4/21/2026 - NMUSD Regular Board of Education Meeting

001Okay, it is 4:46. We're calling the meeting to order. Um, roll call, Sam? Trustee Soylu? Uh, yes, here. Trustee Murphy? Yes, here. Trustee Pearson? Here. Trustee McElroy? Here. Trustee Anderson? Here. Trustee Crane? Here. Trustee Waite again? Here. Dr. Smith? Here. Okay, um, adoption of the agenda. Roll call vote? So moved. Second. Moved by Trustee Waite again. And second was who? Crane. Crane. And roll call, Sam? Trustee Soylu? Yes. Trustee Murphy? Yes. Trustee Pearson? Yes. Trustee McElroy? Yes. Trustee Anderson? Yes. Trustee Crane? Yes. Trustee Waite again? Yes. Great. Unanimous. Now, we have, um, community input on closed session items only. Clerk Pearson, can you read the statement? I can, as soon as I find my glasses. Here, give them mine. Yeah. And, all right, as soon as I find There we 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 3 minutes per comment up to 20 minutes per topic. A speaker may not relinquish his or her time to another person. Great. Um, so now, for this item, we have first up, um, we have two comments. We have first up, uh, Ms. Wendy Lees. Good evening, Madam President, and Dr. Smith, and members of the board. My name is Wendy Lees. I will be a 54-year resident of District 7 this year. Uh, always concerned about Westside schools, Westside kids. And, lo and behold, um, I was on the school board for 8 years, and then, um, Tom Egan, who's totally the opposite of me politically, he was on the school board, and I talked

003to Tom this afternoon, because, you know what? We both agree and want to persuade you to keep the 11-acre open space for an environmental nature center. The kids who live on the Westside live in apartments on Shalimar. I was just there on Saturday. And Trustee Anderson was there, too. For and they need an ENC like the people in Newport Beach have, where they can leave those apartments with no backyards and learn about the wonder of Banning Ranch or the Randall Preserve that was gifted by the Randalls for $50 million. Wasn't that a wonderful gift? And they actually donated to the NC, also. But, please, when you go back there, really think outside the 11 acres. Yes, of course, and I know, Trustee Crane, you addressed this last month, that you are stewards of the money.

004But, this is today, and you all have almost what? A half a billion-dollar budget? You have plenty of money, and you also have that fund 17 that sits there, and you can use that as a as revenue to to build an environmental nature learning center for for science, for the ecology, for the animals and the critters that are out there, instead of building housing. And so, it's not about money. It's about kids. The the teacher that got up here said that even if you you designated housing for teachers, she couldn't afford it. So, it's not practical. It's not reasonable. Search your heart for the kids at Whittier, at Wilson, at Pomona, and at Ray, and do and who go to Encin and who go to Santia and go to TeWinkle. They need open space, so

005they can go through that and go down to the new Randall Preserve, and that's much more important than building housing and and calling it, uh, public housing or workforce housing. No, we need open space for the kids on the Westside. I've been there in District 7 for a long time advocating for the kids. It's time that you look at them as being a priority. Thank you. Next up, we have Mr. Terry Welsh. Hello. My name is Terry Welsh, and I'm president of the Coastal Corridor Alliance, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak. Um, over the last couple years, I've been to a number of school board meetings, and of course, all connected with the 11.36 acres. But, on those evenings, I've had the opportunity to watch the rest of the school board meeting take place,

006and I can honestly tell you that I I'm more proud than ever of the school district. And it's very clear that all of you board members are very dedicated, and I very much appreciate that. But, returning back to the 11.36 acres, um, I don't know if you are aware, but the city of Costa Mesa is undergoing a process, a redevelopment process of Fairview Developmental Center. This is a closed state hospital on Harbor Boulevard. You've probably driven by it a billion times. 95 acres, and it's going to be repurposed as housing. And it's going to have up to 1,000 units of affordable housing. And in their specific plan, the very first paragraph of the executive summary, it prioritizes workforce housing. So, um, we wrote a letter to the city of Costa Mesa, and we copied the

007school board. If Here's a copy of it right now, if I could if you just put it on the record. Thank you. Um, but what I'd like to do is kind of plant the seed and get this board to consider Fairview Developmental Center as an alternative location for your workforce housing. Um, I mean, obviously, we think it's a vastly superior alternative, but I think that I mean, it's not going to say it's going to be easy, but I think it would be an easier road than Banning Ranch. I mean, for one, you'd have the communities behind you. So, again, it's not going to be easy, and it will take a commitment from this board. So, I'm here tonight to kind of plant that seed, and I hope we have more conversations in the future. I

008think this is perhaps the answer to our problem. Um, a couple of other things I really wanted to say is we sent a letter or uh, to the school board uh, concerning the vote taken last month. And, um, we would again, we did get a response from Andreas, who is, I guess, not here yet, or um, but again, I'd like to repeat our request to redact or to take back that vote to go with Nigh Hall, put it on hold, and and see let's see if we can find a way to preserve these 11.36 six acres as open space. Finally, last thing, and I'll make this real quick. The Randall Preserve Advisory Committee, this is a state committee, and I'm the chair, and it's it's got elected officials, agency people, tribal chairs, is meeting this

009Friday at the Herzog Community Room in Costa Mesa, and we're going to be finalizing many plans for Randall Preserve, uh, the resource management plan, public access plan, coastal resiliency strategy, and others. It's an open meeting. Um, you can come to it Friday morning. Starts at I think at 9:30. But, the plans are online. If you go to Randall Preserve, there's a website dedicated Randall Preserve, so all the plans are available. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um, all right, with that, we will now move to closed session. The items are conference with real property negotiators, conference with risk risk management, pending litigation, public comment, um, sorry, public employee discipline, dismissal, release, conference with labor negotiator, and we will return to open session at 6:00. Thank you. Okay, we're calling the meeting to order at 6:01

010on Tuesday, the 21st. Um, in closed session, the Board of Education took action to approve the resignation agreement and general release number 202503HR. The roll call vote was as follows: seven ayes, zero noes. Now, we'll move to opening ceremonies, the moment of reflection, pledge of allegiance, led by Charlie Leverett. Or Jeremy Law. Please stand. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. All right, adoption of the minutes of the regular meeting of 3/10/26. Roll call vote, Sam? So moved. Oh, second. Who was the second? >> Second. All right, Waite again moved, And let's see, Peterson, now we'll call him. Trustee

011Soylu? Yes. Trustee Murphy? Yes. Trustee Pearson? Yes. Trustee McElroy? Yes. Trustee Anderson? Yes. Trustee Crane? Yes. Trustee Wygan? Yes. Great. The vote was unanimous. Now we move to the recognitions of winter athletic sports champions. Um Dr. Torres? Yes, good evening. One of our favorite moments uh of the um board meeting tonight is bringing up our students, and so I'd like to welcome um Dr. Jay Cayley, who will introduce his athlete. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's great to be back. It's great to be here in the uh fall sports recognizing two sports. Uh good evening, President Orsolu, uh members of the board, Dr. Smith, executive cabinet, distinguished guests. Uh as you heard already, it's a pleasure to be here to recognize our student athletes, and please close your ears, Dr. Bolton. The best thing you

012can do in hiring a new head coach is to make sure they have siblings who are absolute studs in the wrestling match, uh and then you get kind of a two-for-one combination. So, um I would love to call up our head coach, A.J. Silva, to come on up here. We're going to introduce his brother, who is our 126-lb champion. Come on up, coach. Thank you, guys. Um want to introduce my brother, Aaron Silva. He is a four-time CIF placer, three-time CIF champion, and um he's every year he's been in the finals wrestling has been beating somebody that's top eight in the state of California. He's a four-time all-county wrestler, four-time state qualifier, California state placer, and a four-time NATIONAL AMERICAN. WOO! HE PLANS ON UM FURTHERING HIS ACADEMIC AND athletic career. Um this year he's

013going to go on a few visits Cal Poly SLO, Presbyterian College, Arizona State. He's got um Vanguard University locally down the road. But um he's an exceptional wrestler, he's a great young man. This year he broke his hand um a week before season started, and whenever we needed him to wrestle matches a month in, um he said yes, sir, and he he just did it. And so he had to end up wrestling up two or three weight classes, and ended up wrestling a top 12 kid in the state cuz we needed him to win for our dual tournament, and handed up getting that job done for for us, winning 17 to two in that match against somebody two weight classes up. And then, lastly, um a week before the state tournament started, he was in

014the finals of a tournament and end up tearing his ACL, meniscus, and so on, everything else in his knee, and um he figured out a way to get it done at the state tournament, wrapped it up, and um he's just a really tough kid, and end up taking fourth in the state of California this year. This is Aaron Silva. I'd also like to welcome up Dr. uh David Martinez, who's going to introduce his student who has won an award for the um Holocaust Art and Writing Contest with Chapman University. Well, good evening, Board President Dr. Soylu, Board Trustees Superintendent Dr. Smith, and guests. I'd like to bring up David Ramos Reyes. Oh, he's here already. Yeah, have him stand right here. Front front and center. Front center over here. There you go. So they get

015a good look at you. It is my privilege to share with you the outstanding news on our Early College High School sophomore, David Ramos Reyes, being selected as the first place recipient in the category of high school poetry in the 27th annual Samueli Holocaust Art and Writing Contest held earlier this year, culminating in a ceremony held at Chapman University on March 13th. This past January, all ECHS sophomores went to the Orange County Holocaust Museum in Newport Beach. Our sophomore English teacher, Ms. Melissa Cruz, who is here tonight, and was a chaperone for this field trip, facilitates an assignment where students submit a written piece towards this contest. Only three pieces of work can be submitted to the contest for consideration. We both learned initially that David's work, a poetic 30-lined piece titled The Path He

016Ran, made the final round. Then eventually later in February we found out he placed first in the poetry category. At ECHS, we've had two finalists before in 2022 and 2024, but David is our first ever first place recipient in what has become a global-wide contest for all students in middle and high school. At the ceremony, David had the opportunity to read his poem before receiving his certificate and scholarship award. I am honored to be here tonight to see David, which is a great first name, by the way, receive another certificate while his family is here in attendance. Once again, congratulations, David, on reaching the peak of excellence with your picturesque depiction of courage and hope through your poetic piece. Congratulations. Next up is the recognition of the 2026 Superintendent Character Trait Awards. I didn't want

017to jump in front of you, I'd get in trouble, you know, I Not today. >> start off on a bad foot, you know. Uh look, I I love my job, but there are so many parts of this job that I thoroughly enjoy. Uh there's nothing I love more than recognizing our students, and tonight is that night where in each year we get to recognize the Superintendent Character Trait Awards. We talk all the time about instilling in our young people these character traits that are going to benefit not just our community, but the world we live in. Um these students absolutely exemplify these character traits. We recognize tonight caring, citizenship, courage, fairness, respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness, all extremely important character traits. These students are chosen by leadership at their schools. They're all seniors, and unanimously selected

018as a representative of those character traits. Um I want to thank and congratulate those students um for the influence they made on their campus, but beyond that, for inspiring all of us adults to show up every day our best, to be committed every day that tomorrow will be even better because these students demand no less. So I want to thank them. Um let's bring up now Dr. Haley, who's going to start off. Trustees, you have in front of you the list. Uh Trustee Crane, I'll invite you to come down for this one, the others can join me in the front when those folks come forward. All right, it is my pleasure to call up Jillian Kaufman. Jillian, come on up. As Dr. Smith mentioned, uh this is a honor for us to be able to

019bring students forward, and uh this is selected by leadership at our campuses. And when I started going around to our site leadership team, department chairs, you name it, we started uh we were given uh caring as our character uh award for this pillar for year. And going around talking and having conversations, it was, "Hey, who should we do Jillian? Who Hey, who should we do Jillian? Hey, who should Jillian?" As we go through on and on, it was unanimously Jillian. And here is why. Jillian Kaufman exemplifies caring through intentional action. As a founding member of the ASB Multicultural Committee, Jillian helped design a year-long plan to highlight a different culture each month, culminating in a multicultural fair that brings the CDM community together in celebration and understanding. As president of the Jewish Club, she fosters

020open conversations about identity and belonging, creating a safe space where students can ask questions and build connections across differences. Jillian's caring nature also shines as an ASB tour guide. When new and prospective students visit campus, she makes it a priority to personally welcome them, answer candid questions, and share her own experiences so they feel comfortable and confident about joining the CDM community. When student concerns arise, Jillian responsively brings student perspectives to the administration, seeking solutions and advice to benefit the well-being of others. Whether through leadership, advocacy, or one-on-one conversations, she consistently acts on her belief that belonging matters. After graduation, Jillian will attend the University of Pennsylvania, where she will continue leading with empathy and purpose. Congratulations. Yes. You know, I "We want to take it, we want to be in." Good evening, Madam President,

021members of the board, Superintendent Smith, cabinet, and guests. Well, we have a superstar for you here tonight. Monte Vista is proud to present senior Shawn Aikens for the Superintendent's Character Award for Citizenship. Shawn is an extraordinary young man whose character, compassion, and quiet leadership make him a deserving candidate of this award. Shawn has been with Monte Vista both concurrently and full-time for the last 3 years. A full-time senior now, he has demonstrated citizenship through integrity, kindness, and a genuine commitment to the well-being of others. Throughout high school, Shawn has faced and overcome meaningful challenges, and he has done so with remarkable strength and humility. His journey has shaped him into a person who leads not through attention or recognition, but through steady resilience and a sincere desire to do what's right. He treats everyone with

022respect, listens with empathy, and brings a calming thorough presence to those around him. At school, Shawn is known for his honest, reliable, and gentle nature. Though naturally shy, he reveals a sharp wit and warm sense of humor once he feels comfortable, helping others feel at ease, and creating a sense of connection. He has embraced the Monte Vista CLIME values and it participates in all of our activities, having learned the ukulele this year, and continuing his passion for guitar, art classes, and other creative outlets that allow him to express himself and build friendships. Shawn embodies the true spirit of citizenship through his compassion and unwavering commitment to be a good person. He plans on attending OCC in the fall. The Monte Vista staff unanimously nominated him for the Superintendent's Character Award for Citizenship. Congratulations, Shawn. Board

023President Ersoy Lu, members of the board, Superintendent Smith, executive cabinet, and distinguished guests, our pillar of character from Newport Harbor High School tonight is Cruz Marcela, who epitomizes courage. Upon entering high school, Cruz's older brother tragically and suddenly passed away, and as you can imagine, that presents a number of variables in a young adult's life. For his freshman year, some of his sophomore year, he struggled academically, struggled socially. There were some issues that he had to overcome, but he continued, he persevered, and he never gave up. He leaned on the wise words and advice and care and love of his teachers, his parents, Christian and Heather, who are in attendance tonight, and he became a true leader, not only on campus, but also on the football team. His His teachers, much like Gillian at Corona

024del Mar High School, we go through a process talking to counselors, our leadership team. Cruz, during his career at Newport Harbor High School, has had about 24 teachers, all of them unanimously supported Cruz's nomination to epitomize, to embody, and also symbolize courage for not only Newport Harbor, but the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and our Superintendent, Dr. Smith. Upon graduating, Cruz will attend community college up in Santa Barbara, and he plans to transfer to UCSB, where he is going to major in business and finance and follow in his brother's footsteps. His older brother did attend UCSB as well, so that's where Cruz is headed. And Dr. Haley, if you'll notice on Cruz's letterman jacket, there's a couple of Battle of the Bay patches for football that we won. So, take that. But again, we we couldn't

025think of a better young man, a better student, a better young adult who's going out in this world to represent Newport-Mesa, Newport Harbor High School, Cruz Marcela. Good evening, President Ersoy Lu, board members, Superintendent Smith, and colleagues. I'm really pleased to be able to talk about Christianna Todd tonight because quite honestly, uh the world would be a better place if there were more people like her. Christianna is known for ensuring that everyone around her feels respected, included, and valued. She brings a deep sense of empathy to her interactions and consistently stands up for equal treatment of others. On campus, Christianna builds genuine connections across diverse groups of students, intentionally engaging peers from different backgrounds, and fostering inclusive conversations. On the tennis court, she competes with integrity, demonstrating sportsmanship in both victory and defeat. Her commitment

026to fairness was previously recognized when she received her team's coaches award for her positive, inclusive impact. Through her 3-year commitment to Big Brothers Big Sisters, she actively promotes fairness by supporting and advocating for others. Every Tuesday, without fail, Christianna meets with her little sister, modeling reliability, patience, and encouragement. She reflects thoughtfully on how this long-term mentorship has required her to listen deeply, remain consistent, and ensure her mentee feels heard and supported. Christianna has applied to several 4-year universities and plans to study business management to contribute to her family's restaurant business in the future. It is an absolute blessing to have her at Costa Mesa High School. Good evening once again, Board President Dr. Ersoy Lu, board trustee, Superintendent Dr. Smith, executive cabinet, and guests. It is my privilege to present to you Monique Servela, as

027she was selected as the senior standout for the character trait of respect. The Josephson Institute of Ethics defines respect as treating others with dignity, following the golden rule, and being tolerant of differences. Furthermore, good manners are emulated, considering the feelings of others are embodied, and peacefully dealing with disagreements are embraced. Respect defines the way Monique leads, listens, and learns. Since her freshman year, she has consistently been recognized for her thoughtfulness towards staff and peers. As the student representative on our school site council and a long-time ASB member, she listens carefully to differing viewpoints and responds with care. She is level-headed and soft-spoken, yet confident in expressing ideas with maturity. As a sophomore, she was a 2024 finalist in the Samueli Holocaust Art and Writing Contest, where her poem, Death Comes Knocking at the Door, reflected

028her deep compassion and reverence for human dignity. Through powerful imagery and precise language, she demonstrated an understanding of history grounded in empathy and respect for all humankind. Her belief that every individual matters is reflected in a campus mural we created titled "You, With You The Puzzle Is Complete", which we painted on the campus 2 years ago. Monique also tutors peers in Estancia High School and volunteers at many school and community events, which have totaled over 330 hours of service to date. Monique is on track to complete her IGETC along with four associate degrees, while having already completed her certificate in digital media media animation and gaming from our partner Coastline College. Monique has officially been accepted to UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, and Cal Poly Pomona, so she's got

029choices. Where she plans to pursue neuroscience or psychology with aspirations to attend medical school, dental school, or study to be a physician's assistant. I present to you Monique Servela. Thank you. Good evening. Respect is something that's always demanded on a high school campus, but it's rarely celebrated. And it's my honor to be able to be here today to celebrate Chris Garibay. I first got the opportunity to learn about Chris when he was in eighth grade and would come to Estancia every morning to take enhanced math 2. This put him on a track so that way he became the first person from the class of 2026 across our district to be able to complete AP Calc His sophomore year was challenging though, not just because of the academic load that he took on, but his sophomore

030year his parents decided that the the family was going to move to Arizona and Chris decided that the responsible thing for him, based on his values for his future, was to stay at Estancia and live with his grandparents. While he took on the rest of his high school career navigating things pretty much for himself, he also took on the additional responsibility of helping out his grandparents around the house. At Estancia, Chris has been a 2-year Link Crew leader, where he mentors all of the character traits to the freshmen in his charge. He's a member of our Lyceum Academy and he's been a 4-year member of our varsity basketball season. Unfortunately, Chris suffered two ACL injuries and his senior year on our team was not the year that he had originally envisioned. However, Chris, being the

031person who not just models responsibility, but shows it in everything he does, continued to stay engaged with this team being present for all practices, all games, leading them on the way that he wants and always does. Um I wanted all of his teachers really know and care deeply about Chris, but his basketball coach Coach Javi probably knows him better than anybody else cuz they spent 4 years together and I want to take a moment to sort of read one thing that Coach Javi stated. Um Coach Javi states, "I've been the basketball coach at Estancia for over 20 years and I can honestly say that Christopher Garibay is the best kid I've ever coached in terms of character, mental toughness, strength, and personal drive, and individual responsibility. Unfortunately, not everything in Chris's life is easy. He's

032had to grow up faster than most and take on more responsibility than kids should have to. Yet Chris doesn't shy away from this. He always does it with a smile on his face, never wavering, never making excuses, just showing hard work, determination, and responsibility. Chris is a champion, a young man of high character, and the epitome of hard work. Make no excuses and you will succeed. And succeed he has. Chris will graduate as an AP Scholar with distinction. He's a candidate for AP Capstone diploma. And upon graduation, he will be attending Berkeley to major in psychology. All of these things are impressive. I would just like to share one last thing about this man's level of responsibility. Over spring break, tragedy hit his family in Arizona and Chris stepped forward taking temporary legal guardianship of

033his younger sibling. He is now the man responsible for for Joseph and I am sure Joseph is going to excel under your charge. I wish you all the best, my friend. Good evening, President Ursulo, board members, Superintendent Smith, and colleagues. It is a privilege to recognize Back Bay High School student Toby Rodriguez as a recipient of the Superintendent Character Trait Award for Trustworthiness. Toby exemplifies what it means to be reliable, accountable, and grounded in integrity both in and out of the classroom. In our Spider Lab, part of our business management CTE pathway, students take on real world projects with with real clients. In that environment, trust matters, deadlines matter, qualities matter. Toby consistently delivers on all three. He is the student teachers turn to when they need honest, thoughtful feedback from peers because they know

034he will follow through with care and professionalism. He routinely goes beyond expectations, arriving early, staying late, and ensuring that the work is done right. In his business leadership class, Toby's actions reinforce that trust is not about individual performance, it's about elevating others. During group projects, he uses his artistic talents to help his team clarify their vision, step into and steps into his organizational roles to keep the group on track, and intentionally create space for every voice to be heard. That is leadership grounded in trust. Because of his consistent integrity and character, Toby has been invited back to serve as a mentor in our Spider Lab next year, an opportunity reserved for students who have truly earned the confidence of both staff and peers. Toby plans to pursue a career in psychology and I have no

035doubt he will carry these same qualities, empathy, accountability, and trustworthiness into the that field and beyond. Toby Rodriguez represents the very best of Back Bay High School. We are proud of him and we are excited for what lies ahead. Thank you, Toby. Now it's time for the paparazzi. Anybody else? Stand in line, guys. Paparazzi still going. Smile, smile. Okay, next up we have student board member reports and we'll have um Vice President Murphy um share the questions of the month. Good evening. Um I think you we just have we just have Yeah, Charlie and Jeremy, right? Yep. Um so this month the topic was um well, as we enter the home the final stretch, what is one change to the school environment, culture, or student support system that would make the biggest positive difference for

036you before the end of the year? So uh it's tricky question, I guess. There's 6 weeks left, so What can we do? Do you Would you like to go first, Jeremy? Yeah, I can. Or Charlie, are you on a tighter schedule? Do you want to go? Could I go first? >> Yeah. I'll be very quick. Jeremy, then you can have the stage. Okay. Uh good Good evening, Superintendent Ersoylu, Board President Wagend, board members, and members of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Um my name is Charlie Leverett. I'm from Monte Vista Independent Study, if you don't know me already. Um the question I was asked to answer tonight is as we enter the final stretch, what is one change to the school environment, culture, or student support system that would make the biggest positive difference for

037you before the end of the year? The last 7 weeks of school is stressful. We're all tying up our loose ends, trying to get everything done to the best of our abilities by the end of the year while also reteaching ourselves everything we've learned so we do well on finals. And I believe that implementing and or continuing our independent help from our Monte Vista teachers as well as tutors providing sessions for like final specific tutoring and final prep, as well as utilizing our daily requirements given to us in Edgenuity as a checklist to reduce the anxiety around this Um and I believe that this would really help take pressure off students during finals and the last 6 weeks of school. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Good evening, Superintendent Smith, esteemed board members,

038and members of the community. I wanted to really quickly start by saying I'm so happy that two Early College High School students were recognized today. So congratulations, Monique and David, and also congratulations to every other student who was recognized today. So with that, I'm going to start by speaking about the or what changes can be made to improve student support systems. So when I brought this up to peers, I heard various different options such as therapy dogs, expanded counseling opportunities, and also more wellness spaces on campus. The one that stuck out to me the most was having designated spaces for students to work and relax while on campus. Currently, we don't really have a room that's always open for students to work, study, or relax during the day. And having one would great would be

039greatly beneficial to students' productivity and mental health. And I know I would personally love to see a space that is always available to accommodate students. Because our campus is built around an elementary school design, there are various space limitations that make it difficult for us to provide this space. And currently, we use a vacant classroom to serve as our book room, and it's not always open, relatively small, and the atmosphere isn't very inviting for students. Often, when I go in, it's almost completely empty. As such, one of the biggest improvements students would like to see is greater capacity for these spaces. Our PTSA has in the past few years worked to improve an existing garden space, and some teachers regularly make their rooms available for studying, but we still need a designated space. That is

040why I was excited to see that in the current facilities master plan, Early College is set to gain more indoor space in various spots around campus. I'm hopeful that with the new construction, it will be possible to provide students with the space they need to study and relax on campus throughout the day. Other than this long-term dream, I would like to recall the idea the students brought up to me. Having therapy dogs would be a great addition to one of our stress awareness weeks, especially as we move into finals. Also, expanded counseling capacity would help meet student needs as as it is currently only available on Fridays. While these are areas for improvement, I am still incredibly grateful for everything that the district provides for students, and I do still feel prepared moving into my

041last set of finals before graduation. Thank you. Okay, next is Harbor Council um PTA report. Almost finished. Uh Good evening, President Ersoylu, Vice President Murphy, Clerk Pearson, trustees, Superintendent Smith, cabinet, and community members. My name is Martha Fluor, and I am the Harbor Council PTA President for 2 more months. In recognition of volunteer appreciation week, Harbor Council would like to honor and thank the over 5,000 PTA members in our 27 units who have provided enrichment and program activities for all the students of Newport-Mesa. CAPTA's membership challenge, and final one, number six, was celebrate PTA's Founders Day on February 17th by growing your membership and honoring our legacy. It's finally been posted, and I am pleased to report that two of our elementary schools, Lincoln and Paularino, met the challenge and added over 17 members to

042their rosters. We are looking forward to our Honorary Service Award luncheon on May 4th, where we will recognize our units' HSA winners and awardees. Harbor Council held their 26-27 board elections, and I'm pleased to announce the following new board. President, Lisa Bowler. Executive VP, Vicki Waldo. Vice President Programs, Holly Corpus. Second Vice President Membership, Marine Deonisean. Third Vice President Advocacy is Wendy Russo. Fourth Vice President Communications, Secretary, Kelly Davis. Treasurer, Kersten Walsh. Financial Reviewer, Jackie Keefer. And Historian, Lauren Malmeister. Fourth District's final advocacy forum will be a unique opportunity to tour the Registrar of Voters. We will also be hearing and I'm there you're passing it out, and you are welcome to attend if you're a PTA member. We will be hopefully meeting with Mr. Page, our Registrar of Voters, and we will have a

043tour of where it all happens, as well as we're having an individual speak to us about how to get kids registered because now we can register students on campuses, and the our policies allow that. So we'll be learning about that, and I'm sure PTA will start getting that involved. We'd also like to I've also provided you with the advocacy newsletter. We have adopted a resolution in favor of AI, which will be voted on the end of the month in lovely downtown Fresno. A 5 and 1/2 hour drive to Fresno. Um we want to thank our visual and performing arts teachers throughout the district, Tamra Fairbanks, our Arts TOSA, and you, the board, for continuing to promote and offer our students phenomenal art education. We are proud to have three winners advancing to the state level.

044Uh Zeana Zubair from College Park Elementary School in the elementary division for film production, Mida Pham, Eastbluff Elementary School, intermediate division, music composition, and Isabella Juarez Padilla from Corona del Mar High School, accessible arts division, visual arts. Now, Isabella has been advanced last year and the year before she went to national. So, we are very pleased. We also had five um merit award winners, um which were uh second place and 10 honorable mention, and we had over 344. Next year's theme is what my culture means to me. This theme encourages students to explore their heritage, inde- um identity, and unique traditions through various art categories with the program officially launching this month. This This theme is close to my heart because it celebrates exactly what it means to the Newport Mesa communities. So extraordinary, the

045rich, vibrant tapestry of cultures, traditions, and stories that each of our students and families bring through the door each and every single day. I would like to thank Dr. Torres for coming to our association meeting and giving us a preview of your new board policy that that you will be adopting tonight, we hope, on e-bikes. By and large, the presidents in attendance are in concurrence with policy. However, they also believe that our parents and caregivers should also participate in the e-bike and bicycle training. Thank you very much, and I'll see you all on November on May 4th. May the 4th be with you, I guess that. Thank you so much. Next up is CSEA and NMFT Presidents' comments. Hi everybody. Good evening, President Ursulo, trustees, Superintendent Smith, cabinet, and guests. Um I do want to

046also congratulate everybody who was recognized here and some of the heart-felt, touching stories. Um thank you for sharing that. It makes a great connection to the people that are being recognized. Um and then I know um Jeremy Laura, student board member Jeremy Laura, mentioned um stress dogs would be great. I work in fiscal services here for the district and at the end of the year can be stressful. So, uh Mr. Dixon, that would be a great idea for fiscal services. Um and then I just want to also highlight that in recent years the board has supported student needs by funding field trips, which ensures equity and access to um our students um for um all of them for enrichment. And we want to express um gratitude to the transportation department for the vital work they

047do providing safe, timely, and reliable transit for our students. We look forward to joining the district next week to celebrate our dedicated school bus drivers and transportation staff. And addition to that, I also want to highlight that next month um uh the district is celebrating classified employees with ACE Day, appreciating classified employees. So, um I know um some of you are newer than others, and if you haven't participated, it's a great way to engage your classified. So, I think um you Yeah, I think that it comes from uh Tracy's office. So, um I hope that you can participate, and we look forward to that. As always, we look forward to continuing to do the good work for our students, staff, and the community. Thank you very much. Good evening, President Ursulo, trustees, Dr. Smith, cabinet,

048and guests here tonight. So, short update. It's a busy, busy time of year for all the educators as they're entering the home stretch. We appreciate all that they're doing um for the students. Next week, three of F- NMFT officers will be sworn in for their uh new 2-year term. And tonight, NMFT is sunshining our initial proposal for the reopener negotiations for the 2026-27 school year. You I believe you have the articles. We look forward to getting back to the table um with the district to collaborate and to continue to build on the foundation we started with the goal of making Newport Mesa number one in all areas. Thank you. Great. Thank you. And now we have community input on non-agendized items. Clerk Pearson. This is an opportunity for the public to address the board regarding

049items not on the regular meeting agenda. Comments on non-agenda topics are limited to 3 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 54954.2. The board will take no action or have any discussion on non-agendized items. The superintendent may provide clarification during superintendent's comments. Great. And we have three um individuals. First up, we have Sandy Pendleton Doff- Dofflin. Hello. Thank you for this time. Um my name is Sandy Pendleton Norton, and I love working with kids. Um I have two master's degrees, worked 14 years in the Placentia-Yorba Linda School District. Um and back in 2016, a young girl who was being trafficked crossed my path. Fast forward to today, um I'm founder, CEO of Project Shield,

050which is my nonprofit that has a 24-hour nationwide hotline to uh access victims that need help across the nation. But thinking back through that and knowing the statistics, because at that time I wasn't aware how much was going on in trafficking, I've learned in Orange County is our number one hotspot for trafficking. I know it doesn't look that way on the outside, but it is. So, doing some research, talking to some educators, I was asking, "What's in the schools?" And I know there's an AB 1227 Bond to Act, which is a great act, but in talking to educators, it seems to be parsed out in different formats and not really implemented in the way that it's intended to do. So, what I wanted to share with with the board tonight and um also the amazing

051people that are here as well is our our team has developed comprehensive, streamlined approach to having prevention education in the schools. It's not, cuz I know teachers, I work with them, the last thing you want to do is put a lesson plan on their plate. They have enough to do. It is not. The work's been done for them. What we do, we educate the district the why, why we need this. And then we go in and educate our teachers, our suppo- support staff, the janitors, the SROs in just a streamlined format because they're also the eyes and ears for our students every day that work with the kids. And then we have powerful, age-appropriate, engaging assemblies. The last thing that kids want to do is be bored in assembly. I've been doing this. I was

052at Fountain Valley's uh there was one of the events, there was over a thousand kids that signed up for the presentation I was doing. It was engaging. I was in front of over 300 kids at a time. Um the feedback's been phenomenal. So, it's actually something that um people aren't realizing that we're on their screens. You have predators targeting them. There's a word called sextortion. It's maybe a little bit new, I don't know, but it's escalating. And we have our young boys, 14 to 17, at risk because they're too ashamed a mistake they might have been made with a predator on the other side of that screen. So, I just want to share that we have a prevention education ready to go, would uh just honor the opportunity to have you consider that with your

053board. We would love to. We're ready to go. We'd love to come forward and be a part of your, instead of California being number one in trafficking, let's turn it around to be number one in prevention education. Uh I don't think education is it's not optional anymore, prevention education. I think it's absolutely essential. So, thank you for your time. I did bring some information for the board members. I only have eight. I didn't count, right? So, if I can leave that Thank you. So, thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Next up, we have Sonia Sesmas. Good evening. Uh I got nervous now. It's my first time, so I'm sorry. So, um uh thank you for giving me this time, and I came with a another group of parents, and I came from

054uh College Park Elementary School. Um Okay, I'm going to keep to my scripts. So, my name is um Sonia Sesmas. Uh ni hao. Hola. So, I came here because I wanted to talk about um uh oh my gosh. I'm going to say about me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so confused. I am a small business owner, uh owner, and a Estancia graduate, and a resident of uh Costa Mesa. I started counting, so it's more than 30 years. So, I've been here a long time. Um now I'm going to talk uh um um I have a third grader in the Mandarin dual immersion program at College Park Elementary. And and a recent graduate from Early College High uh Early College High School. Um he's now at Cal State Fullerton. Uh and he, just this is on

055the side, gave Mr. Martinez gray hair, or maybe more gray hair, but he graduated. So, um, anyways, today I came because I wanted to the rest of the parents, um, came to talk about the awesome things that are happening at our school. Uh, my son, where I live, we don't belong to that school, but because of the Mandarin program that it's there, um, I decided to change him. And I, um, I believe that, um, uh, that program is fun- phenomenal. Uh, I know Newberry Mesa has that we do here, also that in uh, Spanish, English, um, but since I'm I'm my first language is Spanish, I'm like, you know what? He will learn with mother, but I need the Mandarin. So, I think it was the best decision of my life for my child, taking

056him to to that school because the teachers are, I mean, phenomenal. My son gets up, he makes me be on time to school. That's how much he loves uh, to go to that school. Um, so far he's been there with three teachers, both of them, I mean, all of them are awesome. Um, and what else I wanted to talk about this, I'm so sorry. Um, also, um, the the my my thing is that how how, um, more resources that we'd love to bring to our school to, uh, help our school with that bilingual, um, uh, program. The next thing that I want to talk, I am so sorry. Uh, it's, um, another awesome thing that we do, and this is with the PTA. Uh, it's, um, another thing that my son also loves is the

057reading program that we have there. One of them is the Million Word Reader. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. It's the Million Word Reader, and and, um, and our PTA has done an excellent job about it. They buy a book for every single student, and we do a month, it's called the all school read, and even the staff get a free book. So, my son is in third grade, and we're hitting the million, okay? We're reading the last book. So, thank you for your time, and I am so sorry. I mean, it's like this is horrible, and then so it's so, uh, thank you again. And I just wanted to share that our school is amazing, and it's one of a kind because as I from what I know is the only one that we

058have with the Mandarin program. So, thank you again. Thank you so much, Sonia. Next, we have Chelsea Cody Waters. Hi, good evening. My name is Chelsea Cody Waters, and I have a daughter in first grade at College Park, and a son entering TK next year. Many College Park parents have been showing up to these meetings because we care deeply about our school, and tonight we wanted to make sure that that love came through. We had two new events this year during the school day that invited parents onto campus. All grade levels had walk-throughs where parents learned a piece of the curriculum, and then worked with their students in the classroom. I often joke about needing to go back to first grade math, and I got my wish. We also had lunch on the lawn with

059a loved one. Um, after lunch, our family went for a walk around the field, and it was the first time our daughter started to share stories about her day at school. Something about playing with us there during her lunch break sparked a connection that we've been able to build on ever since. Parent feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and it showed how meaningful it is when families are welcomed onto campus. I also wanted to highlight our strong school community. People from all over the world and all phases of life show up for each other. Sometimes it's simple, sharing a good book or a funny story from our kids, and sometimes it means doing the harder work. Hours-long conversations, working through differences in values and opinion, and finding common ground to move ideas forward. I feel lucky to

060know the thoughtful parents who work alongside each other to push for what our school needs, whether that's at the PTA or in conversations with the school and district leaders. Lately, support from our community has come in a form most valuable for our family right now. Another parent volunteer being there for my daughter at school during a hard time. They supported her in ways that only a friend can, and shared the wisdom that only comes from truly understanding kids like her. I believe the biggest lesson my kids will learn in school is how to make friends, recognize intelligence through differences, and work with people of all types. She has friends who speak two or three languages, live in different types of homes, and come to school in different ways. At school, my daughter has teachers around

061to her who work hard to understand and support her. My daughter can take a while to warm up to adults, but once she has, they become her anchor. On her last day of kindergarten, she was very sad, and asked her teacher for a picture. Her teacher took a beautiful photo of them, and printed her a large copy. When she came home that night, she hung the photo next to her bed. Later that week, she joined me in the office, and cried when she walked in the building. It was the first time in her life that she had to say goodbye to her routine, familiar building, and caregivers for an entire summer break. Our principal Alice was there to give her a big warm hug, and reassured her to be excited for the break and returning

062in the fall. She still falls asleep each night next to that photo of her last day of kindergarten, often snuggling her College Park Cougar stuffed animal. It is exactly this community that we know can become a part of every College Park family's story. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next is Mary um, Lemongelli. I'll switch back for you. It's very dangerous. Hi, I'm Mary Lemongelli. Um, it's nice to meet you all. It's a different board than I remember when my daughter was going to school. Um, I've been living in College Park for since 1980. I live on the uh, street that borders uh, College Park. It's an absolutely fab- fabulous school, except for drop-off and pick-up time. It's a nightmare. It's a zoo. Um, so I'm coming to you as a mother, a grandmother, a

063citizen of the neighborhood, an RN that worked in a hospital who saw trauma patients, children versus cars. The cars always won. The bicycles always won. If it was a kid on a Vespa, moped back in the '80s, now it's the electric bikes, it's scooters. I have some solutions, sorry. I'm not um, a speaker. I have some solutions that you might um, think about. Um, I've gone to the police department. I've gone to College Park. I've talked to the principal, um, Alice. I've talked to Francis, um, Miss Francis. I've talked to the office people. I've gone to the Costa Mesa Police Department. I've talked to the safety officer assigned to College Park and other schools. I've gone to City Hall. I've spoken to the engineers. My mom instilled in me, since she was in education and

064my dad was in the military, you go by the chain of command. You go to the person. You go up the ladder. So, I I think I've done my best research I can. Um, I want every child to go home the same way they got to school. That's not going to happen. There was an accident in the crosswalk on Loyola last year. A mom pushing the baby in the carriage going to get the sibling or picking up the sibling in the crosswalk that was hit by a parent. That's not right. Everybody's distracted. Everybody's putting their makeup on. Guys are shaving. Somebody's looking for the last piece of gum in the purse. Have you guys ever been to pick-up? I invite you to go down Villa Nova, Loyola, um, any of the streets, Fordham, between 7:45

065and 8:15. By 8:05, they're going 40 mph. E-kids on e-bikes are going three across on the sidewalk. Oh, sorry. Okay. So, Okay. So, um, I have suggestions. There is nine parking spots that in the staff parking, which is the smallest, I found out it's the smallest parking lot in staff parking, that line butt up against the sidewalk near the kindergarten before you get to the before you get to the, um, cafeteria. Those nine spots can be moved to the back of the school yard, just like at Victoria Street School. They have an apron, they have a double gate. The school district vehicles go through that one. Point of order. Actually, Miss um, Miss Lemongelli, is it possible, I see that you have that written down, that you can email it all to us so we

066can see it all? >> in the I will attempt to email it. I'm in the generation that doesn't do it. So, I will Perfect. I can give you I think you can search Kurt right there. Yeah. They can copy it and and email it to all of us. Oh, perfect. Thank you. Thank you so much. Of course, thank you. We appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. And next we have superintendent comments. Yeah, gratitude for the resource brought for us for Shield. It certainly is a an important topic. I had a chance to sit on a panel, a national panel online about student safety with regard to that issue. Really difficult. I ironically tonight we're talking about the the benefits of AI and what we're doing in our school district to intentionally provide our students

067the support they need and the teachers so that they are prepared for jobs haven't been created that digital citizenship and and literacy. And all the while we have to keep them safe. And so the school district is is going to continue to look at ways to do that. We know that with IU, you know, the speaker brought up extortion which is a real issue. AI has made that even easier for folks to take advantage of our youth. And so we're going to do more. We look forward to evaluating that resource. My team is aware of the resource and others. So, thank you for that. On the point of College Park, great to hear all the celebrations. I had a chance to visit the school recently and walk through the classrooms with my team and we

068got to see the the dual immersion and another classroom. It's amazing stuff going on. I have to compliment the board by the way for putting voice amplification systems in those classrooms. There really is a difference with pronunciation and enunciation in these classrooms. We really should think about those being standard in these classrooms where language is the primary focus. The beautiful instruction going on. The reading programs have been impressive there. But but something that was said by the the second speaker that I just want to double down on. We also want to compliment the parents for coming forward and suggesting ways that school can get better. It's really in community that we improve our systems. The parents coming forward and and making suggestions, asking tough questions about how they can be involved in meaningful ways in

069the school and in the education of their students. And those things are paying off. They mentioned some of them today. We also launched this week a tutorial program after school conducted by our own staff. That was an idea born out of questions from parents. I also have to compliment College Park and their their staff. They heard that request and I didn't think they were going to solve for that this year. Shame on me for not having enough faith and confidence and hope because they did and with weeks left in the school year, that community is going to come together and provide after school tutorials for their students by their staff. Powerful stuff. That's just one example. So, absolutely. We move ideas forward as the speaker said when we work together. And to that point, you

070know, school safety drop off pick up, that's that's one of the more stressful times, one of the more dangerous times cuz everyone's coming in and leaving. Plus all of the normal morning and afternoon traffic. And we're committed to working with the city. We do so regularly. Our team is available to work with school sites. This board is aware of the things in our control like the physical plant itself and the parking lots. And part of our facilities master plan is a look at those parking lots. We know that we need to find more space and then use that space more strategically to safely get students and their families on and off campus every day. So, absolutely, there's nothing more important than safety and we'll look at those recommendations. We'll make sure the board sees those.

071But more importantly, we'll make sure that the staff are aware of it so they can work to support not just College Park but other schools if these kinds of ideas can be applied in in other instances. So, thank you for bringing that forward. Great. Now we have community input on agendaized items. Clerk Pearson. This is an opportunity for the public to address the board regarding items on the regular meeting agenda. Comments on agenda items are limited to 3 minutes per comment up to 20 minutes per topic. A speaker may not relinquish his or her time to another person. Speaker cards for items on the discussion action calendar may be held until that item is considered by the board if the speaker prefers. Great. So, we have nine comments for item 21A, the the e-bike. Um

072do you all want to speak now or later when we're like right now or at the time of the item, the 21A? Just show of hands preference for now or or waiting for the item. Now? Okay. So, um you will each have 2 minutes and 13 seconds. So, the one if you would like to go now, cuz some can go now and later, right? Yeah. So, what is your name, sir? What's your first name? My name is Andrew Barnes. Andrew. Yep, I've been Andrew Barnes, got Been Costa Mesa since 1991. My daughter's gone through the district school system. So, um Superintendent Smith and trustees, I find myself in an impossible position. I've watched all of the debate and energy and the time that you've spent on this issue during previous meetings and I've heard how

073almost all of you speak as a mother about the importance of this issue and the impossibility for me is how to reach you with a differing opinion without you shutting me down. Speaking as a father, I respectfully and carefully listened to your own words while you debated this policy and also respected the data which should be the basis of this policy. When CBS News reported on your meeting stating that nearly half of the e-bike accidents are the fault of e-bikes and I look at the data and I see it's actually 40%. That means 60% of the fault is at the feet of adult licensed drivers. It's a far different picture. And now with this policy the board is removing slow-moving two-wheel conveyances and replacing them with parents driving their children to school putting them putting

074more cars on the road for pick up and drop off as we've just heard. Making roads, if you follow the data, increasingly dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists. The majority of accidents are caused by drivers. I know it's not the outcome that you desire which is why I'm so flummoxed by the language of this policy. I've submitted public records requests of cities of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. I've reviewed those data as well as the Berkeley TIMS georeferenced collision data, statewide database. And the underlying data do not support the emotions on which this policy is written. The policy uses infringes inflo I hope that you value a father's perspective equally as your mother's perspective and marry these two perspectives to craft to craft a less draconian policy that preserves responsible use of legal e-bikes and parental

075rights. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Did anyone else want to do their comment now? Yes, sir. Okay, sure. If you wanted to, just line up and tell me your names. Jesse Inman. Jesse Jesse Inman? Yes. Great. Uh it's very important to say before I say anything as a caveat that I think middle schoolers and high schools high schoolers are the absolute worst. So, whatever I say after that, I don't want to sound like is for their benefit cuz I think they're terrible decision-makers. Generally make the wrong decisions whenever possible. I'm a parent of a 14-year-old at at Ensign Middle School and a six and a sixth grader at Davis um And I never thought I'd find myself even in the conversation of e-bikes. We have been the last to do all

076things which my daughter has reminded me constantly every day of her life for the last 3 years. Everyone else has a cell phone but I don't. It was true but she wasn't still getting one. Everyone else has Snapchat or TikTok or whatever, you know, there's a new one that I get asked to install every single week but me. Everyone else has an e-bike but me. And we were always the last to that conversation. Because it was our job to then make safe decisions. They're not ready to make those decisions. And yet what I have found with all of with the three of those, two of them I would like two of those choices that I allowed I would like to burn somewhere in like a molten fire pit and not have made those choices. And

077one of them sticks and that's the e-bike. The issue that we're talking about is not an issue of safety, it's an issue of accessibility. There are so many parents, including my family, two people to work in order to make ends meet. In order to make it work, biking to school is absolutely necessary. In order to do that as a part of a busy schedule of everything they have to do in the morning after school, the e-bike makes that truly possible. We have to do everything to make that safer. Bans don't work. They haven't worked for any other thing. I know every single kid who their cell phones are banned on campus who aren't closing their dumb little lockets and their whatever, and mom and dad can still get a hold of them. It's That's It's

078just not going to happen. We have to figure out how to make it safer for everybody. I want to end with what my sixth grader, who has gotten an incredible education at Davis, said that he learned from his teachers. I think it is unfair because some parents might not be able to get their kids to school without them. Thank you. Thank you. And next, what is your name, sir? Moses Nolf. Okay. All right. Uh the policy presented tonight should be set aside, and a new one should be developed through a workshop or a series of workshops, um where we could meet with all members of the community to discuss um how we can get kids to save uh to school safely with e-bikes. With a 2-minute and 13-second limit, you can't have a real dialogue,

079and you can't really learn from each other. Um It's just a lot of just one-way speaking. So, hope we can do that. The real issue is the uh that needs attention is the e-motos, not the e-bikes, not class one through three. Focusing on e-bikes is ignorant and misguided. The California Vehicle Code already provides the rules for law enforcement to regulate e-motos. Enforcement belongs with the police. It does not belong with you, the school board. You are not the police. At the last meeting, I believe it was Lisa Pearson said that she couldn't distinguish between a class one, two, or three bicycle. And a couple other of you agreed. That raises some real concerns about whether this is the right body to develop a detailed policy regarding e-bikes, especially when we have so many great local

080experts in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach who could help craft this um in a way that's good for everyone in the community. Uh the trustees that are on this policy subcommittee represent areas whose constituents are extremely vocal about government overreach, um and they'd like to limit that. The proposal that's attached to this agenda is insanely overreaching. That's That's going to drive your people crazy, unless it's, you know, a rules for thee and not for me type thing. I don't know. Um But I say this this policy should be rejected and be rebuilt with community input, not a limited subcommittee perspective. I have 25 more seconds, so you've all received emails, multiple from Costa Mesa Let's Ride Better Streets. I don't agree with 100% what they say, but they're coming from a knowledgeable and reasonable place,

081unlike the policy committee here. So, I hope that you will take their words and use that as a base and start over. Throw out the current policy. Hey, I got 3 more seconds. Wait, wait. Okay. And next, what is your name? Uh Ryker Madison. Ryker, got it. Thank you. Um hello. My name is Ryker Madison. I am currently an eighth grader in Ensign Intermediate School. I have a 4.0 GPA, and I'm a member of National Junior Honor Society, Golf Club, uh Newport Beach Water Polo, and actively volunteer in our community. I ride a class two e-bike to school and have been for the past 2 years. I saved up my own money to purchase this bike. It has been absolutely essential in enabling me to have such a full schedule. I ride to and from

082campus from West Costa Mesa, a 5-mile round trip every single day. I wear a helmet, I ride safely, I follow all traffic laws, I don't wheelie, ride, show off, or ride recklessly in any way. Despite this, the proposal tonight will punish people like me who are just trying to get to school. Next year, I will be attending Newport Harbor High School. Should this pass tonight, I can no longer ride this bike to school next year. I planned on joining water polo and even looking into surf and sailing teams, but without an e-bike, I would struggle to make these happen. Furthermore, my younger sister and brother could not walk the same path as me and ride an e-bike to school. A class one and class two e-bike have the exact same speed and power restrictions, but

083this proposal somehow does not see that and requires me to purchase an entirely new bike, which is wildly unfair. While a small handful of my peers ride recklessly on illegal e-bikes, the majority of us don't, and some of those will be greatly impacted by this. Please reconsider this near total ban. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND WHAT IS YOUR NAME? THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING. MY name is Jocelyn Perez. I'm a resident of Costa Mesa. I grew up in a low-income household. There was only one car. The rest of us got around on a bicycle. I rode a bike to high school and my after-school job. An e-bike would have unlocked so much more for me. E-bikes are a huge boon to families and kids to get around without a car. And for a lot of families,

084getting around without a car is not just a choice, it's a necessity. And they don't necessarily have the resources to buy different classes of e-bikes for different occasions. The majority of e-bikes which get complained about are currently illegal. Those are e-motorcycles, and kids shouldn't be riding them. But throwing more regulations around actual e-bikes isn't going to tackle that. Instead, I encourage the board to think about how to close loopholes with current regulations and enforce them properly. Take the city of Irvine, for example. They have a great model of education and enforcement. Kids that get a ticket must attend a Saturday school with their parents. It's put on by the Irvine PD, and maybe the board can partner with the Newport and Costa Mesa PD for more education and enforcement. But this policy seems hasty. I'm

085not sure the reason to push it through before the end of the school year. Instead, I encourage the board to table this item and work with the many stakeholders and groups within the community that can take what the board has written to date and help craft a policy that's a positive for pick-up and drop-off time and a win rather than a prohibition and a punishment. Thank you. Howdy. Everyone knows what this is, right? Um Sorry, sir. What is your name? >> Oh, sorry. My name is Austin Madison. Um Everyone knows what this is. Um this is a pager for anyone that was born between the generations of X and and millennial. Um when I was in high school, these got banned by a school board because um for the reason that they curbed They wanted

086to curb drug use and distribution on campus. Now, anybody that lived at time knows none of us were doing that. We were just doing this to communicate with our parents so that they could feel safe and comfortable with us having a little bit more independence. I feel like what we're doing is the same thing here. The majority of people using e-bikes are doing this because we need to. I'm a member of a dual-working family. Um we need this to have our kids commute from the west side of Costa Mesa to the east side and get back. They're doing it safely. They're not riding e-motos, and I think that's the part that's largely getting missed here. A bigger portion of this, though, we should really look at is the amount of cars we're going to be

087adding to pick-up and drop-off. Right now, I feel like this agenda item was a little bit hidden, and I don't think that was really good. We asked We Last time this happened, we asked you guys to do a little bit better on that one. But if you guys think get a mob tonight, when there are hundreds of more cars in the modestly priced neighborhoods surrounding Ensign and Newport Harbor High School, and those homeowners are complaining about the parking lots that have now become the streets during drop-off and pick-up, we're going to have a lot more angry people. E-bikes are great. They're reducing traffic. They're reducing the amount of cars on on the road. They're reducing the amount of of overall dangerous situations that our kids are getting in. It makes no sense at all that

088a kid's going to be able to legally drive a 4,000-lb, 300-hp car to school, but yet can't have an e-bike that has about the same horsepower as a lawn mower. So, please reconsider this. I think the best way to do this is really, if we're going to do anything, middle school, I understand. You can maybe go class one for middle school. But for high school, really, class one and two are entirely legal and safe ways to transport kids. Thank you. Are you Corey, Eric, or Colin? Corey. Corey, thank you. Good evening. My name is Corey Haas. I spoke at the last meeting, and while I see changes were made, this still is trying to solve the wrong problem. The district is stepping into something it's not equipped to manage, as Moses has mentioned, and shouldn't

089be trying to manage. This This a public safety and enforcement issue. That's the role of law enforcement, not a school district. We should not be turning to teachers and administrators into traffic police. Their job is to educate. And if this is about safety, the education effort doesn't match the reality. Yes, there's assemblies and bike rodeos, which I participated in along with other members of C-MABs, online courses, but that's not enough to change behavior on busy streets during pickup and around traffic. And if that were enough, we wouldn't be here. What's more concerning is the communication, which multiple parents have mentioned. I receive almost constant emails. I've received three while sitting here. Community flyers for your student. There has been zero outreach to parents that this is going to affect. None. This dad, thankfully, his son

090is coming up here to speak for all of his fellow students. There's 18,000 students. Let's talk about the real-world impact. Across the district, thousands of students bike to school. And in high school, the reality is simple. Most students riding e-bikes are on class two or higher. If you go to a campus, you won't find a single class one. I'm the only one who rides a class one because I'm a dad. The policy effectively bans what students already own and rely on, like this kid who saved up his money. You're going to make him sell that to who? No one's going to buy it now because you can't ride it to school. This forces families into two two choices, spending more money or start driving. That's not just inconvenient, it's inequitable. And we all know what

091happens. More cars, more babies getting hit in the crosswalk, more congestion, more chaos at pickup and drop-off, which is really what everyone here is complaining about. The bikes are the solution, not the problem. And more risk because the more dangerous environment around schools today is in bikes, it's cars blocking the bike lane, which I have to deal with every day trying to pick my kids up from school. It's the distracted moms on their cell phone in the half-mile-long pickup line. If they were on bikes, we wouldn't be here. Thank you. Are you Colin or Eric? Um Eric. Thank you. Hi, my name is Eric Runlett. I live at 555 Paularino Avenue. Um I'm an engineer by trade, so I believe in data-driven uh decision-making. And so I went and I looked at the police department's

092report for 2025 on the collisions in Costa Mesa. Um there were 123 collisions that involved someone on a bike. And of those in which the bicyclist was deemed to be at fault, about 40% of those was an analog bike versus 60% on an e-bike. Now, I don't have data on rider usage, but just from what I've seen around, that pretty much tracks with the prevalence of analog versus e-bikes that people ride, which would indicate that someone on an e-bike is no more likely to cause an accident than someone riding a regular bike. So, I don't understand what this policy is trying to accomplish. Um for context, by the way, there were 1,954 accidents Excuse me. That involved cars. The The safest month, the one with the fewest collisions uh involving cars, was April with 144,

093more than the entire year's worth of collisions involving bikes. Um I would also like to uh draw attention to the assumption of risk agreement this policy requires. Um unfortunately, there's no uh I couldn't find the text of that anywhere, so I'm not sure what it would entail. Um I'm assuming you intended this to also apply to kids who drive or walk to school given that those are at least as dangerous if not more so in the case of driving, um but the verbage doesn't seem to reflect that. And I feel strange you guys are signaling uh singling out people who bike to school even though really driving is more dangerous. Um I would have liked to see the data that you guys used to come to your conclusion uh to to uh the decisions you

094made in providing this proposal. Unfortunately, your decision-making has been very opaque and I haven't been able to find your rationale for it. Um and I wish you would do better about that. Thank you. You must be Colin Codywaters. >> Hey, you got me. Yeah, I was going to speak later, but you know, we'll keep it all together. All right. Uh so, as you know, I'm Colin Codywaters. Uh I'm a cycling enthusiast uh and a father of a College Park first grader and a soon-to-be teacher. We bike to school together every day, but on Tuesdays, like today, we join the College Park bike bus. And parents and kids from all around the school join a conga line of bikes led by Cole Chriselle as donning a blonde wig and a stick-on mustache, wrap-around shades, and a

095speaker blaring AC/DC. Uh these rides, snaking through the streets and picking up riders along the way, aren't without its incident. We've had a couple wipeouts, a small pileup, and some kids getting a little too energetic riding up and down the sidewalk, but these are teachable moments. The adults around these young kids help them learn what it means to ride safely and why it's important to be predictable. Why you got to buckle that helmet. And to pick them up when they make mistakes. I say this not to brag about my awesome community, but maybe to give you all a spark of an idea. Our purpose as a community of parents and educators is to help kids learn and grow. Now, I'm as concerned as anyone about the reckless use of motorized vehicles by young kids, but

096I want us all to consider that there are alternatives to a flat ban. Maybe we can build structure to organize, supervise, and accompany these kids to help them learn to ride safely. Thank you. And thank you all. Next up is the um item 17, achievement mathematics achievement update with the benchmark data and PLT implementation from Sacro Shields. Yes, so good evening. Uh tonight we're excited to be able to share an achievement report regarding the work that we're doing uh with mathematics and our purposeful learning teams. And to uh provide some information for you are both uh directors, Mr. Del Real, Gabe Del Real, and also Mr. Keith Carmona. It's usually on the desktop. This one? It should be on the desktop. What presentation? It does too. There it is. It's a PowerPoint. Oh, no, it's

097PDF. All right, guys. Okay. Good evening, President Orsoylu, trustees, Dr. Smith, cabinet, and guests. Thank you for your patience as we pulled up the presentation. It's a pleasure this evening to get to speak to you about our math benchmark data and the efforts that we have engaged in with purposeful learning teams in Newport Mesa. This effort aligns with board priority number one, which is to improve academic achievement in our schools. Teaching is a highly individualized effort. We often see a single teacher, the lone adult in a room with all kinds of children. And our purpose as an organization is to create a collective purpose amongst the professionals that work with all of our students. Our goal is to link the purpose of the individual teachers to our organization, which is, as your board priority states,

098to improve academic achievement for all of our students. One of the ways we do this is through something called collective teacher efficacy. When we create the conditions through time and structure for teachers to collaborate in an effective manner, we create collective teacher efficacy, which is defined as the shared belief among a school's faculty that their combined efforts, not just individual actions, can significantly and positively impact student achievement. This is something that surfaces in a much larger body of research by Dr. John Hattie. And in that research, we look for any influence on education that has a 0.4 effect size or greater. 0.4 effect size equates to one year of learning. So, that's our benchmark for influences that we should strongly consider. Collective teacher efficacy is the highest rated influence on student achievement. It's quite literally,

099as you can see, off the chart. It's 1.34 and in its effect size, there is no higher rated influence on student achievement, which is why we have focused so much of our effort in Newport Mesa on this specific area. Part of our collective purpose is three components. The cornerstone of it is collective responsibility. This means a shared ownership and support for all students. When teachers take responsibility not only for the students in their class, but for all of the students at the school. When that happens, it creates the foundation for collective efficacy, which is, again, the belief that we accomplish more when we work together than as individuals. And that can lead to a highly reinforcing component, which is collective effervescence. The idea that there is true unity and connection and joy that comes from

100accomplishing a shared purpose. And again, in this case, that would be increasing our students' achievement. One of the platforms for these conversations is looking at data from assessments. And you'll note at the bottom of the screen, there are two types of assessments. A large category is formative assessments, which means these are assessments that are used to inform our instructional decisions. Then there's also summative assessments which look at overall student learning. And they're kind of what we could could consider post tests. In formative assessments, the first one that we look at is diagnostic. That means these tests occur prior to instruction and they help us identify what students know and what they need. Then we look at unit tests at the conclusion of a unit of instruction. Our job is to analyze whether students learned what

101we meant for them to learn during our instruction. It helps us inform grades. It helps teachers reflect. We make future instructional decisions. And we monitor student progress. Over a longer period of time, we also look at interim or benchmark assessments. These usually occur over multiple units or on a trimester or semester basis. And they look at academic standards over much larger goals. They're long-term and they again inform instructional planning. So all three of these types of assessments are all considered formative. At the end of the school year, we also engage annual assessments. Schools are hard at work either administering now or preparing to administer the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. And also another annual assessment is the ELPAC which which helps us measure the language acquisition for our English learners. We have some

102examples at the elementary level of the assessments that fit into these categories. And you'll note that in diagnostic and the interim benchmark categories, you see some of the same assessments listed twice. And that's because the assessment type is also determined by how we use the data. So at the beginning of the year when we administer the STAR assessment or the mCLASS DIBELS assessment, we use it to identify where students are and where we need to go next. On an interim basis, we use those same assessments to measure progress. We can use the same benchmark to determine how much growth students have made through the year. In the unit category, we have assessments that are associated with our adopted materials and programs. And then as I mentioned, on an annual basis, we assess through the CAASPP

103and the ELPAC. When we look at benchmark data from our mid-year assessment in mathematics, we saw eight elementary schools that increased their proficiency from the beginning to the middle of the school year. One of the things that we do this for is to monitor progress throughout the year, but also to identify who's making progress and how. And then to consider who didn't make the progress we would expect to see and what steps need to be taken so that we can continue to see improved achievement before the end of the school year. We still have a long way to go even now. Even after spring break, we still see great opportunity for students to learn. So we're always seeking opportunities for students to continue to improve even now in April through June. Now I'd like to

104turn it over to my colleague, Mr. Carmona, to talk to to us a little bit about secondary. So in order to build upon what Gabe has shared about the assessments being given in elementary, we wanted to share with you about how the purposeful learning team process seeks to actionize the results of the assessments for the purpose of improving student outcomes. So what does that actually look like in practice? Purposeful learning teams or PLTs are structured collaborative groups of educators who meet regularly to do three things. Analyze student evidence, take collective responsibility for student learning and improve teaching practices for kids. That word collective is important. This isn't about one teacher closing their door and trying to figure it out on their own alone. It's about a team of professionals sitting down together, looking at what

105students are producing, and then deciding together what we need to do next. PLTs operate as a continuous cycle. Teams plan and deliver high-quality instruction. We give a common assessment and we analyze the data from that assessment and then we modify the instruction and try to provide support based upon that what we find as our areas of needs for kids. Then the the cycle starts again. The power of the model is that it keeps instruction responsive. Teachers aren't waiting until June to find out if something didn't land. They're adjusting in real time and they're doing it together. In order to best illustrate this, I would like to introduce Danielle Moran, our math department chair at TeWinkle Middle School. Come on up, Danielle. Under Danielle's leadership, the TeWinkle math team is one of the strongest examples of

106PLT work we have across the district. What her math PLT has built around alignment, common assessment data, and the quality of their professional dialogue is exactly what we hope to see everywhere in Newport-Mesa. Danielle's going to share what this work actually feels like from a teacher's perspective, what it looks like week to week, and why it matters. Thanks for being here, Danielle. Thank you. Um I was just observing everyone coming up and talking and they have their notes and their cell phone and I made a color-coded thinking map that I wrote that I'm speaking from just cuz that's how I think. Okay. Um so math PLT, um the district, Keith, and a lot of other people have definitely made the time protected time for us to meet twice a month. Um not just once, but

107twice. And it really allows for structured conversations with our team members. And PLTs, like they said, we can do it in our departments or outside of our departments if you want to do cross-curricular, but I'm here to talk about math. Okay. So the first thing I want to talk about is alignment. Both with Keith and Katie Holt Artosa, they provided a lot of structured time for us to meet for grade levels across the district. So I met with all the seventh grade teachers across the district and we got to spend some time coming up with our alignment and pacing. So what are the major standards we're focusing on focusing on? What instructional materials are we going to use? We do have access to both or triple things, three things. Illustrative Mathematics, Amplify, and IXL. And

108sometimes we like to bounce between those three that were offered just to see which one's providing the best resources for our students. And we also discussed some pacing. So like how many weeks and days are we really going to try to spend on this? And then together we created summative assessments. So that was kind of at the district level. Um then when it comes to TeWinkle, so I took that a lot further. Um What I really did is we spent we kind of just made the time to make everything common. Not just a formative and a summative assessment, but we've really looked at like what are we doing day-to-day? So at this point we're everyone is doing the same warm-up on the same day. Everyone is doing at the activity, the cool down. We're giving

109common practice problems. We're giving the same assessments. And I know that might sound like a little bit boring. Oh my god, everyone's doing the exact same thing. But that's where the data piece comes in. So you know, for me, maybe I'm making an instructional decision that I'm going to do building thinking classrooms. I think my students need a little bit more time having those collaborative conversations and they need that comprehension part of it. Another teacher might be like, you know, I'm going to do personal whiteboards or another instructional strategy because I see students need procedural fluency practice. So it's kind of there's that autonomy that we're still giving, but it's allowing us to collect real-time data like daily and not just waiting for that one week marker or that, you know, six weeks after the

110unit's done. Um so from that and our common assessments, it really allows for that quality of dialogue. So uh data, it's frequent and it's a lot. Uh so they do provide us those two two two times a month. Sorry. It's like an inside joke. No one knows, but it's great. Um okay. Keith knows me. Uh okay. So uh The great thing about us being having that common data is when we go to sit down at a PLT, and yeah, that's going to be scheduled three weeks from now and I'm not really entirely sure if I'm going to have that data done by that time even though we're trying to plan that, is that we can sit down and form a PLT at any moment because we're being so consistent and aligned in what we're doing.

111And so we can take that data and quickly make decisions based off of how our students are doing. For example, and this happens frequently and I'm not expect I don't think this is an expectation, but it what's what worked really well for my team is that we all do the same warm-up and then, you know, the first period teacher does it, we haven't gotten to teach that subject yet, and he's like, "Hey, this really bombed. They're struggling with this." And in that moment, we like that's a text or a phone call or an email within that passing period, and we're adjusting on the spot. Um and that's just like what really allows us to share our best practices. So, yeah, that's pretty much I think what I wanted to share. Um thank you so much

112for letting me be here. This was actually um a full circle moment for me because I was a student board member through Estancia. Yeah. Um so, I I did not get that fancy chair. I got a chair on the side. Um so, thank you for letting me be here as a teacher perspective now. Thank you. One added piece that I'll add to that and um you know, one of the great things that uh Twinkle has built a really strong PLT and it enables them to sustain change over time. So, um an outstanding math teacher that had been at Twinkle for quite some time retired last year, and we have new team team members on board, but because they have the structure, they have everything that Danielle described, it allows for the quality to continue within

113the team. So, just want to add that one piece. Um so, tonight Gabe and I talked about the research behind uh collective teacher efficacy and what this work looks like in practice from a teacher's perspective. Uh the common thread through all of it is that when teachers work together with purpose and shared ownership, students benefit. Uh from here, the focus is on finishing the year strong by using data and the PLT process to keep improving instruction in the weeks that we have less left, while also setting the stage for next year. Um and we'll continue building the systems that make this work sustainable long-term, including site leadership development, district-wide calibration, and with events like Diamond with Data and ongoing support for administrators. Um we appreciate the board's time tonight, and Gabe and I are happy

114to take any questions, and I'm sure Danielle is as well. So, thank you. All right, trustees, any questions? Can I see Trustee McCurdy? Yeah. Thank you for this presentation. It was great. Um I have a question, and maybe you answered it, but does every teacher belong to a purposeful learning team, or is it just a group of teachers and then they spread the word? That's an excellent question. Yes, every teacher belongs to a purposeful learning team. So, teams are at the secondary level typically arranged by what you teach. So, Danielle's a math teacher and specifically a eighth grade, seventh seventh grade math teacher. And eighth grade avid teacher. >> There you go. >> So, I have switched them to So, really what the idea would be is that you are meeting with uh teachers that

115have a uh an alike um prep, if you will, uh that you can share that common data with. Um there are times where our schools are small, and take early college, you might only have one algebra teacher, one geometry teacher, but they're looking at kind of themes across mathematics using that example. And is um Just one more question, then I'm done. Do does Twinkle do the schools are they um is it all the same information across the board? So, when they are attending their next level school, like going to high school and all the the children are, you know, joining together, but been taught in different schools. Is it all consistent information across all the schools? Yeah, excellent question. Thank you. Uh the answer to that question is yes. And so, um at the beginning

116of when Danielle was talking, she was talking about the district-wide alignment work that we've done. Um so, uh seventh grade math, high school algebra, high school algebra two look consistent across the district. And so, that enables us to be able to when, you know, schools come together at the high school level for us to have that consistent conversation. Great. Thank you. Next. And likewise for the elementary level, we have when our elementary schools matriculate to middle school, we could have as many as five or six different elementary schools um coming together at the middle school level, we base our elementary instruction on the standards. So, that way there's consistency and that coherence from different schools at that grade level as students leave in sixth grade, they're prepared for middle school, and they can expect to

117see something in common when they get there and be prepared in a similar way. All right, Trustee Anderson. Thank you. Um following up on that, I'm glad that you brought that up, Gabe. Um for the standards, how are we communicating that currently to parents? One of the ways would be through back-to-school night presentations. That's the most common way that parents would find out about instructional standards, and then also at parent-teacher conferences, our report card is aligned to the standards. So, as parents are meeting with their child's teacher, they're hearing about their child's progress specific to those areas in the standards. Great. Thank you. I would also say, if you don't There's a growing practice across schools to do walk-throughs with parents where they get to sit in the classroom, see the instruction, understand the standards,

118and they're in the classrooms with their children, and it's um it's been started at some schools, and it's growing and spreading at the elementary level where so, parents would get to see how their child learns every day. They learn more about the standards. They see it all happening in real time. So, we're trying many different ways to help parents understand when we say these things, what they mean and look like for their students. Thank you. That's helpful. Yeah, that's one of the um common concerns that I hear since I represent five elementary schools, is the communication around that and where their child might be. So, when we see this one that has, you know, there's six different types of assessments, and a parent gets it home, they don't know if it's if it if the

119one they're getting home is the Renaissance Diagnostic Test, if it's the the Renaissance Benchmark Test, if it's the Wonders Unit Test, and so, there's currently seems to be I know we're making some progress, but there continues to be kind of a disconnect about parent like I think they're getting kind of the beginning phase, right? The foundational maybe at open house and like the conferences that are quite short. One idea that I've heard from parents is if there could be a list of the standards just on every school website. So, for those of us who are credentialed teachers, we know how to find the framework. Most people don't know where to find frameworks. So, I think it could be something that would be added if parents are working multiple jobs and can't come to a classroom,

120or for our folks who are maybe have a tutor or are working with a nonprofit. A lot of parents come to me and say, "I'm it looks like my child is a three, or they're two, and they're struggling, but I don't know really what to do to catch them up, and I don't know what they need by the end of the year, and that's stressing them out." So, I think more communication, particularly friendly communication that's easily accessible when someone needs it at 10:00 at night and they're worried about that, I would love if we could maybe add for each of our school websites, or connect it to the district website, but just that very basic piece. I know um something that I have been asking for since before COVID. So, just like uh this is

121here are the second grade standards, here's what you need to know in math, here's what you need to know in social studies by the end of the year. I think would go a long way in helping our parents be well-informed partners. Thank you. Yeah, we appreciate that recommendation and along with that in thinking about when we talk about um specific assessments like DIBELS Mclass, when we're looking at students' abilities to read, or we're looking at some of the benchmarks like we have with STAR Reading and STAR Math, or even when our students starting at third grade take the state test, there are some very parent-friendly reports, and we're really starting to encourage more of those communications to go out in regards to how our children doing in those early primary grades with reading skills. The

122DIBELS Mclass report is very parent-friendly, and we're there are parent reports with STAR Math and STAR Reading. So, there are these reports, and I think we have to continue to work on trying to communicate those because it kind of takes a lot of technical information and puts it in layman's terms for parents to be able to understand it, but I I appreciate your recommendation. And I want to compliment the work that's been done around ELPAC. I think that the transformation that we've seen in just five years and having I think it's is it 14% of our students now are English language learners. That's dropped dramatically, and that's because we've been working with parents and educating them about that process, what they need to do, what they need to work on. So, I I want to

123compliment all of the work around that. Thank you. Great. Uh Trustee Pearson. Yes, thank you. I am extremely impressed with the Twinkle uh program. It's amazing. Do we have the especially with the common assessment between how closely you guys work, cuz it really doesn't matter what teacher you have, you're all learning the exact same, you're being tested the exact same way. Um how much of that is going on to the high at the high schools? So, uh it is a work in progress. Um so, I can't say that it's a replica of everything that you heard uh Danielle talk about at uh Twinkle, but that has been the work that we've been doing over the last couple of years. Um Sarah, there are versions of that at all of our middle schools and our high

124schools and we're continuing to get better at it. Um so the responsive way that um she describes the way that her team works, it's kind of the that's the goal that we're seeking to have all of our teams move in that direction. Um so kind of everyone is on that path. Um none of us have even T Wegel hasn't necessarily arrived. So we're moving in that direction. Which is which is great which is great. I can I can see the progress. Thanks. Trusty Wegel? Yes, thank you. Um I love these um this collaborative uh PLTs with the teachers. It it's I think it's it's going to be very very effective for our students. Um one thing I noticed it was slide eight and it said eight elementary schools increased proficiency from the beginning of the

125year to the middle of the year. That's like only a 36% of our schools and you know elementary schools in math that have made progress. What are we going to do? What how do we turn that around? What are your thoughts? Great question. Um one of the things to consider when we look at that data is when we talk about those eight schools, we're talking about schools who have increased the percent of students who are proficient from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year. It's important to understand that the assessment itself actually progresses in its level of difficulty as the year moves on. So schools who didn't necessarily increase their percent proficient still made progress with students. They were just keeping pace. They may have just been keeping pace with the

126the number of students or the percent of students who were proficient. Nevertheless, we want to see 100% of our schools increasing their proficiency throughout the year. Um I'm I always share with principals as we're working on um these types of efforts is that unless we have 100% of our students proficient, our work is not done. There's no accepting 10% of our students. There's no acceptable level of students not meeting proficiency. So we will continue to pursue that level of complete proficiency for all of our students and that's why we bring people together in PLTs is so they can examine the results quickly and responsively based on shorter-term assessments because we don't want to wait until an interim assessment to decide, oh looks like these students aren't making the progress we want. We want to see

127that on a daily, weekly, or you know, bi-weekly, monthly basis. And so that's where that work comes together. Okay. That's good. Um is there maybe another benchmark because you know, it's kind of like you get these kids to be proficient and once they're there and they're proficient, but are the these other proficients actually making even steadier increases? So what I'm saying is you know, once we get we're not just a satisfied with a C plus, you know, that might be passing, but are we satisfied with going further and further and making sure that our students are really achieving where they can? Yeah, that's also an excellent point. When we look at our proficiency levels, what we're actually able to do is break down the student scores based on nationally norm scores and sample sizes that

128can range from 350 to 550,000 students. 350,000 to 550,000 students. And we can look at where they fall in their percentile rank nationally. And so what we're looking for is not just growth for students who are in the 50th percentile or 10th percentile or 90th percentile, but all of those and what would be an appropriate amount of growth for all of them. That's part of the nuance and that's part of the detail. That's why this work is so involved and why we need to meet with such frequency. Yeah, cuz I'm just looking at that as you were talking about it. Like maybe you have a school that's 75% proficient and it's like getting up to that 77th might be that slug cuz you're already in rare air there. Um but to make sure that those

12975% are still achieving going higher and higher and higher that they can is would you know, is what we want to do, right? Absolutely. Yeah. I'm glad we're looking at that. Thank you. All right, student board member? Hello, thank you. So I had a quick question. How long have the PLTs been in use as a strategy at all of the schools? Yeah, the concept of PLTs at secondary schools has actually been around for over 10 years. We've had the time allotted in the student schedules for quite some time. Um I know at your school for example, Dr. Martinez brought that in as a practice when he started at Early College. And so it's been a long-standing practice for your school. The other schools continue to refine their practice and so you heard earlier today that

130um it kind of looks different at every school, right? Every department in a high school is moving in a in the same direction, but at a little different speed. And it's a continued topic for us to continue to refine what we're doing during that time and how we're going to plan out our time for next year. Thank you. And then I had another question. So on slide four with the cold, cool, and hot chart, it says collective teacher efficacy at about 1.34 which should be equivalent to a little over I think three years of learning. So what would it mean like in simple terms for a student to gain 3.2 years of learning? So again, that's that's an actually an excellent question because it really depends greatly on how you measure student learning and when

131we look at at like for instance at the elementary level, we teach multiple subjects. So what does it mean to gain a even a year's worth of learning at in an elementary classroom when we're looking at writing, reading, mathematics, history, social science, science, and so forth, language development. Um one of the things that we do is we use these benchmark assessments to determine what is the equivalent of one year of learning. And just like trusty Wegel was asking, even for students who are at those highest performing levels, are we still monitoring and looking for students to make that growth? We're looking for students who in their scaled scores actually demonstrate the equivalent of one year of growth, but triple that. That would be what you're asking is you know, basically three times the scaled score

132growth that we would expect to see in a year would be to answer your question the equivalent of um three times the scaled score we would expect to see. Okay, thank you. Okay, and we'll turn over to Superintendent Smith, but first I just want to follow up on one item that trusty Anderson said. At when my daughter was in third grade, she's now in ninth. Um something that I was really looking for as a parent was exactly what she was mentioning. Maybe not on the websites, but like a handout. Like end of third grade, you should know how to add double numbers or divide or multiply. End of fourth grade, you should know how to times by I don't know. But like as a parent who considers myself mildly educated, like I had no idea

133what she's supposed to do every year. And if there was a way we could make this simple for parents to know every year. One page handout. This is what you should basically know by the end of the year. Cool. Um so just kind of keep thinking on that train of how to let parents be a good partner cuz I can't support it if I don't know what you're supposed to know. Um so that's my that's my two cents, Superintendent. Yeah, I can be. Yeah, so couldn't let this one go by. I've been on the tour recently talking about this topic. The board by the way is had to uh endure my multiple write-ups on this topic. But I think it's really important for us in front of our community to make sure they're aware that

134there is this construct known as the lottery of the hallway which means that where you live and which classroom you happen to be placed in determines your outcomes. Um we're better than that. It is our moral imperative in this district and I said that, moral imperative, to make sure that every single student has a chance to excel in their classroom, that there is excellent instruction in every single classroom. And that is what this does. There is nothing based on the research, years and years of research that's going to get us closer to that than collective teacher efficacy. There's no better way to drive that than through a PLC or PLT environment. And I have to thank the board cuz you gave us the direction to work on this. I have to compliment our labor allies

135for working with us at the table. This is the first year where this has been protected time for all schools. All 33 schools have protected time to do this most important work. And we have to learn to walk first before we run. And so we're we're starting this out and we we heard the inside joke about two days. Um because we're not running yet. But eventually we know that every single week we have to be analyzing student data so that teachers can then determine the change in adult behaviors that will drive more outcomes. Right? Student data drives changes in adult behaviors that then improve those student outcomes. That's how this works. And so we'll be continuing to look at how we produce that data, but I love what Danielle said. She said her quote was,

136we can inform a PLT any day. What she said is besides the district data that we provide. It was important cuz Ashley and others talked about what kinds of data, what what are we looking at? There's classroom data every day. She mentioned a daily warm-up. Yes, a quick write. Yes, whatever you are teaching, that is data. And teachers can use that every single week to improve their collective efficacy so that every student, all 18,000, can improve. Uh Trustee Macklin, you mentioned, you know, are they getting the same thing? Yes, this board years ago, 5 years ago, said, "We're going to double down on the importance of curricular and instructional coherence, both." That it all of our sites, we have board-adopted curriculum. That's what we teach. That's the script. Now, there's an art to it as

137well. Teachers add some spice to that, right? Uh and they do their bit. We love that they do that bit. But this board-adopted content, we are going to have We're getting really, really close to curricular coherence. This is going to help us with that instructional coherence. This is going to be that secret sauce that ensures that it's not an accident that kids get better, right? And it doesn't depend on where you go to school, where you live. You're going to be excellent, right, with these learning outcomes um as we continue to do this work. And certainly as we involve community allies like parents and others in that work as well. So, kudos to everybody doing this hard work, the team supporting it, the teachers in the classroom, the support folks in there helping there because

138it's not just in our PLTs just teachers. We have support folks in these as well helping them understand how do we help kids behave a little better so they can learn more, right? Collective effort. So, kudos to Lera, kudos to the board, and kudos to everyone doing this work. This will make us the best district in the state of California. Thank you. And next up we have the report on innovative technology in Newport Mesa School District. Dr. Yes. Um I'd like to welcome um Dr. Jenith Mishne up to the um podium. I'll let her get set up and get the computer back running. Um We have a lot of information to share with you this evening about our educational technology department and the work that we've been doing with innovative technologies and uh artificial intelligence.

139And as part of our discussions over the past few months and strategic planning groups that have come together, it's been of interest to many individuals to learn more about what we have done as a district to get ourselves moving into the right direction. So, I'm going to turn over to Dr. Mishne and she's going to share all her knowledge with us tonight. All right. I know I have to talk into this mic, but All right. Good evening, uh Madam President, members of the board, Dr. Smith, cabinet, all the guests here with us tonight. Um I thought I was feeling nervous, but I think I'm just feeling excited because, right, it's the same thing. Um I I'm so excited, really, to talk to you about uh all that we've been doing in the district around innovative

140technology, which includes AI. Um we have been navigating the, you know, many different groups of people, and so I'm going to just share where we've been, what we've been doing, and um and where we are headed. Um and coherence keeps coming up tonight, and we're going to, you know, that's what we're doing here, too, is we're trying to keep that uh coherence going because AI is being used everywhere, right? And so we need to make sure that we are um a not ahead cuz we're already behind. No, we're not behind, but you know, you feel like you are. Um but before I get going, I have to just thank all of you, um Dr. Smith, all of cabinet, just for being so supportive of moving forward with AI and and supporting it and not blocking

141it because I talked to some colleagues, you know, in other districts, and it's, you know, they are they're doing that. They're not allowing um you know, teachers, students to use AI, and that's not the answer. We know that. All right. These slides are to keep me on track cuz I talk fast, and um this is my 29th year in the district. So, when I say this is a moment of disruption, it's also a moment of hope. And so, back in 2022, 3-plus years ago, uh ChatGPT became something that was in all of our pockets, right? And so, instead of banning, as we know, Dr. Smith said, "No, we're not banning. We need to just tell everyone." And so, by January of '23, 2023, we were putting out communication to parents, staff, um and teachers saying,

142"This is what ChatGPT is. This is what just, you know, got released. This is what you need to know about it. This is what we're doing about it. And at this time, we're not blocking this." And we we gave them information. Um And then we started a very deliberate uh journey of uh moving forward with how we were going to do that uh starting with educating the teachers. But the one thing that is different, cuz this is not a implementation. Even though AI is a tool, this is a a shift in learning and teaching. It It's a technology that impacts or crosses over learning, teaching, and assessment. It has so many uh lines that it it crosses over. So, we have to keep that in mind. So, we set a path and um very intentional.

143I I came back from a very uh global conference last week where it was workforce, business, capital uh venture capitalists, higher ed, K-12, policy makers. I mean, unbelievable. And the intentional, strategic, human first, you know, were the language that they all are using. And so, that's what we've been leading with um you know, over the last 3 years. So, year one, my team and I, who I also have to thank because if I did not have my team of TOSAs, none of this would have happened. Um And so, we learned We learned We're still learning, but I love learning. And uh you know, 29 years in, if I can still be this excited about learning something new, I mean, come on. I really I think I drank the Kool-Aid. Um So, we learned year one,

144we learned, and then we taught, and then we learned, and then we taught. And uh year two, we built, and we're in year three, and we're going to talk about that. And we're looking at human-led AI fluency. So, at this point, to date, we have um unique PD sessions that we have taught to a 14 different groups of roles. So, I'm talking teachers, administrative assistants, psychologists, um uh directors, principals, um uh paraprofessionals, uh I could go on. So, we we didn't just teach teachers. We We did and parents. I can't forget parents. We We really anyone who wanted to learn, we were like, "Yeah, we'll do that." Um and then we we've been developing teacher leaders all along, but a few years ago we had the instructional tech coaches at the secondary, and then the

145work that they started doing became the AI work. And we created an AI working group, and we're up to 19 teachers in that group. And then I'm going to talk to you a little bit in a little bit about the student voice survey that we've been doing. So, we built We're building capacity, right? Um so that we could move on to the next phase. It last year in our AI working group, we developed what we have adopted as our AI guidelines for teachers and students. The you know, the We didn't just do this in a bubble. These were teachers got, you know, developing these together in this working group. Um and we released these this year, but if you go back a year, we put um language in all of the student handbooks, K-12, the

146year prior. And so, this language got put into the handbooks alongside that was academic honesty language, just, you know, also telling students how they would could cite AI if they were using it. So, this has been a common language across K-12, and this year we spent um every PD we did in front of teachers or staff, we would share to, you know, do you know that these are here, and they shared them with their students. So, we have the guidelines, and again, created by our teachers. Then we We didn't You don't know how many different apps teachers have asked for, and we've We're always Student privacy has always been Newport Mesa's, you know, strength. We, from the minute AB 1584 came out, we did not mess around. And so, we take student data really seriously.

147Teachers don't like it. But this was another area. I was seeing all of these tech, you know, people coming out of the woodwork creating They spent billions of dollars creating tech tools so that they could sell them to K-12. And they're not all great. They're They're a lot of like, "Let's use AI and create a worksheet, right?" I mean, we're trying to get away from that. So, we were really intentional and didn't jump on everything, um but we found a couple of tools we really liked, and then we put it through the AI working group. So, and teachers, and we had um we had surveys taken, and they gave us feedback on this works and this didn't. And then we did land on Brisk Teaching, and I'm really glad we did because it's a different

148type of tool. The company is very reactive and open to getting feedback from teachers, and they adjust. They're looking at creating what they're calling curriculum intelligence, where it's an it's not like an app, it's actually extension in Chrome. And it's going to sit over our own curriculum. Because right now, teachers go to chat GPT or something and just type something in and say, you know, give me a lesson plan, but that lesson that's pulling from we don't know where. So, if this turns out to be something great, it would sit over our own curriculum, which would be exciting. We're a little more strict five K through eight really. Chromebooks at that level can't access typical large language models like chat GPT and Gemini. But in high school and uh seven through 12, we didn't block

149those. We're just educating and guiding them. And our focus is AI literacy for all, right? I call it human in the lead learning at every level. We're all learning. Like, this is the first time I've ever seen where where we are learning alongside our students, alongside, you know, business people. You go to conferences, they're all learning together. At the elementary, we have a road show that we've been going on. We we combine it with digital citizenship. But AI is just a different type of literacy now, and we we have to teach it. We have digital coaches at the elementary, and then we have our instructional tech coaches. November 5th was the first I hope many where all secondary teachers got the same hour, the same lesson or PD about AI literacy that we developed with

150our instructional tech coaches. So, we all got together and planned it, and then each school kind of fixed it, you know, adjusted it to fit their staff. But the idea was then they were going to figure out how to teach that same lesson to the students. So, I know the next slide is going to be different. I'm going to jump ahead for a minute. So, what we really developed was this idea of being the pilot of your thinking. And we went this whole pilot theme. And the most exciting part of this is we got invited by Estancia, my team and I, to go in and in February we taught eight periods to their social studies classes. Like, I taught eight periods. It was so fun. 40-minute classes. I was like, oh boy, it's been a

151it's been a minute. And we talked to them about bias hallucination, and the teachers sat in the rooms with us, and I mean, they learned some things, too, I I think. Or at least they said they did. I mean, the students learned, too. But the idea is we need to be teaching our students how to critically think, how to be analytical, how to be judge, you know, judging what they're doing every day. And so, um it was just a really a fun lesson. This year, the working group is working on creating a K-12 framework. So, something that we can look at and say, oh, you know, whether we do grade bands or um however we do it, cuz the group will decide. But let's say K2. A K2 classroom, you might walk in and you're

152not going to see them on a device, you know, typing into chat GPT. But you might see them with images in front of them, where they have to sort and say, is this cat flying a kite real or is it fake, right? And so, they're looking, is this, you know, school made out of jelly beans real or fake? So, you can still teach the language um at that level. And then in the older, you know, classes, you'd be teaching things about bias and ethics and all of that. That's happening, and it's going to only get better. So, this year, we launched our student voice survey. I've been wanting to get directly, you know, information straight from students, and it's more successful than I could have imagined. We launched late November, and for that month, we

153still got 214 responses. And I was like, oh, wow, this is great. Like, it was like 10 days, and Thanksgiving was in the middle of it, and the students responded. December, it grew. By January, over a thousand students responded to the And all it is is two questions. Once a month, they go to the same place. I push it through Schoology and ClassLink. They don't give their name, they just give their school. Next year, I might ask for their grade, but I really was trying to keep it simple. And they are talking. They want to be heard, you know? I mean, have you taken that survey? I'm not asking you really, but yes. So, what we learned, AI is already part of their lives. They're already using it. But they also have an ethical compass.

154A lot of them know what's right and what's wrong. And they will say that. They'll say, I know this is cheating. I didn't learn anything. I know I didn't. Or I don't use it for that. And then December, a student reached out to me, I failed to put option for I don't use AI in school. And I was like, you're right. And I I've never made that mistake again. Like, they wanted that voice. They wanted to be heard. And so, and they also told us last month that it's not clear from classroom to classroom on what teachers expect. Well, that that can be hard if you're, you know, middle or high school with a lot of classes, and one class it's yes, and then it's no. So, that's something, you know, for us to work

155on. But the data is amazing. So, I'm going to pause for just a minute and give you a couple of seconds to just read a few of these. And what I find the students saying is that they're using it as a tutor. They're asking it to quiz quiz them. They're, you know, putting their notes in and creating study guides. Or when they don't admit they used it, right? They they feel like that's unfair. And uh So, taking using this data will help inform us moving forward on how we continue with our practice. So, what is the path forward? We're reimagining education. One thing I heard over and over last week at that conference was learning experiences have to change. Not in all classrooms, but they have to be experiences, right? Our kids have to experience

156things. So, as I already mentioned, the framework that we're working on, we are talking about redesigning learning. We have shifting learning as our title of our August 11th secondary PD coming up. We're very excited about that. Teachers are going to be leading the shift, but then we also need our directors and principals and site leaders and TOSes and everyone everyone needs to get involved. Yes. What we do know is education is evolving, and so are we. And AI is here to stay. I was allowed I know that you're working on a portrait of a graduate, and I know this isn't signed in ink yet, but tech navigator is a great I didn't even connect that the the title of this presentation is navigating in the age of AI. So, era So, I thought that was

157um interesting. So, by 2027, clear expectations in every classroom, AI literacy at every grade level defined, and teachers leading the redesign. And of course, I can't not mention the work I've been doing with parents, because that's another really soft spot that I love. I just need them to show up more. But we are Thursday, we have coffee talk in the tech cafe at 9:00 a.m., and that's our seventh session of our AI parentology series this year. And then on May 12th, we did pivot to virtual, and I have all kinds of ideas and plans for next year for that. That's that's it. Thank you, Trustee McElroy, and then Trustee Crane. Um I Thank you for this presentation. I think AI is great, to be honest. I learn so much that I don't think I would

158ever learn when I'm I look it up, and any topic, any time, I think it's wonderful. Um I don't think it's wonderful to to write an essay, but I think it's wonderful to get the information that might go in an essay, meaning learning things you'll never learn before. So, my it's more of a statement than a question, but I feel it's very important that yes, we have AI to give us all the information, but we need to make sure that our students are able to sit down and grab a piece of paper with a pencil and be able to write a paragraph with all or a story with no phones, no anything. So, we have to make sure that when they're in the classroom, not only are they learning through AI, but we need to

159dedicate a time where they need to sit and have free writing, where their brains working on their own and their writing I know they might not know cursive which they need to learn but they need to be able to sit down so I hope we we're setting time aside in the classroom that they have free thinking free writing and not depending on someone else doing their thought but I am a huge fan AI and I've learned tons this year even on Balance is absolutely great. Who was that I pressed your button. Crane yeah. Yep okay. First I I want to very much recognize the work that you've been doing. I remember sitting in your office about 3 years ago going what are we going to do about AI? And and you have been um relentless

160really and your team as well. You're everywhere you're you have the best odd attitude as far as let's let's do this. This is happening and we need to get us ready and I've compared um what we've been doing in Newport Mesa with other delegates you know trustees and I definitely can say that we are ahead of many districts in the county so congratulations and thank you board and superintendent and staff for giving um Janice the green light to just be ahead of the curve. So thank you disruption yes paradigm shift yes absolutely AI going away no it's not so let's make it our friend somehow but also with the safeguards guardrails and it affects everyone all employees parents students and so um we we we cannot ignore the movement. So um I am I I

161I attended a capstone project three of them actually two of them were about connectedness. I think that our high school students are starting to understand the fact that they can't they want to go analog it's kind of a movement back to self-regulating in a digital age cuz they're realizing that um human connection cannot be made up. And I I believe with our cell phone policies yes they're not necessarily foolproof but you go to recess break on our campuses and kids are talking to each other looking at each other not making the phone their their default. It's a message that we're sending is it foolproof no it's not but it's happening cuz our communities has been very grateful for what we've been doing and staying ahead of everything trying to at least. So my my biggest

162concern is um coherence we talked about coherence in the past report. Um how do we make sure that um with it and let's not make it be over ambitious where it's it's happening at every single high school for example within the high school within a department the English department do we have a rubric that we can use that is acceptable and it's also communicated to a student and parents of the expectations of how we use AI. Um I think that's very important because we need they need the guidance the students need the guidance the teachers need the guidance the parents need to understand the guidance so that they are also on board and I think that's one of the biggest parts of what we need to do here and it's a big job because it's

163it's um always emerging. I don't even know how we're going to keep up it's it's crazy but thank you for trying and we're not going to give up on our kids and teaching them how to learn but also be critical thinkers where they're using their own humanity to be a lifetime you know a global citizen. So Thank you keep up the good work. >> you. Trustee Wagoner and then student board member? Yes thank you this is amazing. I remember attending a CSBA meeting about AI and it was you know talking about banning not banning all that kind of different things and how do we use it actually um you know it's a tool now it's not going away it's part of a tool and knowing how to do that is only going to help us

164for the jobs of the future. So I appreciate that we're um we're working on that with our students. Um I do love how you're putting in guardrails based on how old they are because one thing that I actually hear most from parents is that our kids are on their Chromebooks too much during school and they want to have and I do believe we should have some form of our kids should only be on a Chromebook x amount of time per day and and and and then focus on that going back to being analog because unless they know how to read and write how are they going to analyze if that is actually true or false or misleading or biased or whatever. So I mean I think that it's been a big topic I know at

165PTA meetings PFO meetings about the amount of times our kids are on Chromebooks and using it and you know with AI it'll help us maybe use Chromebooks less and shorter amounts of time so that's great but I would like to see us and I I imagine that's part of your department figuring out how we can limit that amount of time and put those guardrails cuz I you know that would be something that would be great put in some policies or do some parent parent communications or you know whatever we want to decide we want to do with that but I appreciate that. So we are we're we're working on that along with AI framework we're looking at uh kind of bringing back that tech not scope and sequence but like and and then also uh

166recommendations for screen time but we are we're also interested in looking at how the technology is being used cuz we want it intentional we don't want it passive we want them creating Right. um collaborating and so those are all things so we're pulling together a a different team of teachers to talk about tech use K12 because this is not this is a big conversation and and teachers students there are a lot of people asking for a balance a a more Right. a better balance and so it's so yes we are. Thank you I really appreciate I love the head nodding over there. I'm like can I share can I share? No I thank you very much you're doing a great job. Thank you. Jeremy and then trustee Pearson. Thank you so I wanted to say

167I see and hear about AI basically every day at school so thank you for all the work that you're doing to kind of help students and families. It is a little bit scary for me and I know a lot of students like we don't know what it'll look like in 5 years or 10 years and how it will affect careers and what we want to do in college and all of that. I know the approach that we're taking is kind of similar to any core subject in that we want to have literacy in it and learn about it and so one of my questions was some students and teachers are more anti-AI and don't necessarily want to make that adjustment so I guess for lack of a better word how will we force students to

168become part of like this new era and become AI literate at our schools. It's kind of like reading right we we have reading specialists um you all learn to read you mean it's really going to be come down to that is that AI literacy has to be taught. Right I we don't have all the answers right now and how we'll do that but um we're going to figure out what a good delivery model is you know and what that looks like and I can come and teach anytime. Well we'd love to have you. So my next question is kind of also on the topic of like getting ready for college and teaching AI literacy but in a balance so some teachers are resorting to like timed rights and having us like handwrite our essays again

169and I know a lot of colleges are doing that as well so how will we especially for English classes where AI use is very prevalent balance the approach between AI literacy while still producing our own work and critically thinking? I'm not even sure I wrapped my head around what you just said. Can you say that again? Yeah so I guess more like what are your thoughts on teachers and like even colleges like doing timed rights and handwritten essays in terms of like I guess how will we balance curriculum to teach both handwriting and creating our own essays without AI and using AI how will we teach students to be capable with both? >> I think one of the things you could share with Jeremy is the work we're doing right now with the new work

170group that you're bringing together because our English teachers have brought that to us too so that conversation is living in high school classrooms with teachers right now on both sides of the fence and we're bringing some groups together to talk about that and figure out how we all of arrive at what that balance could be to be able to share that you know the learning of the student and then the blending of AI because your teachers are equally concerned on both sides of that fence. Yeah and like you said higher ed too I'm I'm I I'm a professor at Cal State Fullerton and so I have a lot of conversations with them around this um I think part of it is that we haven't figured out how to teach students how to effectively use it

171and so going back to a blue book and handwriting is a way to say well I know at least you wrote this cuz I sat here and watched you write it but if student you know if students understood how to use AI and I'm not saying I mean many many do, but if all students understood how they could use it um in a way that enhance the work that they're doing and not um replace their thinking, then that will help the situation, but we really have to um think about what the work is and what the assignment is and that's where the redesign, I think, is going to happen, too, because we have to think about Students need to understand how to write and how to think and that's, you know, at the end of

172the day that's the thing. Teachers can say for this you you know, there's a scale that some high schools are using where it's like um a four is you can use AI and a one is you can't and so many teachers are using those types of scales for their assignments. So. I think it's a great question. >> what we're trying to do is make learners adaptable because, like you said, we don't know what it'll be in five years. We don't know what it'll be in 10 years. So, just being confident enough to continue learning and the critical thinking will always be a key component of what we're doing in every classroom because people will have to evaluate information in new and different ways. And so, that's how we're preparing them for the world they'll get

173a couple years later in middle school and then a couple years later in high school that's evolving quickly. Thank you. Hey, can you answer my question? I had one, but you know, thank you for all of this. I was it's basically repeating what they had said, so I didn't want to go on, but I've been in a lot of PTA meetings with a lot of discussion over this and at the elementary school level there has been a lot of concern a lot of talk about the K through two, like how how important is it for our K through twos our K through second grade students to have a Chromebook and to be working on them in class. Um are kids are our kids still being tested on the Chromebooks K through two? I think that's

174>> third grade. They don't get start They don't even get start They don't even start being tested on it till third grade. >> Right. So, yeah, there's been a lot of question about how appropriate that is um in the classroom K through second. Um but most parents will tell you they just want balance and most students I was at the student advisory um committee with the superintendent student advisory committee and to listen to the kids say that they want a different modality of uh testing. And I we cut Carol and I were kind of like following around, what does that mean? What does that mean? And their comment was, we don't want to just be tested on computers. We our eyes get blurry. I mean, they were all said they were all together to hear

175it from our kids. Um it was eye-opening. Um so, I know I mean, this is such important work. I have two older kids in the business world and they could I mean, I can't survive without Claude and and chat GPT. And they're my I mean, I like wake up and talk to it now. Uh um but they it it is a tutor. It's amazing and our kids need it to be successful. But again, that balance is what I'm hearing from the parents, yeah. >> Lisa, just to clarify one of the things at that early age we really start wondering, you know, what truly is uh uh the purpose of using a computer with students at kindergarten, first grade, second grade and when it comes to state testing, we do not have them tested on computers.

176They aren't even taking the state test until they get to third grade, but um one of the reading practice programs out there is Accelerated Reader, pretty widely used in our district and students do log onto the computer and take reading quizzes. We also have students taking Star Reading and Star Math assessments at those early age ages and we get a lot of data from that, but we have to really look at the big picture of what are all the things that our students are doing and really think through how much time does that take and prioritize where do we really need to be. So, Dr. Mish needs to do an outstanding work with helping us think all that through, but those are the exact questions we're trying to answer. Great. Thank you. Thank you so

177much. Thank you. Um next is consent calendar. Um does anyone have a motion? So moved. Second. And does anyone have any comments? Yep. Okay, with that roll call vote. Trustee Soylu? Yes. Trustee Murphy? Yes. Trustee Pearson? Yes. Trustee McMurray? Yes. Trustee Anderson? No. Trustee Crane? Um point of order um may I may ask um why um Trustee Anderson is saying no, because if it's a concern that we all need to be aware of uh we we approve a lot of contracts and registers and is can is it something we need to be aware of? Yeah, I'm happy to answer that. If we're going to follow that going forward, as well. Um It's cuz I I I would I'm sincerely curious why you're concerned about the consent calendar. Yeah, that's a valid question. I just want

178to make sure that with that going forward, we're going to follow that same cuz I've asked that in the past and it hasn't got answered. Um for me, I have continued concern as I don't think that I have been shy about about the Orange County Grip contract. >> What I What item number is this? Is it um under education service? Which item is it? B4. Huh? B4. E B B4. >> B4. Okay, let me see. >> B4. Okay. So, the contract for me, I think, is something that I don't find to be appropriate. Um I think when this came up last year, again, as we've heard a lot about bikes and data, uh for me, I had a concern since the three schools were in district area seven, my area, um that it wasn't based

179on data and you know, we're not doing it again at Wilson because it's not needed at Wilson. The parents didn't need it at Wilson. Um but more concerning to me is actually the way that the contract language is, so I don't know if you remember last time, um I had a lot of questions about the actual contract language. And so, while there were some changes that were made to that, I still particularly currently what's going on across our government, I'm I'm not comfortable having student data, family data shared with the county. Some of the language that is um in that says that we're not able to ask for that data back or to even have access to those materials. So, for me, if we're offering a program that's for students, I think we should be

180able to have exposure to that. I think that's one of the concerns we've had in the past with other types of curriculum. So, for me, it's the contract overall. It went from being a one-page contract that was to me completely inadequate for a county contract and while there were changes, I still don't agree with it. So, that's why I'm voting no. >> So, so it's only Thank Thank you. I appreciate the explanation. So, it's only because of um item B4. So, I think in previous protocol we would pull this and make it a discussion action, right? Because I don't I don't think it's I don't >> Point of order, we got a we got a motion and a second. We're in the Oh, yeah. So, I'm I'm a I'm a yes on the consent calendar.

181Yep. Trustee Wagon? Yes. Okay, so roll call vote was um 6-1. And now we'll move on to um item 20A is the public hearing of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers initial proposal to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District for reopener negotiations commencing 2026. Ms. Nick. Thank you. As we heard Ms. Reed say earlier, um this evening both NMFT and the district will be sunshining initial proposals for 2026-2027. This is a required step prior to commencing negotiations and we are looking forward to working together with NMFT. So, the first public hearing is for the initial proposal from NMFT for reopener negotiations. Reopener negotiations are limited negotiations and in this case both parties agreed to negotiate Article 3, hours and days of employment, in addition to salary and health and welfare benefits. NMFT has also proposed to open

182Article 11, leaves. We ask that the board now open a public hearing for the initial proposal from NMFT to the district for reopener negotiations. Okay, so the hearing is now open at 8:40 p.m. Um are there any public comments? Anybody? Okay. Um Once, twice, three times. Okay, the hearing is now closed at 40 p.m. Now, to the next one. There's a few of these, so everybody stay with me. 20B is receive the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers initial proposal to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District for reopener negotiations commencing 2026 fees. Now, with the public hearing now closed, we recommend the board accept the initial proposal from NMFT to the district for reopener negotiations. Great. And do we have a motion? So moved. Trustee Crane? Second. Uh Trustee Peterson and roll call, Sam. Trustee Soylu? Yes. Trustee

183Murphy? Yes. Trustee Pearson? Yes. Trustee McMurray? Yes. Trustee Anderson? Yes. Trustee Crane? Yes. Trustee Wagon? Yes. Great. The vote was unanimous, so now we go to item 20C, which is another one, public hearing of the Newport Mesa Unified School District's initial proposal to the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers for reopener negotiations commencing 2026. Um so the district the district is sharing with the public the initial proposal for reopener negotiations with NMFT. Um we'll be asking the board to approve the initial proposal following the public hearing. Um this initial proposal includes article three, hours and days of employment, in addition to salary and health and welfare benefits. We ask now that the board open a public hearing for the initial proposal from the district to NMFT for reopener negotiations. Okay, and the hearing is now open

184at 8:42 p.m. And are there any public comments? Okay. Zero. The hearing is now closed at 8:42 p.m. And one last one, 20D, is approve the Newport Mesa Unified School District's initial proposal to the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers for reopener negotiations commencing 2026. With the public hearing now closed, we ask that the board approve the initial proposal from the district to NMFT for reopener negotiations. Motions? So moved. And motion, Trustee Anderson. Second. And second, Murphy. And roll call vote, Sam. Trustee Yuroslav? Yes. Trustee Murphy? Yes. Trustee Pearson? >> Yes. Trustee Macowen? >> Yes. Trustee Anderson? Yes. Trustee Crane? Yes. Trustee Waggan? Yes. And it is unanimous, uh 7-0. Thank you. Thank you. And now we move to um our discussion action calendar of item 21A, the moment you've all been waiting for, the second

185reading and adoption of modifications to board policy, Dr. Torres. Thank you. We're going to just take about 10 seconds here to get set up. I have our lovely executive assistant, Claire Warner, who's going to assist me with this tonight in case we have any modifications to the policy. She is the individual who helps assist with edits. So she's going to be here at the dais with me, or I should say at the podium, sorry. Um and she's going to go ahead and go through this with me this evening. So I'm going to stand over here to the side. Um to ground us in our evening together tonight to talk about what this item is, wanted to be able to remind our um trustees and our community tonight who's present that this has been a process

186that's been going on for a few months. Um our board um had a courageous conversation back in December to talk about bike safety. In February, um we came together as the um board policy committee. They took a look at having a first draft. Um we did that and we brought it forward in March. Um and that direction at the time was to go back and revise and provide some edits based upon the feedback that the community had given us, some feedback that trustees had shared at that time. And now tonight you're seeing a new version of that policy um that also incorporated those items. So in front of you tonight, you have um board policy with a tentative number of 5142.04 on bicycles and e-bikes. Um we have it up for you this evening. Um

187years ago, we used to bring the policies up for view. We had stopped doing that as a practice, and this board definitely wanted to ensure that we could do this together and that we could see and as we make edits tonight. So that is available for your viewing pleasure as well tonight. Um some highlights to get started with the conversation, just to let um everyone know where we where we're at with the policies. We did make some changes. Um so just some statements to open up the conversation is that we did um modify it so that all students in our district can ride a bicycle. Okay, so that was something that was a piece of feedback. Everyone can ride a bicycle um across the district. We incorporated a list of definitions. Scroll up for me

188there. Um just to be clear, some community had asked questions about the different types of um bikes, vehicles, and and the types of um items we were talking about, so we went ahead and add some definitions. We broke out this policy into elementary, middle, and high school. Um big items here to note would be that we do have a restriction K-8 on e-bikes. Um that we are requiring training, we are requiring helmets, and we are requiring assumption of risk and agreement um for parents to sign. So those are some of the big items um that we have clarified in this policy after the policy committee met for the second time. Um additionally, if you approve this policy this evening as it stands, um we have an exhibit listed in here, 5142.2, which would be an

189assumption of risk and liability statement. Um that is not yet developed because the policy needs to be approved first. That is what our board policy committee thought would be a best practice to get the policy in order, and then we would make that exhibit afterwards. Um and then we would not put this policy into place until the next school year, and we wouldn't put into place until that exhibit was also approved at a subsequent board meeting. So I just wanted to ground us in that for tonight, and we are here tonight to take your feedback. Okay. Um okay. I want to just say thank you so much for working with us on this. Um as a member of the policy committee, um I really appreciate your hard work and your research and everything that you've

190done to pull data for us um about, you know, our e-bike accidents, how many e-bikes are on campus, how many bus routes are out there, how many students ride e-bikes that can get on a bus route a bus route um for free, us or OCTA. So I really appreciate all that work that you've done. Um one quick, I know, change um and then I'm going to talk a little bit more, but um where it says elementary students in elementary school are are uh strictly prohibited from um operating e-bikes, I it should say from possessing or operating e-bikes and e-motos and other devices as listed in the definitions on school. >> Possessing or That is section it's the same in elementary, and it's the same in middle and intermediate students. So we'll we'll replicate that in

191the same place there. And it needs to be highlighted there so they know what we're Yeah, put it in red for us so we can Everybody out there can see. >> So it's we want to say possessing or operating e-bikes cuz the essence of this policy is really to say you can't bring your e-bike on campus for K through 8. Yeah. Um that's all we can can can do is focus on what you can bring on campus cuz we're not um we're we're not police. They have their own set of laws depending on where you live in Costa Mesa or um Newport Beach. Um and Newport Beach, I know um um has made some things a little bit stricter for our our kids to to um have to to do a lot more if they

192are having issues on their e-bike. Um so that's really what we are trying to intend to do here. And then in high school, we believe, you know, students need to get to and from either jobs, um all their activities, everything. That's why we we allow um a class one um class one that can go up to 20 mph. Class two, there are class twos, but you can modify it very easily. Most kids have to go faster to like 60 mph. And this is all data from the um this is data from the police departments um that they had um they had given us um they had an e-bike Newport Beach had an e-bike um training on this weekend, and they had 30 students. So I think that there was a person from the um audience

193that said, "We should do something like Irvine's doing where they make their parents come in and do training." Newport Beach does that now. Um so they have a policy where yes, they took 30 kids, they got citations, um and they had to attend a class on the weekend. So this weekend, they had a class. It was held at at Newport El. Um 30 of those students came with their parents, um and they were had to be able to get their e-bikes back, they had to attend those those sessions cuz they had their e-bikes taken as well. Um and then um additionally, kids could come and learn more about operating their e-bikes. About three kids came with illegal um bikes to that training session, so they were actually called um and confiscated the e-bikes, the police

194did, and called their parents. Um and then they will have to do a class as well on the weekends. So this is the policies that the uh that Newport Beach police has put in place um because they, you know, obviously once kids leave our um school district or schools, it's it's all the cities, it's all the police departments um standard. So we kind of heard you guys talking about kids need to get to their activities, and that's why in high school we allowed um some the e-bikes as class one. We we don't allow class three because those are e-motorcycles. We don't allow motorcycles at all on our campuses. Um it's a policy. We just don't. Um and then I think that there was some comments about bicycles and how why we don't have assumption of

195sorry, not bicycles, cars and assumption of risks, but when they when students bring their car on campus to be able to park on campus, we have to get their driver's license and their proof of insurance to be able to park their cars on campus. So, Carrie, if you want to go into a little bit more detail about what we allow on our high school campuses. Oh wait, sorry. Before just one point to add to trustee Wiggins, the comments on the under elementary and middle school the wording with the red for it also to change to um on school, I think. On instead of to on, just on. >> Yeah. So right here. Yeah, strike the word >> that in red and strike through it like that? The word to, take out to. Yeah, I just

196didn't want us to forget that. So you take it out both. There you go. Yes. So that it only says on school grounds. I knew that was coming, so I was pointing to I told her it's coming. Um while she's doing that um Can you find the other one? No, I did. I just couldn't find >> The strike through. Um right now our high school students, this is a long-standing practice, are assigned a parking space, they get a parking permit. Um and in order to get those on our high school campuses, they do need to show proof of insurance and they know need to have a valid California driver's license. And that's a standard practice at all of our high schools. Okay. And then and then can you go into a little bit more information

197on on why we decided to have the um the statement of acknowledgement of risk signed by the parents probably the beginning of the year if they are going to have their student ride a bike on campus or to campus, I should say. Yeah, this policy committee committee really wanted to basically be able to ensure that parents knew that their student was riding a bicycle to school and or um using an e-bike at the high school level. So this policy committee really had a desire to make sure that parents had awareness. Um when we were doing this kind of data mining, you know, in the last couple of months to bring all of this forward, we had spoken to our elementary partners, our principals, Gabe Del Real, Dr. Serr, we all were talking to schools and

198there were some families who had kids riding bikes who just they weren't aware. Little kids, littler kids, the young ones. And so it just became a conversation about maybe all parents need to lean into that and know that their children are riding a bike and or e-bike to school and so if they sign on the dotted line, they're assuming the risk and acknowledging the fact that they are owning that liability and and and risk for their child. So it really was coming from a place of safety and acknowledgement, making sure that parents knew that their kids were on you know, a bike. Yeah. >> Or an e-bike. Okay. Yeah, I think that that is and from what I hear, you know, I think that there's a lot of incidents that could occur with a student

199riding a bike to or from school and then the parents aren't aware of or you know, we've had unfortunately not at this district, but other districts where students are are either have something horrible happen to them on their way home from school or it's you know, kidnapping or molested or things like that that we don't want to have. It's happened at other districts and so we kind of looked at this policy of what's best practices. Um and I do know that Saddleback Valley has the same practice that they make their students Yes, we have 27 school districts in Orange County and they have varying levels of policy and practice. Only two school districts actually have active policy for bikes, the rest have best practice or it's in their student handbooks, things like that. So they

200have we call faux policy cuz if it's not a board policy, it's practice. Um and Saddleback is one of the more recent districts to take on a waiver risk rely and liability document. They're interested in making sure their families know their kids are riding these. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. And then I just have you know, a couple other comments, just wanted to um talk to the some of the folks that had comments today about you know, if there is a student that can't get to school by any other means and they need that e-bike and is there a bus? Is there a OCTA bus? Is there a school bus? How do we work with our parents when they can't get their child to school? Yeah, excellent question. We have worked with Jeff Dixon, myself, Shelly

201Humphreys, we've looked at all the routes. We've been looking at this since back in November to ensure that transportation for students would not be an issue and we confidently can stand here tonight and share that we do have enough seats on our buses to be able to transport students. Um so at that at this time that's still the the information that we have that we have enough seats, we have enough routes. Um and then for some of our older students, they continue to use the OCTA bus passes which is our free public transportation system. Okay. Got it and then um So and then there was a comment on you know, not talking not agendizing that um more appropriately. We this is our third meeting on e-bikes. We had a study session in December and then

202the one in March and then now and I just wanted to what are our policies on having to legally state what's on the agenda and then where do we go and and post to tell the parents all about a board meeting and what's on the agenda? Yes, so we have different ways that that is communicated and it's definitely of course on our website when we're going to have a board meeting that's pushed out, the agenda's live. Um I think what's what's unique about our district is that we have a board policy committee that's formed several members of the board who do this work and so we do that work, we bring it, we put it on an agenda. It is an agendized item, you've seen that, that was in February. That's a was a first

203read and then we come back and we're doing a second read and so while we post our agendas, there may be a place where maybe people aren't seeing that and they didn't realize that we've already done the study session and that we'd already had a first read and now we're back for a second read. You know, and if you vote tonight to approve it, it's going to be approved and if you tell us no, we need you to go back and make more revisions, there'll be a third revision, right? And a third approval. So um that's how we get the information out there. That's been our process is that we go ahead and we do agendize it, we provide feedback. In the past as is this board knows, there was a time where our board

204policy committee did a first and second and so when we brought it forward we waived the first and then we approved the second. We did not do that in this case. It's an important policy and the board policy committee wanted to ensure that we were going to make sure it was transparent to the public. Thank you. Um and then um a couple things on data. You know, I think we look at our data on um our crashes that we've had on our campuses and I think that you know I could tell you that we've one week we had about every day a comment or a some crash that required the ambulances to come and take our kids. These e-bikes and and so then I I looked into data on what is Chalk seeing and Chalk

205is seeing an increase in injuries of I mean over um over the last two years, their e-bike industry e-bike injuries have increased over like 200%. It's out of control. Just for one thing it was they last year they had 200 trauma activations last year, which means trauma is not just hey, I've got a broken bone. I've got you know, my front teeth got knocked out, anything like that. It's actual trauma where you're in the ICU. Um those are those are that's data that that is causing. I also we have data on um bicycles accidents within the city of Newport Beach and what caused them and it's speed because these bikes do go fast and most children are going over 20 miles per hour and when they stop really quickly, they throw themselves over the handlebars

206and that causes a lot of issues. We had a broken jaw the first beginning of this year with a parent with a student and the parent had to come and get them. Um and then they're taken by ambulance. So you know, we're not making these these decisions without talking to the schools, without talking to parents and dads, mothers and fathers. Um so we're not taking them lightly and we look at the data. Um data from the police, data from Chalk, data from our schools. Point of order, we can't communicate with the >> can't communicate with the audience during the meeting. Um but just to explain, we are making this out of data and a couple other points. OCC has a no e-bike policy just right across the street on their campuses, you're not allowed to

207ride an e-bike on their campus. Same with UCI and um same with San Diego State. So to me having that policy for kids that are younger than 18, they already have those policies at those universities. So, I think we should have that policy till at least till a kid is more mature into high school where they can they can ride ride a bike. So, those are mine. Thank you for the update from the policy committee. Does anyone else have comments? Um Trustee McCauley, anyone else have comments? Press your buttons. Um I just want Oh, are you calling on me? Um I know we have a group of parents here and you know, we listen to your comments, but and and you know, I take it in and I understand you know, where you're coming from.

208However, as a board member, you don't know that I've probably had 900 parents that have the opposite view and the relief of of what we are considering and they actually feel that um it's very brave of us and it's the right thing to do. I go to PTA meetings and I speak and I have not one parent that have told me they asked me questions and I give them the answers, but we have a huge amount of support across the board for this policy. You might not see it here at the meeting, but we see it in the the letters that we get, the um the we go and speak to the schools and I would say 99 out of 100 people support what we're doing. Any other Trustee comments? Trustee Anderson? I respectfully have

209to disagree. That's not what our emails have It may be different at certain school sites. I think that's how we are here. I think at certain school sites there are different situations happening. I know that things are very impacted at Ensign. I know it's very impacted around Newport Harbor, but it's not the same at every school site. Um and so respectfully, I disagree. That's not what we've been getting from emails. Um the emails that we have been getting are people who are concerned, who are for it, are concerned about city issues. So, when people are saying I'm concerned about the boardwalk in Newport, that's not our purview. I would love for the city of Newport to do more. I think they're starting to do some, but that's not our lane. And so, I when we

210when we're getting positive comments to do something that's not actually accurate, I I need to correct that. Um for me, one of the concerns that I have is that the cities are not aligned. So, um there is not currently, if you look on the city of Newport Beach website, there is not a safe route to school for every school in Newport Beach. That hasn't existed in the past. I think there's something that may be in the works, but I know the city of Costa Mesa has included four Newport schools in their half a million dollar grant to do safe routes to school because a lot of Costa Mesa residents were attending those schools. So, I'm I'm just concerned when we're we're making plans about things that really are the cities' role and the cities themselves

211are not aligned and on the same page and communicating well. Um so, I I continue to have a lot of concerns um about us and uh limiting access for our students. I think we heard from the student who shared um earlier. I I um am in agreement that I don't think that it is a great idea to have e-bikes for elementary, but our middle schools are very far away from where our residents live. So, for me, both TeWinkle and Ensign are the reason why they qualify for being possible to have a bus is because the distances are so far and both of them are twice the distance that we allow for middle school. And it's not just a straight flat. We're not in Copenhagen. They're not flat routes. So, the kids that are going from

212Westside Costa Mesa to TeWinkle are going up and down a hill that our athletic coaches had us run and called it Barf Hill two times a day. For recre- like to get to school. So, there's a there's a different mindset of this being something that's like, well, everyone is just, you know, riding on this lovely bike trail and it's flat and gorgeous and that's not really the case. Um I have a lot of concerns also about Ensign. Currently, there might be enough seats for buses, but the but there's three buses. I've looked quite multiple times. There's three buses that currently serve Westside Costa Mesa that go to and from Ensign. All three of them get out so early, a student could not participate in any extracurricular activities. They couldn't stay for tutoring. There are a

213lot of things that we have done. We've We've tried intentionally to provide services and resources at the school sites that will now be removed. So, when we're removing opportunity, when we're removing access for our students, that is hugely concerning to me. Um I think the student was very eloquent in sharing his perspective. Um you know, we have a policy that talks about parent rights and the other part of it is and a lot of us like to highlight, it's parents' rights and responsibilities. So, it is the right and the responsibility of a parent to help their child learn these rules and how to get to school safely. If their child is, you know, running around with five other kids and they're terrorizing people, that's not our They're not even on our They're not on our

214streets. They're not on our time. That is a parent issue. The family needs to work on how the student is operating and being a good neighbor and resident. Um for me, I it's not free for to take the bus. If you have two students, which a lot of our families have, if you have it's $360 for an annual bus pass for one student. A lot of parents don't qualify. The levels are quite demanding to be able to qualify for free buses. You also have to give your entire It's a dignity piece. Do you have to give your W-2s, your paychecks, your pay stubs, and everyone in your household's information to be able for your child to get to school. So, the just carting it over to like, well, everyone should just take buses to me

215is not helpful. Um so, I I'm in agreement that I don't think we should have them for elementary school, but particularly for our middle schools that are so far away from where parents live, I have a lot of concerns with that. Um and I I share some of the concerns about having a form. I think I just again, I would like the cities to really take the lead on this. I've been really impressed with the city of Costa Mesa and the efforts. I think getting half a million dollar grant and realizing that the old information was from the '90s was unacceptable for our safe routes to school. That's a problem. There's still not a safe route to school that gets to Ensign that's from the city of Newport. That's a problem. Like, those are some

216of the problems I would like to see addressed that I think are out of our purview and once the cities take their their role, I think um then maybe it's we can come alongside them, but I I I I think we're doing this prematurely. Thank you. Any other comments? Trustee Crane? Um I think Trustee Anderson pointed out a a very good point about the fact that we represent two cities and uh the I do want to correct her on the topography of Newport Beach versus Costa Mesa. We don't just have boardwalks. We have a lot of hills. Um take a ride on Jamboree. Uh go to Newport Coast. Uh we we have hills, too. So, but but what I keep hearing from my constituents cuz I do represent my community is that they do want

217to eliminate the risk of seven, eighth graders wanting to ride the their their e-bikes to school. And there are other ways to get to school versus just the OCTA. Um we have manual bikes. My for decades, uh kids have gotten to Ensign because it is a big ridership and always has been on manual bikes. There's also a wellness to this. The fact that on a manual bike, we are we are basically using a health element to also keep our kids in shape. So, whenever someone says, "Oh, you know, we're it's it's a it's a mode of transportation." Uh we we have used analog bikes for decades. And what we need to realize is the impact of a motorized bicycle is much exponentially greater than an impact on a manual bike. Okay, so I the board

218has been committed to safety. I've always been committed to safety, whether it's safety of our physical campuses where we're locking down front lobbies, creating gates, fences, etc., AI, you know, enhanced surveillance cameras. Well, there's also the the safety of the physical student as well. And I don't believe that the data shows that e-bikes are healthy for kids K to eight and and beyond. Now, I want to correct Trustee Waite again about the CHOC numbers. Um So, in 2019, as far as trauma uh being treated at trauma centers at CHOC through CHOC, 2019, seven cases. 2021, 13 cases. 2022, 39. 2023, less than 100. 2024, 116 to 125. 201 cases. This is These are sources that I can cite for you through the media that I found um and that's over 2000% increase in trauma cases

219at CHOC Hospital. The leading cities where these kids come from um Huntington Beach Newport Beach Irvine, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa. So both of our cities are in this statistic and that's not okay. Are we going to restrict kids from making it to school if we ban the bikes on our campuses? We're not saying we're not banning e-bikes. We're banning e-bikes used by K through 8 students on our campus. It's a little different. It's nuanced. And so I sit here a steward of safety for our kids. I really don't see how we can consciously allow kids who may not be as mature and I know there's a gentleman who did uh speak to the fact that um middle schoolers um don't necessarily have the best judgment all the time. I taught middle school. I I you

220know it it's we just don't give kids these motorized bicycles that are exponentially more dangerous than manual bikes. And um this is kind of where I stand. I do however would like to encourage our district, our staff to continuously educate maintain the programs that we have in place that our student services department has done and has done a great job because it is a partnership, because we care about our students just like we do drug awareness drug awareness or fitness awareness. Bike awareness is exactly the same. It fits in that same lane because we owe it to our students. And in my opinion, I don't want to lose a kid on my watch. Thank you. And Trustee Pearson. Yes, I I understand that this is um people have strong feelings about this and I respect

221that. Um but our responsibility as a board is to keep our students safe um and to keep our campuses to remain focused on learning. Um over the past several years, we have we have done the bike education. I personally have worked with the city council. I've personally sat with the police chief of Newport Beach. We have done everything we possibly can and we still have we are still calling ambulances every 5 days. Um to me that's telling us telling me that we're not doing enough. Are we telling parents what to do, families what to do outside of school? No. Our responsibility our responsibility is to set boundaries at our campuses to keep everybody safe. Um and that's what we're trying to do here today. I would rather be criticized today here right now than sit

222here months from now wishing we would have done more to save a life or to to help somebody hurt you know to hope that somebody wasn't injured. Um I do feel it's our responsibility to keep our schools safe to keep those kids safe. We have we just have had too many injuries. Um and again, if we're not telling parent we're not telling families and parents what to do outside of school. We're trying to keep our schools safe. And of colleges, I know a lot of these colleges haven't actually banned them but they're banning them from areas that are um that our people are walking and they're busy and that's what we're that's basically what we're doing. Um we have a couple more I want to make my comments um in here um before we get

223back to Trustee Crane has her hand up again. >> Uh-huh. Um so so a couple things um policies are complicated and messy and this one for me, I don't want us to lose sight of what made me first want this to happen. I first wanted it to happen to ban e-bikes for K through 8. That's all. This new iteration of the policy has a couple additional elements that I'm not comfortable with. Um this assumption of risk agreement waiver for bicycles, we don't make people kids can get abducted walking to school, biking to school, skateboarding to school, roller skating to school. So I find it bizarre that we would ask for an assumption of risk agreement for anyone wanting to bike to our campuses. That is like Billy gets a bike for Christmas and then oh,

224I can't bring my bike on Tuesday because I don't have this waiver in place. It just doesn't make sense to me because you let your 8-year-old kid walk to school, you can let them bike to school. You can as a parent decide how they transport themselves to school and if we're not going to ask a waiver of everybody of every child that can walk or roller skate or bike then it seems odd to put an additional barrier to entry to this form of physical activity um for children. So that to me the waiver is just I don't see it as necessary. I see that you need car insurance if you have a car but the way these e-bikes were rolled out and bicycles rolled out, there's no insurance for those. So that's really not on

225us as a school district to make a faux insurance policy. Um so for me I'm really not comfortable with this assumption of risk agreement. I would just think that it could be removed and we still don't lose the intent of what we wanted when we started which is no e-bikes for K through 8. And the second element that I'm no longer comfortable with um is the ban on the twos and threes for high school. So again, like I said last time, high school high school's high school. I I won't let my daughter get an e-bike. She's in high school. But the fact is kids to me it's an equity issue of the kids that need to get to work that are in high school that have legitimate jobs. They're 16, they're 17. If they save

226their money and they're 17 years old and they can't afford a car, a Toyota, an Audi, whatever kind. I got in trouble last time for the car I quoted. So I'm going to use any kind of car, whatever you want, Prius, I don't know. So if they can't afford a car and they can afford a level three bike to get themselves to work, I don't see because they're only allowed for 16 and up. You can't get a level three class three bike if you're 14. But if you are 16 and that's the way that you want to get to work after school so be it. Like if you can drive a car, you can drive a bike with a motor. I don't like it. I wouldn't let my kid do it but I really have

227a hard time how we would manage and enforce and just the equity surrounding why someone why would we be okay with a kid driving a car and not driving a motorized bicycle if they're the same age? To me that's like a very tenuous equity situation. So I am 110% okay with banning the e-bikes for K through 8 but I'm not okay with these restrictions on the high school and with this waiver for every assumption of risk agreement for So can we strike can we strike that? Um so those are those are my two big concerns before we go back to Trustee Crane had your hand and the student representative. Yep. Okay. Um I'm I'm with you with the assignment of risk. I I I don't think we need that. That's fine. I I if we

228can amend that, we can strike that. I'm I'm good with that. If I could ask Trustees I I've heard that you want to strike that. Is that correct? Okay. Yes. All right. I just wanted to make sure I caught everybody's eyes. I think we can make that modification when we uh whoever makes the motion, right? They can say >> Yeah, I'm just going to have her adjust it. Okay. Can you strike that in red for me each of those? I but I did I I would did want to um add one element to my my thinking here and why I'm voting for the K8. Uh we um I attended I attended a um an event called Speak Up Newport um last week and I got to hear um a an attorney speak. And it was

229the case of a 15-year-old who was on a an e-bike who went over a grass knoll and hit a couple that was on the other side because he didn't he didn't see the couple. The gentleman um struggled for 10 10 days and passed away. What ended up happening as a result of that and it wasn't in Orange County. I think it may have been I'm not going to I'm not sure but it was in California Southern California. What resulted is um the fact that this this boy now this boy um has to live with his decision but we're yeah and also in addition to that his family is now liable. And the lawsuit with with the lawsuit that is has ensued, they are losing their home his college fund and beyond. And so there's an

230element to parenting where you we need to be aware of the fact that if this were your child and this happened to you to your family, would you be willing would you be able to live with yourself? I know it's a parent's right question where you can do whatever you want with your children, give them whatever you want. But please consider that element when it comes to the use of e-bikes with the the youth because it is a very relevant and existential um liability on top of everything else. And next we have student board member. Thank you. I just want to preface this by saying I'm not an expert on e-bike safety. I haven't done nearly as extensive research on it as I know many of you all have. And so, I just wanted to

231say that there's clearly, I think, pros and cons and data on both sides of the argument. And from what I've seen as a district and through my time as a student board member, we are definitely data-driven and we put that at the forefront of most of the decisions that are made up here. And so, if this um board policy ends up being approved, I just think it might be important or helpful to monitor the data. This is clearly something that is very impactful to the community both to parents that might end up having to take their children on cars or buy them a bus pass. And I know we're very concerned on student safety. I think these are all things that maybe we should consider measuring and revisiting at a later date. I don't know

232if that is something that's common practice with the policies that we pass, but I think with something as controversial and impactful as this, it could be important and worthwhile to do something like that. Okay. Second, Trustee Wagon. So, I have a question. Um So, if the we allow class two and threes and class three is ridden by a kid that's 14 or 15, how are we going to distinguish that at on the campus? Because you need a license for class three. 16 and and above. So, you can't. That would be it's going to be a challenge regardless because we are going to assume that somebody who um is bringing a class three on the campus would have a license and would be 16. Just like I would if I pull into the Newport Harbor parking

233lot and I see a car that's in the student lot, I assume that that student has a license and insurance and has followed the protocol, right? Um we would require as part of this program and we have for years for students to get a sticker. A sticker for their car or a sticker for their bike. So, that's been a long-standing practice. So, the only thing we would be able to do is notice that a bike is on campus without a sticker would potentially lead us to find that student and say, "Turn in your license or show us that you have proof that you can drive this." And if they either do or don't, but that's our typical process right now. Yeah. So, my concern with with class three is that one, you do have to

234have a license, but two, I've seen through the police department how they get modified and they can go over like 100 mph and that was one of the bikes that they brought to It was a yeah, an e-moto, but it was there was also another bike that they brought to the training on Saturday that they pulled it up and then they took it you can see actually how fast it's going on the back on the bottom. And so, and they said that they could get it up to about that fast. So, I mean, I think that's where my concern is that if we can put something maybe in the AR about the class three being um you know, like if it'll get confiscated, right? If they don't have a license. Um so, And that's all

235um open for discussion cuz um as part of our process, once a board policy is approved, um an AR is generated to go with it, which is basically how we operationalize our board policies. And that's something that we could talk about. You know, in terms of confiscation, we'd have to look at what we would What does that really mean? What would we do with the bike? We'd need to work with um both police departments. We'd need to think through that. But hearing the spirit of what you're trying to achieve would be allowing a class three, but knowing that if there wasn't that sticker, that we would um look for that student and address that somehow and we'd have to determine what that would be. Right. I I don't want to create and I understand what

236you're saying, Leah, but um like a policy that it's going to be very hard as they're like zooming by to say, "Okay, this, this, this." And I get it. Um I just yeah, I I just want to make sure that, you know, the the intent of the policy is to keep our kids safe. And so, I just want to make sure that you know, that we're you know, that that we are our ones there's laws around how fast that the kid can go and what bike that they can ride at certain age. So, I want to be make sure that we're adhering also to laws about that as well. So, And I think in our language, right? Can't we say like class three, which is only legal for 16-year-olds and above and letting parents know

237that. Parents shouldn't run around buying their 11-year-old a class three. Like it's just but we again can't control what those parents do, but we can educate them that, "Hey, class threes are only if you're 16. Don't go buy your freshman one." And we can clarify that if the board's desire is to include, you know, to allow class threes, um we can include that in our student handbook under the auto section where we place the information for cars. Um and we can put it there cuz that would be a requirement to, you know, make sure that students are noticed or families are noticed that their student should be 16 years old and have a license. So, today though, we don't allow class threes on campus, right? Well, right now we don't have motorcycles on our campus.

238So, um there is no policy around class threes. That's why we're here today cuz you you know, we're groundbreaking here. Whatever we're talking about this evening and approving is is is new. Um that's why we don't even have a CSBA number for the policy cuz this is a new you know, new policy moving forward. So, to be clear, right now, we don't have anything written down that says no class three cuz we also don't have anything that says no class one, two, or three. What we do have as a practice at our high schools is no motorcycles. Um I interviewed all of the long-standing assistant principals at all of our high schools to go back in policy and look at that. And all of them have said it's been decades before they've seen a motorcycle

239or student even try to bring one on campus because it's part of our practice. Not listed in board policy, but current practice at our high schools. Um So, next we have Trustee Anderson, then Trustee McElroy, then Murphy. Which is where to me, I think, that's where this should live. Similarly to motorcycles, which we don't have a policy against and haven't for 20 years, to me, it makes more sense like I think we talked about this more at the past meeting, but maybe it needs to be said again. The infrastructure is currently not in place for both cities. We're starting to see a lot more in Costa Mesa. We're starting to see a few streets in Newport that have adequate bike lanes, particularly around school sites, but it's not there yet. And so, it's similar to

240what we've seen in the past where we were blaming students because they weren't reading at high enough levels. Like there's not enough bike space around some of our schools that is safe for them to be riding their bikes and we're blaming them for the problem. So, for me, again, it's an infrastructure issue. I think yes, we all want to protect students. I want to protect students, but I to me, it's the enforcement piece, too. Like this this is supposedly for fall. Well, what about tomorrow? Tomorrow, do we know that Newport PD and Costa Mesa PD are going to be out monitoring if bikes are going too fast and if there's two kids on a bike and no one's wearing their helmets. Like we're all concerned about the safety, but like there's there's there's other pieces

241to this that I think like we want there to be an easy fix and this isn't it, unfortunately, to me. I would much rather see it be a practice that you can't you can't continue to have motorcycles. We could not having elementary students. And there's much more of a heavy robust partnership with the school district and with parents and with PD of both cities and that the students are all trained. So, like if we currently have Costa Mesa High School is being trained by Huntington PD, but Estancia kids are being trained by Costa Mesa PD, but then Ensign like what we have in place right now was the first baby steps towards process like progress. That those were good. However, like we're trying to solve something that's really not the second they step on the

242sidewalk, it's not ours. It's not our school district. We even see that with all of our school sites. If you're on the sidewalk, you're on public property. You're not on school district property. So, I just I know the intent. I I think that everyone has good intentions. I just that if we are not doing the enforcement, if we're not working more closely with enforcement and infrastructure, the infrastructure needs to be in place. Thank you. So, Trustee Murphy had her light on, but she has gone to the restroom. So, Did you Oh, did I Did I turn it off? Did I say it? So, yeah. Okay. Um so, Trustee Murphy ran to the restroom. Um but maybe one consideration until she gets back could be around students in grade nine through 12 could possess or operate

243an e-bike on campus. Um and then that still leaves that the motorcycles, you know, out and and those things. So, um can operate an e-bike on campus? Is that what I heard? Possess or Possess or operate. Well, I I Can Can I have a point of order on the operation one? Is just well, you know, to be conscious of what happened at El Toro High School where they were operating the e-bike on campus and then hit someone. So, it's something like you can bring it on campus, but you can't ride it on campus. Yeah. Like get it to get it to the campus and park it, but not >> No riding on campus. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. What? We're getting there. Possess, but not operate. Yeah. Possess For high school, you want possess, but not

244operate. Okay. Because we don't want people rolling around the high school campus. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. But they can get to the high school campus. There you go. So, strike that through. Thank you. Um Do all of our schools though have a bike storage area that's like on the corner of campus? Everyone's not innocent. Uh no, we're um actively working on that. Jeff Dixon and I have walked all the sites. Um we have plans. So, correct, we don't all have it at this very moment. Um however, we have made some modifications to um Corona del Mar most recently. We have plans to look at um to actually do work at Estancia High School. Um our biggest challenge will always be Newport Harbor. Uh how although Dr. Bolton and um and Jeff Dixon and I

245have walked the site and we do have a location where we'll be placing those bikes and doing some construction to be able to create bike racks there to accommodate them. Sorry to interrupt, but we always tell our students to walk their bikes on campus anyways, so that's the policy. >> But But in terms of storage, I think Trustee Anderson was referring to storage and so um we recognize that and so we are actively pursuing um being able to do that at all of our sites. And now Trustee Murphy. Be- Before we move on, I I I think the the recommendation, just so we have it reflected, is possess an e-bike on campus. And that's stricken. I don't believe that was stricken as a potential edit. Okay. Does that read right correctly? >> Yeah. Mhm. But

246And then >> But it was yeah, just all e-bikes, not the class two and three. And then we're going to take out that whole sentence. >> Yes. Yeah. But but up to No, no, no, but not the whole thing. Yeah, the e-motos and all the other devices, etc. Like those are still not okay. No e-motos, but yes. Go ahead, you can say that. >> Yes, e-bikes. I have a question. Should it be possessed but not operate on campus or just possess on campus? What was the wording we were going for? Just possess. Yeah. I mean, we could clarify that not not operate. Um Yeah, if that if that would help clarify it for folks. Possess but not not operate an e-bike. Yeah. >> Okay. Um Trustee Murphy. Oh, I just was going to say um

247I hear all the angst um with everyone. Um and I still feel the same way as I did as I did last time. Um I I have the the visual in my head of the uh of the student who shows up at um Mesa on he's riding the bike and he's got the kid on the handlebars and he's got the kid behind him and there's three of them getting to school on one e-bike and I think one of them is wearing a helmet. And then um and then I certainly have I can't get out of my head either the thought of the mom the Westside Costa Mesa mom who's trying to uh get to her job and her son get to his job and her kid get to her other kid get to daycare and

248her other kid get to whatever else they're trying to get to and how an e-bike to one of the speakers' points is sort of um saved her life, if you will, if created so many more opportunities for her to be able to address her needs for her family in a way that's um easier and um and allows her to manage all of the things that she has to take care of in a way that she can. So, um and I keep thinking about that poor mom and what's going to happen to her when um fall rolls around and then she doesn't have this tool at her disposal anymore to be able to manage her life. Um and I can't I don't know what to do with that um when I put that next to the

249kid who still will ride to Mesa with his buddy on the back and the one on the handlebars. And yes, it if a car comes anywhere near them, they will probably all die. So, um So, I just uh I just don't know what to do. Um My husband's yelling at me. My friends have yelled at me. Um My colleagues have yelled at me. So, uh but anyways, all that aside, um I just wanted to point out to to everyone because I do hear our audience members and I certainly hear my friends and I certainly hear my colleagues and um and parents. Um but just just so everyone knows, the state legislature is looking into this again and just a quick Google search and it could be AI and so I I could be wrong. I

250could be wrong. But AI did say that the legislature is considering one proposing that class two and class three bikes be registered with the DMV and display special license plates. So, that could make things a lot easier for all of us. Um It will Well, it could happen. Um they are aiming to tighten regulations on electric mopeds and high-speed e-motos clarifying that vehicles exceeding 750 watts with easily modified to higher speeds are not legally electric bicycles. So, that would also help us cuz then they would all be e-motos and they would definitely be banned. Um proposing restricting riders under 16 from operating e-bikes with motors capable of over 250 watts of continuous power. Um Think that would help us, though I think then we'd have to figure out how we would know whether it was

251250 watts or not and whether we'd regulate that. Um aims to mandate one aims to mandate integrated lights, speedometers for new e-bikes, that will help. Deals with restrictions on youth and e-bikes. Um and then there's one the San Mateo pilot program which proposed to authorize local jurisdictions to restrict children from under age 12 from operating class one or two e-bikes, which would solve all of our problems cuz then almost all of our problems. So, anyways, um that's that's my thoughts on that. But thank you. Thank you for all of your work on this. Dr. Torres, I know I know how much um how hard this has been for for you and your team to put this all together and I appreciate that. And Trustee Crane and Trustee Wagon, did you have your sticker? I was

252just going to point out that this this our policies are living documents. They can be changed, modified. And to Jeremy's point, um we if we were to pass it, we're going to we're going to monitor it and then we can adjust if this board feels the need that we need to do so. Yeah. So, please remember that. Mhm. Um and taking my colleagues' um suggestions at heart, um with the intent of this policy was, you know, to keep our kids safe. Um in the high school section, if we want to change um to class one through three, one, two, and three, it may may be prohibited. Um if we can change that and then I I like to call for the vote. Got Okay. We did You did make the change. Sorry, I can't see

253from that Uh high school students only operate. Okay. So, you took out that restriction. Okay. Um so, I would like to call for the vote um with the amended policy uh uh as this policy will be amended as is up here. And um and it will go into effect in the new school year of 2026-2027. Um is there a second? I second. And Trustee Pearson and a roll call vote. Student board member, Jeremy Law. No. Trustee Arsoilo. Yes. Trustee Murphy. This sucks so bad. Yep. Trustee Pearson. >> Yes. Trustee McElroy. >> Yes. Trustee Anderson. No. Trustee Crane. Yes. Trustee Wagon. Yes. Okay. There we go. Thank you. >> Thank you. The vote is 6 to 1 Well, 6 to 2 with the student board member. Um And now we move on to item 22. Is

254the uh 22A adoption resolution 130426 recognizing California Day of the Teacher on May 13th, 2026 and National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4th through 8th. So, most Good evening. It is truly meaningful to bring forward this resolution recognizing National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4th through the 8th, and California Day of the Teacher on May 13th, 2026. In Newport Mesa, we speak often about ensuring every student feels seen, heard, supported, and safe. And it happens because of our teachers through the small, consistent, and intentional actions each day. But we celebrate the character, accomplishments, and talents of our students, as we saw earlier this evening, what stands out just as much as what students consistently share about their school experiences and which many adults do as well. And time and time again, it comes back to a teacher.

255Someone who made them feel connected and valued and provided a quality learning environment where But were challenged to continuously grow. So tonight we thank our teachers for their dedication and care. This resolution is a small but meaningful way to recognize the difference they make in the lives of our students and in our community. We are honored to bring this resolution forward to you. I would like to adopt resolution 130426 recognizing California Day of the Teacher on May 13th and National Teacher Appreciation Week May 4th through the 8th, 2026. Is there a second? I'll second it. I'll second. Who's the first second? Pearson. Okay. Um roll call vote. Trustee Soylu. Yes. Trustee Murphy. Yes. Trustee Pearson. Yes. Trustee McElroy. Yes. Trustee Anderson. Yes. Trustee Crane. Yes. Trustee Waite. Yes. And with that we have the superintendent's

256report. So I had a chance to listen to a world-renowned neuropsychologist recently and they talked about a lot of the terms. Certainly neurotypical, neurodivergent, those things matter. But what they pointed out is that we're all neurovariable, that we're all different, that brains are different. And what they what they pointed out was and that all brains respond to this feeling of belonging and that we in schools should be promoting that above all else. I want to compliment this board for their efforts and for staff for for realizing that direction set by the board. Was able to attend unified lunch at CDM. It was powerful to see all students participating in activities, enjoying lunch together, and then unified sports with those students out there participating. In this one it was Estancia and CDM. All students celebrating, participating.

257The fans are going wild. And then Battle of the Books. Only some of our schools used to be able to participate in that. This year at the direction of the board and because staff got after it and pulled it off in a short amount of time, every school participated. And we had schools from Costa Mesa and Newport Beach win the Battle of the Books. Schools where students never participated before had two teams in the finals. And if you look at the photo of the race students holding that trophy over their head, it screams it screams we belong. We belong. That's powerful. You did that. Staff did that. We're headed in the right direction. Very thank you and now board member comments. We'll start down with Trustee Waite. Um just want to say I went to

258Coastline ROP meeting last week where there was amazing presentation about this mental health class. Um Rachel was there. But I I I don't see her in the audience. But it was a class that I would love for us to just offer to all of our kids, particularly maybe in the middle school where it's very very tough times, right? And it was so impactful and it's an after bell class. So it's a class that you know deals with mental health health, how to be a peer assistant, how to get certified as a peer assistant as well. Um and I going to bring some information to you guys more about it because I just thought it was such an great opportunity. But very very happy for those things that we have that we offer our students to

259Coastline ROP that maybe we can bring into our into our fold as well. And and Rachel in CTE I'm sorry I can't pronounce your last name cuz it's like 18 letters. Um Flop Flop and I don't even want to try. Yes. But she did a great job and and also she was talking to me about and I don't know if if someone here was there, but they had Adams had this career fair in the morning and I thought it was so um uh so it was just such a great opportunity for students at a in the elementary school to have a career fair basically that I've never seen at another elementary school. So that I thought was a great idea. I would love to see that come through um our schools as well. But kudos

260to the Adams principal for for making that happen and for our CTE group. Thank you. Actually to piggyback on that whole career technical education, I was a panelist for the Eastbluff Elementary Shark Tank competition. And it was wonderful seeing again young entrepreneurs coming up with these great ideas. And the coolest thing is that out of the six finalists, three of them three of the products that they came up with were about the environment and cleaning up the environment. So that's we're raising some some very um global citizen, wonderful global citizens. Oh, attended the the art showcase for middle school all the way to 12th 7 to 12th for the whole district. Impressive, amazing. We are we have such gifted students in our district and it was throughout the whole visual arts. So it was like

261you know from ceramics to um watercolor to um uh animation. It was it was amazing. So kudos to our student art students um and also those who are going on to state to the state level. Congratulations. And to in a seat. Oh, and Trustee Pearson I attended the superintendent's student advisory council which is a favorite of mine because we get to hear the student voices. And it's very interesting to realize that they all again as I mentioned earlier, it was all about connect connectedness and and how it relates to also mental mental uh wellness. And student board member Jeremy or talked about the need for a space at Early College High School. And sure enough what we did is we connected uh Dr. Shaka with the Patrick's Purpose Foundation and they're going to um jump

262in and partner with us in in developing a couple of campuses wellness space. So there you go, Jeremy. That's it for now. Um that seemed to be the theme that a lot of people have been sharing and I just I think we have a very diverse district and the experiences across our district are very different. So when people in my neighborhood have a a parent that got taken at one of our bus stops, that student is not going to be riding that bus. So there's a different reality that's happening to some of our students this week, this month, this entire year. And so as we we have that not just as like a logo to put on things, that all of our students feel seen, heard, and supported. That looks different on different campuses. We

263have other students who human trafficking is really prevalent on some of our like there's just a lot of other pieces. So I think I'm glad that we today I think disagreed agreeably, thankfully. Um but I just think I want us to remember as a community that the experiences across our our two cities are very different and what is the experience of our students can be very different. Um and so I think everyone wants the best for the areas that they represent and they're trying to support those and I just I want us to continue to be really cognizant of that and respectful of that. Thank you. Um I would like to say I think the favorite thing I did this month was the art the art show. So you talked about that, but it was

264great. No, I want to talk about something else. Um I want to thank our district and all the um the hard work that you guys put in, but tonight I really want to recognize Carrie Torres. Not for all the hard work on the e-bike situation, but on something else. Um a week ago I got a phone call from a very distraught mom and um and uh I relayed this mother's message to Carrie immediately and Carrie called her I think I don't know within 20 minutes. Um handled the situation with kindness and I mean she puts children first. And got made sure that this student had options and she he ended she ended up suggesting that they the student do independent study. And within 24 hours this child was at a new school. He his mother

265said that in the first 20 minutes she had a shoulder to lean on and she felt that for the first time ever she could like she couldn't believe that she was talking to an superintendent at the school and you know solving her problem within 24 hours. And so I just want to give kudos to everybody on board, this whole board, everybody who who does such a great job. And I want to give kudos to Monaview school and the principal there and one of the teachers. I don't know the teacher's name, but it was a really like huge success story and to know that we have options like that in our in our school district is is amazing. And Carrie put that school together five years ago, the independent study school. Um so you know, I

266it was all new to me, but it was just amazing. And And West, you helped out too. I immediately reached out to you. So Um but Carrie But Carrie did a little bit of work. But Carrie really was a superstar on that one. So that's that's what I wanted to say. Thanks. Um gosh, this month I feel like I got to see our students succeed in so many things starting with your son in the Footloose the Footloose play with it just made me smile from It was just amazing. Costa Mesa High School Drama then to Big Fish at CDM. To Battle of the Bays, to the Newport Harbor Culinary. I've never been to that. It's a food fest. It's like one of the most one of my favorite events I've ever been to. And Battle

267of the Books, your staff just didn't put it together. They just They knocked it out of the park. I mean I This is something we have all fought for for our band students and wow, I mean they were all in costume. They were I mean you did this better than any any to to beat our PTAs, you know, and how many balloons they have and everything. I mean there was even on the bathrooms they had, you know, it was for knights and for It was a I took pictures of the bathrooms. I mean that's how great it was. It was fantastic. I love that. I love that stuff. So, that was fantastic. And back to the the student advisory meeting which the superintendent student advisory thing, what I got out of that was what a

268Monta Vista boy mentioned that he wanted a wellness center on his on his campus. And Dr. Shaka within seconds looked at him and said, "I already have two spots that I can that we can do it at." And if you would have seen that boy's smile on his face. I mean it's that's something I you know, I just keep thinking about. I mean his smile was saying, "Oh my god, they're listening to me." And then, "Oh my gosh, I'm so proud of myself. I just you know, made such a big difference at my school." So, that So, thank you West for doing that and letting us listen to the students and and hear what's important to them. I just real quick we'll just thank Christie Flores again for math tutoring at College Park. I just

269cannot cannot thank you enough. So, um for pulling that off so quickly. We had a couple of parents who really who'd been asking us and I wasn't we weren't sure that that could be done so quickly and you did and you're a miracle worker and thank you so much. Thank you to everyone who made that happen and and as a pilot program I'm so excited about that as an idea that we could possibly have that at all of our other elementary schools and you know, one of the things about Costa Mesa that's so exciting is there's all these new bike lanes. And so, our Costa Mesa here and our past seniors and junior seniors they could ride their bikes to Paularino and Sonora and College Park and they could go tutor tutor away. So, that'll

270be really great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you you guys. Appreciate that. And I just want to remind everybody that there are summer 2026 dual enrollment courses that our students can do our high school students can do for free through partnerships with OCC and Coastline and things. And so, those of you that want your your high schooler to get a jump start on their path to college career and beyond as the flyer says, take a check check out these. There's a lot of good options. So, starting to plan for summer and starting to plan for how they're going to transport themselves around town this summer. But thank you everyone for such a great discussion tonight. I think it was one of our more contentious yet civil discussions in a while and so I'm super proud

271of everyone and I think we we got the job done. And at this 9:54 far past my bedtime we are adjourned.