10/21/2025 - NMUSD Regular Board of Education Meeting

001All right, I'm going to call the meeting to order at 4:30. Um, roll call vote. Sam. Trusty Wagan here. Trusty Soilu. Trusty Murphy. Trusty Pearson >> here. Trusty Anderson. >> Trusty Mroy >> here. >> Trusty Crane >> here. >> Dr. Smith >> here. >> Okay. Adoption of the agenda. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trustee Pearson. Roll call vote. >> Trusty Wagan. >> Yes. Trusty Soilu. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Trusty Pearson. Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane. >> Yes. All right. Moving on to community. Oh, the V Oh, >> vote was 4 Z. Uh community input on close session items. Um do we have any? Seeing none, we will move into close session. The items are conference with

002real property negotiator um b uh liability claims workers compensation. C, conference with labor negotiator, and D, public employee discipline dismissal release. We will return to open session at 6 pm. I'm going to call the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Um, and opening ceremonies and pledge of allegiance led by our student board member, Kenley Lopez. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge algiance 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. All right. Uh, adoption of the minutes from um 9:16 25. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trusty Pearson. Roll call vote. >> Trusty Wagan. >> Yes. >> Trusty Soilu. >>

003Trusty Murphy. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. Trusty Mroy, >> yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. >> All right. Motion was 40. Um, now moving on to the student board member reports. Um, the topic today was how do students perceive the mental health and wellness support available at their schools and what suggestions do they have for improving these services? Um I'm going to first go to our student board member on the dis uh Kenley Lopez from um Monte Vista High School. >> Good evening Superintendent Smith, President Wagan and Steam board members. My name is Kenley Lopez and I'm speaking on behalf of Kos Mesa High School. For this meeting's topic, I had the opportunity to speak with a variety of students and gathering prior information. First, I would like to begin by highlighting

004the positive impact that the wellness and mental health spaces are having in our school community. As one student shared, they share advice that makes you feel better about yourself and help you face any problem that you might have with a positive attitude. Additionally, I feel safe and comfortable since I can speak my language parenthesis Spanish and I can communicate without any issue. Other students mentioned that they love how these spaces are organized as they provide an inclusive environment and have great staff members as well. The students also suggested that our schools should improve communication when it comes to sharing information about these services and try to make them more interactive and educational. Personally, as a student who has used these services, I can say that I truly appreciated the way I was treated and the

005personal growth advice I received during a difficult time. Wellness and mental health spaces can be found in any place such as the counseling office or the school community facilitators office. This is why we should be grateful for the dedication and commitment these staff members show toward their students. Thank you. >> Thank you. And sorry I misspoke. You're from Costa Mesa. Sorry about that, Kenley. But great great report. Um next up we have McKenzie Bon from CDM High School. Good evening, Superintendent Smith, Board President Wian, and estee board members in the Newport Mesa Unified Community. My name is Mackenzie Boan, and I want to thank you for allowing me to speak on behalf of Kronad Delmare High School. At CDM, we offer a multitude of me mental health and wellness supports, most notably our newest addition

006of the Kings Cove. This space is staffed full-time to help students with school, social life, and mental health. The wellness space offers counseling, stress relief, fidgets, and a calm environment to take a break at school. Students are welcome to visit the wellness space during class if they feel overwhelmed, and the space is open at any time. Our wellness committee in ASB hosts events in the Kings Cove such as yoga classes to promote the space and highlight the services that they provide. We also host finals fiesta the Sunday before finals from 5:00 to 7:00 where teachers open up their classrooms for study sessions and office hours. We provide Elronito for every classroom, hence the name finals fiesta. It's a great way for students to get extra help from teachers and study groups. We offer school psychologists

007on campus for counseling and support and our academic counselors are also available to talk to us when they need. The district also need also contracts with us with outside organizations to bring in specialized supports for students. Lastly, our parent groups also contribute support to our students. The PTA recently had a round table of mental health professionals to speak to the parents in the community to help them connect with their student and understand the academic and social demands for today's teenagers. In addition, the PTA has brought therapy dogs on campus, usually the week before finals, to relieve stress and provide support for busy CDM students. Some aspects that we want to improve is visibility for these services. We're finding new ways to advertise and make known that they are available to them. We want to encourage

008students to utilize these services on campus so that they can manage their stress, their stress and workload better. Thank you. Thank you. I love the therapy dogs. That's great. >> Next up, we have Charlie Leit. Sorry if I mispronounced your your name. from Monav Vista High School. >> You said my last name perfectly, by the way. Thank you. >> Great. >> Uh, good good evening, Superintendent Smith, board president Wagand, board members, and members of the Newport Mesa Unified Community. My name is Charlie Leverett. I am a student board representative for Montav Vista. And the topic I was asked to address tonight is how do students perceive the mental health and wellness support available at Monte Vista and what suggestions do they have for improving these services? According to the most recent California Healthy Kids survey,

00966% of Monavista students report feeling school connectedness. 79% report interacting with caring adults and 90% report knowing teachers have high expectations. All Montav Vista students have access to well wellness resources including turning point counseling careless counseling social emotional support from our school counselor, school community facilitator, school worker and school psychologist. Quarterly PBIS award ceremony recognizing students for their CLIMB values of collaboration, leadership, integrity, motivation and belonging. structured flexibility in our courses as well as individual onboard meetings to be able to differentiate support for all students. And we also offer positive student activities to promote culture and climate such as the harvest festival, holiday craft festival, spirit week, and other activities. Students have reported that they would like a wellness space at Monte Vista to regroup and have a trusted adult to speak to as needed.

010Students report that they feel connected and supported by their teachers at Monav Vista because of the individual instructional meetings they have on a weekly basis. Thank you for allowing me to share about Monav Vista tonight at tonight's board meeting. >> Great. Thank you so much, Charlie. >> Wonderful. Now on to number 11 Harbor Council PTA report. Martha Floor. Good evening, President Wagand, Trusty Pearson, Trusty Maloy, and Trustee Crane and community members and superintendent and cabinet. My name is Martha Flur and I'm the PTA Harbor Council PTA president and on behalf of Harbor Council, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the ongoing support of our mission and collaborative work with our schools. Our volunteers devote uh significant time and effort to ensure every student has a voice and is is acknowledged and every

011family feels welcome. We remain steadfast in advocating for programs and policies that benefit our diver for diverse community. We held our second meeting of the month um on October 6. Thank you Dr. Torres and her team and Annette Franco for delving into the issue on our many uh our many communities are facing daily. ebikes and our student safety. It generated a lot of discussion and our PTA units are ready and willing to partner with our schools, police departments, and the district to propose and educate our parents and community members and the dis um on ebike safety. We do not want to hear about another one of our students dying because of ebikes or violence. We think four is enough. Annette. Um, again, Annette has always and continues to inform us about Parent Square and its

012expansion across all districts, all schools in the district, and most are quite pleased. Secondary, it's a little getting used to, but they're all getting used. They're all doing it. Harbor Council and its 28 units remain dedicated to strengthening connections between our parents, teachers, and administrators. Our our focus continues to be on building robust partnerships to enhance student achievement and well-being and ensuring that every student has access to the necessary resources and opportunities through our ongoing collaboration and open communication. We seek to um create a supportive environment for all members of our school community. We are proud of our PTA members. They have embraced the California PTA membership challenges for 2025 and together we make a difference across uh California. I have uh printed copies for each of you. The first challenge was we plan together

013and was due by September 30th. Several of our PTAs submitted their themes and goals for the year and these units will be recognized on the CAPTA uh social media. The second challenge was together we grow fast and once again again our our unit stepped up promoting PTA memberships and reaching over 100 members by October 8th. 18 out of our 28 PTA units achieve this this challenge. We are now on our third capa challenge. Together we launch and every member counts. This challenge is to have at least 30 members by October 30th. I am so proud to say that all of our units, all 28 units have met the 30 member mark. Many of our Westside schools would love to have you join their PTAs. However, as well as our smallest unit, Backbay High School, our

014Harbor Council PTA now has 4,355 members. We are at 75% of our goal of 5,800 members. This is a 5% increase in membership over last year's membership. California, Kronad Delmare, Costa Mesa Middle and High School, Early College High School, and Killybrook, Newport L, and Newport Heights have exceeded their membership from last year with Corona Delmare leading the mark with a whopping members as of October 16th. That's a 92 member over last year's count. On our advocacy front, two of the bills I spoke to you about last month, AB uh 49 and AB98, Senate Bill 98, have been signed into law. AB49, the California Safe Haven Schools and Child Care Act, author authored by Senator Mirituchi, protects immigrant children from actions by US immigration and enforcement uh customs enforcement ICE officers who enter school sites or

015child care facilities. SB98 the safe act is elementary and its official title is elementary secondary and postsecary uh education immigration enforcement notification by senators Sasha Renee Perez will require school districts California state university um California community college districts and each Cal Grant qualifying institution of higher education as well as uh request the University of California to ensure A notification is issued to all students, faculty, and other campus community members when the presence of federal immigration enforcement is confirmed on campus. These UNI uni notifications must include the date, time, and location of the enforcement on campus as well as a link to additional resources for students and campus community members. I know this is going to be rather difficult, but our district, I know, will step up to the challenge. On November 4th, there will be

016a special election. Proposition 50 would redraw redraw congressional district lines. It's the only item on the ballot. California PTA and as well as Harbor Council PTA is not taking a position on Prop 50 because it involves partisan political considerations. I have also given you the uh fourth district's PTA advocacy communicator. If you are interested, you can sign up to um to get it. Um but you have to be a PTA member to receive it. So join the PTA and I think all of you are PTA members. Um also I'd like to congratulate Estansia T. Winkle Schools Foundation for their wonderful gala uh last Saturday. Um, it was a lovely event, but the highlight was the moving tributes to Barbara Van Holt and Paulie Meridian. It was wonderful. And I got to see um my colleague's

017son when I first ran in 1991. Ed Decker's son was there. So, that was just cool. Um, and finally, I uh I would like you to put on uh December 8th. Um, that's our holiday lunchon. The invitations have gone out and we hope to see you there. We look forward to working with you and seeing you at the state and hearing from um Dr. Smith and everyone on the state of the schools on October 28th. And finally, I leave you with information from my Don't ask me what it it's. It's called AI overview on my on my Chrome. So, uh I asked for quotes on Halloween safety quotes because this is always the time when we get nervous. So, be alert. Um, be alert today, alive tomorrow. It's a strong Halloween safety quote that highlights

018the importance of staying aware, particularly for drivers and pedestrians. Other safety slogans include, "Slower speeds save lives for drivers and for trick-or-treaters, the following: walk. Don't run across the street. Put your electric devices down. Heads up." and make eye contact with drivers before closing. Thank you very much. I apologize on behalf that we don't have a full quorum here that we have three individuals that are not here. That's shameful. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have CSEA uh President Amy Chen. Uh hi everybody. Good evening. Um as always, it's very hard to follow Martha Uh, good evening, President Wagant, Trustees, Superintendent Smith, Cabinet, and guests. I want to begin by thanking the board for your ongoing commitment to professional development for classified staff. Your support continues to make meaningful difference. Under Tracy's leadership, we're

019proud to share that on November 5th, classified staff members will participate in professional development shaped by the work be being done in the classified think tank. This is a significant step forward and we are genuinely excited. We remain committed to working collaboratively with the district to grow and sustain this investment in classified employees. Steady. What does it mean to be steady? When my husband and I were dating, he would often say, "I'm boring." And I would reply, "You're not boring. You're steady. To me, steady means reliable, consistent, and grounded. In today's world where uncertainty and instability seem to surround us, that kind of steadiness is more important than ever. We see it everywhere in the news, on social media, and in our daily lives. It's hard not to feel the weight of the unrest. That's

020why CSEA is deeply committed to being a steady presence for classified professionals. We believe the tenative agreement before you tonight reflects that commitment. It's the product of collaboration, perseverance, and shared respect. I want to thank our negotiations team for their dedication to classified staff and also extend sincere thanks to Tracy, Jeff, and their negotiations team. Your transparency and willingness to engage openly helped us make this agreement possible. Lastly, you may have noticed that I'm wearing blue tonight. This is in support of our certificated partners. Although we walk separate paths, I want to express my respect and appreciation for their work and for their passion that they bring in advocating for their members. As always, we look forward to continuing to do the good work for students, staff, and the community. Thank you very much. >>

021Thank you. Next up, NMFT President Rhonda Reid. Good evening, President Wagan, trustees, Superintendent Smith, Cabinet, and guests here tonight. On January 1st, 2024, our members still had not received their December paycheck. Many had automated um bills to go out. People were panicked and desperate. One member said, "I have to get diapers." So, I called Schools First, where many of our members bank. It was a holiday, so only the fraud department was open. and they told me, "Tell your members to call us, the fraud department, and we will put the money they need in their account." It wasn't their problem, and it it wasn't their fault. Somewhere between the Treasury Department and the Orange County Department of Ed, something went wrong. And I remember the first time I told this story the just the depth of

022generosity for schools first that we all felt. They are numbers people. They are a financial institution and they did not have to. In fact law would support. They are on under no obligation to but they had compassion and care for their members the members of their bank. your employees. And this is the trait that makes organizations great. Organizations that put people first and take action because it's the right thing to do. I think care and compassion is the heart of education. And this is what makes good districts great. This is what our educators do to make this district great. It isn't numbers or data, but it's their personal relationships that they build with each student. It is the care and compassion that connects students to their schools and to learning. As Wes says, we want

023all of our students to be seen, heard, and valued. I'm here to speak on behalf of our members and the financial sit situation facing them. The district has informed us of the intent to take the whole increase for health benefits out of the educator's paychecks because we have not reached an agreement in negotiations. We were told this amount would be around $300 for every month that we do not settle. The district's position is they can do this and they plan to. But the question is why? Why would they do this? They could also choose compassion and empathy. How much more care should a school district have for their employees than a financial institution? It seems that this would be a penalty for not settling the contract no negotiations in a quicker timeline. While we do

024not want to delay, simply we want to just do right by our members. We want to ensure that they have a fair fair pay and that they know that they're seen, heard, and valued. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, we have community input on non-aggendaized items. Uh, this is an opportunity for the public to address the board regarding items not on the regular meeting agenda. Comments on non-aggenda topics are limited to three minutes per comment, up to 20 minutes per topic. A speaker may not relinquish his or her time to another person by order of the Brown Act section 54954.2. The board will take no action nor have any discussions on non-aggendaized items. The superintendent may provide clarification during superintendent's comments. First up, we have Rachel uh Jimenez. Hi, good evening. My name is Rachel

025Himenez and I am a site rep at CDM. I'm here on behalf of new teachers at CDM and those across the district. I want to address the extra deduction for all health benefits, the increase that we just heard Rhonda talk about, which would be an extra $300, which would greatly affect teachers, not just them as individuals, but their entire families and especially our brand new teachers. We have seen price seen price increases in all aspect of our lives from housing to food and this will hurt so many teachers and their families that depend on every dollar. It will make paying rent, buying groceries, supporting their families, paying off school loans so much more difficult. Teachers show up and put in their greatest effort because they fell in love with helping others. We value the positive

026impact it has on our children and the community. We hope the district will show us that we are valued so that we can continue doing our best to support all. Thank you. Next up, we have Jeremy Lore. >> Good evening, Superintendent Smith, esteemed board members, and members of the community. My name is Jeremy Lure and I represent the students of Early College High School as their student board member. While I'm not presenting an official report tonight like my peers have earlier, I still wanted to speak briefly. At the last board meeting, I mentioned the importance of our on-ampus clubs, highlighting two that contribute greatly to our community and campus culture. One of the clubs that I mentioned, Advocates for Learning, is here tonight. Their mission is to unite students and provide them with a space

027to identify issues and brainstorm solutions to problems we see on campus. Over the past few weeks, they have been doing just that. As such, I wanted to briefly introduce them tonight. The club president, Olivia Stockdale, is here. She will be speaking on the nutritional services that we have access to, mostly to our personal experiences. But before she gets started, I would like to take the chance to share my experiences. I don't want to talk about numbers or cost or anything analytical, just the human element and life of a student. When I get lunch from school, which is more often than not pizza, I feel hungry after sitting through either a 90-minute lecture on geology or had spent time working on my argumentative research essay in English. The standard serving size is one slice of pizza,

028not nearly enough to get me through my after lunch responsibilities of tutorings and a statistics course. On a regular day, I end up asking for double portions just as lunch is ending. And if I'm lucky, there will be an extra slice of pizza or extra mozzarella sticks or something else to get me through. If not, that's that. I go the rest of the day without eating, getting home having eaten one single slice of pizza. And maybe if I had time during passing periods to grab breakfast, a bagel. Long story short, a bagel and a slice of pizza are not enough for a student to get through tutoring, statistics, English, and more. And this is just my story. While I know and understand that no action can be taken by the board tonight, this is an

029issue I am invested in and willing to pursue throughout my term as student board member. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up, Olivia Stockdale. >> Good evening everyone. I'm Olivia Stockton and the presidents of Advocates for Learning at Early College. Many students of Early College have pointed out that school lunches are not filling or nutritious and there tends to be a lack of variety. We enjoyed how the inclusion of sandwiches and bento boxes encourage more nutritious and allergyfriendly options. School provided breakfast and lunch are important especially at early college with an average breakfast and lunch participation rate of 36% as of March 2024. and the nutrition helps to enrich reach their academic potential. Most of the hot lunch do not do not contain much nutritional value or fruits or vegetables. The alternative options tend to

030be cold lunches that are not the most nutritious or filling. Whenever I try to incorporate healthy choices and I choose a veggie sandwich, I am usually hungry meatly after school as there is not quite enough protein. When when I want to choose something more filling, the only usual alternative option is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which is usually frozen in the middle and has more sugar than the American Heart Association's guidance for daily intake of added sugar for women and children in a single serving. Additionally, certain main dishes are not packaged that are not packaged have no nutrition label or ingredients list. I want to ensure that students have access to important nutritional information to make sure it is filling and appropriate for their dietary needs. I will also read a statement from Ruby

031Broner, our vice president, who could not make it today due to English illness. The main issue is with school lunches are the lack of variety inclusivity for dietary needs. An example of this lack of variety in our school is pizza being served for lunch nearly every day. Serving pizza almost every day is a problem because it's not a food that has the nutritional value growing young adults need to fuel their b minds and bodies. Additionally, students get tired of eating the same thing every day, which may lead some to choose to simply skip lunch altogether, which is definitely not a healthy habit to form. This is even worse for those with dietary restrictions because these even though these alternatives are offer, they usually are unhealthy and come in very small portions. Adding more variety and

032healthier lunch options would be beneficial to school because it would encourage more students to eat, would be better for their health, and would be more inclusive students with dietary restrictions. This statement rings true to her experience as she has a peanut allergy and one and usually one of the few alternative options that are consistently provided is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Given these issues, we request that students be given opportunity to participate in the selection of meals for student breakfast and lunch. Thank you for your consideration and time. >> Thank you. >> Next up, we have Victor V. Greetings and good afternoon uh everybody. My name is Victor Varees and I'm here on behalf of Resilience Orange County. Uh, Resilience Orange County uh, builds power through intergenerational approach and uniting young folks and adults

033and families to lead in civic engagement, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. We work to ensure the community members feel seen, heard, and valued, understood in decision-m spaces. Our work is grounded in leadership development, participator participatory research, organizing, and collaboration. Since we've arrived here in 2022, we've been able to uh advocate and uh organize young folks who who have been very pivotal in our summary of findings in 2022 where we here in the city of Costa Mesa were able to pass a rental assistance program with a lot of the deep research and canvasing efforts that we we uh launched in 2022. In 2023, we passed an emergency eviction protection ordinance here in the city of Costa Mesa. Uh and I'm here to talk about Chamoy. So, this group just uh was born out of advocacy, a need

034for young folks, young folks to be heard in the city of Costa Mesa, and they will be speaking later on tonight on all of their advocacy work that they've been doing here in the city of Costa Mesa, not just in their schools, but they've also been able to charter a new club at Estansia High School. Um, so I'm just here to just congratulate them in all of their work that they're doing for all residents of Costa Mesa. Uh we've also launched two years ago or actually this is this is our third year our youth summer civic program and our with our youth summer civic program. We do a lot of college campus tours throughout Southern California and locally here even our community colleges and we partner up with our partners at Orange County Community Housing

035Corporation the stepping up program and we work directly with you know other schools here in the Newport Mesa Unified School District. I know Kennley's been to some of our meetings before. So, um I just would like to just thank the whole board and hopefully y'all could be invited. You know, we we would love to, you know, invite you all to our main headquarters. We're located at 2790 Harbor Boulevard. Uh the cross streets are Adams and Harbor. We meet every single Tuesday. That was because they're like, "We want to meet every single week." I'm like, "Okay, fine. We'll meet every single week." So, this is a youthled advocacy group and resilience Orange County. Our mission and vision is uh resilience is an own organization working to strengthen leadership of colors towards community transformation. And our vision

036is to inform and inspire inspire communities of color to thrive and build a just future. So I just want to give a huge shout out to Chamoy that are just watching out there. I'm really proud of you all and we're always here to support community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we have Jackie Gomez. Good evening, honorable school board members. My name is Jackie and I'm current senior at Estansia High School and I'm the president and Chamoy, founder of the Chamoy Club. Chamoy stands for changing hearts and minds of youth. True first started back in 2023 with a small group of students who wanted to learn about their community and they had two amazing adviserss, Victor and Dulce. This year in 2025, we became an official club at Estantia High School and we already have

037a whopping 40 members involved. I want to give a shout out to our adviser, Mr. G, for helping us start the club. We appreciate you so much. So far, we've had five meetings at the school and we've held our very first college readiness workshop to help seniors get a head start on their college apps. Our vision for this club is to create a wel a welcoming space for students to discuss events happening locally and empower students to advocate for change. I want this club to be what it was for me, a safe space to speak for those who can't. I personally have gained so much knowledge and confidence through Chamoy and I hope to continue to be a leader for my community and those who look like me. We appreciate the time you guys take

038to listen to us and participate at our school programs. Please continue to fund programs that support all student success and don't punish us for the neighborhoods we live in. Thank you for supporting us and our communities. >> Thank you. Next, Ameilian Alparez. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Emilyn and I'm an alumni from Estantia High School and part of Chammoy, changing hearts and minds of youth. Chammoy began in 2023 with Resilience Orange County as a space built by and for young people to organize around issues that impact our lives and communities. This year we brought Chamoway to Estansia and became an official C campus club. Our goal was to is to create a space where students can talk about issues, build leadership and make a positive impact. Today we have over 40

039active members. And our growth wouldn't be possible without the guidance of Jackie, the founder and president of the club, but also the leadership of of the club members and the support of Mr. G. Chammo shows that when young people are supported and given space to lead, they build not just confidence but community power. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up, superintendent comments. Oh, excuse me. Hold on. Cynthia Blackwell, I'm sorry. You got stuck to another person's card. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Um, I haven't been here in a while because I've been out traveling and spending my kids' inheritance, which I love doing in my retirement. But I did go to the city council meeting in September right before I left for Europe and talk to them about the ebike situation because they were

040talking about the joint um agreement they're going to have between the Costa Mesa Police Department and the school board. And my concern then, and it still is, is that there doesn't seem to be any kind of a handle on these ebike riders, especially the teenagers coming out of Costa Mesa High School. I can I don't speak to that high school because I was driving home down Fairview during school hours getting out. I'm like, "Oh, good grief. I should take another way." And um they were just flying out of there sometimes two on a bike. Nobody had a helmet on. Nobody was following the rules. I'm thinking, come on. I did bike duty for years at Kaiser Elementary. And when it was my turn to do duty, I stood at that gate where the bikes were

041locked up. And if you did not have a helmet on your head properly, you were not riding said bike home. And I don't know why if they can do it at the elementary schools, they can't do something at these really junior high and high schools. Especially if you have a dedicated police officer, it'd only take like a week of bags getting confiscated and parents getting called to come pick them up. That would really send a big message. Simple solution. I also listened to the September 16th board meeting, a lot of it, because I wanted to see if eBox ebikes were brought up. And the um the whole thing about the OC grip program going on over on the west side caught my attention. Um I was a little worried about taxpayer dollars being used on

042something that may possibly be profiling. I could be wrong. I'd also check my receipts and invoices from that company. Just a little warning. Uh I was very disappointed in the fact that one of our trustees could not pronounce name one of the elementary schools correctly. And I want to give a shout out to uh Trustee Anderson because when she talked about Chimoy and the legis Latino legislative group and her passion for her area, she knows what her area needs. She grew up in that area. She has lived there forever. she's well respected in her area and it would be nice if something that she cares about deeply is taken into consideration and um she has 100% dedicated herself to her area and I just want to say I was very proud of her and how

043she spoke up for what she feels is best for her community and um I know all of you have your own areas that you do years ago was it was board members at large because my dad was on the school board along Martha Flor and um they they oversaw the whole district. I think areas are a lot better and Ashley does a really good job speaking for her area. Thank you very much for your time. >> All right, now on to superintendent's comments. >> Yeah, the ebikes topic has been one that we've heard a lot about. Um Harbor Council PTA recently made that their entire topic for their meeting. Um, you know, as it relates to what districts can do, certainly we have a role in educating our youth and we even try to educate

044our parents. Um, and we're looking at, you know, new and better ways to to do that. Um, certainly enforcement on campus we can do. I think you mentioned making sure that students have their um helmets on and we do that in fact and make them wear them properly because another thing they'll do is and I know none of our students here that are taking notes would do this but they'll put them on their heads and not you know buckle the chin strap and it's hanging down or it'll be hanging behind uh their neck. Um and so the school is saying hey you know come put it on right you know you know how to wear that or two students on a bike that's built for one student things like that. So on campus we have

045some things we can do and and then beyond that we have some influence and partnerships we can have with our cities and in both cities um we're having those conversations regularly. Uh just last week they had one with the city of Costa Mesa where we're looking at what can we do in the way of education but also code enforcement. Uh how do we build safer routes to school? It's a really comprehensive approach to keeping our young people on these ebikes and other citizens quite honestly riding their ebikes and motorists safe as we navigate um our cities. They had a cabs group in Newport Beach, you know, some years ago in fact. So, they've really been talking about this for quite a while. And then I I'll just end by saying that our board cares so

046deeply for this besides all the things I just mentioned. Um we're looking for a date in November to have um a study session workshop on safety, ebike safety amongst other things. Um but they want to have this deep conversation about what more um we can do. So look look for that because like all of our study sessions, we'll be announcing that publicly. You know, I I I watch students um advocating and few things uh in life give me as much hope as that. When I turn on the news and I become I don't know if depressed is the right word because I'm a pretty positive cat. But when I get a little bit down and then I hear our kids, you know, advocating for what they need, uh it inspires me. It gives me hope.

047Um, and so, you know, for our youth that set up tonight, Chimoy changing hearts and talking about confidence and character and to the young lady who spoke last, you could tell that that confidence was something you were mustering to stand up there and it didn't come second nature to you. And and that's just awesome. And I know that a lot of our clubs and our student groups promote that uh the resilience that was mentioned in the name resilience OC. We ask employers now to talk about jobs that haven't even been created. What do they need from the workforce? Resilience is one of those things. We can imagine why with the everchanging workforce. And so the folks that are doing that work, the students who are practicing that skill set, thank you. Um it's absolutely inspiring.

048Keep up the great work. Uh and then to to advocate respectfully. Um that also wasn't lost on on me and I'm sure the audience either. Speaking of advocacy, um, school nutrition, um, school meals, I could bore you with how laws and regulations say they're nutritious, and I know what you're going to say is, "Yeah, come taste them." Right. Um, yes. Yes. Right. Um, and since I've been here day one, I've heard our trustees saying, "We expect more from our system coming out of the pandemic. We know that the situation was such that we couldn't do what we had done before. And since then, we've said we can do better. So things, and you mentioned some of the bento boxes, the uh orange chicken, uh the pizza that was um a step up, if you will,

049the uh hummus and pa. I mean, all these things that we've been test kitchening, uh that are more desirable and more nutritious, but we have a long ways to go. Here's the commitment I'll make. make sure that to our group um that came forward tonight at Early College that we set up a little meeting with our nutrition services team and they can come and talk to you about, you know, what it is you're you're interested in. Um what are some of your concerns? I think the the packaging, the label or however we would tell you how nutritious things are. I think that's a great idea. Um my wife won't buy something unless she can tell the nutritional value. I am not burdened by that same obligation, but uh you know to someone I love it

050it it means a lot. And so I think that's the least we can do. Um you know I can't comment on negotiations. Um and I could I could sit here and tell you the things we've done since I've been here in four years. And maybe at some point I'm going to have to start sharing those things to demonstrate what does value look like. Um I'm not going to do that tonight. And I'm going to tell you this. I was at a meeting with our dine with data this week where we invite folks to come in after work, right? Teachers are working their tails off. Uh they come in after work to look at their data and say, "How can we do better?" Right? Because the systems that our community needs and deserves, the system our

051students deserve is continuously improving. Good, better, best, right? And our teachers show up to look at the data and say, "Hey, we can do better, right? We can be the best." And I'm sitting there listening and I can only imagine, you know, they work so hard getting to that meeting looking at data and this teacher from Menson, math teacher, they're talking, they say, "Hey, our data looks better this year." Right? Smiles, celebration, as it should be. And then this teacher looked at his colleagues and said, "You know what? We can do better. Let's talk about how we do that. There are systems where they talk about top down leadership. There are system where they talk about bottom up. This is an example of leadership in the middle where we get people in a room. We

052ask the expert, our teachers, how do we get better? Not telling you how we get better. We're asking you how we get better. That's an example that happened yesterday. I you know how much I value teachers. I talk about it all the time and I know that it's easy to say that and what you're saying is show us heard can't talk about negotiations but they're ongoing and I have faith in the people at the table that as they come together and continue to talk about these things that the value of all will be represented ultimately in the package value for our employees the value for our kiddos the long-term value of this district. I believe those things are going to happen. Um so that's all I'll say about negotiations tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you.

053Moving on to community input on agendaized items. 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 limited to three 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 the item is considered by the board if the speaker prefers. So, let's see. >> Okay. >> Um, Martyra, do you want to go now or um 178? Okay. >> 178. >> Um, good evening, Superintendent and President Wagan. Um, I've spoken haven't spoken here for like six years. Um, I'm sure you're glad you you people were not even here. Um, but on many of the occasions when I

054spoke, I was yelled at by trustees. Uh, kind of scoffed at and I couldn't make any comments back because, you know, you seal your mouth when you leave. But I have had a lot of experience. I taught in special ed and regular ed for over 20 years in a neighboring school district. And then after that I retired and worked for Chapman University as a school supervisor of of new teachers. So I I supervised all over Orange County, even some of your schools here in Newport Mesa. And um some of the things one of the things I remember specifically that I spoke at a schoolboard meeting was I said I had gone to Garden Grove and they had dumped a specific curriculum. You know like you change your curriculum every seven years. they had dumped it

055and Newport Mesa was gonna go with that curriculum. And I came and talked to the school board and I said, "Well, why don't you talk to other school districts that are using the curriculum and find out the pros and the cons instead of just I don't know. I don't know whether they ever did that, but that was one of my comments." Um, I think one of a couple of the major accomplishments I did when I was speaking was um, we had some trustees that had been on the school board for 18, 21, and 24 years. And I thought that was unreasonable. I don't think anybody can keep track of of what's going on in the district when you're that much older than the kids in school. So I kept bug bugging the district school board

056members and you finally put it onto a ballot and it overwhelmingly passed to now you have term limits. So I won't see any of you for 24 years. Uh the second thing that I think I did accomplish when I was uh speaking was um this is way before your time but uh they used to have the public comments at the very end of the meeting. So people were waiting two or three hours. The young families and the young kids, they would never come because they weren't going to wait till 10 or 11:00. Well, I think there was a term uh 10 or 10:00 to speak. So we got that switched to the beginning. So I think that's a definite uh advantage. Uh then I just wanted to um praise uh one of our more recent

057board members, Ashley Anderson. She has been a great fabulous help for the west side. She lives there. She worked there. She's she knows those families. She's always known them. And she fights for the many of the things that are necessary on the west side. Uh she has been an outstanding Oh, already I'm off. >> Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. >> But I did want to say congratulations to Dr. Smith. You're a breath of fresh air. >> Thank you. Next up, Carmen Ramirez. >> Do you want to speak now or before 17A? >> Okay. So, I'll I'll call you back up. Um, and then we have Erica. She also You also want to speak on 17A. Do you want to speak now or when the item is up? >> Okay. Before the item. Okay. We'll

058call you guys back up. All right. So, now moving on to our achievement report. We've got um 16 achievement report on the Newport Mesa Unified continuous improvement journey continues. 2024 2025 Smarter Balance Data. Assistant Superintendent Shields. Good evening, Dr. Smith, board, community members. This month, our Smarter Balanced Assessment scores went public and we find it important to share everything with our community, with our board about how we're doing. And so this evening, we'll talk about the rose buds, the blossoms, and the thorns. a little bit of everything about how we're doing and how we believe we can improve. So, basically, we'll review just um a very brief part of our demographics, just a big reminder to all of us about how different our communities are and how we strive to address every need in every

059community for all students. We'll also talk about things we're doing preemptively and investments we're making now based on how we've done in the past in terms of improving our data. We'll talk about district highlights and bright spots because there are many. And then we'll look at and we will also look at how we're doing in comparison to to the state, the county, and some sample school districts in Orange County. So one very important point I always like to make at the beginning of everything is as everyone knows we have four zones in the district and just a reminder about how different they are in terms of some key demographics and this one is particularly about socioeconomically disadvantaged and that's one of the markers that the state looks for and while we know that there is

060a discrepancy of this in our district and there is a correlation many times to achievement not just in our district but across many districts. There is no scientific reason why students can't all perform at the same high levels and so we are always striving to outperform family demographics as any predictor of how any student in our district would do. So, we wanted to start too, as you've heard from our budget and other things, like where are we investing, where are we putting our time, where are we putting our energy, and where we're putting our dollars. And I will let um Dr. Sir explain what Dr. Smith calls a very busy slide. >> Thank you. So, um what you see here is a a piece of research in regards to an individual named John Hattie. He's

061out of New Zealand and he truly has developed what by many nationally and across multiple countries considers the gold standard of educational research. Um he started out in 2009 and developed 136 influences that he measured. Some don't have a positive impact on learning, some have a minimal and some have a positive. um today the the 138 influences that he originally started with is growing and now he's at 256. So he looks at the 256 different things that schools can do to impact student learning. So over here on the left you'll see some things that actually have a negative impact on learning. Suspension, retention, students feeling disliked, uh presence of mobile phones, bullying, boredom. None of those have a positive impact. And then when we get to the minimal impact, you'll see homework there. You'll see

062homework at 0. 29 and reducing class size at 0.17. One of the critical things here is you have a thermometer of influence at the bottom here. And 0.4 is considered significant. It's a significant effect size. So anything at 0 point4 or higher uh especially at 04 it's considered one year's worth of growth for a student. So point4 or higher really is the desired area. So again homework and reducing class size don't hit that level as far as being significant statistically in regards to what works in education. When you get over to the right side, you'll see things like collective teacher efficacy, which I'm going to touch on, but you also see things like response to intervention, teacher clarity, classroom discussion. Both teacher both collective teacher efficacy and teacher clarity are bolded up there for a

063very specific reason because those are areas that we are focusing on right now as a school district. Specifically talking about collective teacher efficacy out of the 256 things that uh John had work measures. It is the number one thing that you can do in education. And that's very very clear in regards to if you are a teacher and you work with a team of other teachers and you believe that collectively working together that is going to that you are a stronger teacher that actually has a major impact on student outcomes. But it's interesting because it's really about beliefs. Believing that I as an individual teacher, I'm a strong teacher, but collectively with my peers together, we are far more stronger. So, it touches on something that we're working very hard on right now. Specifically, uh

064we're working on our purposeful learning teams, and that is time every single week that is carved out for our teachers to get together. We know the magic exists when teachers get together. That's really where uh the rubber hits the road, if you will. And it's it's an area that we're continuing to support with protocols, data analysis, and planning of instruction. Another thing that we're uh starting out with is teacher clarity. Doug Fiser out of San Diego State University is a very very accomplished researcher and he's working with us this year. He's uh done some work with us in the beginning of the year with our teachers. He's been working with our principles and specifically we've started out with learning intentions and success criteria. Learnings learning intentions are are focused on what you want to teach.

065And success criteria is making it really clear for students in their mind what success is going to look like when I teach a lesson. So, we're we're really excited about this work. It's a it's a multi-year phase in regards to making this happen for um our students, but it's definitely something that is grounded hard in the research. Another thing here is a document some of you may have seen before. This is our collective beliefs. And uh when we start out about talking about why would we have the set of collective beliefs, what's important about it, it goes back to what our superintendent Dr. Smith talks about is wanting to make sure that students are seen, heard, supported, and safe. And when students connect to their schools and they connect with their teachers and they connect

066with administrators and they connect with one another, it really is something that has a dramatic impact on a student feeling like they belong. And it has it truly offers an opportunity for students to reach their potential. So that's really the why. The how how are we going to start doing this? It's really through high quality instruction. We have a list of essential practices and we're doing a lot of work to support our teachers in regards to alignment and articulation in our curriculum. Um and then the what we've got three areas core curriculum is something that uh we've put a lot of time and attention into. We know we have adopted materials, but we've got a resurgence of making sure that when our teachers are planning, they're using common materials because it doesn't make sense for

067people to get together and plan. If you have completely different materials focused on different learning objectives. So when your materials are common, it gives you an opportunity to be able to do the type of planning that we know plays out in the research. positive behavior. Another area that we're focusing on and that um I can say all of our schools have a strong PBIS system and that is positive behavior and intervention systems and there's different levels to it. Bronze, silver, gold, platinum and our schools are all making progress on moving in that way to really make sure that uh behavior is something that is clearly articulated to students in regards to what it means to be connected to your school, to have positive uh behavior on campus. And it's something that we're continuing to work

068on. It doesn't just happen through osmosis. It h osmosis. It happens through deliberate work. And then the big one for us that I touched on a little bit earlier is John Hadtie's work. And that's a collaboration, collective teacher efficacy. It's uh it's really about believing that together as a group of educators, we can really help support students at the highest levels possible. Now, I will introduce Dr. Carrie Torres. >> Thank you. So, you've heard a lot from Dr. Sir about the research and we are so um grateful that our board values the investment of research-driven practices and um you're going to continue to hear tonight as a theme this conversation around collective teacher efficacy and really how does that look in Newport Mesa and how are we doing that? And so this is done in

069real time through our purposeful learning teams. And we've been able to establish time for our teachers to come together. And we've had an opportunity as a team to go out and and be a part of those and sit side by side with teachers listening to all of their discussions centered around their instruction and data and student performance and outcomes. Um those have been exceptionally um rich conversations and it matters. teachers coming together, sharing best practices. Um, what does a PLT team structure look like? What are we asking teachers to do during that time when they come together in order to have that effect size and that that outcome that you heard Dr. Sir talk about is teams are coming together and they really want to talk about what we want students to know. You heard

070um Dr. Sir talk about teacher clarity. We need students to know as they're learning. What is it you're asking them to do? How are we going to know when they've learned it? And what do we do when they do not learn something? So, when they're not meeting those targets, how do we really take a look and retach? And how do teachers come together and talk about what do we do when they did learn? It's just as important to help students who have learned the subject to accelerate as those who have maybe need a little bit more time and need some reteing. This really helps teachers put the decision-m in their hands together as a team and that trust between teachers with those essential practices really help improve the system. So I'm going to turn this

071over to Dr. Blazy. She's going to talk about how we did. Good evening. I have the privilege of talking about the Smarter Balance assessment data. And if you look at this uh slide on the left, you will see that we tested over 8,600 students in grades 3 through 8 and 11. And we usually test in May, in March through May. And in front of you on the left, we have English language arts and mathematics. And these highlights are profound in the sense that we increased in English language arts and mathematics 2.24%. And typically it's difficult to even get 1% growth, but we did grow by 2.24% in ELA and math. And we increased in grades fourth, fifth, 6th, 8th, and 11th grade. Our English only students increased in ELA and math. And specifically, I want

072to point out the uh increase in special education and in both ELA and math. That is a significant growth of 5.12 in ELA and 3.19 in mathematics. And please note the colors because as we go through the presentation, ELA will be blue, mathematics will be green. And for our science, it's a mauve or purple color. And then in science, we only test grades three, sorry, 5, 8, and 11. And over 3,800 students again tested. And then district overall we increased by 2.59%. We increase in gra in grades five English only and grade 11th. And again our special education students did increase as well. Also we looked at our zone comparisons and if you see on the left we this is the increase from the previous year and then you'll also see two lines. the county

073orange county. So the line is orange and then the state the golden state it's a gold line and you can see that every zone including the district as a whole increased over the state this is significant and then you can also see this is ELA and then for mathematics we also increased so we did outscore and e in mathematics of the state and the county for the district and then each zone we increased um and outscored the state except for one zone and then for science as well. So, we did outscore the state um for all zones except one and then for the district. And I'll turn it back over to Miss Shields. We want to make sure too that we're presenting this data with relative comparisons. We are very proud of the work that

074students and staff have done to have this level of gains across the district and we know that what's happening in classrooms is serious and specific and that everyone's working hard. We also know that we are a powerful district with many resources and we want all of them to focus on student achievement and continue to outperform uh many of our neighboring districts if not all of them to be honest. But when you look at it, while we as a district um outscore the state and Orange County and we're in range of our neighbors, we still are not where we want to be in terms of being a leader amongst some of our neighborhood districts. And this is for English language arts. As you heard Dr. Blazy talk is blue. Math also always out the district outscores

075the state and the county. And again, we're in range of our neighbors. We want to beat them. We want to beat them. We We can. We have the staff. We have the resources. We have the community. We have the brilliant students. There's no reason for us to not do better. And then in science, um here we don't outperform the county. And one of the things that we've done in the meantime is we did have an elementary science adoption that will get grow stronger at the elementary levels and prepare um students as they move forward. And we reconfigured our science teachers that the board has so generously provided for every elementary school. So that also will continue to impact us in very standardsbased ways that increase achievement. we would be missing sharing information if we didn't

076speak about some of the key highlights and bright spots in the district. And so we want to make sure that while we know everyone is working hard, there are several schools who have really positive impactful outcomes as a result of all the work that staff and students are doing. and we want to make sure the public sees that. >> So, here are some highlights for our district. And you'll notice that in the dark blue are our elementary schools and then in the lighter blue are the secondary schools. These are schools with growth over the previous year. 66% of all schools grew, 62% of our elementary schools and 77% of our secondary. We also had specific schools that had a consecutive three-year growth in English language arts. Again, elementary darker blue, lighter blue, secondary, and then

077this was the board goal realization. So from preandemic to progress in ELA, these schools outperformed preandemic test scores. So again, you see the darker blue for our elementary and the lighter blue for our secondary. And then the same for mathematics. 73% of our schools showed growth. And last year we really focused on the dime with data and other initiatives with our adoption of um illustrative math. And this year it's now a K12 continuum. We really focused on this. This I as this being my second year in the district this makes me proud to see that we really had a lot of growth in mathematics. This is an area to celebrate. 81% of our elementary schools showed growth. And I watched the directors in both ELA and in secondary and elementary and our and our principles

078and teachers really jump into this data and look at what they can do differently. And then these are schools that had consecutive three years growth in mathematics. And then again the board goal realization from pre- pandemic to progress in mathematics. And then the schools with growth over the previous year in science and 60% of our schools showed growth overall 57% of elementary and 67% in secondary. These particular schools we have five schools in the district. I'm really proud to say that they had three years of consecutive growth. And I want to also point out that Newport Heights is the one school that had four years of growth. And any questions? This is great. Very, it's such a great um report. Great to see growth. Um just want to thank you so much for providing this

079report and then just for everyone, for the teachers and and the district, all your hard work is really show is really showing. Um, and I know in 20 or when we put together our board goals, I think it was 20 first year of Dr. Smith being here, we we challenged um the team to have um higher test scores than our 2019 levels, pre- pandemic levels. And it's great to see that slide where we have those those schools that are achieving that. And that that's that's wonderful. I can't wait to see all our schools um have uh achievement prepandemic levels. Do I have questions? Trusty Crane actually >> I think. >> Oh, sorry. >> Oh, our trustee. >> Yes, Kenley. >> So, I want since you mentioned that uh we have like negative and min uh

080minimal and positive uh like ways to learn and teach. So I want to ask you like what kind of actions are being taken to asssure that teachers are usually are actually using these techniques because for personal from personal experience and other friends as well I've had some classes that teachers only like hand out some packages and tell you to read a chapter of the book and then just fill it out and turn it in you know so I just I want to ask you like what actions are being taken right now in order to ensure that teachers are being like are following these techniques. So, thank you so much, Kenley, for um for highlighting that. And that is ongoing work that we do. And what that looks like is um we have a director of

081teaching and learning in both elementary and secondary. So, Keith Carmona works with your high school and the teachers. Um and he helps facilitate trainings and professional development to help teachers really put forward their best practices. And so, for example, that's a group of math teachers coming together to talk about geometry and to how to have better teaching practices to make sure that our students are able to be able to achieve their learning. Um, and we try to do that as frequently as possible during the year. Um, and we bring teachers together to do that work. And we're always trying to make sure that their practice is current. um and that it is inspiring and engaging and helps you as students be able to um learn the content. >> Thank you, >> Trusty Crane. Do you

082still? >> Yes. >> Okay, Trusty Crane. >> So, I remember last year sitting here and and uh getting not such a great report. I believe our growth was anemic. Was it like less than half a percent? I think >> it was lower. >> Yeah. So this is a significant >> Exactly. So I I'm thrilled to see a 2% plus growth. Um specifically since you also mentioned the fact that even a 1% growth at a district as large as ours is quite significant. So kudos to all all of you who are doing the work. Um I also do know that the Hattie study is fascinating. I used to be an educ well once an educator. I was an educator but um I was a teacher back in my early days and um there's no question that

083the teacher is definitely the biggest quotient in student success. Um at the very minimal it's the connectivity with the student. So the students wants to come and wants to learn. So but then you know we also add the resources from from the mental health resources to special needs resources assistance in the classroom etc. I I do see um a great trajectory for Newport Mesa. I do see that we are working on the systems that um are foundational to growth because um we have to start somewhere and I I I do love the work that's been done since Dr. Smith has come on board. um he knew that we needed to dive deep and look at why aren't we performing at the level we should be given the resources and the staff that we have on

084hand and so it takes courage it takes um I think it takes dedication and it also takes the village it's not just top down as Dr. Smith you mentioned is not bottom up. It's pretty much meeting in the middle and moving forward for the sake of our kids. So thank you. This is very good. Um I do hope that we keep um trudging forward and understanding that it should it does need to be teacher focused but also with the resources and the support um with um leadership and um our board is very data oriented and we really appreciate this makes us very happy. I'm disappointed that um the other um trustees aren't here to to listen to the comments. Hopefully, they're listening somewhere so that um they are taking this information and and also moving

085forward and showing signs of support for their schools. >> Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. I just wanted to um point out that one thing that I think we could really improve on and it has this is all excellent information but I think we actually have better scores than we have but we need to let parents and teachers and staff and everybody know how important it is that they take these tests seriously because the juniors are when or the 10th grade jun 11th grade when they're taking they're taking all sorts of tests and I know that they go straight down and just put all C or whatever because they're overtaking their tests and they think that these tests don't matter and these tests really matter. So um whatever we can do to spread the word to parents

086and to um students that we got to take this seriously um and if we do I think we'll be way high. So that's just my opinion. So however we can really push that um with our principles, teachers, I'm pushing it on every PTA meeting. I'm going to um I've been telling them how important these these um tests are. And let me add one more thing and I've used this analogy the other day with you and I've used it with other people but um we we work really close with um San Diego State and one day we described to me how do you pick a child when they have for college when they have the exact same resume and the way they pick there's two people same exact you know 3.7 whatever the grade point everything

087exactly the same at the very bottom what did their school district test scores look like versus the other school district test scores. And if you look at Irvine, it's at 70% and we're at whatever percent we are. They're going to take that Irvine kid. So, we want them taking the Newport Mesa kid. So, those tests matter and we have to tell all parents, all students that no fooling around, you know, take this seriously. It's for it's for your for their for their future. >> It's for their good. So that's my comment. >> Thank you for sharing that. I think one thing that's also kind of undersshared or not as clear to people is that in California for 11th graders, this test does serve as a placement test for UC and CSU and for families to

088and the student to accelerate in their freshman year. These scores matter and we just need to keep reiterating that and sharing that information across all students and parents and any group that'll listen because understanding that it is a placement test for your future in California and we have some of the as Dr. Sarah says some of the strongest institutions in the world in our state and to get access to them this matters. >> Agreed. Great. >> Oh, trusty crane again. >> Yes, one more question. So, let's keep in mind too that this is one test, right? And during the aca ac academic year, uh there are internal tests that we give in assessments. And so, do you find that the internal assessments are typically higher, the same or lower than the SBAG? That's actually part

089of what we're doing in the PLT process is looking at the way in which our students are scoring because one of the truths about it is the way the ESPback asks the questions is different in many times than how we teach it in class and how we assess it in class. So part of it is creating that transition and that the teacher and the student understand. You might get asked to reveal it this way. You might ask it to reveal it this way and you might ask in another way. And so making sure that students can apply their knowledge in all those different contexts whether it's the classroom, whether it's a test like this or whether it's the real world. Part of it is how do we make sure that students are equipped to demonstrate

090their mastery in all those contexts. >> That's great. Um you know what I I'm I'm you can definitely see in these um test scores that you know our curriculum changes have made a huge difference. I think moving to Hagerty um for the the reading has really shown improvement. I mean it I mean just looking at like their fourth grade results to then you know our sixth grade results are have been huge which is has been great. But then what I'm really excited about and I'll have to eat my words is the illustrative math curriculum. I did not like this because I had a child that was part of the test pilot and I didn't really like it and um but you know there was good reasons to go and and vote for that math um

091curriculum because it was a it's a K TK through 12 continuum of a math curriculum which was great and from these test scores it has it they it looks like that was the right call and I'm really even excited to see what our next year's test scores because having two years or three years under our belt with that curriculum I think is only going to help us as we up to the um to 12th grade. But um and another thing that you know to point out is that 11th grade is really the test scores in 11th grade is really how did our district perform overall for a student, right? >> Yes. For the lifetime >> for the lifetime of that student. And looking at that, I mean, we're still showing growth there, but I think

092with all these other curriculum enhancements um and training for our teachers, it's going to we're going to see some tremendous growth with our 11th graders. Um and then I the besides the praise I do have questions. Um the question I have is we were talking a little bit about um A throughG requirements and that you know in 11th grade when they test for math they might not have taken those three years of math that they're actually testing in that 11th grade math curriculum. So what can we do to increase our A throughG requirements and at least for math and English for our students? Um, so thank you for um mentioning that because I was just talking with my team earlier today that that's something we'll be bringing to the board some ideas to brainstorm how

093we can improve our A to G rate and in doing so be able to provide more access to math in that third year. Um, we would want kids sitting in a math class for the third year and we'd have to look at the uh percentage of students who actually aren't in that, but we do have kids who who opt out of that math because our graduation requirements allow that. So, that's something that we'd like to have a conversation about. Um, the other thing that we're doing, and I'll share that Newport Harbor um took us up on this, is we um had their 10th grade students um take the ICAS, which are the interim assessments. And so, they piloted that program last year so that students would have access to testlike questions in 10th grade, so

094they were prepared for 11th. Um and that was specifically in math. And then, um we had our other schools do English. So, we're trying to find ways to put that back in front of them. Um, but math is something that we have students who right now can choose out of and we want to change that. >> Great. And for for English though, they have to take all four years. Is that right? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> So, there's no uh no secret sauce for that one. Okay. >> Um, but I just want to say thank you so much for this. I mean, I love that the the and I love that the teachers are coming to D with data as well. I think that's that's fabulous. Um, just so thank you so much. I I

095can't wait to see what next year's scores are going to be. Any other questions or comments from the board before I wrap up? All right. Well, thank you everyone. That's awesome. It's great progress. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, now we're moving on to 17A. Um, we have two or three comments. Um, first one is uh Carmen Ramirez and I know we have some translations as well. >> And would you like to translate as she goes or after? >> I'll wait about a sentence or two and then I'll interpret. Okay, they gave me six minutes, but I would need about five hours. So, good evening. My name is Carmen Ramirez. Good evening, superintendent. I was practicing your name, Christa. I'm also practicing all of the last names, so I will be practicing on that.

096So, I've been here in this school district for over 25 years. Um, three of my children have been in this district. Two of them are already at the university level and one is playing soccer at Costa Mesa. >> No, Los Angeles. >> Oh, playing for Cal State LA. graduated from Costa Mesa. I'd like to thank the district. Um, I've been to other school districts. I've been listening and observing other school districts and I always say this is the best school district out there. So, you brought the marcado, the market, uh, food distribution to Ray and Wier, which has been extremely helpful to all of our families and all of our communities. So, I want to mention one person who is not present here today, but who has been helping our community for so long. Um,

097that's Ashley Anderson. Uh, she has not only helped our community, our zone, but all of Costa Mesa. We know that we can count on her and I thank her for her honesty. >> I think those two words describe her perfectly. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Next up, Erica. Hi. Good. Good evening, board members and community members. My name is Erica. This is the first council meeting that I am present and it's actually really enjoy I'm enjoying it. Um I'm here as a concerned parent in our district. As a former teacher myself, I care deeply about all students, especially those whose brilliance too often goes unseen because of the labels adults choose to place on them. This past summer, I binged your meetings online and it there was a troubling thought of pushing policeled

098gang prevention programs into some of the elementary schools. As a former elementary school teacher, it was shocking to hear that this was thought about. I understand that safety concerns often come from good intentions, but fear-based programs are not what our children need, especially when those calls come from individuals who don't live in, work in, or truly understand the communities that they are labeling. We must be very careful who gets to define our children because once a child is labeled a gang member instead of student, we've already limited their potential in the eyes of the teachers, their peers, and even themselves. Contrast that with the language that we hear in more affluent schools where children are called gifted, innovative, future leaders. Those labels lift, they affirm, and they open doors. But when we call our children

099at risk, defiant or dangerous, we close those doors before they've had a chance to knock. Words shape reality. They can stigmatize or they can strengthen. That's why I am here today to thank Trustee Ashley Anderson, who is still not here right now, but is standing firm with us in her conviction for insisting that our duty as educators and community members is to mentor students and not monitor them, to see students and not suspects, and to build environments that are promising, not problematic. My support for Miss Anderson comes from her impeccable character. as I've known her for many years and deep caring for all of her students in her community. I'm grateful that she advocates for our community in Costa Mesa and is the voice for the most vulnerable stakeholders. She knows when children feel safe,

100supported, and seen, they rise. So, let's resist efforts to seow fear and division. And let's absolutely reject any attempt to censor or license silence Miss Anderson or any of you leaders from our district communities. We are fighting for equity, inclusion, and empowerment for all of our schools. Because the solution is not control, it's connection. It's not policing, it's partnerships. And it's not fear, it's faith in our children. The way we talk about students becomes the way we treat them. and the way we treat them becomes who they believe they are. >> Next up, we have um an Enson school parent and if you would like to state your name at the dis that'd be great. Uh good evening president, board members, superintendent, cabinets and guests. My name is Nadia. I started working as a young

101teen in part because of the trust of a small business manager in Costa Mesa who hired me and my school counselor who trusted that I would maintain good grades while working after school and on weekends. Perhaps these individuals responded to the sense of despair that I demonstrated not only financially. My mom cleaned houses in Newport Beach and my dad worked night shift at the gas station on the corner of Harbor Boulevard in Wilson. salaries barely enough to pay rent on the west side of Costa Mesa and even less for living expenses. I also suffered from the despair of the lack of safety on the streets, the uncertainty of what would become of my life. I took advantage of every service possible, not knowing the word nonprofit back then, but I knew and could recognize these

102organizations and people that were good for me. Youth Employment Service, Think Together, Shalomar, Soy, Girls, Inc., many amazing organizations that are still around today. I relied on the kindness and mentorship of strangers to get me through high school and to encourage me to attend college. Decades later, as a parent of a middle middle school student in the same district, I see the same needs. The needs for positive mentors, safe places after school with not only academic support, but also enrichment, voices that uplift our parents and student. any outreach efforts meant to portray these young students as anything less than that what they are capable intelligent hardworking and for those of you students here I hope that you hear me with natural grit does a disservice to these families we must continue to listen and be

103guided by the real needs of these families by what they say and by the individ individuals that are representing them. I have worked on meaningful outreach efforts through my previous role as director of operations of the chamber of commerce of Costa Mesa to partnerships with Trellis Scholomar Lascalita, the network for homeless solutions through the city of Costa Mesa and so many more with Trustee Anderson. She knows the community, loves this community and aims to do right by them. She is a tireless advocate who has and continues to bring solutions to real problems. I suggest instead of petty quibbling, we do attempt to put our egos aside and do what's best for these students, for them, for the future that they will soon walk into. Thank you. Okay, moving on to um 17A. Um we have

104anformational item and it is um we have an a policy where uh you know the the um a community member can place something on the agenda. Um, and we have a community member that wanted to place something on the agenda. We have Ruth Kobayashi and she will have three minutes to speak on this item. Good evening everybody. My name is Ruth Sanchez Kobashi. Thank you for including my concerns for professional governance standards on tonight's agenda. As a parent of two NMUSD graduates and a committed advocate for all of our schools, I urge you to hold one of our trustees accountable for conduct that falls short of the professionalism that our district parents and students expect. At the September board meeting, Trustee Anderson publicly demeaned and degraded a fellow trustee without provocation. She appeared to believe

105that a trustee who does not live in her zone has no right to oversight of the schools in that zone. This behavior witnessed by teachers, staff, student board members, and the public was unacceptable. District policies and bylaws direct board members to, and I quote, recognize and respect differences of perspective and style on the board and among staff, student, parents, and the community. Act with dignity, understand the implications of demeanor and behavior, and govern in a dignified and professional manner, treating everyone with civility and respect," unquote. These standards, also reinforced by the California School Board Association's professional governance standards, are clear. Trustee Anderson's actions violated them. An MUSD board policy manual also states, and I quote, "Board members are elected to serve the whole district, not just one school zone, or one special interest group. Violations

106of laws, policies, or bylaws tend to injure the district's reputation and undermine the board's effectiveness. Such conduct is deemed a dare election of duty." I want you to know I speak tonight of my own accord, driven only by my commitment to our district's reputation, the example that we set for students, and the quality of leadership we provide. I ask that you all of you including those that are not at this disp right now for some reason to take steps to hold Trustee Anderson accountable for her disruptive and disrespectful behavior. While a public apology would be welcome, accountability is essential for a professional board who will govern in a dignified manner. PS. Student board members and all the students here were really impressive tonight. It gives us all hope in the future and I would have

107loved to have seen them all represented by their trustees who chose not to be here. Thank you. Thank you for your continued work for our students. >> Thank you. I just wanted to uh reiterate uh the board policy 90005 which is our governance standards and and I quote the board expects its members to work with each other and the superintendent to ensure that a highquality education is provided to each student. Each individual board member shall keep learning and achievement for all students as the primary focus. Value, support and advocate advocate for public education. Recognize and respect differences of perspective and style on the board and among staff, students, parents, and the community. Act with dignity and understanding the implica implications of demeanor and behavior. Additionally, board members also shall assume collective responsibilities for building unity

108and creating a positive organizational culture. To operate effectively, the board shall have a unity of purpose and keep the district focused on learning and achievement for all students. Communicate a common vision. Operate openly with trust and integrity. Govern dignified and professional manner, treating everyone with civility and respect. Govern within board adopted policies and procedures. Take collective responsibility for the board's performance and periodically evaluate its own effectiveness. After reading these, I um you know reviewed my why of why I'm I'm on the school board and and who I serve and I serve the students of of Newport Mesa. So every day when I decide to come to work, come here on a board meeting, I am so fortunate that I get to um work at a district or govern at a district that are um our

109northstar, our students. And every day I see my kids that are my northstar and they're the reason I'm here. And I I'd love to govern with those um that also have that as their northstar and I'd like to keep that in our district. Um, any other comments? Uh, Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. Um, Ruth, thank you. Um, I agree. As board members, we're expected to model the same professionalism and respect that we ask of our staff, students, and families. Um, I believe part of that example is showing up, listening, and finding ways to move forward together, even if it it's an uncomfortable situation. We have to lead with kindness. We have to stay focused on what truly matters and that's that's supporting our students and strengthening our schools. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments, Trusty

110Crane? >> Well, to put it plainly, we don't pick our team. We're electeds. our constituents uh elect us and then we all get we're thrown in together and we need to work together with integrity, dignity and commitment to our kids. The north are the northstar of why we do this. We are the stewards of students all our students. We keep saying that we are we serve at the pleasure of all of our students. And so um I I don't like seeing empty seats and on a dis um I don't like to see the fact that um that we are not a team right now tonight. We should all be here moving forward and we need to also be the role models of uh behavior. We we are elected. very we are held to a higher

111standard and we we really need to just always make sure that we govern and not undermine our process and that starts with respect and the protocols that uh President um Wands basically read tonight and for me again it's about the kids it's about doing my job and not undermining the process of governance and and to say that none of us are, you know, passionate about our work. It's a calling. We average about $5 an hour, maybe. Okay. So, we're not here because because we're we're greedy. We're ambitious and we're singleisssued persons. We're here because we care about our community and we want to inspire, educate, and elevate every student. And so, you know, we we need to understand that that can't happen if we don't respect each other and agree to disagree sometimes. But we

112also have to face the reality that this is a majority board. Majority rules. This is a democracy. It's a democratic board. So, if we don't we don't always get what we want to quote McJagger. Um, so the the point is is that sometimes we don't win the battles, but we always can serve our community to the best of our ability with integrity, respect for each other. So, um, here we are. Thank you. Any other comments, questions? Okay. Uh, with that, I will be moving on to consent calendar to number 18. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. Moved by Trustee Pearson, seconded by Trustee Crane. Roll call vote, please. Trusty Wagan. >> Yes. >> Trust. Trusty Murphy. Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane. >>

113Yes. 40. All right. Moving on to public hearing for the board of education personnel commission appointee um assistant superintendent nib. So in accordance with education code this item is for the public hearing regarding the board's attended appointee Charlene Mononttoy which was announced in the September board meeting um for the appointment to the personnel commission. Just a reminder the board will consider action to appoint Miss Montoy during a subsequent agenda item. So this is just for the public hearing. >> Okay. I am going to open the hearing up now at 7:45 or 7:44. Public comments. Seeing none, I'm going to close the hearing at 7:44. Okay. Moving on to 19B, public hearing disclosing the provisions of the 2025 2026 tenative collective bargaining bargaining agreement with the California School Employees Association, Newport Mesa, Chapter 18, Assistant Superintendent

114NIB. >> All right. So, this is the public hearing to receive any public comment um on the provisions of the um the tenative agreement with CSEA. >> All right. I will open up the hearing at 7:44. It's a long minute. Um, are there any other public comments? All right. Seeing none, the hearing is now closed at 7:44. Okay. 20. Discussion action calendar. 20A. Approve the board of education appointee to the personnel commission. Assistant superintendent NIP. >> All right. So, having conducted a public hearing in accordance with education code, the next step is for the board to consider action to appoint Charlene Matoy to a three-year term of office to the district's personnel commission. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Trustee Crane, seconded by Trustee Murphy. Roll call

115vote. Student board member Kenley Lopez. >> Yes. >> Trusty Wagan. >> Yes. >> Trusty Soiloop. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. 70. 20B. >> Congratul Congratulations. Char. >> 20B. approved tenative agreement between the Newport Mesa Unified School District and California's school employees association and its Newport Mesa Chapter 18 concluding 2025 2026 negotiations. Assistant Superintendent Nib. >> Absolutely. So, we are pleased to bring to the board the tenative agreement with CSA for approval. Miss Ching said it so eloquently earlier in the meeting with her comments. Um but both negotiating teams work tirelessly focusing on key areas to support classified employees which includes an ongoing salary increase the district's contribution for health and welfare

116benefits and investment in recognizing longevity and professional growth. We want to recognize the CSEA team that included Amy Ching, CSEA president, Sean Katz, Amber Schumacher, Rose Hedgard, Mike Richie, and labor representatives Diego Ortega and Charles Leon. We also want to recognize the district's negotiating team that included Sarah Jacam, Shashana Nano, Lance Bidnik, and Jake Haley. Kristen Clark served as a resource to both teams through the process. Thank you. >> Great. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trusty Pearson. Roll call vote. >> Trusty Wagan. >> Yes. >> Trusty Soilu. >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson. >> Yes. Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty, uh, Mleward, >> yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. Motion carries 70. Congratulations. Uh, 20 C, approve management,

117uh, confidential and supervisor compensation and benefits for 2025 2026, assistant superintendent NIP. >> Fantastic. Uh so having met and conferred with representatives of management, confidential and supervisory employee groups um these are leadership groups that include multiple classifications such as principles, assistant principles, coordinators, um executive assistants, supervisors, managers. It is recommended that the board of education approve parallel compensation and benefits for these groups with the same increases provided to CSA. >> Sounds great. Uh do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Do I have a second? >> Oh, second. Moved by Trusty Anderson, seconded by Trustee Murphy. Roll call vote. >> Trusty Wagan, >> yes. >> Trusty, >> yes. >> Trusty Murphy, >> yes. >> Trusty Pearson, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Mroy, >> yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. Motion

118carries 70. Okay, moving on to 21, which is the resolution adoption calendar. 21A is adopt resolution 29-10-25 to standardize district facility components for the designation of specific materials, products, things or services of public works projects to ETC for theatrical lighting. Assistant Superintendent Dixon. >> Thank you, Madam President. This resolution allows us to standardize, and I think it's an important distinction here, theatrical lighting, but not theater lighting. So, it's a theatrical lighting like we installed at the 22 MPs over the summer. Yeah. >> Um, it makes sure that all components that we buy going forward are compatible with that system. >> It in no way prevents us from switching this at a future time, it would require a different resolution to either dissolve or replace it. But right now, with those being such new systems, we

119want to make sure that whatever we can specify in our bid documents for improvements or additions to those, um, the contractors would not be able to deviate from what our current system is. All right. Do I have a motion? Uh, so moved. Second. Uh, it's it's moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trusty Murphy. Questions, comments? All right. Uh, roll call vote. >> Trusty Wagan, >> yes. >> Trusty Soilu, >> yes. >> Trusty Murphy, >> yes. >> Trusty Pearson, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Mroy, >> yes. Trusty Crane. >> Yes. >> Okay. Motion carries. 77 70 700 21B. Adopt resolution 30-10-25 to approve the continued funding application with the California Department of Education for the state preschool program for the 2026 2027 school year. Dr. Sir. >> Yes. So, this is a

120yearly resolution uh for us to approve the uh state preschool funding that we receive in the upcoming year. So this is an approval for the 26 27 year and this covers our state preschool programs that currently operate at seven of our schools. College Park, Killybrook, Paulino, Pomona, Sonora, Whittier, and Wilson. We did have eight last year, but we uh we have restructured both Pomona and Ray Elementary School. So Ry is no longer uh running a state preschool program on its campus, but this is uh a uh a contractual amount that's approximate. It's a maximum reimburse reimburseable amount of $5,259,77. >> All right. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Do >> I have a second? >> Second. >> Moved by Trusty Anderson. Seconded by Trusty Crane. Roll call vote. >> Trusty Wagan? >> Yes.

121>> Trusty Soil? >> Yes. >> Trusty Murphy? >> Yes. >> Trusty Pearson? >> Yes. >> Trusty Anderson? >> Yes. >> Trusty Mroy? >> Yes. >> Trusty Crane? >> Yes. The motion carries 70 21c adopt resolution 31-10-25 selection of farmers and merchants bank as depository for various accounts of district and authorizations therewith. Assistant superintendent Dixon. >> Thank you. Yes. So this resolution in essence updates my name with uh Jeff Trader's name for all the accounts that we manage at Farmers Emergence Bank. You can see that in the resolution. A lot of it, the bulk of it is our associated student body accounts. >> Great. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trusty Ursulu. >> Roll call vote. >> Trusty Wagan, >> yes. >> Trusty Soilu, >>

122yes. >> Trusty Murphy, >> yes. >> Trusty Pearson, >> yes. >> Trusty Anderson, >> yes. >> Trusty Mroy, >> yes. >> Trusty Crane, >> yes. >> Motion carries 70. Okay, moving on to um item 22 informational reports. Superintendent, >> I want to start with um a couple of the events that I went to that just speak to our district priorities. Was able to visit the Ray Avid family night. Uh and it was focus was on literacy and there was a line coming out the door. It was a huge line and I cracked a joke with the PTA is that where the you know we're selling food or whatever. They're like no that line's back there and it was full until we opened these doors. I went in, it was wall-to-wall uh families, uh parents, family

123members, guardians with their students working on literacy tasks. It was beautiful. You couldn't find a space in that room. Um I had a chance too to go to College Park's flag deck, which may not sound like a big deal, but College Park knew that it was. Uh they had a kiss the goat um activity uh and cut the hair of one of their teachers who had the most lovely hair. I've always wanted hair like his um and never ever had it. They did it because they set a goal for this school and here's what's important to raise money for other school activities. Some years ago, we found out that that was one of our schools that couldn't raise enough money to go to science camp. That's when the board to my left decided that they

124would fund all science camps at every school so that every student could participate. This school said we can do better than that. They set a goal and I think in trusty Murphy knows the exact amount, but it's almost $60,000 at at the point that I was at that meeting. again, science camp was about seven, couldn't get there. Now, their families are coming together because they believe in that school. They raised $60,000. And I'll tell you what, I bragged about teachers a little earlier. Um, kids may not remember what they did that day in school. They may or may not, but the guy that shaved his head, every student came up to him and wanted to hug him and thank him. they will remember maybe forever >> what he did to motivate their parents and families

125to give so those students can experience things and I thought that was just beautiful. I I mentioned dying with data and so I'll leave that one u but I did want to say this for any of our audience members watching so that they're not confused. um when we introduced the item for management uh supervisors etc to get their um new raises compensation um right after we did with our our friends at CSEA. Um I I wanted to make clear that that does not include assistant superintendents or the superintendent. It could have our contracts allow for it but we all decided because I said earlier we believe in our teams at the table. We believe we have the folks there to resolve any of our issues and we're willing to wait until all of our groups

126have agreed. And so I just want to be clear that that we signed a document saying we were going to wait uh until all groups have agreed. So that that's my report. >> Thank you. So we're going to move on to board member reports and I'm going to remind everyone to keep the report to one committee member uh one committee report and then one school event so we can get through it all. All right, I'm going to start with Trusty Crane. >> Um I I'm going to start by violating that real quick by thanking everyone for wearing pink uh in um in due to breast cancer awareness and so thank you for allowing that. Uh all right, so I'll keep it short. Um uh we went to Battle the Bay rally and football game. It

127was great. uh committee member. We went as Newport Beach leazison trusty Pearson and I went to the Newport Beach Youth Council which is a a wonderful internship program that is offered to our high school students where they pair our students to city staff from various departments. And it's really neat to see the interaction between the adult and the student because the adults just as excited as the student. And because you know the the staff in the departments, they just kind of interact with a lot of adults all day every day, every week, every month, every year. So it's refreshing to have um high school students interacting with them because then they get to shadow them. They get to become mentors for the students and then and and and then of course the students are becoming

128more enriched and engaged with how city works. The city has a lot of layers and so it's a wonderful program and so trustee Pearson and I are the liaison and we were happy to be there in support of the uh Newport Beach Youth Council. >> Trusty Melroy. >> Hi. Um well this really changes my um because I didn't I don't have a commit thrown you for a loop. I just spent the entire month like I do every single day um learning what I'm doing, learning um the district. I went and met with Soy. I went I've been to all the schools. I have um I'm just learning, you know, about every everything. And I'm meeting really great people, really great teachers, really great parents. Um my highlight would be Friday at Flag Deck. I have

129two highlights. culinary class that we went to was amazing and watching the almost all those kids just do their thing and it was amazing. Um, and then going to the flag deck at uh Newport L and seeing how excited all the new children um the uh student council was elected and all of them got to be introduced and that was really cute and they were really excited. So that's that's my uh statement. >> One in one. >> Yeah. >> Trusty Anderson. >> Thank you. Um I was able to participate participate in the Orange County um transportation authority safe routes to school um steering committee that I've been on um that helped host the walk to school days that happened in the past few weeks. Um and it's been amazing to see the progress just with

130crosswalks, protected bike lanes, um a lot of the work that's been happening. um now in both cities has been incredible. Um and then I just wanted to inform the public and invite um our school communities to get involved with um the love our schools day on November 15th. Um love Costa Mesa and Charlotta started that and now it's in Newport Beach. So great opportunity to start community gardens, participate in all kinds of beautifification at school sites. Um, and I'll actually be starting too at Wilson as a literacy tutor volunteer. So, there's lots of opportunities around to help. Thanks, >> Trusty Pearson. >> Okay. It's so not fair to tell a elementary school trustee that she can't talk about all the fun fall events that were going on. But my two favorite um things I think

131one was Michelle Murphy, Trusty Murphy and I were able to sit down with our new um special ed directors um Heather Cash for elementary and Robert Nichols for secondary. Um I can't tell you how impressive they were, their knowledge, their heart. um they are really going to do make a big difference in our schools for special ed. So that was definitely one of my highlights. Thank you for taking the time and um sitting with us. And of course my second one has to be the battle of the bay. Um it's always a good battle of the bay when over I think over 7,500 fans. We had great football. Um and CDM got to bring back the trophy. So um that would be my second highlight. Thanks. Yes. That's great. >> Okay. Trusty Murphy. Um, so

132yes. Um, one more Dogathon update. Uh, Superintendent Smith. So, the Pollino Panthers raised $1,000 over gold this this last Friday, I think. Um, $31,049. Yes. Palino. Yes. >> Y, >> go ladies and all of you PTA moms and dads. Um, and then uh my other probably small little um thing though not small is we attended the city departments meeting together um Crystal Leia and I and um so there's a little bit more to tell about this but my big advocacy piece was for um what our college park residents want to see is a walk is a crosswalk basically at forom across Fairview and um or sorry across fair and so it was um interesting to have our engineering folks listen to us talk about how that could happen. Everything from moms making flashing lights to,

133you know, painting uh the street oursel. So, I think we might have scared them enough to look into it a little bit more closely and see what we can do at the crosswalk there at for to put um easier crossing there at form across fair. So, um College Park uh parents, keep your fingers crossed. And um last the Mustangs. Just one last thing, they'll be done. The Mustangs are 7-1 overall, 3-0 in the tango league. >> This win clinches at least one at least a share of the league for the team. Yay team. >> Cute. >> Thank you, Mustangs. >> Trusty Ursulu. Um this month um similar to um Trusty Murphy and Trusty Wagon, we went to the city um the meeting with the city and all the different um departments and the issue that

134I had put on the agenda was um ebike safety. So we're trying to um work closer with the police department around ebike safety, whether that looks like enforcement, whether that looks like um our our how we permit them on campuses here, different um angles to keep our kids safer. um because the the state is not doing anything and so kids are still on ebikes and we need to deal with that. And then um secondly, I got the chance to go and um celebrate the Estansia Theater on Saturday night. The opening of that was really great to see so many people that worked hard to get that um built there. And those are and I also talked to the Chimoy kids at Estansia who are awesome. Um and Mr. G, props to Mr. G. You're doing

135a great job. So that was that was it. >> Thank you. All right. So, I um was also at the Battle of the Bay, but I had the privilege of flipping the coin, which if anyone's a big football fan, it's quite entertaining. Um, and both principles made me train >> to flip that coin to make sure that it it wasn't a bad flip according to them, but it worked. Um, Newport Harbor won the won the toss, but um they did not win the game. Sometimes that happens. Um, so that was a thrilling. It It was great. SE 7,500 uh folks, but next year it'll be back at um Davidson Field, so that'll be exciting, too. Um and then leaving you guys with one feel-good note is um you know that you know the Snoopy house

136that we have in the city of Costa Mesa. Well, you know how it's it was at that house in East Side Coast Mesa and then, you know, moved to the city hall and um you know, some of those uh con Snoopy cutouts have looked a little, you know, they've looked better in their day and so our Estansia construction pathway is now rebuilding all the Snoopy house. Um you know, the cutouts. So, you know, I guess a a big truck of of wood got delivered to Stansia the other week and and they're raring to go. So, hopefully by December we will have newly updated Snoopy House at the city of Costa Mesa. So, I'm really excited to see that. Yeah, I love the Snoopy House. Okay, with that, let's um I'm going to close the meeting

137at 804.