it'll be um yeah it'd be probably more than that it' probably be 16 but we're probably at budget time we're going to adopt minus 13. Uh there's two positions that are vacant now. We'll just see how it goes. We'll we'll know much more in in October when CBDS happens and when we see how many kids show up in October uh and then we'll adjust accordingly first and December. So, but at this time we're going to

097budget 48 FTES for next year. Thank you. Any other clarifying questions? No. Okay. Um, any request for public comment? Public comment is now closed. Uh, any further board discussion on this agenda item? Right. Um, one of the things uh on the budget review committee that we do is we look at this kind of study and um what we haven't done in the in the past and which I hope we can incorporate in the future is to have a better sense of um what it is that we're losing when you give uh we reduce FTEES And um I would hope that we have a better rationale for it than simply our ratios are out of whack with other uh schools or our ratios are higher than other schools. So, uh, just a plug for, uh, bracing

098it in terms of what we're losing and the the amount of money that we're we're gaining essentially. I think the challenge with that, I'll just add one thing. The challenge with that in budget review committee is we're talking about actual people, right? So when and positions so it's back and forth but when because at this point in time we're talking about just through attrition right people have resigned or retired and then internally we're looking really closely at whether or not that particular position needs to be rehired. So it's it's just it's a delicate conversation to have at the committee public committee level. Yeah. It it still would be nice to get to get a sense of absolutely what it is. Okay, that's all. Okay. Um yeah, I just I was I think it was sort

099of struck by the the sentence in the second bullet point here that says the district will need to continue its efforts to rightsize its staffing to match enrollment because I think I think previous boards have been clear that the community is not willing to close schools. And I think my I just want to sort of say for the record because we have a couple new trustees that my impression has been that sort of two classrooms per grade is a minimum viable program. Agreed. So I just want to put that out there that even though because and for the community as well because people often ask like hey if enrollment is declining why can't you have fewer teachers? And I think we've made a decision as a board that we're going to have seven elementary schools

100and we're going to have two classrooms at each of those elementary schools. And if we lose kids, that doesn't reduce our that's not going to reduce our spend because we can't operate the program with one classroom of like first and second and third grades at one of our smaller schools. So, I just want to sort of set that expectation that we can't continue there. you know, especially given the presentation we got a little earlier on behavioral needs and everything else, like it feels like we're getting pretty close to a minimum viable staffing level even if enrollment continues to drift out some. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay, thank you very much, Eric. Next is the um award of contract for the gardener bullet parking lot. Eric, that's you again. This is a parking. Yes. Uh

101in 20123 uh the gardener bullets PTA they funded a new shade structure project which we were very appreciative of. Uh it was approved by the division of state architect. Uh that portion of the shade structure projects actually had been completed. Uh but then during the review uh the division of state architects we reviewed all school construction. um they required some ADA created out in the parking lot. So with the American Disabilities Act, we had to rework the parking lot. Um and then um the drawings that were approved by DSA didn't match what was actually happening in the parking lot. So the district subsequently hired Hoboken Luen who's a civil engineer. They're actually the civil engineer who's doing the uh grant uh project for their teacher housing project and um their office is actually in Palto.

102So they came out, they're very experienced civil engineers. They uh submitted drawings to DSA. DSA approved the drawings that did match and conform to existing site conditions. We bid out the project last November because it takes a lot of time to get all this done. Uh unfortunately, the bids were over our bid limits. Our bid limits for Cupfa last year were $60,000. The bids were coming in over that. So we had to actually rebid the project and advertise it. So, because we're now in winter time, not a good time to do paving, and it's also in the middle of instruction, we're unable to do a project in the middle of school to shut down the parking lot for like a month and a half. That wouldn't work. So, we decided since the parking lot needed

103extra repairs. Uh, I'm all about efficiencies. If we're going to out there being doing some American Disability work and reworking some of the parking saws to make them compliant, then that would be a good time to actually do some other um repairs, some of the asphalt with cracking, alligatoring. Uh, and once you get water on there, then you get potholes and other issues is you drive around the city, some of the cities maintain the street, some do not. So, we decided to rebid the project with an additional scope or put some more pavement repairs. Uh on May 1st we did a pre-job walk 11 biders show up which is the largest I have ever seen. I was like oh this is great. Um so that means they're they're very interested in the work and they

104were uh but then on bid day uh we received four bids. One of them was nonresponsive. So they they were rejected because they weren't pre-qualified which is a requirement. Uh and so the apparent low bidder was Tri Valley Excavation. We held a post bid interview with the vendor. Uh they have done a lot of school projects. they know DSA they'll be doing the work during the summer so we'll not disrupt school activities we're going to be doing in July there's there's a there's a little bit of a camp going on at the end of June and then the city of Los Altos also trying to use the parking lot as kind of a a catch all for some extra things for the July 4th parade so we said we can totally schedule around that so

105we've been working with the school site uh so this is a measure end funded project it's an action item so we're asking the board to approve a contract and notice of award to Tri Valley Excavation uh for $372,000 and $372,57. Okay. Thank you. Um any clarifying questions? Any public comment? Public comment is closed. Um would any board members like to provide further comment on this agenda item? Of course. I look at you first. What color is going to be the pigment? Will be the asphalt color. Cold cold dark color. Yeah. Can we make it? Can we make it gray? We cannot. Why not? I don't think we can do gray asphalt. Do we add white to it? Um, we could ask the paving contractor, but I I don't The reason I'm asking is because it

106it gets so hot now. We have a lot of a heat island effect. Yes. Shade on there, but it still gets really hot. Yeah. And I'd hate to have somebody go out there, cook an egg, and have it reported paper. Yes. Um, so that will be completed in July. Yes. Then DSA will be able to sign off on that project. That is the goal. Yes. Of that project. And then once that is done. Well, no, I I understand that. But I mean, they'll sign off in after the beginning of school or is there a lag time? There's a little bit of a lag time, but the it's it's been much improved. They actually have a thing called the box and actually the inspector will sign off on it. They upload it to the box. Uh

107then we have to fill out some forms and then we have to pay final fees because part of the project is DSSE has to review it. So you'll be paying some DS fees to review it and then we give them the project cost. We give them the total cost of the project and we pay fees off of that. Okay. Yeah. So we're hoping six to eight weeks for final DSA approval and certification. Uh and then we can take care of the shape structure and and this will all be completed before school starts on the paving part will be. Yes. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay. All right. Seeing this is an an action item, then um may I have a motion to approve the contract with Tri Valley Excavating Company Incorporated for the

108Gardener Bulis Paving Renovation Project. Well, electively I'll make a motion because it's not it's black. Thank you, Vladimir. May I have a second? I'll second it. Thank you, Stella. Any qualms with the Just kidding. Totally kidding. Okay. Motion to approve the contract with Tri Valley Excavating Company Incorporated for the Gardener Bose paving renovation project was made by Vladimir. Seconded by Stella. Any further board discussion? All right. Uh all in favor? Yes. I. Any oppose? Any obsession? Great. Thank you. Motion passes unanimously. And next we have resolution number 24/25-15 requesting board of supervisors of Santa Clara County to establish tax rate for bonds of of the Alto School District expected to be sold during fiscal year 2025-2026 and authorizing necessary actions in connection therewith. Um yeah, so tonight we have this item as a resolution and

109we anticipate um selling bonds sometime next year. Um most likely late spring. Uh in order to do that, we need to the county requires us to do a tax rate resolution of when we expect to sell the bonds. We also have to provide them an 18-month debt service requirements. So that we did that uh that's been filed with the county. Tonight is we're asking the board to approve this resolution to set the tax rate for 2526 for measure EE bonds. It would be the first issuance. Um you have the resolution in front of you. I also have Katherine Jacobson here with RBC. She's one of our underwriters. She stayed the whole meeting just decided. So thank you Catherine. I also want to thank Katherine. She helps us with some of our financing heriko. And then

110also we um is our budget book has all those charts and graphs. So, Katherine has been a saint of helping us. I Katherine, can you find me this AB chart that has this and I don't know where Randy had it, right? So, Katherine was great. She's helped us the last two years with some of the charts and graphs and I really helped. We appreciate her time. She was here here today in case you had any questions uh and the formalities, but this is a pretty general item, but or else might have Katherine here as expert in the house. So, thank you. It's an action item for resolution uh 2425-15. Thank you, Eric. Thank you, Katherine, for being here. Um, let's see. Any clarifying questions? No. Okay. Any public comment? Public comment is now closed. Uh,

111would any board members like to provide further comment on this agenda item? We'll ask Catherine a question because she's not in there all this time. None. Thank you for your patience. You're welcome to stay. My pleasure. All right. And may I please have a motion uh to approve resolution number 24/25-15? So move. Thank you, Vladimir. Uh do I have a second? I'll second. Thank you. Stella. Okay. Motion to approve resolution number 24/25-15. Thank you. requesting board of supervisors of Santa Clara County to establish tax rate for bonds of Losto School District expected to be sold during fiscal year 2025 to 2026 and authorizing necessary actions in connection therewith was made by Vladimir and seconded by Stella. As this is a resolution, I will take a roll call vote. Stella, yes. Jim, yes. Vladimir, yes. Brian,

112yes. Sorry. I too vote yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thanks everyone. Thank you. How old How old is your youngest? Uh, she's three in TK discussion. Oh, sorry. My older is in TK. My five. My youngest is three. See, we did ask you a question. Thank you. Thank you. Good night. Right. Moving on to resolution number 24/25-16, establishing temporary inter interf fund transfers. Yeah, this is a routine item that we board every year. uh in order to meet our cash flow. Uh in order to meet our cash flow, this allows the district to borrow from enter fund from our other funds and and we list all the funds for you. It's a resolution that must be sent to the county. Um so if we start transferring money, they know that the board approved it. Um in

113the past, the district has done a TR, which is a tax revenue anticipation note to borrow. Uh unfortunately, the interest rate environment is a little different. So we do have to pay interest, a lot more interest. We do get interest on the money on a tran last year where we didn't have to do a trans. We were able to meet our cash flow without doing any inter fund borrowing or a trans. We're hoping to do that this year, but this allows to borrow if cash gets low. As you know, the district is a basic a school district. So, we receive the the the bulk of our tax proceeds really only about two or three times a year. The rest of year we have to have cash, which is reserves on hand to meet our monthly

114cash flow. This allows the district to borrow from your funds. It's a routine item and we're asking for you to approve resolution 242516 to establish temporary interf. Thank you, Eric. Any clarifying questions for Eric? No. Okay. Any other question? Public comment. Great. Public comment is now closed. Uh would any board members like to provide further comment on this agenda item? Please feel. I mentioned to uh Sandra that um one suggestion I have is that we make a blanket interfund transfer resolution at the beginning of the year and that we have individual transfers be consent items. I don't know if that's possible or not, but it just it just would take off one item uh at a board meeting every now and then whenever you need to do it. It's not critical in any sense, but

115it just is a little workflow suggestion there. Okay. Okay. Any other questions? No. Okay. Then may I have a motion to to approve resolution number 24/25-16 establish temporary interfund transfers? So move. Thank you. You have a second. I'll second. Thank you, Stella. Right. Motion to approve resolution number 24/25-16. Establish temporary interfund transfers was made by Vladimir and seconded by Stella. Uh Brian, yes. Vladimir, yes. Jim, yes. Stella, yes. And I to vote yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. All right. Board policy updates. Mrs. All right. do have six uh updates that are for discussion tonight. So, if you have a chance or have already had a chance to read through them, but please let us know before the third meeting. There are any clarifications or questions you have and we can talk through those. Um,

116we did that today. Yeah, you just said the third meeting. Oh, I'm sorry. The second meeting. Meeting on the second is what I meant. June 2nd. I don't know why for some reason I keep using the dates the third. Uh yeah, it's late. It's past my bedtime. Uh but let me know and then those will be back. Okay. Okay. On the second, not the third. You guys got to hang in there. We still have both sessions. I know. All right. Any uh clarifying questions from the board for Santa? No. Any professor public comments? Okay. Uh, any further board session? No. All right. Great. Thank you so much. Moving on to board and administration comments. Uh, Carrie, would you like to kick us off? Thank you. Um, speaking of June 2nd, I see that Kimberly is

117still in the audience. We're pleased to bring forward our classified school employee association tenative agreement at our next court meeting. Just want to thank the association for their hard work at table. we deed or tenatively agreed on 12 different areas and articles. So, thank you so much. Speaking of negotiations, I want to congratulate my colleague Car Wavage for getting the certificate in negotiations from the school employees association of California or SEAK. Um, we did it together. They both received it. It was really a great program because they did negotiations simulations and positional bargaining, interest based bargaining. So, we were ready to go with classified to get back to our interestbased bargaining roots and that was a really positive experience. Um, wrapping up the school year, we had our seventh and final teacher advisory group meeting

118today. We have reps from all all nine schools there. Um, and then we have an upcoming DLAC. That's our district English language advisory council coming up next week. We tried for the first time putting out a parent survey just to our parents and eels in the top five languages. So, English plus the top five English languages spoken here in LFD. We're getting really nice response. I can't read them yet. I have to get them translated. But, um, we'll review those results in in the Vback. And then, um, you know, finally, just want to thank our team for their presentation tonight on the curriculum instruction side of the house. I know they've been talking about summer professional development and establishing different ways our teachers can get involved in leadership opportunities. We're going to roll out grade

119level leads and department leads. We're really excited about the work that they're doing. Thank you. I'd like to congratulate my colleague Boston. It was a great program and um you know, you get to hear from people all over the state where the the negotiations is different everywhere and so you get to hear what other districts are doing and so it's very interesting. a lot of retired superintendents, CVOs, HR people that were leading the classes and so the tons and years and years of experience. So, it's really good for us to be kind of like listening of how other people are doing. So, it's really great. So, thank you for letting us do that. Thank you, Sandra, for letting us take the class. Um, I want as Sandra mentioned Dan Rich with the city of Mountain

120View who works for CSA. I I really want to emphasize that it's such a great thing when you go out there and you saw people using our site for such a great community benefit, right? and the community really benefited from us having that site out there and having people when they were doing their remodeling. So, I really want to thank the board for letting us do that agreement with them. Then we extended it because they were doing modernization. Uh, and they gave us a slide deck and I can have Sandra or Marcy send that to you. The pictures were great. Everybody was so happy in a new facility. So, it's really So, thanks again for mentioning that. Um, I want to acknowledge Bal and Donna. um you know uh when all this stuff with with

121um tariffs came out, we got really nervous. So we said, "Hey, let's uh" and I usually don't like to spend money. I was spending like crazy. So So we bought um we bought 65 MacBook Pros, 240 iPads, and 700 Chromebooks for next year. And we bought them and have already received them because we hear other districts are like because of tariffs and things they can't get Chromebooks. I'm like, "Oh no, we're ordering early." So we are also doing it with TK furniture and other things. So we're ordering ahead just to stay ahead. So I really want to thank B and Donna and the purchasing department and Elizabetha. There's really like four people working together. No, order now. Now now now and we got it all already. So which is great. So we don't have to

122worry. That will give us some time during the summer to get them all set up. And then if there's a couple new things that they maybe need to order like 15 Chromebooks or that's a small order. So if there's a delay in the delivery or supply chain issue, we're not being being held up off by that. So I just want to acknowledge that team because they really did a nice job getting it done. So and that benefits our kids. So thanks. That's awesome. Thanks, Sandra, Stella. Uh yeah, so I attended the empowering parents executive function workshop that was held at um led by Jen Walker and Willon from Cington was there and other counselors were there as well. and it was really great and I learned a lot and like a lot of like kind

123of proactive ideas for my own children. Um I also held the first school ambassadors meeting for 2025 and there was a lot of interest and a lot of enthusiasm and we will be meeting again on May 28th at 11:30 in case anybody new wants to come and join us. Um and I attended numerous events throughout the month. Um one I'll call out is the LA leadership circle event. Um and some that Sandra mentioned like the pep parade and the um algebra inclusion showcase and music concerts and they've all been lovely. Thank you. Um, I missed all the fun events last week, but I did go to the homeman awards dinner. Hoffman Hoffman Homeman award is a different award. Sorry. Hoffman awards. Um, and it was very I know we won it last year, but it

124was very impressive to see things that other districts are doing to benefit their community. Then um we had sent the challenge team lunchon the next day which was also very impressive to see um Kip Blazer who's the high school principal at Mountain View was recognized for her work which was super impressive and the student that they recognized was like I don't absolutely amazing. Yeah. So and they continue to do good work too. So let's say that thank you. I was a hermit um I also attended the LA events. Um and I actually did go to the CSA ribbon cutting so it was great to see their new facility and impressive part because of our generosity. They have an entirely new headquarters with no um investment out of like no money from them, no money from

125like other public sources like it was all donations um and made the whole thing happen which I thought was pretty impressive in this day and age. A beautiful renovation. Um and then also attended curriculum council meeting. Um two math curricula have been selected that we moving forward pilots next year. Yeah, as I said earlier in this meeting, May is a very busy month. So, thanks to all of you for like going to all these wonderful events. I also attended the challenge team lunch and the Hoffen Awards dinner. Um, very excited to have been um invited to the LA Rep Council meeting which I went to with Sandra and Carrie. So, that was really nice to introduce myself to our teachers association. Um, excellent job at your ambassadors meeting. I attended that. Sell did a great

126job leading it. She has uh taken it over from Jessica which is no small shoes. Thank you. Um and then I uh this past weekend I went to attend delegate assembly. So thank you everyone for voting me on to CSB delegate assembly. I just wanted to say that I was uh appointed to the addressing the achievement gap committee. So that's the those are the discussions that I will be involved with. That's it. Thank you. And I'd like to adjourn this meeting and reconvene to close session.