001begin the meeting today at 4:31. Um, roll call. Sam. >> Trusty Soil. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy, >> she's here. >> Trusty Pearson >> here. >> Trusty Mroy >> here. >> Trusty Anderson >> here. >> Trusty Crane >> here. >> Trusty Wagan >> here. >> Dr. Smith >> here. >> And um would anyone like to move to adopt the agenda? >> So moved. Second moved by Trusty Crane, second by Trustee. Uh, roll call vote in. >> Trusty. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy? >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson? >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane? >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagan? >> Yes. >> Great. And now we move to any community input on close session items. Um, Clerk Pearson, can you read the statement? >> Sure. This is an opportunity for
002the public to address the board regarding items on the closed session agenda only. Comments on closed session agenda items are limited to three minutes per comment up to 20 minutes per topic. A speaker may not relinquish his or her time to another person. >> Great. And with that we have um Terry Welsh from Costa Mesa. Hi, my name is Terry Welsh and I'm president of the Coastal Corridor Alliance and as always appreciate the opportunity to speak. Um, by now you know that our position and I think we speak for most in the community is that those 11 acres be preserved as open space and rather the district looked for alternative locations to build their workforce housing. Now, we think with the ongoing repurposing of the Fair View Developmental Center State Hospital, this really represents an
003amazing opportunity. Um, it's not going to be easy and it's going to take a lot of work and it's going to take a real commitment from this board, but we are here to help and I think it is the best the best choice. The second thing I want to talk about is the surrounding Randall Preserve. Now, as you may know, this property in 2022 became publiclyowned, permanently protected coastal open space. And a lot of people might think that, well, you're done then, right? You can just sit back. It's you don't have to work anymore. I can. That's not the case. We have been working the last four years every bit as hard as we worked for the la for the first 23. And as we speak, um, plans are in progress right now. There are
004three very important plans. One's the resource management plan. This is a plan like its name suggests to protect the important habitat on the site. And then the other side of that is the public access plan. And you can imagine you don't want people just running rampant out there. Um access has got to be done in a thoughtful way. And then the third plan is is very interesting. It's called the coastal resiliency strategy. Now about a third of Randall Preserve is lowlands. It's it's coastal wetlands, but they've been dyed off for the last 80 years to allow for oil extraction. So, we have a real opportunity to restore these coastal wetlands and balance that against the anticipated sea level rise. So, these this site sits right at sea level. Now, the fourth plan, it's already been
005completed. It's the tribal access and engagement plan. This is a plan that was developed just between the tribes and MRCA, the title owner of the property. And the tribes are going to have access to the property to hold ceremonies and in a sustainable way uh harvest native plants that have a traditional role in their culture. Now, all of these plans are available right now. Go to the Randall Preserve website. This is not our website. This is is an official state Randall Preserve website. So, please look at the plans. Um the last thing, third thing I wanted to say is returning back to the 11 acres. Um, as you probably know, there's been a lot of storage activity on the site for the last 30 years, and I think it's uh the question of whether or
006not that's properly permitted needs to be resolved. Um, thank you for the opportunity to speak. >> All right. Thank you. And with that, um, we will adjourn to close session. We'll move to close session. And the items are conference with real property negotiators, public employee discipline dismissal release, conference with labor negotiation, and we will return to open session at 6 p.m. Thank you. Okay, we're calling the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. and we have a readout from close session. In close session, the board took action to release and non-reelect 145 temporary certificated employees pursuant to education code section 44954 effective at the end of the 20056 uh school year and directed the superintendent or designate to send out appropriate legal notices. The roll call vote was as follows. Seven eyes, zero nos. Um opening
007ceremonies moment of reflection pledge led by um student board member Jeremy Lure. >> Please stand and place your right hand over your heart. >> Ready? Begin. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation with all. Okay. Adoption of the minutes. Um, anyone want to make a motion? >> So moved by Trusty Crane. >> Second by Trusty Wagan. Roll call vote. >> Trusty Soilu. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Maroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane. >> Yes. >> Trusty Wyatt. >> Yes. Great. And with that, we will move to recognition. Recognition of secondary student awards. Dr. Torres. >> Yes. Good evening. Once again, one of our most exciting uh moments of
008our agenda, and that's to recognize students. So, Keith Carmona is going to introduce this item. >> Good evening, President Soilu, members of the board, Dr. Smith. Thank you so much. Tonight, we have an opportunity to uh recognize a group of students from one of our RO programs at Estonia High School. Um we are fortunate this evening to have uh members of the RO staff here with us including um superintendent Dr. Brian Dozer and uh director and administrators uh Dr. Christa Shears Genga and Gina Escobar. And at this time I'm going to introduce uh Mr. Halt who's going to talk a little bit more about our amazing construction students. >> Good evening and amazing they are. Estia has long been known as a school of scholars and champions and I think from now on forward we
009should be known as a school of scholars, champions and builders. Um it is uh one of the uh things that I'm most proud about uh during my tenure at Estansia was being able to work with district staff to bring forward our construction program. Uh we've been greatly aided in our assistance through the RO and our students over the years have really flourished and they've really flourished under the leadership of Ed uh where is he at? in the bell. Well, let's bring him on forward so I can stop talking and he can start introducing our students and staff. But um Ed Jaspersonson uh joined our school uh three and a half years ago. Uh each year uh he has had students compete in the state's design build competition. And I want to tell you a little
010bit about the competition before I introduce uh him and his uh award-winning students. Each year across Southern California, schools compete in a design build competition. Uh this last event, uh there were more than 30 different learning institutions. And I want to emphasize these weren't just high schools. Some of the competition was community colleges, junior colleges. Um they took on schools from uh Ventura County down to the San Diego uh inland into um San Bernino uh and Riverside. Uh so six different counties uh over 30 different learning institutions. uh one champion and that champion was for the second year in a row uh those students uh under the tutelage of Ed Jaspersonson. >> I'm not much of a speaker. I'll get teary eyed. >> Come on up. Somebody take a photo, please. >> If I could
011get you two rows tall in the back, less tall in the front. >> Less tall would be me. >> Yes. And all of you to take a big step this way. Thank you. Congratulations, Estamia. Next up, we have um the Newport Mesa School District classified school employee of the year recipients for 2026. >> Wonderful. And thank you. We are very excited. As Carrie said, it's a fun part of the of the agenda to celebrate. We're going to continue celebrating with employees. So, I'm excited to welcome Kristen Clark, our administrative director too of the personnel commission to recognize and introduce our 2026 district classified employees of the year. >> Uh, Madame President, trustees, and Dr. Smith. This evening, we are proud to recognize two exceptional individuals through the California classified school employee of the year program,
012which is a statewide initiative honoring classified employees whose dedication, service, and impact make a meaningful difference for students, staff, and school communities. Classified employees are essential to the success of our schools. Whether working behind the scenes or directly with students and families, they help create welcoming, supportive environments that foster student achievement and well-being. I'm honored to join the board and our personnel commissioners, Susan Meyer, Tristan Elely, and Charlene Matoya in recognizing the dedication, leadership, and compassion of our 2026 Newport Mesa classified employees of the year. So, I'm going to start out tonight that we are proud to recognize Martin Rangel Lopez. He's a custodian at Estansia High School. Martin exemplifies what it means to serve a school community with dedication, integrity, and heart. As a custodian, he does far more than maintain facilities. He helps
013create a safe, welcoming, and caring environment where students can learn and staff can thrive. Martin is known for his strong work ethic, attention to detail, and reliability. He consistently goes above and beyond, responding quickly to needs, anticipating challenges before they arise, and taking pride in ensuring every space reflects care and excellence. His proactive approach and calm demeanor make him someone staff trust and depend on each day. Beyond his skills and professionalism, Martin is recognized for his kindness and compassion. He treats everyone with respect, supports colleagues without hesitation, steps in whenever help is needed. His flexibility and willingness to serve reflect his deep commitment to the Estansia community. Martin's work reminds us that classified employees are foundational to student success. Through his daily actions, he strengthens school culture and exemplifies the spirit of service that makes
014a lasting difference. On behalf of Newport Mesa, it is our honor to recognize Martin as the 2026 classified employee of the year in the custodial and maintenance services category. Congratulations, Martin. And Martin's wife is here, too. If maybe she wants to get him a photo. She's also an employee of the district. If everyone could look at this camera, please look at this camera. >> Very much. Okay. Uh we are honored to recognize Sunonny Deng, lead technology support technician. Sunny plays a critical role in ensuring teaching and learning across our district remains connected, secure, and effective. His technical expertise supports everything from classroom technology and student devices to district-wide systems and instructional software. We truly what truly sets Sunny apart in his is his proactive and solutions focused approach. He doesn't simply solve problems. He improves
015systems through automation, streamlined processes, and thoughtful planning. Sunny has increased efficiency, reduced downtime, and protected valuable instructional time for students and staff. Sunny is also highly regarded for his exceptional customer service. He responds quickly, communicates solutions clearly, and empowers staff with knowledge and confidence to prevent future challenges. Sunny's work highlights the essential role classified employees play in supporting educational success. Through his dedication, expertise, and service, he makes a meaningful and lasting impact on our schools and community. We proudly recognize Sunny as the 2026 classified employee of the year in the technical services category. Unfortunately, Sunny is unable to join us this evening, but we are pleased to have the president of CSEA Chapter 18, um, Amy Ching and Administrative Director of Information Technology, Awesome Babovich, here to accept his recognition on his behalf. Hold on.
016>> I think they're going to get it for him. We'll get it to him. Yeah. >> Thank you and have a good evening. >> Okay, next up item C. We recognize the Newport Mesa Unified Teacher of the Year recipient. But before that, I'd like to invite Michael Tao to speak. Here he is. >> Good evening everyone. I'm Michael Toe, uh, district director for state assemblywoman Kotti Pichu Norris. I just wanted to extend our sincere heartfelt congratulations to each of the teacher of the year honores for Newport Mesa Unified School District as well as our classified employees of the year. We have uh certificates for our classified employees of the year. But for each of our teachers, we've prepared these custommade resolutions from the California State Assembly to honor each and every one of them, not
017just in in this district school district, but each of our three school districts as well. So, we're rounding out with Newport Mesa Unified School District. And just thinking about uh our teachers of the year. It makes me reflect on one particular teacher growing up that was the foundation for me getting into the into government and politics, but just being the person that I've become. That person Chris Neimik was our my Spanish teacher in high school. And I always always always think about the imprint he left on me in high school. And I am truly grateful for each and every teacher and I know Cotti is as well and we have phenomenal teachers here in Newport Mesa Unified School District. So congratulations. We'll present those resolutions when you go through uh the rest of the program
018here, but just wanted to extend our congratulations and thanks as well. So thank you. So, the three teacher of the year recipients, are they going to be introduced by >> Yes. So, um I'm pleased to welcome um Megan Brown, administrative director, two of our certificated personnel to recognize and introduce our 2026 teacher of the year recipients. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Smith, president of Soilu, members of the board, and guests. It's a pleasure to continue honoring our outstanding employees in Newport Mesa Unified uh with the teacher of the year recognition. A little bit about this year's process through a sitewide nomination process. Each site selected a site teacher of the year. Uh these honores then participated in a panel discussion with a group of educators and they had an opportunity to reflect on their
019practice, their passion and their impact on students. Uh following this collaborative and celebratory process, the Newport Mesa Unified School District selected three teachers of the year for 2027. These exceptional educators represent the dedication, excellence, and heart of teaching in that we see throughout Newport Mesa Unified. So during the 2728 school year, they'll go on to represent our district in the Orange County Department of Education Teacher of the Year program. So, we're proud to recognize the NMUSC teachers of the year for 2027. And we're going to start with Jacqueline Washington from T-winkle Intermediate School. So, Jacqueline Washington has proudly served at the Newport Mesa Unified School District for 25 years as both a classroom teacher and instructional leader in her role as teacher on special assignment and instructional coach at T-winkle Intermediate School. The selection panel
020was inspired by Jacqueline's passion for supporting students, especially first generation collegebound scholars and by her unwavering belief in their ability to persevere and succeed. Her energy, dedication, and commitment to both students and colleagues are evident in all she does. On a visit to T-winkle, you will find Jacqueline surrounded by a group of lively middle school students or you'll find her supporting teachers um and to strengthen their their instructional practice. Her leadership has been instrumental in the development and success of TWL's AVID program, expanding opportunities for generations of students. After 25 years in education, Jacqueline now has the distinct privilege of teaching the children of former students. It's true. No grandparents yet. Not yet. During future Trojan night, former students eagerly returned to share stories that often begin with the words, "Without Miss Washington, I never
021would have been able to fill in the ex extraordinary achievement." But we we heard that they often start their their stories with that. Those stories are a powerful reflection of the lasting impact she continues to make on students, families, and the T-winkle community. NMUSD is honored to have Jacqueline Washington represent our district as an educator whose work changes lives and expands opportunities for future generations. Congratulations. And Jacqueline's children are here, so if we can invite them up to take a photo as well. You look so much like her. All right, congratulations, Jacqueline. And next, it's my pleasure to invite up Serenity Fiser from Anderson Elementary School. Serenity Fischer is a sixth grade teacher at Anderson Elementary School and has been a valued member of the Newport Mesa Unified School community for the past four years.
022The selection panel was deeply impressed by Serenity's dedication to ensuring every student feels seen, heard, supported, and safe. Her students describe her as the teacher who makes every child feel like a shining star. A testament to the culture of belonging she creates in her classroom every day. Serenity's impact extends well beyond her classroom walls. She created an inclusive opportunity for upper grade students at Anderson Elementary to participate in Math Olympiad, an international mathematics competition in which Anderson students placed in the top 10% of more than 4,000 teams worldwide during their first year of participation. For serenity, I know that alone, but there's more. For her serenity, however, inclusion matters more than competition. She views Math Olympiad as an opportunity for all interested students to experience math as engaging, positive, and fun. Because of her leadership,
023even more elementary students across NMUSD will have access to this STEM opportunity in the coming year. During her conversation with the panel, Serenity spoke passionately about the power of collaboration with her grade level team and the unwavering commitment at Anderson Elementary to leave no stone unturned in support of student success. Serenity Fischer exemplifies the innovation, care, and collaborative spirit that define NMUSD educators, and we are proud to recognize her as a 2027 NMUSD teacher of the year. >> Trannity also has her family here. They'd like to come up for the photo. Take a picture. Sorry. All right, congratulations, Serenity. And finally, please join me in welcoming Leela Langworthy from Paulino Elementary School. Leela Langworthy currently serves as a second grade teacher at Polarino Elementary School where she's dedicated 21 years of service to Newport Mesa
024Unified School District. The panel was drawn to Leela's steady presence, thoughtful leadership, and deep passion for working with students and families. Through meaningful stories of student success, she shared the joy and purpose that continue to inspire her as an educator each day. Palarino principal Bonnie Hinton described Leela simply as just awesome. And that description could not be more fitting. Leela is an educator who supports not only the whole child, but the whole school community. In addition to her classroom responsibilities, she's taken on leadership roles such as English learner coordinator, helping ensure that all students and families receive the support they need to thrive. Leela spoke proudly about NMUSD as a district of excellence, highlighting the resources, opportunities, and strong support systems that empower students and families across our schools. Her compassion, dedication, and commitment to
025student success make a lasting impact on the Polarino community each and every day. NMUSD is proud to have Leela Langworthy represent our district as a 2027 teacher of the year. And Leela also has brought her family, two of whom are students in Newport Mesa Unified. So, we'll invite them up now. All right. And one last time on behalf of NMUSD D, please join me. Not D. Join me in congratulating Jacqueline Washington, Serenity Fischer, and Leela Langworthy as our 2027 Newport Mesa Unified School District Teachers of the Year. Thank you. >> Uh Christie would come up and join me, please. Good evening board members, Dr. Smith, and community. It is a distinct honor to recognize Christy Flores, our director of engagement, partnerships, and expanded learning for being named AXA's region 17 student service administrator of the
026year with over two decades. She has over two decades dedicated to our district and has demonstrated her leadership excellent in multiple um positions. In her current role, she leads comprehensive programs that provide critical support for all student populations, including our Mckin Vento and foster youth. She has driven measurable improvements through key initiatives such as community schools, reducing chronic absenteeism, and elevating family engagement through robust resources and enrichment programs. She has grown our afterchool program and continues to build a strong academic dose during that time and she is frequently recognized by CDE for her being an innovator in this space. Her datadriven leadership ensures high quality outcomes while fostering a culture of belonging and excellence where all students can thrive and adults. She is an incredible team builder. Please join me in congratulating Christy Flores on
027this well-deserved professional recognition. And next up, We have Trusty Murphy um and the student board member reports. >> Good evening our student board members. It was fun to recognize you at dinner and congratulate you all of your next adventures. Um today for tonight your question was what was your favorite or most valuable thing that you learned this year? Um shall we go first? Jeremy you want to go first? Okay. Good evening, Superintendent Smith, esteemed board members, and members of the community. It has been an incredible privilege to serve this year as a student board member. And I could easily pull from one of my many experiences to talk about what I've learned. But I've also learned a lot of lessons this year that will guide me as a person, not just as a student. While
028it won't be easy to pick the most meaningful experience, I'm going to try. When I think about the past year and how I've grown, sure, I think of public speaking, advocating for my community, and academic activities like that. But the most valuable lesson I've learned is that it's important to do what you love. When I come to these meetings and have the opportunity to interact with you all, it lights a fire in me and reminds me that this helping people is what I love to do. But that's not all. Yes, it's important to do what you love, but more specific than that, do what you love right now. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, and time flies by a lot faster than you think. I mean, in just 14 days, this chapter of my life is closing
029and I'll be graduating. I've enjoyed my high school experience, but that doesn't mean I don't have any regrets either. There's things I'd wish I'd done, but at the same time, I appreciate that I went to every high school dance, senior sunrise, and made the most of the time that I had. Now that it's over, though, I can't believe it went by so fast. We all know the cliche, time flies when you're having fun. This year has embodied that for me, not only as a senior, but also as a student board member. Back in September, I remember sitting up here for the very first time, beginning to wonder what I wanted to advocate for. Fortunately, there were some successes. ECHS saw a lot of menu additions and working with the nutritional services department was incredible. I
030learned so much about how to approach these issues and how to create meaningful change that will help students. At the same time, there were also some things that I never got to do. Part of it was maybe me thinking that I had a lot of time left and that I could just do it next week. But some of this is a wellness room at UCS. I've spoken about it before, but time got away from me. Regardless, I hope that maybe next year or in the years to come, it's something that's pursued and created. In closing, I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity this year to learn alongside you all. I know that looking back, even though it's already over, this will be one of the most amazing and incredible experiences of my life. I've
031enjoyed every moment of it, and I can't thank you all enough for the support that you've given me. Because of what I've learned, when I get to college, I'm going to continue to remember doing what I love and not waiting till later, because later never comes. Thank you. Thank you, Jeremy. Um, and you're right. We will continue looking into the wellness center. >> Yeah, it's a really um Thank you. Thank you for that. We'll keep you posted on how that goes. >> Okay, next. How about Rosalyn? You ready? >> Roselyn, release. Sorry. Good evening, Superintendent Smith, President or Soyu, Vice President Murphy, board members, and members of the community. As we close out this year as student board members, I would like to restate that it has been an honor to represent my school. I
032never thought I'd have the chance such as this one, and I'm grateful for having the opportunity to convene with you and learn the process of being a representative. This chapter of my life is one in a million. So, thank you. Now, this month's topic was, "What was your favorite or most valuable thing you learned this year?" At first, this was a hard question because there are so many things that have changed from when I started this school year. But one of my most favorite memories has been figuring out exactly who I am and what I want. To share a funny story really quick, as a student board member, at my first ever meeting, I had worn heels. And as I stood up to walk to this exact room, I tripped and fell on my back.
033It was very humbling, but also very funny. Thankfully, only President Oryu saw me and helped me up. So, thank you again. Now, to move on, I have learned that I'm quite literally capable of everything I set my mind to. And throughout this school year, I have been nominated as an angel on earth by the department of Orange County. Been invited to by the superintendent of coastline, Brian Dozer, to speak at CTA CTE day at the California State Capital, continue to serve as an Orange County Pathways Ambassador, students I council, and as a link leader at my school. In addition, I had the role of designated safety person at the 2026 design build competition for Santi High School where we won first place. And like I said earlier, this year more than ever, I learned to
034give myself grace and remind myself that I am worth anything and everything as long as I continue to persevere with hard work and determination. I have also learned how valuable my community is because without them, I would have not been able to be where I'm at. As I set out for college, I continue to be 100% sure representing and advocating for others is exactly what makes me happy. which is why I will continue to gain knowledge and help my community as I aspire to become a future assembly woman or work in a sector of government where I could posit positively impact those around me. As hard as it is saying goodbye to this position as a student board member, I hope and I know that the next student board member from Estansia will be just
035as amazing and hopefully better. As I close off, I would like to leave all of you with one of my favorite quote that inspires me to be a great leader. A star wants to see himself rise to the top. A leader wants to see those around them rise to the top. By Simon Senic. Board members, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you, Roslin. You made me tear up a little bit, so thank you for that. That was amazing. Uh, next we have Audrey from Newport Harbor. Hi everyone. First of all, shout out Mrs. Flores in the back. That's my elementary school uh principal right there. So yeah, I just want to say that. Look at her now. Uh she's amazing. That's what I meant. Um, as I'm sure you all know by now, my name
036is Audrey Salman and I'm a junior at Newport Harbor High School. I can't believe that the final meeting of the year is upon us and I'm so happy to be here sharing my reflections with you. The most valuable thing I've learned in the past several months is that AI can never replace true learning. There are numerous times when using Chat GBT to finish a homework assignment was all too tempting. Whether that be coming home late from a tennis practice or coming home tired after a long shift at Starbucks, taking the easy way out seemed very, very tempting. As I look forward to graduating high school and attending college, it's important to me that I know how to navigate real world situations. And that's why I know that I'm glad that I never succumbed to trying
037to make the hard things easy by relying on artificial intelligence because I know that those will not prepare me for my future and they did not prepare me in any situation to retain any true information. I want to be observant, adaptable, and above all persistent in my future self. Neither myself nor my peers will ever be able to achieve this if we continue rely if we continue to rely on AI. As students and soon to be adults, we must choose to take a proactive appro approach in developing our skills despite the rapidly advancing world of technology. That is my number one takeaway from my junior year in high school. Thank you. >> Thank you everyone. >> All right, next is Harbor Council PTA. Um his floor, we're hoping you'll be as enlightening as those guys
038were. You have a pretty high bar tonight. >> It all comes full circle because Angela Langsbury was my uh granddaughter's teacher and Carrie Washington was one of my daughter's teachers. So, it's uh wonderful to to have this and I'm thrilled at Estansia with their construction technology because I was on the coastline RO board when we established that pathway at at uh Estansia. So, good evening, President Dooily, Vice President Murphy, Clerk Pearson, Trustees, Superintendent Smith, Cabinet, and community members. My name is Martha Flor and I'm the Harbor Council PTA president until June 30th. So you're going to see me two more times. Um I want to congratulate all the teachers, all the classified everyone, the student board members because that's what PTA is all about. On May 4th, we recognized our units and our heart honorary
039council uh community service um honorary service awards. And while we honored those few at our lunchon, imagine the heartbeat of our schools powered by over 5325 dedicated PTA volunteers. Each giving their time, energy, financial resources, and love, not for recognition, but for the joy of seeing our students thrive. Together, they have contributed over 150,000 hours to the Newport Mesa Unified uh school communities. this year alone at the California's minimum wage of $16.90, although I would have liked to have gone to the $20 for our uh fast food workers because that's what they are. They move around so much. Um I did the multiplication of of $16.90 and that comp contribution is more than $2.5 million. But its true worth is far beyond any dollar amount. Our volunteers have enriched our classrooms, supported our teachers and
040classified staff, and created opportunities to shape the futures of our children. They are the hands that organized events, the voices that advocated for more resources, and the hearts that ensured every child feels supported and inspired. It's not just volunteerism. It's an investment in the future. And our community is stronger um and brighter and more united because of it. This year, California state PTAs invited the over 3,200 PTA and PTSA units to be something part of something bigger. And through the together we uh campaign and you have that little walkthrough. Um we were issued a challenge to celebrate the strength, diversity, and unity of PTA members from every corner of the state, from the redwoods to the desert, the coastline to the capital. Every member, every voice, every action matters. We like to honor those. For
041example, the first challenge was we plan together. Seven of our units submitted their 2025 2026 membership theme and goals by September of 2025. The second one was together we grow fast. that was we were to uh challenge and get 100 members in each of the units by the first 100 days of school. We had 16 units meet that challenge. The third unit was we were to get at least 30 members by the ready set remmit deadline which is the first 30 days and that was by October 30th and we had 15 units succeed there. The fourth unit was they get a little bit harder each time. The fourth unit was we support our schools and that was to achieve 100 teacher re uh memberships by November 30th. We had one school that achieved that goal
042and that is Newport Coast Elementary School and we are grateful for them. The fifth challenge was we rise together. Six of our our units exceeded their total membership goal from 2024-25 and that were those were Adams, California, Cronad, Delmare, Enson, Estansia, Killybrook, Lincoln, Mariners, a Newport L, Newport Heights, Pollino, and Sonora. We also had the number the next one which was c together we celebrate. They got 17 members on February by February 17th because that's the founders day and that was Paulino Elementary School and we are so grateful for them. The last two were the most daunting. The one that I just mentioned was together we build help us grow by increasing their membership by 2% or more over their 2425. And I read that one to you. The sec the third one they number
043eight was together we positively impact the lives of all children and families. This was um across the 3,200 PTAs and you had to uh complete five of the seven challenges. Our district got out of the 79 across California, 79, we had three and those are the following schools. Killerbrook, Newport Elementary, and Paulino met this challenge. That is just amazing. Out of our 27 units, we actually have a total of uh 25 who have over a hundred U members. There are two units that have one Crona Delmare uh went from 380 last year to over 545 this year and they are our top at 500. they will get receive a banner if they show which that they can put and we awarded them with all of that. Um finally um in front of you is the
044uh talking points um the advocacy letter. We are supporting uh three we co-sponsored three bills. Um you have that information. I want to remind everyone that PTA is a nonpartisan um and we do not support or oppose political parties or candidates. However, we can do things to support civic engagement like voter registration drives, candidate forms for school board um and candidate questionnaires. We also have and wanted to remind you that we have 10 um individuals running for the California State Superintendent of Schools. So, be sure to look up edsource.org to get more information on those individuals. And finally, I would like to thank Dr. Carrie Taus for recently updating us on the implementation practices that are going to be occurring on the e um ebike policy um in the fall for our schools. Our PTA
045on Monday wholeheartedly supported the implementation and are willing to step in. She asked for volunteers and I think you've got a number of PTAs that are going to be volunteering. I said, "Can we have safety bike safety vests?" Right. I want a bike safety vest. Um so that we can make sure that things go safe, you know, smoothly and safely, especially at our middle and high schools. So we will volunteer to do that. We also reiterated to uh Dr. to our strong belief and commitment that parents should have access to the same ebike safety training that is required or will be required for our students. We felt um and they asked me to say that that it is incumbent upon us. Kids are great but the parents also need to be involved and should be
046taking that training um because they they are the ones that are purchasing those bikes. Thank you. I'll see you on June 7th for the presentation on the budget and then our final one on the 23rd for the adoption of the budget. Thank you. And at that meeting on uh June 23rd, I will officially introduce Lisa Bowler who is the 2627 uh president for Harbor Council. Thank you. All right, thank you so much for that. Um, next up is CSCA and NMFT president comments. >> Hi everybody. Um, good evening presidentu, trustees, superintendent Smith, cabinet, and guests. I am Amy Ching, president of chapter 18 CSEA and as you know it's classified school employee week. Um, so what does it mean to be a classified employee? It means knowing that the work you do as a custodian,
047Martin Wrangle, provides a clean environment for students to learn. It means knowing that your smile during breakfast service may be the light that the student needs to start their day. It means being an IT professional like Sunny Deng. Making sure that the software is working smoothly so that students can thrive in their learning environments. It means working together with other staff and administration so that we can fully support every child. I want to congratulate everyone tonight on their achievements, especially the classified staff, Martin and Sunny. Thank them both for their thoughtful work and the positive impact they have on students, staff, and the community. Our chapter is celebrating classified employee week with our fourth annual member celebration um at Casa de Onada restaurant in Costa Mesa tomorrow night. And we have many local businesses supporting
048us this year including Newport Rib High Times Wine Seller, St. Pepper St. P sorry yeah sorry um schools first Aquarium of the Pacific and Fogo de Chiao. We want to thank all of the community for their continued support for classified employees. And then on Thursday, we will continue to support the uh celebrate here at the district during ACE day, appreciating classified employees. It's an annual tradition where trustees and administrators are paired with classified staff during their workday and get to see firsthand the crucial work we provide in supporting student success. Thank you to all who are able to participate this year. As we celebrate this week, we also celebrate the successes of our students and those graduating. We hold a piece of you in our hearts and we wish you the greatest greatest success as
049you continue on your journey. We look forward to continuing to do the good work for student, staff, and the community. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Smith, president of Solu, trustees and honored guests. My name is Tamara Fairbanks and I'm the treasurer from NMFT. And it on behalf of NMFT, I have the opportunity to celebrate our teachers in these final last days of school. Um, and I would specifically like to celebrate a group of teachers who work tirelessly during this season to make special moments for our students. Our arts teachers work in front and behind the scenes to make our promotion, graduations, plays, and events special for students throughout the district. During this coming week, we have the field of honor ceremony at Castaways Park and shortly after that, the Babore Island parade. Not only do
050these events unite the community in a warm and patriotic way, they demonstrate the passion and dedication of our teachers. Many of our elementary music teachers prepare their students before and after school for 4 to six weeks to spend 4 to six hours of their unpaid time on a Sunday to perform in a performance that lasts roughly 20 minutes. Why do they do it? because they love what they do and want to provide the most for most opportunities for their students. They do it because it allows for elementary students to be in community and thirst for that same community in middle school and high school. They do it because that was how we were able to build the capacity to actually have more secondary teachers to feed. These teachers are not required to do zone concerts
051or night concerts or weekends. They chose to do it to provide opportunities for students and programs so they can feed into them. These educators do extra ensemble classes and duties like flag deck assemblies to build a positive climate and environment. Now that we have this group of educators teaching our self-contained classes, we are witnessing the benefits of seeing these students more often. We see their joy in navigating the classroom and want to bring more tools to them so they can be successful. Will this be a bridge for us to have unified arts? I don't know. I do believe that these people want to invest in every child equitably and that's to be commended. Now that we are on the trend, now that we are the trends setters for bringing prep time for our self-contained teachers
052throughout through our music classes, I can see us thriving to be unified in all areas in the near future. Thank you board for attending our events. This is just a small example of this. This is just a small example of the hard work that our teach our data arts teachers have been doing on behalf of our students and we just thank you for that. All right. And now um do Okay. Can can clerk Pearson please read the statement? >> Sure. >> This is an opportunity for the public to address the board regarding items not on the regular meeting agenda. Comments on non-aggenda topics are limited to three minutes per comment up to 20 minutes per topic. A speaker may not relinquish his or her time to another person. By order of the Brown Act section
05354954.2, Two, the board will take no action nor have any discussion on non-aggendaized items. The superintendent may provide clarification during superintendent's comments. Great. Um, up next we have Alexandra Williamson. Good evening. My name is Alex Williamson and I'm here today to respectfully state my opposition to board policy 5142.04. I'm a Costa Mesa resident and a parent of three kids in NMUSD schools. I have one at Newport Harbor High School, one at Enson Intermediate, and one at Kaiser Elementary. In addition to being at three different school sites, each of my kids participate in multiple sports and community service activities. With two working parents, we rely on bikes. My 13-year-old and my 15year-old both ride ebikes. And I'm going to pause here so that we all understand what an ebike is. A class one or two ebike
054is a safe and legal bike that goes under 20 m hour. There is no minimum age for riders in the state of California, in the city of Newport Beach, or the city of Costa Mesa. Recently, there's been attention on increased legislation at the state level, tighter regulations at the city level, and really unfortunate and tragic events. But those all relate to e- motorcycles. Unlike ebikes, e- motorcycles exceed 28 mph. And the minimum age to legally ride them is 16 old with a driver's license. There's one more kind of ebike. That's a class 3 ebike and it goes between 20 and 28 miles per hour. And it also has a statewide minimum rider age of 16. The board either did not understand this distinction or chose to ignore it when they put forth this policy. The
055policy is misinformed. It is over broad and it does not take into account the interests of parents and students in our community. I understand from the board that they're not interested in reviewing or revising this policy to align with state and local laws, but that doesn't mean that parents and students don't have any recourse. We have our First Amendment rights to make our opposition known, to educate the community, to organize, and to peacefully protest. And that is what we will do. And I'm here not just to state my opposition, but to invite you all to collaborate with us on real and meaningful ways to keep kids on bikes safe. And when the board decides to work with parents, with students, with local business owners, and with law enforcement to help good kids safely ride legal
056bikes to school, then we will welcome you into the conversation. Thank you. Next we have superintendent comments. >> Yeah. So limited clarifications and I just want to make sure that um for the record remind the public that the board did hear the clarifications between the different types of bikes and those issues were brought up by parents. Um as far as working together with the school district, I can speak for my staff. We'd love to continue conversations about how we keep kids safe in our community. and that's um on bicycles, however they walk. Um safety is a priority. We're sending out our summer safety message very very soon. So um we welcome that opportunity as staff to to talk more about what we continue to do to keep these amazing young people safe. >> Okay. Next
057we will get a report on achievement. um the report on the district English learner advisory committee DAC and multilingual programs. I'd like to invite up Laura Del Pash who will uh introduce our parents. As you know, because of the size of our English learner population as students in our district, we are required by the state to have a district advisory. And that's our DAC group. And they every year present us with a report that they create that they're going to share in their own words. And so we're very excited to have that feedback and information for us. And then following that, Laura will do a very succinct uh presentation on multilingual progress and development over the past year. So good evening, President Osoru, trustees, superintendent Smith, and cabinet. It's my pleasure to introduce the district
058English learner advisory committee board report for 202526. Just a quick introduction before we hear from our parents. Um, a reminder that the purpose of DAC is to advise the Newport Mesa Unified School District on programs and services for English learners. It's comprised of one to two parents from each of our school ELACs or English learner advisory committees at the school sites. Each year, we strive to grow and improve the DAC and ELAC experiences for our parents. I'm very proud of the work we've done to engage our parents and build leadership. Just as we do with students, we strive to ensure our parents are seen, valued, and heard. Just a quick reminder that there are nine DAC topics required by education code and we try to balance those topics in our meetings with topics of interest
059that come from input from our parents and we try to incorporate topics that they then can take back to their school sites to have at their elacs to empower them. So you have a copy of the full report but it is my pleasure to introduce our DAC co-chairpersons who will share a summary. So, Miss Carmen Ramirez is going to share in Spanish and then following Miss Carla Hernandez will share the summary in English. Gracias. Estonia is Carmen Ramirez. This is English. Dr. Smith particip. classific. Laptoiling. Square open house. particip. Anderson Kaipoto. Pakias forces. I'm a little nervous so I'm sorry. I'll be translating everything in English. So my good evening Dr. Smid and the board members. My name is Carla Hernandez and I am here to present 202526 DAC report. We really enjoy coming to
060DAO meetings. They feel welcoming and warming and we feel like we belong there. We also appreciate the food and the prices. They make experience even more inviting. The training are helpful and we value our having our voices in the English learner needs assessment. We like to see our school community facilitator as a meeting because it shows they care about our schools and about us. We also think it will be great if DAC board members could visit ELAC meetings to share more information. The resource shared during announcements are very important to us because sometimes that is what that is the only way we hear about what is able. We really love the resource fair and getting to connect with friends and agents sorry agencies I'm sorry the passport activity made it fun encouraged participate participations we
061also appreciate appreciated the wellness section it was med meaningful and we just wish we had more time for it meeting with the superintendent was also great experience and we will love to have more opportunities like that in the future. Reclassification is very important important to us, but many brands still don't know fully understand the process. We feel it should be explained more at the school sites, not just at DAC. We also appreciate the opportunity to provide input on LCAP and hear different perspectives from parents across the district. We are thankful for reminders and invitations for multilingual programs team. They really help us stay connected. We think will help even more. S CFS personally inviting parents because that makes a big difference. We like parents square especially for communication but sometimes there is a there are
062too many messages in different formats. We believe schools can do more promote elect by sharing information at the events like openhouse and by reaching out directly to families so more parents feel encouraged to attend. Parents value group group and discipliniva programs are appreciated their positive impact on families through meaningful parents videos and discussions. Parents also expressed interest in continuing to offer very var of topics such as of family wellness and other subjects support that the the sorry and interesting of families. Finally we really we really appreciate it opportunity opportunities like attending the cave conference. It was great and great experience and we hope more parents can participate in the future. As behalf of all DACA parents, we want to thank the board member Ashley Anderson, assistant superintendent Sakoro Shell and director Kate Carmona for their
063continued participation and support. We also want to thank the district translator team and the ladies they they're in charge of the child care who those serve and we always provide appreciating. We will also like to thank Lara de Pash, Jacqueline Gaitan and Syra Diaz and their wonderful work this year. Thank you all the school community facilitators for their continued support and commitment. Thank you as well for the wonderful celebration held at the end of the year school year. Thank you all for listening to us and value our voices of as a parents. We are here because we care deeply about our child's future and we appreciate the opportunity to be part of this work together. Thank you so much. Thank you, Miss Carmen and Miss Carla. We also have several DACA board members that are
064attending for support. So, I just want to stand have them stand and recognized. Stand up, please. Thank you for the DAC portion, the DAC board report. Do you have any questions for Miss Carmen? Miss Carla before we move on to multilingual. Carmen. Um, so you were saying there's too many messages in schooly, right? Yeah, I totally agree. Thank you, Carmen. >> Any other questions? Okay, thank you, ladies. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay, we'll keep moving. Thank you so much for the opportunity to continue with a few updates from multilingual programs. Uh just to set the stage, a reminder of the California Department of Education English learner roadmap. This is a policy based on four principles and all of the work in multilingual programs is based on the road map. In our work with
065English language development, we have two overarching goals and we share these goals with uh anywhere we are with teachers and with parents. Number one, that students acquire English proficiency as rapidly and effectively as possible. And number two, that English learners have the same rigorous grade level standards that are expected of all students. When these two goals are achieved, students can reach the ultimate goal of reclassification. Also, we recognize an assets-based approach and that is embedded in all the work we do with students and families and staff. And we recognize that our multilingual students bring assets to the classroom. So, jumping into some data, this is our most current data as of last week, hot off the press. Um, you see our overall number of English learners. It's quite a bit lower than we started the
066school with because we've reclassified several hundred students. And you'll notice um our long-term English learners or LESS. I'm going to use that acronym a few times tonight. So ELS are long-term English learners that have been in an EL program for six years or more. You see our newcomer students that are defined as students in an EL program three years or less and they're born outside of the United States. Of our English learners, we continue to have over 30 languages represented in Newport Mesa. Spanish is our predominant language and our next largest language is Russian. And then our population also includes just under 3,000 reclassified students and just over 700 students who are classified as fluent upon school entry. It's important to note that with the suspension of the initial alpac uh we also have approximately
067150 TK students who are pending classification. So, um, those numbers are actually probably a little larger. Reclassification is the process to move a student from English learner classification to fluent English proficient. And these are the criteria that are set forth by ed code. To give a little more detail on the ELPAC, the English language proficiency assessment for California, students must score an overall level four. For basic skills, they must meet specific grade level cut points on measure measures such as dibbles, star or ESBAC as well as earning passing grades. And then we also ensure that all parents um are consulted regarding reclassification. You'll notice the little red box under basic skills and that just highlights a change from prior years. So this year we engaged in a process to update the criteria from the star
068instructional reading level or the IRL and it is now we're now going to use the Lexile level moving forward. For the Lexile that can be on the STAR test or the ESPback which gives students a little more opportunity to reclassify. Here's the reclassification process and timeline. And this just highlights some of the critical components. It is a process that we go through all year. Um we start as soon as school starts. Actually, we're starting now because we're identifying students for next year and go all the way through the end of May. So in the fall, we identify students that achieve an ELPAC 4 and we monitor their basic skills tests. In December, we execute that reclassification protocol. And then the second half of the year, we continue to reclassify students as soon as they are
069eligible. for students that that arrow on the bottom represents our students that don't quite make that ELPAC 4 and we're constantly providing goal setting, strategic supports, lots of different things to try to get them to reclassification for the next year. All of that happens uh you heard one of our teachers of the year is an EL coordinator. So, we have teachers at each school site that assist us with this process as well as other um duties related to English learners. Here's our reclassification data for the last three years. We've stayed on track with our percentage of students reclassified districtwide. The one thing I want to highlight is our process for students on IEPs. We do have an alternate process. You'll notice in that data we've had a significant drop. Um, so we can thank the
070state for that because they have a much stricter guidance or policy on what that process can look like now in districts. So unfortunately, it's very restrictive um on having us look at the unique needs of students on IEPs in relation to reclassification. So that that is a difference there that you'll notice. So in looking at data for English learners, it's always a little challenging because once students reclassify, we take them out of the English learner group. So we're always looking at ways of evaluating our program and seeing how students are performing. And so recently we wanted to look at students that started with us in TK or kinder and how many were reclassifying by sixth grade which really is the goal that we're reclassifying students that have been with us since the beginning by sixth
071grade. So, this data shows that based on the percentages of students over the last three years, and this doesn't include this year yet because we're still evaluating that, that we have seen an increase of those students that started with us and they're reclassifying before they leave sixth grade, which is exciting news. And then we also want to look at those els. So, those students that are going on to secondary as long-term English learners. And so recently I wanted to look at of those students starting in secondary as an LTEL, how many are reclassifying by by 12th grade. So they may be reclassifying sooner, but you know, are we doing our job of getting them reclassified? And you can see that we also have that percentage has increased over time, which is great. The other the
072other thing I want to just highlight is that over the last several years, we've um decreased our ELTLs. Over the last four years, we've decreased our ELTEL number by 400 students. So on average, a 100 students per year, which is exciting. So based on all of our efforts and what I call LTEL prevention, which is what we're doing in the elementary school, so that our students aren't leaving elementary school as ELTELS. So teachers on special assignment, I could talk to you for an hour about teachers on special assignment, but I'm going to summarize. These are just a few highlights of some of the things our ELD TOSAs are doing with students and with teachers. A few highlights is that our ELD TOSAs work with students in strategic instructional groups. So for example, elementary my elementary
073TOSAs have strategic students that they work with. Um and I think that has also helped to decrease our ELTEL numbers as I shared in the data. Um at elementary and secondary our TOSAs are engaging with students on goal setting sessions that are specific to reclassification. Uh they continue to support at the secondary level with placement which is really critical making sure students are in the correct classes collaborating with counselors and with students. All of the TOSAs work with teachers coaching modeling co-eing in classrooms and engaging in data analysis to help move um students forward. Uh, another example at the secondary level is this was our first year of our ALD class or academic language development class at the high schools and our TOSSA provided support very intensely for all of those teachers in the classroom
074um and in a variety of other ways which has helped make our implementation successful. And so just to round things out, dual immersion is another thing on our um our dance card. And so we currently have a little over 500 students in our program. You can see all of the numbers at each of the schools. And we this year we are up to 10th grade. So next year we'll be in 11th grade. And we're just one year out from our first graduating classes for Mandarin and Spanish, which is very exciting. So that's what I have for you. Do you have any questions? Um, Trusty Anderson, >> thank you for this. Um, I just wanted to say thank you so much for you and your entire team for the dedication and all of the effort and
075innovation that has gone into making sure that all of our parents are well aware of ELPAC, what's in ELPAC, having some of those training sessions at the school site so parents can come where they're comfortable. um and really understanding the importance of reclassifying by sixth grade to see more than a 10% increase from 62% to 75% um is really wonderful to see. So, thank you for all of those efforts. Um I think it'll it really pays off, especially when our students can take electives and things that matter to them and higher level classes rather than taking the English language classes continually in uh junior high and high school. Um I was wondering for the dual immersion programs. Um, for specifically for middle school, I would love to know the information, the breakdown between Costa Mesa
076Middle and High School, the numbers that are in each. Um, and then if there's anything that we can possibly do to increase the numbers. It seems like both at Whittier and at College Park, we have a high number of students in the elementary and I know we're expanding and so these are cumulative numbers, but if there's anything that we're hearing to increase um participation if you know we're having maybe at maybe at Whittier there were 15% went on to to Enson and continued and maybe less at College Park for Mandarin. What are the kind of those key pieces that keep families connected and wanting to do the full continuum? >> I can get you those numbers for middle school and high school. I will share that our first few classes were very small at both
077schools for a variety of reasons that I can hypothesize. I wasn't here. Um but our subsequent classes are consistently larger and so as they move up you are going to lose kids for from attrition and moving and things like that but our our later classes are larger which I think will move up and help our numbers. So some of those first few classes are >> a little smaller. >> Okay. Thank you. That would be good. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Any other comments, questions? Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Next we have um the alternative diploma pathways and unified champion school update. >> Yeah, we have Rob Nichols here to wow us with his knowledge and information. >> Good evening president or solo trustees Dr. Smith cabinet. I am really excited to actually get this to
078work. Right. Uh slides. Oh, wait. That's the wrong one. Slideshow. Sorry. From beginning. There we go. Okay. Um thank you. I'm very excited to be able to present to you um information tonight on the alternate pathway diploma and unified champions. Um, you will see in board item B17, I believe it is, um, new courses for both the alternate pathway diploma and the unified champion program that you're being asked to consider and approve tonight. So, we'll we'll talk about the alternate pathway diploma first. Uh, this was um it came out of Assembly Bill 181 a few years ago, requiring us to create an alternate diploma for our students with our most significant disabilities. um we have been um trying to improve this over the years. So when I started I was asked to look into this
079program and what we want to really make sure is that our students know that when they're going into high school that they have an opportunity to earn a diploma just like their peers. So what we've uh done is looked at um a course of study and we've developed uh an updated course of study for our alternate pathway diploma. Uh it is 13 courses and you'll see a little bit later in the presentation what those courses look like. Um and beginning in the year 2627 all of our students in our extensive needs classes will be enrolled in these courses and have the opportunity or the access to take to participate in the alternate pathway diploma. It is the IEP team's decision as to whether or not the student will be on the diploma or if they
080will complete a certificate of completion. So these documents here, you should have copies. Um I know this is really small and for members of the audience, there are also copies in the back. Um and this is also linked in the presentation. Um the the document on the left is the course equivalents and what that shows you is on the the left side those are the courses that students need to earn uh for a regular diploma 230 credits. And then on the right we have the alternate pathway. Um students uh on the alternate pathway are only required to earn the minimum 130 credits for uh through CDE. Um and you can see the courses there that we are creating in the course of study for our students. Those are the courses with the exception of algebra
0811. You approved algebra 1 last year um that are up for consideration tonight. And then on the right side, the diploma comparison is a a document we put together. so that families can see the difference between the department of education requirements of the 130 um Newport Mesa's graduation requirements, the alternate pathway and the certificate of completion. Two of the major uh well three of the major differences between the certificate of completion and the alternate pathway are that students earning the alternate pathway want to go to college can use it now to apply for financial aid and they can also use it to apply to the military. Uh they have to meet all the other criteria to be accepted into the military but that's a big a big thing because with certificate of completion you couldn't
082do that. Uh, another difference is also that uh, even though students earn an alternate pathway diploma, they uh, can still with stay with us until they're 22 and and transition into the adult transition program. Whereas earning a regular diploma uh, and earning those 230 credits um, when they finish 12th grade, they exit special education and they move on. So the implementation of the alternate pathway and the course design is based around unique learning systems. I know some people like unique, some people don't, but unique uh was a leader in developing a course of study that is evidence-based and aligned to common core state standards through the core content connectors. So, the courses that were designed for our alternate pathway are based on that unique learning systems core um uh I'm sorry, course of study. And
083what's exciting about this is that teachers will also now have the opportunity to teach specific subject areas um similar to teachers who teach general ed classes. And students uh in master scheduling will have the opportunity to possibly change classes and experience that um just like their general ed peers and experience new teachers throughout different teachers throughout the the day. Then we move on to unified champion schools which is very exciting. Um unified champion schools is part of Special Olympics. Uh it's a special Olympics program and it's meant to promote inclusion and bring students together with and without disabilities and they do it through sports. Um as I was was uh researching this year in the district I was really oh how do I go back I was really happy to to see that we really
084have the foundation for for unified sports already. Um we in the district started by um developing a couple different sports activities. We have unified basketball between Estansia and Costa Mesa. Uh uh one night in January during a a game between CDM and Edison we played during halftime and then in the spring we offered softball and those were really great opportunities for our students to come together. Um we're looking forward to expanding that. Um if in the upcoming year we want to add soccer in the fall and we want to add uh track in the spring. And then what unified champion schools does is it really fosters inclusion and it helps students build authentic relationships uh promotes acceptance around the campus and really in it really increases the lead those leadership opportunities. So what we're offering
085and what we've created for our unified champion program is not just sports, it's it's also uh unified art and unified student leadership. Um it's going to be launching at four schools. We're looking at Corona Delmare, Costa Mesa, Estansia, and Tawwinkle. Those sites right now are in the process of creating united leadership teams at each one of their sites. Um each team will have a liaison who works with the Special Olympics to help make sure that we're promoting um our sporting events as well as creating whole school engagement. and we're bringing on a TOSA to help put that all together so that we're really not focusing just on sports. We're focusing on whole school engagement and really making sure that that our students are authentically included in those courses. So, you'll see the three courses tonight
086for approval are uh unified PE, unified art, and unified student leadership. And actually uh just today and yesterday, I took groups of teachers and admin from all of those schools over to Lita High School in uh Westminster to observe their um unified PE program so that they can kind of get an idea of what it looks like so that they can see um kind of help them get started with that. So, as our model, um, you know, we want to make sure that we're we're we're looking at intentional enrollment and we are we're we're talking to students. We're talking to counselors and psychologists and teachers. We're all talking to students about how they can get involved in unified and really help support their peers and create collaborative learning and and shared activities and mentorship and
087really just we want to make sure that we're creating those authentic relationships. So, we're really excited about this program and and to really expand it and uh I can say every school that I've been working with was really excited too about the program and then I any questions >> any questions or comments trustees? >> Pearson. Thank you. I mean what a difference you have made in the is it one year or two year that you've been here. I mean to take on to take just what a difference and to not only have these unified classes and you're not just doing it at one school you're doing it at all of our high schools. Um again thank you for all that went into this. >> You're welcome. >> We want to go big. I am really
088interested in this in the um the what is it the pathway the new >> the alternate pathway >> how many students will that affect like how many students do you think that will affect >> so that will be available to all of our students in high school uh in extensive needs classes. So there is a the major criteria for being eligible to participate in the alternate pathway is a student has to be eligible to take the California alternate assessment. If a student's not eligible to participate in that assessment, meaning they have a significant cognitive disability, they're not eligible to participate in the pathway. So this will affect all of our students um in 9th through 12th grade in the extensive needs classes. >> Got it. And you said if they do get their diploma then
089they can't move on to the step program. >> They can move on. >> They still can. >> So if if they earn a a general a regular diploma at the 230 credits, they finished 12th grade and they exited from special education and they move on. Um with the alternate pathway, they can earn the 130 credits, receive the alternate pathway diploma, and they can stay and move on to our STEP program. >> Got it. Thank you. >> Of course, >> yes. Um great job. Um, I've seen a market difference in this past year. Even at current Delmare, I was watching senior projects and I was in the, uh, sped classroom and it was just incredible the confidence and the pathway for success. So, thank you for the efforts. I have a couple of questions. Um, uh,
090this slide under implementation, it says special ed teachers will have the opportunity to teach a specific subject area, but I know as a credent teacher, you have single subject credentials. Will this be a waiver from the state? >> So, no. Teachers who are um credentialed to teach uh extensive needs are credentialed to teach uh kindergarten through adult transition multiple subjects. >> Oh, cool. So, it's like a >> So, they won't need an an additional accreditation or a single subject to teach that. >> That's good. And then um the other thing is uh the slide under NMUSD imple implementation 2627 where it lists the the high schools. Um so then I'm assuming that this is the sites that are 7 to 12th like Mesa and CDM. Uh this is offered at the 9th to 12th grade
091>> middle school as well. You'll see c we have courses for middle school and for high school. >> So there there can be some sort of uh movement, >> right? they'll be able to follow that during their career there. >> And then we're pairing T-winkle with Estansia since that's their track. >> Okay. >> Um and then the where it says each each school site will create a unified leadership team to implement the program at their site. Will their leadership team unified leadership team be limited to uh the sped team teachers and admins? >> No. And they encourage >> they they encourage um anybody >> general ed any staff on the on the campus to be part of that team. >> Yeah. >> It could be classified. It can be certificated administrators. >> Everyone welcome. >>
092Yeah. Everybody's welcome. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> Any other trustee comments, questions? >> I just had one. And and um I remember you were saying the other day at the city leazison on me meeting that the four schools that it was being launched at it was because they already had started some of the beginning steps. Do we anticipate next year adding Nin Newport Harbor so all of our secondaries are included and then would we also then add in Monavista? What is the >> So with these four schools they did already have the foundation set. Um the the Special Olympics Unified Champions program is typically designed around um programs that have students with more significant disabilities and these are sites that all have those programs. We didn't start at Newport Harbor
093or the others because they don't hold those programs right now, but we can absolutely see if there's opportunity to expand the student leadership piece um or the uh whole school engagement piece at those sites as well. >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> Just might be. >> Well, I just one I just wanted to say thank you. How happy this makes me. Um, you know, one of the programs over at CDM, Best Buddies. >> Yes. >> Right. >> Do you how do you see this working with Best Buddies or taking over Best Buddies? >> That's a really great question. Um, one of my goals with bringing on the NOSA is really to not just focus on the unified champions piece, but also that whole school engagement piece. And that's going to be working with ASB and
094Best Buddies and the other groups um the coaches um to bring everybody together so that we can create an opportunity for our students in all those areas. >> So as in like all co Mesa Estansia they could all have a best buddies program. >> Yeah. Well they they don't have one now but they could all have a best buddies. I know Estansia, Tinkle, Costa, I the four of those do the four up here have them I believe >> the best buddies. >> Best Buddies. >> I don't know. >> I was like >> at Mesa. I don't know that he's >> okay. Anyways, it's all right. But they you'll be able to expand it, I guess. >> Yes, we're gonna expand that. Okay. >> Yeah, definitely. >> You're welcome. >> Great. Can I ask another question?
095So, the TOSA that you're talking about, there's one that's gonna >> go to all four schools or Florida. >> They'll they'll support all four schools. >> Oh, trust, you have another one. Um, student board member, you have a question. >> On the slide, unified course model, I was curious. It mentions under intentional enrollment peer partners without disabilities. How would those be selected and involved in the program? >> So those um will be recruited by teachers, counselors, school psychologists, they can self um select and they can reach out and let let an adult know that they want to be part of the program. But principles um it's it's really community- based. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> All right. No further questions, comments. >> Okay. Well, thank you so much for everything you're doing. We
096really appreciate it. Thank you for the update. >> And next item 19, consent calendar. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> And a second. >> Second. >> And moved by Trusty Wagan, second by Trusty Crane, and roll call vote. Trusty, >> yes. >> Trusty Murphy, >> yes. >> Trusty Pearson, >> yes. >> Trusty Mackoart, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. >> Trusty Wagan, >> yes. >> Okay. And now we will move to item 20, public hearing action. Um, public hearing of the California School Employee Association, Chapter 18, initial proposal to the Newport Mesa Unified School District for reopener negotiations commencing 2026. The hearing is now open at I'm going to have to keep moving my glasses. That That's not good. 7:37. All right. This evening,
097both CSA and the district will be sunshining our initial proposals. Uh this is a required step prior to commencing negotiations for 2627 and we are um really looking forward to getting to the table with our CSEA um team and so I know we just opened the public hearing and that's to hear um the initial proposal from CSEA. Um just a reminder these are reopener negotiations which are limited negotiations and in this case both parties agreed to negotiate article three hours of employment in addition to salary and health and welfare benefits. Um, we ask that the board now take comments for public hearing if available. >> Are there any public comments? Once, twice, silence. Okay. The hearing is now closed at 7:30 p.m. All right. Um, item 20B, receive California School Employee Association Chapter 18 initial
098proposal to the Newport Mesa Unified School District for reopener negotiations commencing 2026. >> This is going to be fun tonight. With the public hearing now closed, we do recommend that the board accept the initial proposal uh from CSA to the district for reopener negotiations. >> Um, does anyone have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Trustee Crane and seconded by Trustee Murphy. and roll call vote. >> Trusty, >> yes. >> Trusty Murphy, >> yes. >> Trusty Pearson, >> yes. >> Trusty Mroy, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. >> Trusty Wagan, >> yes. >> Great. With that unanimous vote, now we'll go to 20 C, which is public hearing of the Newport Mesa Unified School District initial proposal to the California School Employees Association, Chapter 18 for reopener negotiations
099commencing 2026. And the hearing is now open 7:39 >> and are there public comments? >> So this is the district sharing the um with the public the initial proposal for reopener negotiations with CSA and we'll be asking the board to approve the initial proposal following the public hearing. So we ask the board to accept any comments if available. >> Any public comments going once, twice? No. Okay. It is 7:39. The hearing is now closed and now we go to 20D. Approve Newport Mesa Unified School District initial proposal to the California School Employee Association chapter 18 for reopener negotiations commencing 2026. So this is the final step of our sunshining uh process. So with the public hearing now closed, we do ask the board to approve that initial proposal so we provide that to CSA and
100begin our reopener negotiations. >> Do we have a motion for approval? So moved. >> Second. >> Trusty Wan and second. Trusty Anderson. And roll call vote. >> Trustee. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane. >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagen. >> Yes. >> Okay. With that unanimous item behind us, now we move to 21A. First reading of modifications to board policies by Dr. Torres. Good evening. I'd like to welcome up my assistant, Claire Warner, who's going to assist me with any modifications or suggestions that you have tonight. Um, in front of you, you have three board policies this evening we're bringing forward. Um, these are what we consider regular and routine updates. Um, and oh, there we go.
101Okay. And we're going to go ahead and start off with PE 614.2.7. Um, >> oh, Trusty Mccelroy, do you have a question? >> Um, I just wanted to um I wanted to propose some uh new wording in one area of this um policy. >> Oh, perfect. Yes. Once they go through and give the overview, then we'll open it for the >> Perfect. So, uh, in front of you, we have our, uh, physical education activity policy. Um, as we all know, the state of California cares deeply about the health and wellness of our students and PE is a priority, um, in regards to our, um, uh, part of our graduation requirements. And so, this policy is an update and it's including just a couple of new things um, that we want to consider. Would you mind
102scrolling up for me? Oh, there's the mouse. Thank you. Um, we wanted to uh point out that they just want to ensure that all of our physical um instruction and PE um really is inclusive and that it recognizes protected statuses within um our other board policies that we have. Um, additionally, it just wants to make sure that if any student um is participating in any type of religious activity such as fasting, um, that our PE teachers in our athletic departments recognize that. And so, um, we always every year put that message out to all of our teachers. Um, however, the state really wants to ensure that that's prioritized. And so, that's what you see reflected here. Um, additionally, this doesn't affect us too much. There's other parts of the states where it does, but we're
103going to talk about extreme weather. Um, we do a great job in our county of putting out heat warnings. Uh, Jonathan Wilby, um, our director of risk is in the back. He sends out a message every time it gets too hot. Um, air quality is poor, things like that. Extreme weather would require us to actually modify the entire PE program. So the state's just ensuring that if we do have an episode of extreme weather that we would give an alternate extreme weather would be things like a hurricane, a tornado, um a massive earthquake that would have caused something. So something that's a significant disruption. So not 80 degree weather. Our kids try really hard. Um and then additionally program evaluation. Our students take the physical fitness test. We're going to do better at that. we
104haven't always ensured great participation in physical fitness testing. Um, and that we would come to you in front of uh a board meeting at some point in the future at one of our presentations that includes data working with Dr. Blazy uh just to present some some data to you. So I'll I would love to hear any feedback that you have. Okay. Um in the second paragraph I just wanted to simplify it a little bit. um because I think it's repetitive. I um I can send this over to just the wording and we guys we can put it in and see if how we think about it. But it's I wanted to say if possible physical education classes shall be conducted in the um co-educational inclusive manner accordance with the law. The district shall provide instruction
105and physical education to students in grades 1 through 12 that provides equal access and equal opportunities for participation regardless of any protected status in accordance with board policy administration regulations five >> the rest of it in there 5143 whatever >> thank you give us one seconding it >> yes no problem um and that's just simplifying the language using the term um protective classes once not twice in the same um paragraph right here. So you want to take that out all this >> maybe Claire can um >> line strike through so it stays up there in case there's a discussion about that language before >> I know figured that out. >> Yeah, it just takes it's a little bit of a delay. She's clicking and it's not happening. of any >> of any. >> Okay. >>
106And then take out other. >> There you go. >> And that would be any protected status. >> Okay. Okay. Any other feedback? I'll be moving on to the next one. >> I just have one quick question about the um the on the last page right about Thank you for adding the program evaluation part by the way. That's awesome. We'd love to see fitness gram data for each school. >> Um the right above that the number three when they're engaged in a regular um school sponsored athletic program. >> So does that give a full exemption? I'm trying to figure out those courses, those modules that the kids had to do online in high school the other day. So this makes it sound like you're exempt from PE if you play a sport, but you're clearly not
107fully exempt if you had to sit through those um four hours of modules. So that's only um so you must have a freshman or a sophomore um because that is only for students who have not yet achieved their 20 credits of PE. >> So in your 11th and 12th grade year, your student would not be um required to take those additional modules. >> Got it. >> So it's only for the first two years. Yes. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. There are other parents out there who may have been asking the same or thinking the same thing. >> All right. Um okay with that. Any more on this one before we go to the next policy? Okay, I'll go to the next one. >> Just pull the suspension. The first one 51 44.1. Great. Um, this
108one again is a routine, um, update and so, uh, the state has done a great job at continuing to refine its policies on discipline and it includes a couple new things. This board has been very um caring, concerned, and very thoughtful about the way we've approached student discipline, particularly in the last couple of years. This is one thing that's come up, and so the state has put it in, and I think it's important for us to see this, and that's the first um paragraph in blue, that off-campus behavior may result in discipline when it disrupts district programs and activities. And the word is may. Sometimes parents ask us that question, students ask us that question. It doesn't always result in discipline. It depends on the um incident, impact, location, lots of different factors, but we
109are going to include that. Um, additionally, we wanted to ensure that um we clarified that no student shall ever be suspended or expelled based solely on a student's truency or tardiness record or absenteeism. We as a district and as this board have never done that. Um, but the state wants us to ensure that we clarify. And then um you know we always it says a vote to be taken um in open session of a board meeting. That has been our practice. And then no child enrolled in preschool program shall be expelled or unenrolled except in exceptional circumstances in accordance with ed code. We have not as a practice in Newport Mesa ever done that. But there have been districts in the state who have expelled the smallest youth that we have that we serve. So
110the state has an interest in protecting that. Again, um just looking at the enumeration, just a couple things here. Number three, um the actions taken by the board. We need to report out to you annually and and we do that through sometimes uh board reports. We do that through our weekly updates at the end of the year. But thinking about all the data we collect on expulsion to let the board know when a student has been expelled um and if they've subsequently been expelled. So is this the first time, third time, especially for students who've been with us their entire um career. And then um the disposition of students um this board has been very thoughtful about making sure that we care we care for the student who has made a poor decision and that
111we provide a plan for them. This calls that out, talks about the fact that we need to ensure that we have a rehabilitation plan um and that we evaluate that for successful readmission into the school district. and then the average length of expulsion terms including an extension. So at some point you'll see me again in my team. We'll report back to you. We'll let you know how many we had. Were there 12? Were they were there zero? How long were their terms and for what types of incidents? Change some language here. We no longer call our students homeless in California. We call them unhoused or experiencing homelessness. Um so that's a change. And then um we also want to ensure that our ALCAP includes monitoring in intervention and effectiveness. And Vanessa works very closely with
112every director to ensure that the things that we're doing are implemented and reflected in the ALCAP. Okay. Any feedback for me? Um we have two. We have I don't know which one rang the bell first, Crane or Anderson. >> Um a quick question for in the in the interest of the public. Dr. Taurus, could you clarify what is off-campus behavior that may result in discipline when it disrupts district programs? >> Yeah. So, off-campus disruptions could be something like um and none of these things ever happen, but let's pretend that they do of a student starting a fight at another uh football game um on site on someone else's property. So, a student visiting another school, sporting event, starting a fight, selling um something a controlled substance that they're not supposed to um lying in wait
113down the street for a student who's on their way home, maybe just a block away, something like that. Okay. Mhm. And the and we really try not to moni we say we try not to monitor what happens, you know, out when kids are leaving us, but there are times when there is clear um clear examples. We have students who attend um cause problems when they attend dances outside of our space and they're somewhere else and they're at a prom or on a bus going somewhere that isn't our bus, but going to an event. Those are times when we have disciplined students. Trusty Anderson. >> Thank you. Um could I have some more elaboration on the um the middle of that part? What do we anticipate? Um, the off-campus behavior may result in discipline when it
114disrupts district programs and activities or as otherwise prohibited by law, which I have a question about, um, rather than it just reading or as otherwise prohibited by board policy or administrative regulation >> since if it's off-campus behavior and a student is being disciplined for it. If it's prohibited by law, they're being disciplined by the law. >> Probably at times it could be both. So, for example, if a student's committing a crime and it's a true violation of the law, state law, then officers are usually involved. But if that's at an activity that belongs to our school district or they're representing our school, then when they return to school, then they could receive discipline from us, which means it could be a suspension for 2 or 3 days if it was significant enough. It could be
115an expulsion. >> Okay. Would they would that though then fall under our board policy though if it's something that it's some like we have a very strict list about things that we can expel for? Mhm. >> So my thinking was just trying to understand more. We we already have board policies about all of those. So what would be an example of something that would be prohibited by law that's off-campus behavior? Again, this is not on campus, but is not prohibited by board policy or AR. Oh, I'm just thinking of examples that we've had and um you know, unfortunately students break the law regularly in their own space and we have really five areas that are expelable. Drugs, violence, sexual battery, explosion, explosives, and firearms. So, those are automatic expulsions. >> Somebody runs somebody over with
116a car, that's a crime. We don't expel for that. However, they could be disciplined when they come back if they were doing that in a manner that impacted the school or program. An expulsion is one extreme case, but discipline could just be a suspension. It could be alternative to suspension, our ATS program. And we do have incidents like that where they are not the top five, right? They're not the expelable 48 915 codes, but they are violations of the law. They've been arrested for it and it has caused an impact to our campus. We don't necessarily expel them for that, but we do discipline. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Okay. Want to go to the >> Okay. >> Oh, I did have one more. I'm sorry. Before we move on, I
117s at the very bottom of 61427 the physical. Um, what is combives? >> Where are you at? I'm sorry. >> At the bottom of physical education activity. >> Oh, you're in physical PE. I'm sorry. combives as my as my eye was leaving the page where we have individual and dual sports, team sports, and then and combives. I've never seen that. >> Combives is karate, >> jiu-jitsu, any type of activity like that that teaches students um what do you call that? Self-defense. And I don't even like to say self-defense, but that's what a combative is. >> But isn't it an individual or dual sport? I mean, it's okay. It just seems like it's covered by the other one. And I just wanted to make sure it wasn't an old coat. Sometimes we have some of these
118that are from 2009. >> Unfortunately, that's still in there. Combives. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry. >> I think um >> um does anybody have any They're going to vote all of them at once. Just taking feedback. Um let's go to 6146.3. reciprocity of academic credit because this one's super simple. Um what this um board policy um is meant to do is that when we have students who come into our school system who have not been part of our school system, somebody transfers in, moves into the neighborhood, um we need to ensure to the greatest extent possible that students coming in will have um who transfer into our district will complete the district's academic program in a timely manner and graduate with their peers. So, we can't hold kids back from things. We need
119to do our best effort when we read transcripts to match courses. We need to if somebody comes in and they're really credit deficient, we need to ensure we place them on the best track possible to graduate with their age group and cohort. That's what this is saying. >> Question. >> I just had one question. So, how did this change demonstrly from July of 2024? Do were we not it the blue is new language, >> right? But it's built within that. I mean, we're kind of just adding a heading to it. Mhm. It's just >> Did it come up again or was it something that was a concern again or >> No, it's just a regular update. And when we look at graduation credits and reciprocity of credit, it's just something that we like to have
120current because we do um review, my team reviews transcript history weekly because we have kids moving in and out and it just helps us when we're working with our counselors and some of our teachers. So that's it. >> Okay. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a wonderful thing. I'm just Some of that to me sounds like that would be in the AR. So I just am always wondering when and why and the rhythm of why things are. >> Yeah, policy really is powerful because an AR is something that directs our work, but the policy sets you guys as a board setting that policy really allows us to meet and talk with counselors to ensure that that is the priority. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> Okay, with that, do we have a motion to approve?
121Anything else? >> Oh, there's one more. >> Oh, yeah. One last one. Mr. Nichols would be very disappointed if you moved on without this. Okay. Um and so you heard a wonderful presentation this evening on the work that we're doing with our special education um partners. And so the policy you have in front of you is coming to you because we are looking at differential um graduation um credits and requirements. And so that is what this policy is for. you heard him discuss um that in 2223 or later that the students would be allowable um to be able to participate in this program. And so that is what this policy does um because we have to have a policy to ensure that we're the board is graduating students that have met the standard that the
122district has set. So this is specifically for the students that Mr. Nichols was describing this evening. Any comments or questions? >> Okay, >> I move to adopt these policies. Uh, is it a first and final? Do we How? What do you think? >> We could wave the second reading and just approve them now. Folks are okay with that. >> Seems like we're all >> We're pretty comfortable. >> So, we have to >> All right. So, I make a motion to adopt these policies as discussed and um audited. >> Trusty Pearson second. >> Oh, and wave the second uh and wave the second reading to make this a final. >> Great. And roll call vote. >> Thank you. Do you think any discussion? >> Oh, any further discussion besides what you all >> I just I
123think I'm fine with that for today, but I think overall I like having especially for doing a first reading here. I like and we're making edits in lifetime to me. I would like to approve them each individually going forward. Um but that does not seem to be the consensus at the moment. Thanks. >> Great. With that roll call vote, >> student board member Jeremy Lort. >> Yes. >> Trust. Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane. >> Yes. >> Trusty Wen. >> Yes. >> Great. With that unanimous vote. Now we'll go to 21B. Adopting the board governance protocols by Superintendent Smith. >> Yeah. Each year the board comes together and reviews our governance protocols. They have a chance to
124make some edits to those protocols. Um, this year there were two items added, small items and then very small edits to two other items. Um, and so you have those before you today for your consideration. >> This one here. >> Great. And that is the final sheet in everybody's packet with the yellow highlight. >> Yellow highlight. >> Yes. Um, is there a motion >> to approve or did you have any question? >> So moved. Trusty Wan >> second >> and second trustee was >> Pearson. >> Great. >> Is there any discussion points anyone has call vote? Sam student board member Jeremy Lure. >> Yes. >> Trustee. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy. Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane. >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagon.
125>> Yes. >> All right. With that unanimous vote, now we will go back um to Miss Nib with our resolution adoption calendar 22A. Adopt resolution designating the observance of Washington Day on February 15, 2027 and Lincoln Day on February 16, 2027. >> Thank you. Um, under the California Education Code, school districts are permitted to observe Washington Day and Lincoln Day on alternate dates rather than their traditional calendar observances. Consistent with this provision, the district has adjusted the observance of these holidays within the 2026 2027 instructional calendar. This resolution allows the district to provide a full president's recess in February, creating a non- studentent week for students and staff. Administration recommends approval of this resolution to formally authorize the revised observance dates. >> Okay. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Trusty
126W. >> Second. Trusty Crane. And roll call. Sam. >> Trusty. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Moroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane? >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagon? >> Yes. >> Great. With that, we'll move to 22B. Adopt resolution 150526 declaring membership in the protected insurance program for schools pips. Um JPA joint power authority for workers compensation coverage. Mr. Dixon, >> thank you. Uh approval of this resolution will allow us to go to a joint powers authority for our workers comp compensation insurance coverage. Currently, we are self-insured and when we look at the history of that, it's been very volatile and we can actually create some savings in our working work workers compensation insurance with this switch. In addition, it provides easier budgeting
127for us because it only going to increase by a certain percentage each year versus the amount of claims that we're having to pay as our self-insured program. um as well as providing additional resources because we're pooling, we would be able to pull together with other districts and have an administrator of that JPA to help us hopefully lower our workers compensation claims and and improve our wellness pro program. So, staff recommends approval of this resolution. >> Great. And Trusty Anderson and Trusty Crane have questions. >> Uh yes, I just wanted to say thank you. Um I remember not that long ago we did not have a riskmanagement department and it has been a huge uh I think incentive and um has really been instrumental in our operations to have a team of people now in that
128department. Um, I think it's nothing short of transformational and I think our staff who've experienced our workers comp um claims in the past would would echo that. Um, I think this change is really welcome. So, I thank you very much for finding this. I think it's really fiscally responsible to have a different approach and to go at it this way. So, I just thank you very much for bringing this forward. >> Appreciate that. Thank you. >> Yes. Um Jeff, in the interest of the public, can you um give us the the savings amount because I think you went from one dollar to the other. >> Yeah. So, it's in the background of the board item and it is an estimate at this point. Um we know there will be savings, but it is not insignificant.
129So, uh participation in the PIPS for the first year is about $625,000 in savings estimated right now. >> Thank you. >> Great. Anyone want to make a motion to approve? Adopt resolution 150526 declaring membership in the protected insurance program for schools pips joint powers authority JPA for workers compensation coverage. >> Second and trustee Crane second and roll call vote. >> Trusty Sylen >> yes. >> Trusty Murphy >> yes. >> Trusty Pearson >> yes. >> Trusty Mroy >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson >> yes. >> Trusty Crane >> yes. >> Trusty White. >> Yes. All right, with that 22C adopt resolution60526 recognizing May 17 through 23rd, 2026 as classified school employees week, Miss N. Yes. One more opportunity to highlight the great work of our employees and I don't take that for granted. So, thank you. It
130is an honor to bring forward a resolution recognizing classified school employee week. Um, honoring extraordinary contributions of classified employees throughout Newport Mesa. Classified staff are often the first to welcome our students each morning and the last to ensure campuses are safe, clean, and prepared for the next day. Whether supporting instruction in classrooms, transporting students, maintaining facilities, providing nutritional services, I'm going to keep going, assisting families in school offices, supporting technology, ensuring student health and safety, or working behind the scenes, and countless other roles. Classified employees are essential to the daily success and operation of our schools and district. Their dedication, professionalism, compassion, and commitment to students and colleagues help create positive learning environments where all students thrive. The district is deeply grateful for the expertise and heart our classified employees bring to their work each
131day. We proudly celebrate and thank them for the immeasurable impact they have on our school community. >> I would like to adopt resolution 16526 recognizing May 17th to 23rd, 2026 as classified school employee week. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Trusty Crane second. And Ro Carlson. >> Trust. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane? >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagan? >> Yes. >> All right. Now 22D adopt resolution order of bianual trustee election and specifications of the election order. Dr. Smith. Schoolboard elections in Newport Mesa Unified are held bianually in even years. Passing this resolution authorizes the county superintendent of schools to call the election specifying the date and purpose of the election. >> All right.
132So moved. Okay. Trusty Crane. >> Second. >> Sorry, who is the >> trusty Y again? Second. >> And who that don't have to run. That's right. >> And Sam, roll call vote. >> Trusty Soilu. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy, >> yes. >> Trusty Pearson, >> yes. >> Trusty Mroy, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. >> Trusty Wagan, >> yes. >> Okay. Now we move to 22E. Adopt resolution number 180526 of the board of trustees of the Newport Mesa Unified School District authorizing the disposition of surplus personal property. Mr. Dixon, >> thank you. So that's the technical way of saying this resolution allows us to sell three portables back to Huntington Beach City School District for $5,000 each for a total of $15,000. They're no longer needed. Um they were
133intended for interim housing for staff. that is not happening. So, uh, in lie of maintaining those portables, we'd like to sell them back for the purchase price that we got them for. >> Thank you. Any questions on that one? >> Would anyone like to make a motion? So, moved. So, moved by Trusty Pearson. >> Second by Trusty Crane. Roll call. Sam. >> Trusty. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. Trusty Crane. >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagen. >> Yes. >> Okay. Now item 20. >> You meant like staff were going to have meetings in those portables, right? >> Yeah. It was interim housing. So it would have been used for like office spaces or anything temporarily >> but not sleeping. >>
134That I'm sorry. That's a technical way of saying um portable classroom buildings. So before I vote on having staff be housed in portable >> apologize for that. >> All right. 22F. Uh this is a long one. Adopt resolution number 190526 of the board of education of the Newport Mesa Unified School District to authorize the district to request temporary transfers of monies from the county treasurer to meet maintenance expenses for fiscal year 2026 27 202728 and 2028 29. Mr. Dixs. >> Yeah. Uh, and if I could, I'd like to give some context on this because this is not the first time our district has done something like this. And it is certainly not uncommon for other districts around us to do it, but we haven't had to do this in a long time. And it's because
135from the summer months through December, we meet our lowest cash flow point. So, we really need to borrow money. And historically, we've been doing it from ourselves from our facilities program, which is fund 40. um which as you know we used a significant portion of it completing projects over these past two years. So because we don't think we're going to have sufficient funds in fund 40 to borrow from ourselves, we'd like to work with the county treasury. When we talked to the Orange County Department of Ed who advised us in this route, um we've looked at how many other districts have done this through the county treasury temporary transfer. There's been about a dozen over the past decade. Um, and when you look at the repayback of whatever you temporarily borrow from the treasury, it's
136based on the county treasury's yield, which if you look at all of 2026 each month, that is ranged between 3.9 and 4.1%. So, it's a very good rate uh given today right now. Um, and by authorizing this, we don't know the exact amount of money that may be needed, but it it's a necessary step for the board to pass this resolution so that we get everything in place um to make those temporary transfers as needed to meet our cash flow requirements. Uh, the one thing I also want to point out is the years specified in here because it's not typical to see a four-year agreement, but this is based on the resolution that the county treasury actually passed. It specified those years. So, we're not making those up. We're not saying we're going to need
137this for each one of these four years. We're just aligning it with the the county's resolution that has already been passed. So, with that, we would recommend uh approval of this resolution uh to meet our maintenance of expense. >> Is is there a an amount that we need to approve or is it just whatever is necessary? >> Yeah, it's whatever at I wouldn't even say whatever is ne it's the lowest amount that we possibly need. Okay. >> And we'll evaluate that as it as it comes. >> Would anyone like to make a motion? So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Trusty Wan. Trusty Murphy. And >> roll call. >> Trusty Soilent. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Maroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty
138Crane. >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagon. >> Yes. >> Okay. Now we go to 22G. Adopt resolution number 200526 regarding the department of rehabilitation do transition partnership project TPP and authorize the assistant superintendent of special services to renew an agreement with the department of rehabilitation for the term July 1st 2026 to June 30th 2029. Um Dr. Jo. >> Yeah, I'll be here tonight. >> Okay. Um, this resolution renews relationship we have with the department of rehabilitation wherein they reimburse us for our work in employment preparation and getting students with disabilities jobs. >> All right. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. So moved by Trusty Crane, second by Trusty and roll call vote. >> Trusty Soil. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. Trusty Morty, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >>
139yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. >> Trusty Wagan, >> yes. >> Okay. And with that, we'll move to superintendent reports. >> Yeah. Thanks. A lot of us throughout this month uh and last mention the things we go to where we are celebrating students t the season. It's a great time of the year, best time of the year really. Um and I I want to take the opportunity to also thank folks in our community that make some of these opportunities uh possible. They say that generosity unlocks opportunity and for our students um their opportunities truly are unlocked by some of these scholarships they reserved. So to the Les Miller family um the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, even at Soy last night or I think it was last night about
140$319,000. And so all of these folks coming together to unlock opportunities for our students. Such an amazing act of generosity. I just want to thank them at this time of the season as well. >> Great. And with that, we can do um board member comments starting with Trusty Wagan and moving up this way. >> Perfect. All right. Well, um this has been a um you know, it's a great season right now. We go and celebrate all of our students. Um and I had the pleasure of attending the cosign ro um awards bank or awards ceremony last Friday. Um, and you know, they have a a an RO student of the year um from each district and we had one and then they have a Coastline RO student um of the year for overall. So there's
141four districts involved in coastline RO tustin Saddleback um Irvine and US and our student Bris Brida um won from Estansia and she is probably you know one of the best speeches. So that one student of the year that gets to give a speech um gets up there and and says why she um is doing what she's doing now. she did the medical tech program and um she wants to become a pediatrician. she's going to go to UC San Diego, but she was so open and honest on why she wanted to um attend where the attention like being 18 years old and divulging her heart and tough things that have happened in her life and why she wants to be um a doctor and why she wants to overcome obstacles that were put in her life
142was was just mind-blowing to everyone in in the audience. Um, and it's just it's it's it's a sense of pride that we have a student that can be so forthcoming with their emotions, but also so so willing to overcome obstacles and then seeing um seeing her succeed and then be um noticed by Coastline ROP. Um it is just amazing and it it's it's been a it's been a great year for Coastline ROOP. Not to mention our design build um and our student board member Rosyn Ruiz who was here. she was the safety coordinator for the um design build and she actually told me um before the meeting that she got offered two jobs while she was there and you know she's going to go to college um next but I was like can you do
143something part-time like maybe you can you know get that job um but she got she was the safety coordinator and she has a whole safety board and this company came up >> and she can't it was I think it's a large construction company and was like we need a safety coordinator like you would you like to would you like to interview and I was like go. She goes well I've got this other job. I'm like nope let's go. Let's see you know let's see where that's going to take you. Um so she and that whole Estansia like the design build and I u he didn't they didn't go into it too much but we are like the most junior school that goes to this design build. There are carpenter um like city colleges and schools
144that are just set up for constru construction and we're just some students just some students some great students that um are building amazing little houses um and ours was really cool this year. Um it looked like a little outdoor ADU kind of fun um place to fun place to have dinner and um and lounge around on an afternoon. Um so really impressed with that. Um the other thing is swim meeting. Um want to shout out to Christy Flores, our AXA um administrator of the year. Welldeserved. And we have a a report out from our our swim program that we have and we um gave lessons to 337 students in the district this year for swim. Um it was it was phenomenal. And um you know in that meeting the report out was to expand expand
145to see how many more students we can provide swim lessons to. Uh we've got great partners with the YMCA, the city of Costa Mason, the Ben Carlson Foundation. So want to thank them and of course Christy Flores for, you know, getting everyone together. It's just amazing what you guys are doing. Um and then the last thing is um the Field of Honor at uh the Castaways Park. Um I walked through it yesterday and there's um every fifth grader in our elementary schools can make a poster of what, you know, patriotism looks like to them. And um I happen to know some fifth graders this year and they um and I know other fifth graders in other schools as well. And I was saw this one poster and I like makes me choked up. But I
146looked at it and I was like, "Oh my god, that girl just arrived here from Russia last year and she won from her class." And I was like, it was it was a good moment. So yeah, my kids didn't, but >> I don't I mean, man, the the girl from Russia really had it. And her picture was a description of Lady Liberty and um and um a boat going to New York City. So it was very poignant. It's a great time. >> Um well, let's see. It is award banquet season. A lot of chicken dinners and and lunches. But um all worth it because we're celebrating our students and uh a lot of arts showcases. I went to the OC art showcase. Thank you Tamara for just always throwing and your team always throwing an
147amazing showcase that just is blows me away every year. And I know we have uh a county semi- finalists, right? Um which is amazing. It's really hard to get. and where we have a semi- finalist top three in the county um in visual arts. Um, one of the most rewarding days was me going to the step talent show and watching I I think I sent Lisa Pearson maybe six videos um of these amazing kids just so confident and having fun and the camaraderie and how they're cheering each other on and and then they're just watching their their teachers and their their um assistants just watching the kids and just the joy that they're getting out of it. They just they just really love our kids and I think our kids feel it and you could
148tell when they're up on stage with confidence. Um that was really special. Um just Ignite the Night. Wow. What a great launch by uh by the innovation team under um Lori Hernandez. Um wow. So many parents there and again engaged kids. They it was just so fun to like learning is fun in Newport Mesa and and if you went to Ignite the Night, you would know that and if you went to Battle the Books, you would know that. So, thank you everyone for, you know, listening to the board and acting on it and pretty much in a short timeline, too. So, for you to launch Battle the Books and Ignite the Night and just have it come out so perfectly, it's like, how can we even build more on that? I can't wait for the
149possibility. So, thank you so much. Um, we and Christy Flores, congratulations on your AXA county uh award of the year. I just uh um went to senior projects at CDM today and I had the pleasure and the privilege of sitting um uh the classroom for a sped classroom and there was five students that did their senior project. We're talking a five to 10 minute presentation up just in front of a classroom, in front of a panel. And the the level of um output from these kids was amazing. U from computer science to health and wellness. Those are some of the topics. And then la the last um senior that spoke was Gracie who was just absolutely amazing. Um I she basically was a kid who said just she made a presentation that was eight minutes
150long, no notes, and said I was she her her thesis was um a self-contained classroom or or a mainstream integrated classroom. And she said, you know, when I started in Newport Mesa, um for my first five years, I was I was in a self-contained classroom because I had behavioral issues. And look at me now. I'm in a full integrated um you know curriculum and Newport Mesa was able to give me this pathway for success and I'm going to be graduating with all of my peers on stage and moving on and signed up for the Navy and she's so excited and um one of the quotes she she said is that they they believed in me and they they saw what I didn't see in myself and this is a a special needs student. I mean,
151mission accomplished, Newport Mesa. Thank you for everything that you do. That's it. Uh, happy graduation to our student board members that are moving on. We've really enjoyed watching you grow. >> And your words really meant a lot. Thank you. Parents as well. >> Be sad to see you guys go. Um, I would love um, Wes, if you could, you might already be doing this, but to sum up the strategic planning meeting and some of those goals. Um, for people who did not watch that portion, um, I was able to attend this weekend the Love Costa Mesa day activities. Um, I was at Wilson and at Whittier. Um, and then also down at Shalomar Park. It was an amazing time of getting so many people in the community together focused around unity. Um, one of the
152things that was most impressive to me was there were there was an elementary age um, ballet folk folk lauria dance that was happening and then also some older adults that were doing it, including one who she has been teaching some of our kids for like 40 years. And so it was just an amazing opportunity of um the full continuum of what community life can look like in a city. Um, I also was able to attend the Whittier um, spring fiesta. Um, and there were several parents that were there checking out the dual immersion program. So, it was awesome to see that they they felt like that was a great place to come and kind of check out the school dynamic. Um, and then also the community schools advisory. Um, and this time was really focused
153around hearing from the parents about the assets that they already see in their community and what is still needed. Um, and so for me it was a really helpful, I think, learning for the parents to really share what they continue to need at their sites. Um, and I went to the Soy Senior Awards. Um, and Estansia's Peter and the Starcatcher, which was hilarious. Um, it was amazing to see too where the investments of Victoria um, elementary and their show choir have paid off so dramatically. Uh, the it it was an amazing performance. It was hilarious if anyone has not had not had a chance to see it. Um I also was able to attend the um swim end of the year swim celebration at the YMCA um as Trusty Wan shared and it was just
154amazing to see how many students um were so proud to be there and share the pool with their parents um and the the continued growth of that program I think is huge. I'm excited to hear about swim PE and a lot of other things that will really um bridge the opportunity gap for some of our students who live a mile from the beach. Um and that's I think some of the next piece is there's it's one thing to learn how to swim in a pool, but what does it look like to swim at the beach, which is also hugely important to safety. um and similarly um attended the Daughters of the American um revolution with um one of our award winners up here as our student board member. Um and it was just a wonderful
155time of seeing kids from across the city cities, not just our Newport Mesa students. Um I love events like that that connect everyone together. Um and that is all for me today. Um, yes, I'm kind of I'm not going to repeat what everyone else has said because it was on my list. Um, I'll say a few things. The uh art that the patriarch art that was at Newport L was just amazing and the kids were so excited when they won and knew that they were going to be showcased um on the on the walk. Um, I do want to say that I'm really proud of the policies that we passed here this year and I think they're really important for our community and um, and it's something that helps the kids kids and the parents
156and everything to really thrive. So, I'm very proud of the work that we've done here on the uh, dis. And um, I want to there's one thing that was really stood out to me this this um, happened last week. I was at a PTA meeting and um it's also combined with a a fund meeting and um it was for Enson it's not combined but the lady who runs it at both and you know we got talking after the meeting and she said we have like 900 kids here and there's only you know less than 100 that are in this enen fund. She's like, I'm trying to, she's brand, she's new to the area and she wanted to get involved and we sat down and we came up with some really great ideas that I want
157to share because we want everyone included and it's not you don't have to be financially included. You can be there to give time and hours and so and we wanted all the meetings are at lunchtime when we know people are working. And I said, and it's hard for these parents to come. And I said, let's get not Zoom, but we can have like an open line, like a call in where they can actually hear what's going on in the meetings. Even if they're sitting at lunch, eating at work, they're involved. And we also talked about getting a a translator so we can now have 900 parents instead of, you know, 50 parents that are actually involved in what's going on in the school. Enson's a difficult school because everyone's colliding and we need to do
158anything we can to get the parents on board and the children on board all working together. So anyway, I thought this lady was wonderful. We had great ideas and we're hoping to implement them um in the coming year. She and I are going to meet um I just think it's really important is is once we have the the parents working together, I think the kids will work together even better. Thank you. Um like I I can watch kids win awards and graduate, you know, all day long. It's definitely one of my favorite time of the year. Um so we had the scholarship with all our valadictorians um for Newport Beach from CDM Newport Harbor High School along with um Sage and a newcomer >> Pacific Christian. And it was just a lovely event to hear
159where these kids are going and what they're doing and how well they how well they could speak. And >> just like you, Jeremy, they were just so impressive and a very very amazing night. Yesterday, CDM had their athletic signing ceremony um which I will never miss. And there were 33 I think we had 33 students moving on to play um in college. So that and that was just the kids that that signed in front of people. I think that that number is is probably even higher than that. So, that was um an amazing it's just an amazing um afternoon. Um I love those events that bring everyone together, too. There were a lot of those this month. Arbor Day with the city of Newport Beach. They always come to one of our elementary schools, and
160I got to do it with Eric and Carol where they planted six trees at Harbor View. That's always fun. um our CDM residence group um has reached out and we have wanting to be involved in our schools, which I love. Um so we're going to be working with them to have some of our students, our high school students, um be involved in the community and bring to them information about the news. They also want to volunteer. They'll be, you know, they would wear the the vest that Yeah. They'll wear the safety vest. They'll do whatever they want to, which is great. I love that they want to involve our schools. Um, and another thing that I thought was really fun was the Newport Beach Police Appreciation Lunchon. Um, I thought it was really special. One
161of the he wasn't the policeman of the year, but I think he was the mayor. Huh. The >> the officer of the year. >> Officer of the year. was I was thinking about Officer Fletcher because he was he was I Officer Fletcher got an award for helping our helping students and for being that mentor that person that we're talking about that one person that really reaches out to our students. Um and I thought that that was that was really special. >> But the officer of the year was a >> a Newport Harbor graduate. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> It was it was >> he went to Newport Harbor. I forget who we went to uh elementary but yeah they're they come back and serve. That's great. >> That was great. >> Okay, just quick thank you
162to the PTA leadership at College Park, uh Lauren and Cole and Chelsea. Um I can't remember if I talked about the Zoom pack meeting, but um we had another one, our second meeting. It was uh it was all of our elementary schools at Mesa in the in the library. And what was so great um was to see the principles and the PTA presidents like exchange cell phone numbers and create text strings and realize that they you know could collaborate so much easier, you know, by getting to meet each other all face to face and being in the same room together. And so um certainly thanks to principal Jeff Guiles for hosting us and for creating a space for that. Um, thank you Wes for coming and speaking to the group. So anyways, can um thank
163you to the College Park PTA leadership for that. Um, also thank you to uh the College Park team that fixed the garden at Love Costa Mesa Day. Uh, the garden looks beautiful. Uh, same thing with the Love Costa Mesa volunteers who um painted the street at Palino. They were um they were like creating science. Yeah. And at Paulino they did too where they were creating like murals on the streets so you would know where to park or not not to park but it looked pretty and so much better. So I just met I just saw a few volunteers afterwards who had were a little tired and a little sweaty from um a lot of paintings. So thank you for to all of you who went out and did that. So um oh and uh as
164for the Costa Mesa um high school foundation that um that idea Wes of a of a community foundation we are looking at at doing that for the Costa Mesa Elementary Schools and to align that with the Costa Mesa High School Foundation. So they will have their own um essentially their own foundation um but use but be able to use the Costa Mesa High School Foundation ID so that they don't have to create a new nonprofit. So it'll it'll save a lot of time and energy and um expense. So we are looking forward to moving that forward. And I think I've got now the best lawyer to help us do that. Um, John Stevens, the mayor of Costa Mesa, finally said to me he will do that because there is a there is a connection to
165the city with the Costa Mesa High School Foundation. So, John, if you're listening, thank you. I will get all those documents to you shortly and then we can get that foundation off the ground for the elementary schools. >> I know he might be listening. Seen him like three times lately. Told him he needs to get on it. >> Thanks. >> All right. Um yes, following up, the Ignite event was so great with um seeing all our little engineers to be with their robots and their creativity and their odyssey of the mind. So that was that's now my new favorite event. And we know I don't like events, so that was kind of awesome. Um next Friday is the Friday Fiesta atoms on the 29th, so at 5 o'clock. Um it's going to be really exciting.
166It looks like I'm seeing little signs, like campaign signs all around my neighborhood about it. So, that's kind of cool. Um, next week, um, going to go to Mr. G's class at Estansia and celebrate with all these scholars that you've been hearing about. His AVID 12 class has a bunch of these, uh, recipients of all these awards and scholarships. So, we're going to have donuts and hang out. I'm pretty sure that's not aligned with the wellness policy, but it's the last week of school and I'm bringing donuts. So, that's happening uh next week. And don't forget to sign your kids up for dual enrollment this summer because no one loves anything more than going to school in the summer. Um and also the high school geometry class that our district is doing for the the
167outgoing ninth graders at Monte Vista. If uh you have a ninth grader that's trying to up their math and jump uh forward a little bit, definitely sign up for that. And um next week is a a big holiday for some people in our community, the AID. So wishing everyone a peaceful AIA um or in Turkish it's miss. So uh that's coming up a week from today. So some of your students are probably celebrating. Um and with that we are adjourning at Oh, and now one more. I'm not going to be here in June. So your vice president Murphy will be at the helm taking care of all of this in June. I will be in Turkey, not here. >> Everyone is winning in June. So I I will not be here. U and we couldn't
168make the zooms work with the time change and the different country zooming situation. So Trustee Murphy is is going to handle that all. So now at 8:36 we adjourn and I will see everyone in July.