001All right, I'm going to call the meeting to order at 4:30. Uh, do I have an adoption of the agenda? Oh, excuse me. Roll call. It's roll call first. Trusty Wagan here. Trusty here. Trusty Murphy. Trusty Pearson here. Trusty Anderson here. Trusty Crane here. Dr. Smith here. All right. Now, adoption of the agenda. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trustee Ursulo. Uh, roll call vote. Trusty Wagan, yes. Trusty, yes. Trusty Murphy. Trusty Pearson, yes. Trusty Anderson, yes. Trusty Crane, yes. All right. Uh that is 6 or one absent. Um community input on closed agenda items. Is there any? All right. Seeing none, um we will move to close session. The items are A, student discipline. B public employee discipline dismissal release employment uh number 202408. C public
002employee discipline dismissal release employment. And then D conference with labor negotiator. We will return uh to open session at 6 pm. All right. All right. I'm going to call the meeting uh to order at 601. Um I'm going to uh read out a uh readout from close session. Um in close session, the board of education directed the superintendent to provide notification to certificated employee number 202408 regarding their contract status. The roll call vote was unanimous. Um now let's move on to opening ceremonies. Uh moment of reflection and pledge of allegiance led by Ganon Overfelt. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nationy and justice for all. All right. Now, number nine, adoption of the minutes
003from the board meeting of March 4th, 20 uh 25 and um March 27th, 2025. Uh do I have a motion? So move. Second. Moved by trustee uh Pearson, seconded by trustee. Um roll call vote. Trusty Wagan. Yes. Trusty Sylen. Yes. Trusty Murphy, yes. Trusty Pearson, yes. Trustee Anderson, yes. Trusty Crane, yes. All right, the vote was 6o. The motion carries. Now, moving on to number 10, recognition. Um, a is recognition of the 2025 Superintendent's character trait award honores. Dr. Smith, this time of the year is so exciting. We get to see our students, our amazing students, honored, recognized. Uh, and this is one of those groups. We get a chance every year since 2012 to recognize students that exemplify character traits that we not only want to see in our schools amongst our students, but
004in our society for heaven's sakes. And these students certainly exemplify them. They are the character traits of caring, citizenship, courage, fairness, respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness. We recognize one senior from each of our high schools, and they're nominated by their school leadership team. So, tonight we'll invite folks uh from the school site to come up and talk about the students. Uh we'll have a trustee join me, we'll present a certificate, take some photos, families will have a chance to to snap it if you're here. Uh and again just can't thank our students enough for being a shining example of what we all ought to be as individuals and a society. Uh first up tonight we have Depali is going to come up and share although I don't think our student could be here. Good evening. Um
005my student actually was not able to be here today but I asked if I could speak on his behalf to celebrate him. So, our student is Andy Lopez. Um, he is an integral part of the Costa Mesa Middle and High School community. He is someone that leads with love, heart, and care. He is um the co- captain of our dance team. He is also a member of our drama team. He is a lead in our band. And everything he does, he does with heart. and he has cultivated a community at our school. And so while he could not be here today, I still wanted to honor Andy Lopez um who is cared for deeply by our community. So thank you. And I'd like to call up Scott. Good evening everyone. Uh, I'm Scott Missouri and
006I have the honor of serving as principal for Backbay High School and we are incredibly proud to present Reese Rendan to be recognized for his demonstration of citizenship. Ree also unfortunately could not be here. Um, I mean I think it speaks to his caring of others. He had a late emergency that happened at work and he said, "I need to be here to help my team at work." And so he actually called me at 4:00 and said, "I'm really sorry. Couldn't make it." So um during his time at Backbay, Ree has been a role model to his peers through his enthusiasm for learning and earnest respect for all. Uh Ree is known for diligently working with his staff to ensure he has completed all of his work for full credit. And more importantly, Ree always
007helps fellow students achieve their academic goals without hesitation. It is not uncommon to find Ree helping other students who have experienced, say, technical issues or offering immediately assistance to other students so that they can complete their work. Reese's kindness and respect for others inspires those around him, helping to create a supportive and welcoming environment. Reese's drive to help others is indicative of his post uh graduation plans. He is going to serve our uh country by joining the Marine Corps. And Reese's long-term goals are to utilize that opportunity to get certification for long-term employment. So, we are very proud of Ree and we are sad that he cannot be here. So, thank you very much. Good evening, President Wagan, members of the board, Superintendent Smith, Deputy Superintendent Torres, uh, distinguished guest. Uh, it's an honor to
008be up here to talk about our Pillar Award for Courage. I'd love to call up Max Douglas. Max, come on up. So, I've had the privilege to observe and watch Max over three years at Corona Delmare. And Max is simply an amazing young man, amazing student, and I'm going to brag on him very quickly. Uh it takes courage to get through middle and high school. We all know that it's never an easy road. And watching Max and watching him find his path has been truly a joy. Max started off by playing basketball, thinking that might be the fit. Then I knew him as a bloody-nosed football player, hard-nosed linebacker. Never forget the the picture in my head after a game of Max super tough on the field. And then all of a sudden, Max decides
009to try cross country as well as track and field. All while maintaining as he's graduating here with a 4.3 grade point average. It takes courage to try something new. It takes courage to put yourself out there. It takes courage to lead. And watching Max over his journey in high school has been amazing. He's not afraid to try new things. And that's going to take him so far in life. Really proud of his accolades this year. He finished first in division four for CIF for across country. He finished third in the state and he finished 18th in the nation. And you can tell by his sweatshirt others noticed as well. And he is off to the University of Notre Dame to continue his pursuits in academics as well. Max, thank you for the courage and leading
010with courage. Congratulations. [Applause] Thank you. [Applause] Good evening, Superintendent Smith, President Wagan, and board trustees and guests. My name is Raquel Stevens, the proud principal of Monav Vista Independent Study. We have a superstar here tonight. I'd like to introduce you to the recipient of the Superintendent's Character Award for Fairness, Madison Stevenson. Madison is a student who embodies fairness in every aspect of life. With an open mind and non-judgmental heart, she listens to others without rushing to conclusions, valuing perspectives and experiences. As I told Maddie before, Monav Vista was made for her. She is a model independent studies student and has completed all of her senior classes this year at Monav Vista. Maddie has always seen the entire picture in whatever situation is in. She knows how to read the room and empathize with everyone in
011it. This is her superpower. Maddie is an advocate for those who can't speak up for themselves. Whether it's standing up to bullying at school or creating a health a mental health website for her senior project this year, her compassion knows no bounds. She could be an attorney or a judge with all these attributes, but she has chosen the most noble profession of all. She will be an elementary educator. Maddie will graduate with Monav Vista this year and she'll be going to Colorado, Colorado State to study early elementary education. There is no doubt she will be amazing at her calling. Maddie dreams of a creating a classroom where every child feels seen and heard and she is determined to make a positive impact on the next generation. Congratulations, Maddie. [Applause] Good evening. I'm proud to be
012able to uh honor Alexis Madris as our recipient for the character trait of respect. There's an old adage that respect is earned and not given, but Alexa turns that adage on its head. And over the past four years at Estansia, she has earned the respect of our staff and her peers by giving respect to everyone she interacts with and showing how much appreciation and respect she has for the programs and opportunities that are available to her at Estansia. Alexa is a thoughtful and respectful leader in our ASB, our band, our medical academy, and an advocate and supporter of students whose voices are often not heard on a high school campus. Alexa has been a four-year member of the Estansia band and was selected to be our drum major. In this position, she uh leads her
013peers by example and respectfully advocates for their needs and ideas. Alexa is also a charter member of our ALASS uh program that supports students who are new to the country and need extra care and assistance navigating the different demands of an American high school. Alas is Spanish for wings and Alexa is seen as a peer leader who lifts up and supports and advocates for our newcomers, helping them navigate our high school, stay on top of their studies, and take advantage of our extracurricular activities. As leader in our medical academy, her teacher, Miss Rabbit, says, "Alexa speaks the universal language of respect by the way she carries herself, interacts with others, and values every opportunity to learn and grow." Upon graduation, Alexa will attend UCI as a biology major with a goal of pursuing a career
014in nursing and healthcare. And I can think of no better ambassador to our school than Alexa. [Applause] Good evening, President Wagan, board trustees, Dr. Smith, executive cabinet, and guests. I'm Dr. Dave Martinez, principal of Early College High School. I'd like to introduce Noah Tran for the character trade of responsibility. Come on up, Noah. Before I speak about our outstanding student, I just want to extend my gratitude for annually having this recognition now in its 10th year. I have been fortunate to be principal of Early College since the inception of this program as I believe it's one that is core to creating positive school culture. With the nine past recipients whose banners we hang proudly in our multi-purpose room, I look forward to adding our 10th soon to be ECS graduate, Noah Tran. It is believed
015if a person is hungry, humble, and smart, those are the characteristics to be successful. If you layer in the pillar of responsibility, which has been defined as the quality of exhibiting moral or mental accountability within your actions, well, I think you've got the makings of a leader such as Noah. Our staff and community members can share numerous examples of Noah's actions and responsibility over his four years as at ECS. It is more than him being a person of his word and fulfilling that he states he will complete, but also organizing student volunteer groups to serve throughout the area. as our community service club president as well as our wellness and inclusion commissioner. Noah also possesses community awareness and he has a responsibility to be engaged and involved whether it's through the boys and girls club,
016Kelly's Closet, March for Babies, March of Dimes, the Mesaver Public Library, Solace for Hope Jazz Festival and various church-based events and I just named a few projects Noah has been involved with which reflect over 250 hours of community service. In fact, just earlier today, he and three seniors held a lunchtime presentation for our students on drug prevention awareness and resources they can access. He has done this before with a presentation our quad on the debilitating effects of all of tobacco. Noah is a four-year AVID scholar graduating with high academic honors on May 29th. He has earned the Golden State me merit seal and we will have his I gety completed which means he has all his college general education courses done. He intends to start his next journey at the University of California, Irvine, majoring
017in biological sciences with a plan to become a nurse practitioner. This is our man, Noah Tram. [Applause] Last but not least, Newport Harbor High School. President Wagan, members of the board, Superintendent Smith, Executive Cabinet, and guests. Thank you for, as Dr. Martinez mentioned, the 10th year that this award has been in its in its presence here at Newport Mesa Unified School District, and it really celebrates our most cherished values. Our recipient is Ellie Gor. [Applause] Ellie's receiving this award for trustworthiness and we put this out to our staff. There's invariably 25 to 26 teachers that a student has throughout their high school career. There were over 20 teachers that nominated Ellie that had Ellie throughout the four years at Newport Harbor High School. Her commitment to friendship, her commitment to the truth, her commitment to
018hard work really earned her the respect of all the educators in the classroom along with her peers. Not only that, she comes from great karma intellectually. Her father is a professor at OC. Pat who's in attendance tonight. Her mom Megan is a professor at UCI. And Ellie plans to attend UCI and major in mechanical engineering. But this class is really special because my kids are are graduating this class. My twins are graduating class of 2025. They attended Woodland, Kaiser, Anson, and Harbor. I got to watch within the community a lot of students grow up and Ellie was one of those students that grew up through Woodlink Kaiser Enson and Newport Harbor High School leaving her mark at each school with each friend with each teacher that she came into contact with. Trustworthiness Ellie Goren [Applause]
019Thank you. Sorry. Sorry. One more. [Applause] All right. Now, moving on to another recognition we have. Um, I'm very proud of this next group. We're proud of all of them, but this next three particularly uh recognition of Adams Elementary School and Kaiser Elementary School for being named California Distinguished Schools. Dr. Sir. Yes. Uh good evening, President Wan, board members, Superintendent Smith, Cabinet, and and guests. Uh I'm excited to be able to share with you the recognition for both Kaiser Elementary School and Adams Ele Elementary School in receiving the California Distinguished School Award. Um the history of that is that it started back in 1985. There's been re renditions of it, but starting in 2018, very specifically, the state started to recognize schools in two different categories. Closing the achievement gap and exceptional student performance. The
020recognition alternates every year. So this year it's for elementary schools, and then next year it'll be secondary schools just like it was last year. Um, with that, um, we have, uh, to start off with, I would like to ask, uh, Principal Matt Brazenly to please come up at Kaiser Elementary School. So, Kaiser has earned California Distinguished School Award back in the year 2000. Um, and that was an old Conan O'Brien skit in the year 2000. I don't know if you guys ever saw that. but uh and they've now earned this distinction for a second time. We're really really proud of all the work they're doing. Kaiser is recognized under the category of exceptional student performance and Principal Brazenly has been serving our district as a teacher and a leader for 22 years and he's completing
021his second year at Kaiser um this year. Principal Brazen Lee would like to credit his staff for placing a heavy emphasis on strong academic achievement and we would like to congratulate the entire Kaiser staff and community for this incredible recognition. [Applause] Thank you. Good evening, President Wagan, board members, Superintendent Dr. Smith, members of cabinet, and our guests. Thank you so much uh for having us here to recognize our school. Um while I am honored to stand here alone, it is not an award that is achieved alone. And there's a number of um certificated, classified. We have uh parents, PFO members, and students here that I would like to invite to stand behind me. [Applause] As I said, thank you so much for the honor and and being able to be recognized today. Um, and it's
022an honor to be here to to receive this recognition as well. It's a collective commitment. It shows the work and the efforts of our certificated, our classified staff coming together as one with our community, our community partners, our PFO, um our volunteers that put in countless hours and and the amazing time and en the amount of time and energy as well that our our staff put into to putting all this work together for our students. And uh great to have two kids here as well. I'm I'm extremely proud of what we've accomplished at Kaiser and equally excited about the growth that we've made and extremely extremely excited about the direction that we are heading as a school. And I will tell you that we are committed to continuing this momentum and ensuring the best for
023our kids. Thank you so much for having us here tonight and for recognizing us. Squish. Congratulations. [Applause] [Laughter] Gotcha. Thank you. Congratulations. Good to see you. Okay, moving on. Um, uh, the next school we would like to recognize is Adams Elementary School. And I would like to ask, uh, Principal Dr. Joe Irving to please come up. [Applause] Adams has earned the distinction the distinction of a California distinguished school under the category of closing the achievement gap. And this is the first time Adams has ever received the California Distinguished School Award. Uh Dr. Irvin has served in Newport Mesa for the last two years leading Adams with tremendous leadership. Uh he credits this accomplish accomplishment by having a very strong focus on academic achievement. A strong intervention model for students who need additional support to be
024uh raised to the level of having mastery of standards at their grade level. And also uh another major strength of the school is forming strong partnerships within the community. So uh with no further ado, let's uh I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Bourbon. Good evening, President Wagan, trustees and superintendent Smith. Um, it is my honor to share that Adams Elementary has been named a California distinguished school. Before we go on, I'd like to invite my team here. We're small but mighty. [Applause] This is an incredible recognition that reflects the collective commitment, dedication, and excellence of our entire school community. This achievement is rooted in the tireless efforts of our teachers and staff who go above and beyond to create a safe, supportive, and engaging environment where all students can thrive. At Adams, we
025are deeply committed to using data to drive instruction. And our educators regularly review assessment results, identify areas of need, and implement targeted interventions, and provide just the right support at the right time. We also make intentional use of interimm assessments, not only in isolated practice, but as meaningful opportunities for students to engage with standards, analyze their progress, and build confidence. This connection between assessment and learning has empowered our students to take ownership of their own growth to better understand the why behind what they are learning. Being named a distinguished school is more than a title. It is a reflection of the culture that we've built at Adams. One where every child is seen, supported, and challenged to reach their full potential. Thank you for your continued effort and for recognizing the hard work that happens
026every day at Adams Elementary. We are proud to represent the excellence of Newport Mesa Unified School District. Okay. [Applause] It was so wonderful uh watching everyone uh receive those awards. Um next up we have um recognition of Newport Mesa student award winners. Dr. Torres. All right. Good evening. Uh, President Wagan, Dr. Smith, trustees, community, it's my pleasure to be able to present tonight uh and share with uh our community uh two of our amazing award winners. And I'm going to try my best here to get this um up and running. So, give me just a second. Okay. So, uh, tonight in front of us, we have two of our distinguished, uh, students who have won the PTA Reflections Art Program, um, for the state of California. This year's theme was accepting imperfection. And so, students
027who were submitting artwork had to provide a statement and create art that generated um, some type of emotion and feeling around that ex um, being uh, I guess accepting imperfection. Uh and so our students qualified in the area of visual arts and these student winners um will be able to have state level recognition and they'll be able to have their art displayed um at state PTA convention, the reflections gallery. And so it will go on tour. And so our first um student we have up today, go ahead put this there is Zerar Zubar. And so um you can see here that the artwork is named fragmented life and the statement uh written by Zerar is accepting imperfection means to love everyone to accept everyone regardless of their disability. Acceptance is love. Everyone is imperfectly perfect.
028Everyone uh I'm sorry. The fragments in this mosaic filtered selfie image are glued together by the love of my dad and my sister Zanna. The love of my father and my family helped me to overcome my autism through my pictures. I like to show the world how I see things and how I feel. Congratulations, Zar. Dr. um [Applause] Oh, please. Yes. I'd like to welcome up Isabella Wades Pavilla. Would you come right on up here? You can see the beautiful artwork displayed here as well. Isabella wrote, "I was born autistic like a pearl. I started my life with a little grain of sand that needed um nature to shine. People like me are often exposed to bullying or abuse. I was and my spirit got broken. Treat us with love and respect and you'll be
029compensated with the bloom of an orchid. Today, I still use masking to try to fit into society, but my mask is broken. And like Kintugi, it's getting repaired with the gold of time. So people can find my beauty by embracing my imperfections. Dr. Haley, I know. Congratulations to our [Applause] winners. That's so wonderful to see. Definitely bring warms everyone's heart. Thank you so much. Uh student board member reports. Uh trustee Ursulu Okay, this month's um the student board member topic is um when you brag about your school, what do you usually say? What are the three most common things um you and your peers like to brag about your your place? Um so we will start with um Ganon Overfelt from CDM and then we'll go to Audrey and then India Howard. Good evening board
030members. My name is Ganerfeld and I'm the ASB president at Corona Delmare High School. First of all, I love this question. When I saw it, I got excited because of how easy this topic would be to write about. I actually went around to different groups of people and asked them what the best part of CDM was to them. The first person I asked said sports. No surprise there, obviously, right? Um, his reasoning was that every sport competes at a high level. He also said the coaches that he's had experience with at CDM care about their players. I couldn't agree more. It's really cool to see how much our coaches care about each player. They really hit on their making their players better men than better players mot um that qualified for CIF this year won
031at least one playoff game. This is an incredible accomplishment and really highlights the strength of our sports. The next person I interviewed said the teachers at CDM. The reasons this person gave me was how accessible and open the teachers are to helping each student. One example of this is my first period AP stats teacher practically begging our class to come in during office hours for extra help. She's begging our class, but she really begs me cuz I need I need it. Um the connection between the students and teachers at CDM is so amazing to see. It goes beyond the classroom. Teachers genuinely care about their students growth both academically and personally. The final person I asked said, "All the opportunities that CDM provides, whether it's through ASB, our AGS programs, clubs, or even the new
032wellness space, all these programs provide different opportunities for the students. I know students at CDM who take six APS, and I know others who take none. The clubs at CDM are a great place for students to meet people. No matter what your background or interests are, CDM's opportunities make it possible to find your place. Thank you. [Applause] And next up, Audrey Nanhoo from Early [Applause] College. Hello and good evening, Superintendent Smith, President Wand, other esteemed board members, and community members. My name is Audi Winhoo and it's a pleasure to see everyone. So, Early College High School has a variety of unique qualities that make it a place worth bragging about. Whenever someone asks me about my school, I always start by talking about the chance to earn college credits while still in high school through
033dual enrollment. And not only that, but professors from Coastline Community College, the school that we partner with, they come to visit our campus and teach us in person, giving us both college credits and experience in a college setting. At most schools, students are usually focused on just high school graduation, but here we're doing both. Working toward our high school diploma and I get or intersegmental general education transfer curriculum. It's kind of a mouthful and potentially even an associate degree or two, which amounts to about two years worth of college credits at a Cal State or UC. It's kind of like getting a two for one deal on education. This head start saves time and money while also providing a strong foundation for higher education before we even set foot on a university campus. As for
034what I hear from my peers, they hold similar value in one getting a head start on college as I mentioned. Um, a lot of students take pride in earning college credits and gaining real college experience. I'm definitely one of them and honestly I like to brag about it. It's pretty impressive to me. Almost everyone in my graduating class has either completed their IETI or or earned at least one associate degree. As for me, I'm on track to graduate with four degrees. That's my little fun fact, which sounds unbelievable to most people and to me, honestly. It's a huge accomplishment, especially when others realize how rare and valuable it is to have transferable college credits under your belt as a high school student. And another thing that our students particularly like is the smaller class sizes
035and stronger connections we get with everyone. Um, our classes aren't overcrowded. Our class sizes are usually less than 20 people, which means that we have much more space for in-depth discussions, and we're able to get significantly more personalized feedback from our teachers. It's also much easier to build strong connections with both classmates and our teachers. The intimate setting makes learning feel much more like a collaborative experience where everyone's voices are heard and valued. And third, at ECS, we're divided into four houses starting from your freshman year, and we stay in them throughout all four years. So, we have the sea dragons, which I think are definitely the best. Uh, no biases, uh, barracudas, stingrays, and narwhals. And each month we host schoolwide activities that involve all students across the houses, from competitions to team building
036exercises. It's a fun and engaging way to strengthen our already close-knit community, and it really adds to the sense of school spirit and camaraderie. The competitions create lasting memories and help forge bonds that extend beyond the classroom. All in all, ECS is more than just a place to take classes. It's a place that sets it sets us up for success, supports us like family, and challenges us to be our best, which is why I'm always proud to brag about it. Thank you. Great. And last but not least, um, India Howton from Costa Mesa. Hi, good evening, Superintendent Smith, board members, and community. My name is India Howardon, and I'm speaking on behalf of Costa Mesa High School. Our assignment was to brainstorm things that Mesa students would brag about in our school. With two months
037left of senior year, so many seniors are only focused on making it to graduation. So, it was nice for us to stop and reflect. I asked this question to several students and I got a variety of responses from the students, teachers, and different staff members. I asked, "Our drama program recently put on MMA Mia, so a lot of people brought up our drama and arts programs when talking about our school's accomplishments. Our school musicals are always good, but this year, because of Prop 22, we were able to get more funding for the production. We got to hire a set builder who constructed a twostory set and we could hire other people that would help with costumes and coaching. These improvements could be seen in the quality of the performances and the production. The drama program
038also has an upcoming um showcase as well as a blackbox musical directed entirely by students. However, drama is not the only good arts program at our school. We have an award-winning color guard, a varsity, and a JV dance team and several art tracks for students interested in ceramics, digital media, drawing, and painting. and we actually got to see one um just now at the um reflections thing. Um a lot of seniors also brought up how thankful they are for our school's college and career center. Senior year, as you know, can be really stressful due to college applications and figuring out your future. Because of this, many students said that said that they were grateful for the support from the college and career center staff and counselors. I personally worked really closely with my counselor during
039the college application process and I don't know what I would have done without that support system. The support from counselors don't end once you choose a college. The college and career center has been helpful with informing students about numerous scholarships and supporting them throughout the scholarship application process. It's been a helpful resource and support system for much of the senior class. Okay, I have a quick question for some of the people in the audience. Raise your hand if you're a student at Costa Mesa High School. Okay, keep your hand up if you're a part of any club. So, most people, as you can see, are a part of a club. Um, so another thing that our school has to brag about is the number of clubs we have on campus. This year we hit an
040all-time high for the amount of clubs at our school. Between middle school and high school, there are well over 30 clubs. So, as you can imagine, our club rush was a little bit like at the Hunger Games. Um, it's a lot. Um, but from film club to STEM to Red Cross to handball, all students are sure to find a club and an organization organization that they love. It's been a busy year for all Mesa students and you can feel the excitement for graduation. Mesa students are not only pushing through but preparing to end the year on a good note. Thank you guys. [Applause] All right. Thank you. Those were uh amazing reports and so enlightened on why you love your school so much. Uh next up, Harbor Council PTA report. Martha Flor. Oh, this is
041a hard act to follow. Wow. Every uh child every day. Amazing. Uh good evening, President Wan, Vice President Ersu, Clerk Murphy, board, Dr. Smith, cabinet, and community members. My name is Martha Flor, and I'm the president of the Harbor Council of PTAs. This was just amazing. These students that you've just recognized and these schools that you've just recognized are shining examples of what the Newport Mesa commitment to all schools and to all students. Thank you so much. Our 22 units are beginning to wrap up their years with 2526 board elections, selecting honorary service awards, and end of the year activities and events. We are looking forward to celebrating all our HSA winners at our March 12th um HSA lunchon. We are closing in on our membership goal of 57 5,875 members as of March. We
042only need like 16 members per school. So, it's not too late to join. Promise you. Um, we want to recognize Estansia, Newport Coast, and Whittier for achieving their membership goals. We want to thank Dr. Smith and Annette Franco for their presentations. Annette gave us a presentation on um, Parent Square, which is going uh, districtwide next year. And Dr. Smith um explained about some of the budget highlights and the possibilities of a pro of getting after school programs to excel with for our um accelerated students and we're really appreciative of that. Um, April, uh, California PTA convention will be on March uh, May 5th through the 4th in Ontario. And we are part of the largest district in the state of California with over 89,000 members um, district um, Orange Countywide. We want many of our
043units to attend, be trained, and be inspired by many of the workshops offered. I want to recognize the over 100 employees both classified and certificated members who are retiring this year. Many have over 20 years of experience and we have so many memories and and institutional memories from Bob Hiles, the very first teacher who did distance learning in this district. He did. Um, and he got in trouble for it because at one point he was on vacation on a beach, but the kids loved it and it was worth it. Um, Stu Tedford, longtime shop. Elellanar Rebar for her years of sitting out here in front all the time with a friendly face. Unbelievable. Kelly Davis from from Backbay. The list goes on and on and on. Thank you for your educa for educating and caring
044for the thousands of students and families who have passed through the doors of our schools. And don't be strangers. Come back and bug the board. Taking it from me, huh? Lastly, every two years for over 30 years, Harbor Council PTA has conducted a candidate forum for those individuals who stepped up and decided to seek a nonpartisan elected office. Every school board member on this day has participated in at least one, and we thank you for it. According to California PTA, and I quote, "Since the decisions of elected officials significantly affect the well-being of children and youth, it is a PTA responsibility to disseminate as much factual, objective information as possible during election campaigns to help voters make informed choices. All voters should be encouraged to carefully evaluate each official candidate. Candidate forums provide one way
045to provide such information in a nonpartisan impartial educational environment. PTA never supports nor opposes a candidate for public or political office, but does take positions on issues that affect children and youth. This year was no different. We decided to have a forum when uh we were thrown into the situation of having an election, a special election. We checked both candidates websites and selected a date where there were no conflicts. On April 7th, our third vice president of advocacy and legislation, Vicky Waldo, sent an email to both candidates, Andrea Mroy and Kirsten Walsh, inviting them to our candidates forum on May 7th. We also sent them the ground rules and asked for them to sign and respond back by April 15th. We also sent them certified letters to the addresses provided with the same information. When
046we hadn't heard from uh candidate Mroy, Vicky Raldo called and left a message on her cell phone asking us to call her back. On April 15th, we had only heard from candidate Walsh. Vicki then checks their websites and discovered that candidate Mroy had added a meet and greet on May 7th during our candidate forum. Vika called uh two more times and left messages asking her to please call back and that we were willing to uh schedule the forum on either May 12th or May 8th. We never heard back from candidate Mroy. So, this is unfortunate, but Harbor Council is cancelling our um forum since we only have one candidate and we abide by the empty chair rule, which is when there is only one candidate um and there are actually two that we don't jeopardize
047our 501c3. Thank you. Have a lovely Oh, no. There's like 36 days. This is the longest period of time, by the way, between until May 28th, Memorial Day. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next up, we have CSEA President Amy Ching. Hello. Good evening, President Wagant, Trustees, Superintendent Smith, Cabinet, and guests. Um, I want to congratulate the students who were honored here tonight and also the administrators and staff at Adams and Kaiser for their wonderful achievements. Um, it really shows the great work that we do here. Um, and along with that, today was National School Bus driver. So the transportation department held an appreciation lunch for their staff and many of you were um able to come in attendance and we thank the department for their dedication to students and to being the first face
048of the district that students see in the morning. Um as Martha talk spoke about the many people retiring uh there are several many uh classified employees that are also retiring this year. 1,512 years of institutional knowledge will be going with them. So, it's really important. We want to congratulate them and wish them well. And it's also very important that we look to you for continued guidance and a steady hand. Those of us that will remain um need your need you during this change and period. And we want to uh thank you for your actions. You've shown support for classified employees through your direction. The district is organizing a professional development think tank which will explore different pathways to support continuing education and improving the skills for classified staff. This will be a collaborative group of
049administrators and staff for multiple classifications and our students deserve the best every day and your continued actions will help us give them what they deserve. So, thank you for your continued support. And as you know, later tonight we were for um you will formally be accepting our initial proposal for negotiations. This year, our contract is um open for the full contract is open and both our team and the district's team have been chosen and the meeting dates have been set. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Leona and her team as we both advocate our positions with the ultimate goal of supporting positive student outcomes. We look forward to the continuing to do the good work for student staff and the community. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, NMFT Ronda Reed. Good evening,
050President Wen, trustees, uh, Superintendent Dr. Smith, cabinet, and guests here tonight. So did today our office was filled with educators reading and scoring the 2526 teacher of the year applications. We had over 100 nominations this year, the most we've ever had. And we want to thank the educators that came out to help with the process and Megan Brown for helping assisting with the coordination of subs and release day. One of our finalists from last year was um Christine Cross from Enson and she was informed over spring break that she is a semi finalist for the Orange County Department of Ed. She had her interview at the Department of Ed today and Christine is one of 15 out of all the applications from the county to be a semi finalist. The year prior, Jen Yenni from
051Corona Delmare High School was also a semi finalist. The last time Newport Mesa has had back-to-back semi-finalists is two and a half decades ago. This is further proof that our educators are number one, the best in out of all of Orange County. And as you know, tonight we are sunshining our negotiation proposal. And we look forward to negotiations that have outcomes that um confirm the value and worth of our educators. Thank you. Thank you. Now we have uh community input on non-aggendaized items. Uh Clerk Murphy, 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
052of the Brown Act section 54954.2, the board will take no action nor have any discussion on non-aggendaized items. The superintendent may provide clarification during superintendent's comments. All right. First up, we have Mike Brown. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Um, my name is Mike Brown. I've been a Costa Mesa resident and homeowner for 40 years and I'm president of the board of directors at the Costa Mesa Playhouse, which has been my artistic home for the last 20 years. Costa Mesa Playhouse was founded in an army building on the fairgrounds in 1964 and moved to uh the Rehea School in 1984, converting the wood shop into a 73 seat theater. Um, we had we we we we had all we have our 60th season set to go and all planned and mostly paid for when we received
053notice last week that our lease, which was supposed to go until 2026, had been cancelled and we needed to vacate the building by June 29th, which doesn't even give us time to finish our current season of shows. For the city of arts, the city of the arts to lose its only nonprofit community theater would be tragic. The playhouse has acted as a stepping stone for young people interested in the arts to move on to professional careers. We've had numerous students from uh high schools in in Costa Mesa, from OC, which I attended in the 60s, from UCI, Vanguard, and Chapman all come through our theater and move on to professional careers. And then there are also those of us who did not pursue professional careers but have continued our love of the arts with the
054Costa Mesa Playhouse, which has proved itself over the years to be one of the most respected community theaters in Orange County. We've staged over 200 productions and were recently interviewed by the Costa Mesa Historical Society. Please know that we fully understand that the needs of the students must come first with respect to the building's usage and we are eternally grateful for the support the school district has provided over the last 40 years. That said, we implore you to work with us in good faith moving forward considering any and all avenues to help relieve the burden your decision has placed on our organization. We have nowhere else to go. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, uh Kathy Paulyino. This is Sorry, I bet you. Good evening. Um I am on the board of directors at Costa
055Mesa Playhouse. I am a 40year resident of Costa Mesa. My husband and I raised our two children here. Uh they went through schools here. I worked as an educator in Costa Mesa for over 40 years. And uh my last job was as theater director at Costa Mesa High School. Um when I retired from Costa Mesa High School, I um became a director at various community theaters, directing well over a hundred shows, including many children's productions. I want to talk to you a little bit tonight about um how our playhouse benefits the community. Um just recently we produced a show called 33 variations. the lead character had ALS or um Lou Gerri syndrome and we partnered with the ALS society raising money and awareness for this disease. We had representatives from the societies come to our
056shows to further awareness for our patrons and our actors. It was a wonderful uh synergistic um relationship. We did a show entitled Piece of My Heart about women in Vietnam. We invited veterans of all ages to come and talk with us and to see the show. They were all touched and moved by the piece and it was an extremely rewarding experience for the veterans, actors and for our audiences. We presented Will Real Women Have Curves, a show marked by the issues of gender politics and the Latino immigrant experience. We have Thursday night pay what you will performances where we invite patrons to see at the show to see any show and pay what they will even if it is just zero. Those shows are almost always sold out. Um, at least one Sunday, matinea, at
057least one Sunday, our matinea is always filled with patrons from senior citizen centers and residential homes. We offer free tickets to charitable organizations for auctions, drawings, etc. As part of the Orange County Theater Guild, um, which is a a Orange Countywide, um, uh, collaboration of of local theaters, we open up our theater for an open audition and we get well over a hundred actors who come through the theater to audition and it's a great uh, way to introduce our theater and to introduce Costa Mesa in general. Um, we invite other venues to use our spaces available, dance recital, student filmmakers, coral groups, etc. We actually have been in talks with the New Voices Playrs Theater for them to hopefully use the theater to produce plays written by Orange County playwrights. We typically have a five
058season show, but we have been discussing adding a six show that would be a family that would be familyfriendly and possibly adding child actors. Um, these are just a few of the ways we connect with our community. To lose this theater would be a huge blow to our patrons, our performers, our production teams, Greater Orange County, and most importantly to Costa Mesa, the city of the arts. We would love to have the opportunity to talk to you all on a more personal basis. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Next up, we have uh Angel Korea. Good evening. My name is Angel Korea. I'm a long-term Costa Mesa resident with deep roots to the city and the school board from Kellyboard uh Kellybrook Elementary to Costa Mesa High School. Go Mustangs. Congratulations, Andy Lopez.
059Uh I'm also a homeowner in the Mesa, Vera area for 10 years. I am Mexican-American and a proud member of the LGBTQ community. I'm also a board member at the Costa Mesa Playhouse. I've been acting and volunteering in this theater since 2014. The Costa Mesa Playhouse has given me the opportunity to perform lead roles in such classic productions as Steinbecks of Men, Tennessee Williams, a Street Car Named Desire, and most recently Anton Czechov's Uncle Vana, I was Uncle Vana. other theaters in the area might not have given myself and others like me the chance to do so. Not only have countless of actors from minority groups been included to be part of our productions, something that other theaters in the area might not even consider, we also have a track record of producing quality award-winning
060theater that is geared towards and representative of minority communities. Recent examples include Real Real Women Have Curves by Josephina Lopez, Fences by August Wilson, Sister Sister Act the Musical, and our upcoming production of Sweat by Lyn uh Lin Nage and others. The Playhouse has a positive reputation for producing culturally and socially relevant works, stories that foster empathy, acceptance, and a sense of shared community. The potential loss of the Playhouse is devastating and discouraging. It closes the door for us to be involved in making this type of art. People like me for example and in the long term long term we lo we lose the ability to expand this very important outreach potentially for younger performers. We urge the school board please to take us up on at least meeting with us in person so that
061we can discuss this matter in more detail. We thank the school board for all the years allotted to us. We just ask for help in getting an extension that will lead us to continue our community service and or make a more practical transition. I and others beg you from the bottom of our heart to open the discussion. Please, let's not let the 40 plus year partnership that we have maintained go to waste. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next up, uh Peter Neer or Crater. Sorry, I'm It's hard for me to pronounce these names. It's my parents fault for making me Peter. Peter Crater. Uh, good evening. My name is Peter Crater or Crater. I am a newly appointed artistic director for the Costa Mesa Playhouse after having served as the managing director for a
062number of years. I assumed the artistic director role halfway through our current season. I've been working hard at planning for our upcoming historic 60th season at Costa Mesa Playhouse. I performed in over 15 shows, directed to and supported numerous other shows dating back to 2001. I've gotten to know the people and faces of our community through the years, and consider Costa Mesa Playhouse my home away from home and the people of my family. As the artistic director, a lot goes into planning the artistic vision of the Playhouse. One key role is to create a season. Our upcoming season is a big one and I and one I've been working on for many months. Our 60th season is shaping up to be a fantastic one with a mix of classic and contemporary plays and a historic
063musical. 60 years of anything should be a celebration and the plans we have for our 60th are nothing short of a celebration. We have already invested thousands of dollars in obtaining the rights to shows for our 60th and the two remaining plays in our current 59th season. one that is at risk of not happening. Boeing Boeing, our next show, which was first produced by us at the fairgrounds in 1970 when the company was only five years old. We already had scheduled for our 60th seasoning, opening night of the comedy POTUS, a presentation by the mayor of Costa Mesa recognizing our 60 years of existence. One thing I want to bring back to the Playhouse was family and kid-friendly programming and education. This would include shows as well as afterchool classes and summer camps. Costa Mesa
064Playhouse initially started with children's theater programming as far back as 1964. Being a tenant of a space at an elementary school, it only makes sense to bring these programs back. I've already had conversations with a newly hired teacher in the school district about such programming. If this is truly the end of our time at Ray Elementary, I would like to express our deepest gratitude for your years of support. My only wish is that we get a little more time to conclude our current season and have a graceful transition which will allow us time to fund raise and gain support from the community and our patrons so the heartbeat of our theater can continue for another 60 years. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Mark Tilman. Uh good evening. Uh thank you for taking the time
065to speak to us and I want to steal a moment of our time to congratulate everyone honored. Uh you you all have truly inspired me. Hearing what's happening in this community is is a beautiful thing. Congrats to all of you. All the accomplishments, all the achievements. So I've lost 20 seconds. That's fine. Okay. So my name is Mark Tilman. I've been a resident of Costa Mesa for eight years. Uh during that time, I've not only had the privilege of performing on the Costa Mesa Playhouse stage, but I've also served as director of communications on the board for six years. I want to go on record to say that this playhouse has endured for 60 years thanks to a very small team of volunteers who tirelessly dedicate their personal time and skills to bring truly quality
066theater to this community. Operating as a nonprofit with minimal overhead, uh we just accomplish nothing short of something remarkable. Everything we invest in this theater is wholly done in the service of the community. And losing the playhouse wouldn't just be a blow to Costa Mesa's history. It would be a loss to the city's cultural advancement. At a time when the cost of living and doing business is skyrocketing, especially in Costa Mesa, losing our current home would be a death sentence for the Playhouse. We know real estate in this city comes at a premium. There's little funds that we have to continue on if we don't at the very least have time to fund raise. The cost of storage alone would be nearly as devastating. We have 73 seats, lighting rigs, construction tools, a host of
067other technical equipment that we would just simply need to find a place to store. So there's really not any other alternative for us at this point. We do believe there's a mutually beneficial path forward. Something has to exist, an opportunity to create a shared space that serves the needs of the school board, the students, but also the cultural advancement of Costa Mesa as well. Uh we invite the board to sit down with us and explore what a deeper partnership could be and how we can organize together and help enhance the educational experience of the students at Rya. Uh regardless of the board's decision, we do want you to know in good faith we are going to the public. We want to share our story. We want to collaborate and we need to rally community support
068and raise funds and and keep this tradition going for another 60 years. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Thank you. Next up, Diane Russell. Good evening, superintendent trustees. I'm Diane Russell. I'm a resident of Fairview Park neighborhood in Costa Mesa. As you've heard, the Costa Mesa Playhouse has been an important part of Costa Mesa's artistic community for almost 60 years, which is actually little longer than the school district has been unified. Uh I don't have anything to do with the play for the with the playhouse except for I like to attend. My friends and I enjoy dinner at AAS and driving the half a mile to attend a play. It's an enjoyable way to spend an evening in our local community. The playhouse draws performers and audience members from throughout Orange County. Live theater
069provides an experience. People working the lights, creating scenery, actors on stage, an audience watching the performance and discussing it afterwards. With so much focus on virtual reality these days, this is a time when people are starving for activities where they can be seen with other people in real life. I just as a community member, I had some questions about what's going on. According to the website, your website, the enrollment in the district is down. Why the sudden need to displace the playhouse? And if you've been convinc considering this eviction, why not give them more notice that you just sent them a letter without calling them up, talking to them, asking if you could help, you know, trying to create some kind of communication. And to do it when they're just planning their 60th anniversary is
070just downright cruel. There's no getting around that. I was also really surprised at the verbiage of your letter. There was no rel acknowledgment of the playhouse's role in the community or the relationship with with the with the Newport Unified School District that's been in place for almost 40 years. There was just no sense of cooperation or interest in ex assisting them in any way. And so who's next? I mean Soy is is on one of the properties share ourselves just incre you know invested a lot of money at their side or you just going to kind of send them away. Um there needs to be more transparency on why and how this decision was arrived at. One of your board priorities is to more meaningfully communicate and engage with your constituents as elected officials. I
071don't believe that you have fulfilled your responsibility on this issue. Costa Mesa is the city of the arts. The Playhouse has played an important part of an artistic community. We cherish it and we ask you to work with them to find out a solution. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have Adna Bentley. Good evening, Superintendent Dr. Smith, uh, board members and community. My name is Adna Bentley. I'm a proud behavior intervention leads for Kaiser Elementary School. I'm also CSEA, uh, site representative. I attended this meeting a little bit more than a year ago to share my experience at the PAR educator conference. It was such an incredible learning opportunity that I decide to advocate for more participants this year. Today I come here to express my appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity that four
072of our amazing prior educators received despite staff shortness. NMSD sorry granted these four employees the chance of learning new concepts, ideas and strategies as well sharing their experience with thousands of other professionals. I believe that when we develop a passion for learning, we will never cease to grow. For this reason, I come here to ask that you continue to provide this professional go grow growth for the professionals that are fundamental part of the school district. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Terry Welsh. Hello everybody. My name is Terry Welsh and I am president of the Coastal Corridor Alliance, formerly known as the Banning Ranch Conservancy, and I wish you all a happy Earth Day. I would like to take a brief amount of time to discuss the 11.36 acre parcel of surplus property that the
073district owns on Banning Ranch. And as you are aware, the district is considering proposals to lease this property for workforce housing. Now, early in the request for proposal process, a lot of questions were put forward about the biology and habitat of the site, and the district recently published its responses, and we very much appreciate that. But the responses were brief and didn't really go into detail and didn't not really connect the dots and paint a clear picture of what the biological constraints are on that site. Now, our organization has been studying this surplus property for 26 years. We know the science. We know the biology. We know the species. We know the habitat. We know the data. We know the environmental regulations and rules and guidelines and laws. And we know how the regulatory agencies
074will approach any development proposal for this property. How do we know this? Because we've gone through the whole thing right next door on Randall Preserve. And with all this knowledge, we would be very very surprised if the regulatory agencies allowed any development on that site. Um, now our organization has prepared a report on the biological constraints for that site and I request that it be made part of the record and I would ask that all of you carefully read it and it make it available to anybody who shows any interest in this site. We will have this report available on our website coastalcridoralliance.org and if you can't find it just reach out to us. We will make it available. Thank you very much, Clerk Murphy. Here you go. Thank you. Next up, Dennis Ashendorf. Good
075evening, President Wagan, Vice President Ursilo, distinguished trustees, and superintendent Smith. My name is Dennis Ashenorf. I live in Costa Mesa and serve as a teacher for our district students. Part A. Through your efforts and those of Deputy Superintendent Torres, administrative director Shaka, and Director Carmona, you've approved a math curriculum set of imagine IM3, Digital Desmos, EXL, and Better Thinking Classrooms, BTC, that provide almost 95% coverage of our students needs for engagement and learning. 100%'s a goal, but this is a rare and remarkable achievement. Seven years ago, I fumbled my early attempt at whiteboard math. It's challen challenging and reflective like gardening. It's your most fruitful yet fragile initiative. Critically, our fellow teacher Kristen Whitney has witnessed BTT's success through calculus. BTC is real math for all levels. Now BTC requires shared understandings. BTC flowers not
076through compliance but through awareness. As you travel and meet math teachers ask, "Were you surprised that BTC recommends the term checks for understanding but abhores the words homework, practice, and assignment?" or I would have learned more math in school if I had stood up. Do you like the orange book? Let teachers know you support BTC. Change is difficult. Part B. New math teachers now require a full credential, not foundational math for employment at some if not all secondary schools. Also, physics has secured one of the required years of science. Please extend your push for enhanced credentials by encouraging multiple subject teachers to earn a math credential either through a one-time award or through subsidies. And you may want to give incentives for foundational math credential holders to earn a multiple subject credential. Increase the value
077of those credentials by removing algebra 1 as a prerequisite for geometry 1A, not geometry 1B. These subtle changes will allow your administrators to pursue a consistent equitable mass sequence with multiple on-ramps and off-ramps for acceleration. In other words, we can resolve the incompatibilities between the standard AGA sequence of illustrative math and the integrated design of the enhanced math sequence. We can offer parents and all children fair and understandable math course choices. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Lindsay Bowler. Good evening, President Wan, trustees and Superintendent Smith. My name is Lindsay Bowler, and I'm here tonight as a Mariners's parent. I have a third grader, a kindergartener, a three-year-old, and a fourmonth-old. So, I'm going to be a Mariners for a very long time. And I am here tonight to urge the school board to provide
078Mariners Elementary with fenced in safe secure grass space for the kids to play and receive instruction. I have spoken to many many Mariners parents and staff and teachers that all feel very very strongly about this topic. And I have a letter written by our lead PE teacher tonight that I would like to share because he was not able to attend the meeting tonight. to whom it may concern. I am an an elementary physical education specialist in Newport Mesa schools. I have been teaching at Mariners for the past 11 years. I am also a parent whose children have attended Mariners for the last 12 years. I'm again writing to show my support for a fence on the Mariners Field to separate the property of NMUSD with the city of Newport Beach Mariners Park property. I've seen
079for the last 11 years the vulnerability and safety issues having an open park with no control on who is accessing the school property. Besides the obvious safety issue of having no barrier between public and school, there are countless other safety issues that need to be addressed. On any given Monday, the day I teach at Mariners, I have to ask members of the public to leave the school property multiple times a day. The amount of dogs off leash on campus happens multiple times per day as well. I must stop teaching my students and ask the public to leave for safety of my students. Many times they either refuse to leave or want to argue that they are on public property. The signs the district purchased are put out, but they are by and large completely ignored.
080Amazingly, the homeless man who would sit right at the property line for three years has left in the last few months, but he was very close to school property and students without a barrier for the last three years. President Wagan, point of order. Um I believe in public comments you cannot speak for someone else. So when you say I are you speaking you're speaking for this gentleman. That is true. Um because you can't he he can't make comment unless he's here. So it is point of order. Would you like to to use some of this time remaining for your opinions? I'm sure they align. I was at school last Friday for an event, a lunch with loved ones, and I was there with three other moms, and we watched our children play soccer during recess
081on the field outside of the fence with no supervision. And we were honestly appalled to see that there is district property that could be safe and secure and it's not. And not only is it not secure, but they're not even really being supervised. There was 20 kids playing soccer, 20 kids playing baseball, 20 kids playing football, and there was one adult that was employed with the school out there, and their back was to our students the whole time. So, not only is there no fence keeping all of the dangers of the world away from our students, but there's nothing keeping them in either, and there's very little supervision happening during this time. And as a parent, it's very concerning. There's there was a homeless man that liked to visit the back is the Sorry, the
082timer started over, so I kept Okay. over. But that's it. Your time is is up because it was But yes, thank you for the comment. And you could submit his um to our to um Sam, our board admin, and uh she'll send that to us as well. And if you want to finish your comment, you can always email us as well. Thank you. Next up, uh, Jenny Aranchic. Good evening, members of the board. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Jenny Aranchek, and I'm here not just as a concerned parent, but as someone who deeply values the safety of every child in our community. My son, Duke, attends Mariners Elementary, and I am here to urge this board to take immediate steps to improve the fencing and perimeter security
083at his school. I'm specifically speaking to the plans that have d been drawn up to add a fence along the school property border that runs down the middle of Mariners's Park. We live in a time when parents no longer worry if something could happen. We worry when. I wish this wasn't true. I wish we could only focus on academics, field trips, school plays, but the reality is our children face risk we never imagined growing up. As we've seen in recent years, school safety is no longer a luxury. It's a necessity. The rising numbers of school shooting incidents across the country is a tragic and painful reminder that we must do everything in our power to protect our children. According to national data, school shootings have nearly doubled since the 1990s. This isn't a distant problem.
084It's real and it's now. When I look at my son's school, I see a place that's filled with joy, curiosity, and learning. But I also see vulnerabilities. The fact that our children participate in PE and recess outside the school gates is unacceptable. This makes the campus more susceptible not only to potential threats from the outside. To list a few more, in addition to school shooters, the homeless, pedophiles, child abductors, or even a dog off leash, this also creates a general sense of unease among parents, staff, and even students who are old enough to notice these things. It has been proven that strong physical barriers are one of the most effective deterrence to external threats at school campuses. Fencing isn't just a physical barrier. It's a message. It says we are proactive, not reactive. It says
085that our children's lives are worth the investment. It gives peace of mind to families and it gives staff the secure environment they need to focus on what they do best. Educate our kids. I'm not here to ask for a fortress. I'm asking for a thoughtful, modern, safety upgrades. Fencing that is tall, secure, and properly monitored. These improvements can be made without turning schools into unwelcoming places. In fact, the right fencing enhances the feeling of safety without taking away the warmth of a school environment. I urge the board to prioritize funding and planning for this simple but crucial upgrade. Please, let's not wait for a tragedy to make changes we know are overdue. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have um superintendent comments. Yeah, we'll start with um our most recent. We um
086as a district, the board really prioritizes safety and also access to green space. You hear them talk about all the time. So, we'll continue conversations about how we can do both um at that school about the algebra um in particular about math and what we're doing at the secondary level. Really excited about the advance we've made there. Thank you for recognizing that. We understand that highly credentialed folks teaching those classes is even more important than the great content that we're providing for them. So, we'll keep doing that great work. And secondary, our students deserve no less. With regard to the Coastal Corridor, um the district hasn't made any decisions. They're just continuing to look at their options. We'll make sure that they have a copy of that that was passed out to us um so
087they can peruse that per the request. uh the PAR educator training grateful that uh once again it was a positive for the folks who are able to attend. Um we continue to work HR with CSEA to plan um a think tank around uh all classified capacity and capability building in this district. How do we do that with so many different job alikes with different schedules? Uh, it's a tough one, but we've got the right people to sit down and and plan for a strategic, thoughtful way to do that. So, we look forward to doing that. And then with with the Playhouse, I mean, you're talking to a board that um prioritizes in a district that prioritizes the arts. I've worked all over the state. Never seen a district provide this much support in the arts.
088Um, indisputable. They they really do. um they've done so even in their efforts to build more space for the arts. Very excited that this next year we'll be able to launch another full-size theater in the district to benefit the west side, the school um schools in the west side, the district and the community. Uh with that space being created, we know there are other spaces in the district um to look at. Uh we certainly welcome the conversation with staff about what uh a good faith process could be. Um at Ray Elementary in particular, uh we have a total school redesign there. We're moving upper elementary students to that school. Um it's not a school declining enrollment. The space there is one that we're going to utilize for those students. Um, so that's been the decision
089moving forward, but certainly conversations uh in good faith uh about how we can work together is something that we welcome. So again, this is a board that prioritizes the arts. Um we're excited about our new theater coming online in the west side and and the subsequent space that might provide. So anyway, that would conclude my result. Thank you. Uh moving on to 16, community input on agendaized items. Do we have any input? Seeing none, we will move on to 17, which is achievement and report on career and technical education. Uh, Dr. Torres. Yes. Um, while uh Keith Carmona, Lisa Snowden, and Rachel Koffenberg are making their way, our dynamic CTE team. Um, I'd like to also thank uh uh Dr. Brian Dozer who's in our um audience tonight, who's here to support us, um, who's
090our tremendous RO partner. Um, so Keith and team, take it away. actually gonna turn it over to the dynamic duo of Rachel Clenberg and Lisa Snowden. Okay, great. How can we get the Oh, there we go. Okay, very good. Good evening, board president Wagan, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Smith, Executive Cabinet, and guests here this evening. It gives us great pleasure to be able to share this year's achievement highlights in our CTE program. Career technical education doesn't limit students. It empowers them. Whether students pursue industry certifications or apprenticeships, or whether they pursue associate degrees or four-year universities, career technical education helps students build relevant skills, discover their passions, clarify their career goals, and connect learning to real life outcomes. Newport Mesa Unified School District does this by offering a robust offerings of career pathways. We offer
091options that are during the the school day and after school and with teachers who have industry experience and the commitment and drive to prepare the next generation of our workforce. We are proud by the growth and expansion of our career technical education program. And as you can see here by the data on this slide, we have had consistent growth year overyear with an increase of 500 students enrolled in at least one CTE course since 2021 and an increase of 50 inbell sections since 2019. And all of this, even during declining enrollment, students are seeing the value and choosing our program. Now, we know we're not here all evening with you, so we have curated some examples of this expansion and would like to share a few highlights. At computer at Costa Mesa High School, we
092added the final capstone course to the software and systems development pathway. So, that's very exciting. At Newport Harbor High School, we added broadcasting to our film and video production pathway. And with support from a former Fox Sports broadcast technician, we've been able to upgrade and purchase industry standard equipment and with our partnership with facilities construct a new broadcast room. And if you haven't seen that yet, you will see a glimpse of that in our short student video. And now I'd like to pass it over to Rachel Kloppenberg. Okay. Um so across the district we heard last year from administrators, counselors, teachers, students about the desire for cosmetology. And so in collaboration with Dr. Stevens at Monav Vista, we were able to add a cosmetology elective course that serves students 9th through 12th across all um
093secondary. And just to while that's a virtual course, we wanted to preserve the hands-on, the fun of CTE. So, we've partnered with the licensed cosmetologists to offer after school labs for those students, which they seem to really be enjoying so far. At Kronad Delmare High School, um their animation pathway is flourishing. This year, they have the addition of the capstone animation 2 course. So, it's the first year we'll see completers in that pathway. And they've had some amazing industry support um from some Disney, Pixar, and really um bigname animators in Southern California. Over at Estansia High School, a couple program highlights. Um this spring, they were able to launch a intro to nursing dual enrollment course, which was in partnership with Golden West College. It's a very popular course. um it filled very fast. Um
094and it's just been a great complement to their inbell medical academy offerings which have always been very strong there. Um also at Estansia High School this first year with computer science in their engineering pathway um their AP computer science course is going very well. Um, and they actually had the opportunity to have um, weekly support from a former Google engineer um, every week in the fall, which is great. And then, while it's great to hear from us, it's even better to hear from our kids. So, uh, we put together a little video with some student testimonials of just students in some of the programs that we talked about. So, I'm going to hope sound plays. Okay, let's see if we got this. Oh, there's no sound. Okay, so we might be okay. In the future,
095I hope to study and work as a product development specialist, specifically in cosmetics. And I thought this course would help me understand a little more about cosmetics in general and sanitization. I've always loved drawing as a kid and and I always knew I wanted to make a career out of it, specifically in the entertainment industry, and I knew this class would help me shape my art skills and all the skills I need to get into at my career choice. I chose the CT pathway because I've always been interested in the medical field, more specifically being a pediatrician or pediatric oncologist, but I wanted to explore more jobs within the field. I chose the CT pathway because being an athlete and having a passion for video production, I wanted to tie those two things together and
096that came with joining Tar TV. My favorite hands-on experience in the CT pathway was creating app development where I created the shopping simulator. My name is Linda Silva. My favorite hands-on projects that we have worked on was our mousetrap car. It was where we learned about Newton's three laws and it was memorable because we won second place as an all girls team against all boys team. I really like to make my little stop motion puppets because it was so hands-on and I just like I want to try and get into a stop motion career when I'm older like like a studio or something. So I think this program could also help me achieve that dream too by showing me new skills, communicating with others and as well as working in the tech field and by
097giving me experience on how after high school will be. I want to learn more about how to get my license in cosmetology. Well, we've learned a lot about different career paths in cosmetology. And for me, it's reinforced the fact that I want to go more into the makeup part of the career rather than nails, hair, or estheticians, giving me an insight on what the industry is about. And I'm excited to learn a little bit more about what the nursing has to offer. This CTu program has prepared me for my future because it has taught me how to be a director, a producer, and most importantly, a leader. I love watching that video. Okay. And then our last um expansion highlight has been really just in elementary. We're really embracing that we're a PK12 district and
098we want all students at all levels to have career technical education experiences. Um so this year we're really proud of the expansion of PLTW engineering um at the PK6 level and it's continuing to grow next year. Um we've launched career connected schools at two of our elementaryaries, Heights and Victoria. And then just across the board, we've really tried to increase um engagement and collaboration between our secondary programs and our elementary and our parent communities and our students um through all of our schools and all of our programs. And then to start to close our presentation, we want to share with you kind of what's on the horizon for our department. And so this summer, we're really proud. We have three enrichment courses that students can sign up for. That's dual enrollment through OC. And we
099strategically chose those courses to align with what we do during the school year, our inbell offerings. Um, and then also with OC during the school year for 2526, um, we are launching a series of dual enrollment courses that are really focused on aiding students in finding their career paths. Also this summer we are offering our second for the second time our RO summer professional internship. This is in partnership with Coastline RO and CEO Leadership Alliance and we were thrilled to see an increase in the number of applications we received from our rising seniors. So we had 31 applications. We've currently placed 22 students so far and we're currently working on placing the rest of those and their internship will start June 16th. And we also have some new and exciting courses being offered by Coastline
100ROP after school next year. Um, one highlight is historically our students have had to travel outside of our district to access baking and pastry after school. And so, um, with some infrastructure, uh, upgrades and a new, um, new industry standard equipment in the culinary classroom, we're excited that we're going to be able to offer that to our students in our district. So, that's very exciting. It will be accessible for them. Um, the RO also has two new internship courses that they're offering and we know internships really do provide high value, high impact for our students. Again, it helps them to kind of clarify their career goals and really see what it means to be career ready. And now I'm going to turn it over to our illustrious leader, Keith. And finally, we get to leave
101you with an invitation, which is to save the day. Our annual college and career fair will be taking place October 22nd. We really hope you make it. Um, and thank you very much for all of your support of the CTE world. And thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Yeah. Any questions? Team questions? We think uh Trusty Crane has one. I have I have I have two. Um so can a program exist the same program exist at more than one campus? Bec can you hear me? because I saw how um in this packet um computer science is offered at Mesa and Estansia. Yes. Um it just depends on the program school capacity and kind of what and student interest there. So digital media arts for example exists at all of our campuses including Backbay High School.
102Um culinary is really unique because of the need of the kitchen. So we only have that facility at Newport Harbor. um engineering is offered at three different school sites and so it just really um we try to lead with student interest and so if there's an interest there we try to grow a program there. That's how it should be. I think it's wonderful that you're doing that. Thank you. And then how what do you have a mechanism that tracks the kids postgraduation and how successful they are in their field? Because I would think that it would be hard to keep track of them unless they register and then it's something that's optional and things like that. Do you have anything on that? Yes, we have um state reporting that we're required to do. It's called
103our post um program follow-up survey. And so 6 months after the students graduate, we contact the students to find out um a are they employed and isn't in the field um of the pathway that they spent their time in. Um are they going to school? Are they majoring in something that aligns with the pathway they were in? So about six months after we we do a lot of calling, emailing, texting um to try and track those students. Okay. And what do you find generally speaking? Can you speak to it or? Uh yeah, I would say um a lot of our students are attending college and some of them are also working part-time. Um all right. And then um in the audience I see some students. Are any of you in those classes that were mentioned?
104Raise your hand if you you are. One, two, three. Great. Okay, keep it up. Um, I am going to go visit tomorrow actually the animation class at CDM. It was at the invitation of the teachers. I I do love the fact that the teachers are engaging with the board in order to see the successes and excitement behind the courses that we're approving at this level. So, thank you. Great job. Any other questions? Oh, Trusty Anderson, just a short comment. I know I bring this up every time we talk about CT. Um, and it kind of echoes what trustee Crane there's continues to be a lot of interest in the um, early education piece at Estansia. So, I would love to see that over there. Every single time I have a conversation with more than two
105students over there, they bring it up. So, I would love to see that happen. Thank you. Um, and I just wanted to, um, it looks like our numbers of people enrolled or students enrolled in CTE has continuously um, gone up over the last, you know, four years. Um what do you think some of the draw is? Is it because now all of our you know a lot of them are A through G um uh I guess designated uh classes um or do we see it as just more of our or how is it growing I should say? Are we doing a lot more communication or we offering better classes that they want to take? Why do you think? I think it's a mix. I think that, you know, we're growing programs that students are interested
106in and so they want to participate. I think too, um, we're seeing a shift in when students apply to college, the colleges want to see their passion and this is a way for students to explore their passion. Passions, I'm so sorry, and show their passion. Um, and so that's a reason, too. They're really just trying to hone in and make themselves stand out. and they want to explore their career interests early. Um, I think we're also seeing students, they love the classes, you know, they're really hands-on and what we when we talk to students, they just say that their class is cool. So, I think the cool factor helps a little, too. So, you know, as we build it, they kind they will come. That's awesome. And can you explain a little bit more about
107the internships because that's pretty exciting and and how we could go about even um expanding those opportunities for students in the summer. Sure. Well, um in fact, I think there's a flyer back there. Um but we are always continually looking for local businesses and industry to partner with. Um and so through our partnership with Coastline RO or just with our district, we're open to um meeting and collaborating with local business and industry to see what we can do to provide these opportunities for our students and even fill some of those um open positions um you know or some of the help that they need in their local businesses. So um they can go to our website and find college and career education and go to our business partner page and they can contact me. Um
108there's a lot of different ways that we can go ahead and build that pipeline. That's awesome. And I did want to introduce um Brian Dozer right over there. He is the superintendent of uh Coastline ROOP and he does we do some great work together. I sit on that board and there's some I mean amazing opportunities that we're that that we have that our students have but also that you are providing for everybody in um in I guess actually now in Orange County not just but um Coastline ROP services um Saddleback Valley um Tustin Irvine New and Newport Mesa um and we provide and they provide our CTE classes and then our afterbell classes that have been um truly inspiring to hear if the students stories and journeys that they've taken. So, love our CTE. Any
109other questions? Oh, good. This is amazing. Can you send us a PDF so we can share it with people, please? Yes, we will. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right. Next up, let me find my agenda here. Um, we are now moving on to the consent calendar. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Trustee Pearson, seconded by Trustee um Urseroo. Roll call vote. Trusty Wagan. Yes. Trusty. Yes. Trusty Murphy. Yes. Trusty Pearson, yes. Trusty Anderson, yes. Trusty Crane, yes. All right. Motion carries 6. All right, moving on to 19, which is public hearing report. Uh, public hearing on the fee justification study and the proposed level one developer fee rates. Mr. Trader, so um, education code gives a governoring board of a school district the ability to level school developer fees
110to offset the impacts of development on uh, school facilities. And but in order to do that we have to uh conduct a uh study to um draw connection between the cost of of facilities and the impact that development has on school facilities. And so the district has conducted a study and found that um the cost per square foot is $7.79. That's the the impact to uh development. uh in the district and then um the school fee that we'd be allowed to charge would be $5.17. So it still doesn't cover the cost of the impact. And so we're looking at trying to um look uh I say update our school fee development uh level. Uh currently we are the lowest in the county. Oh my gosh. Um, the residential fee is $184. Just want to make
111sure I got that right. A $184. And the commercial rate is 33 cents. That is the lowest in the county. And so we uh are making a recommendation to have a public hearing regarding a fee justification studying the proposed level one developer fee rates. All right. I'm going to open the public hearing at 7:46. Um, are there any public comments? All right, seeing none, uh, the hearing is now closed at 7:46. All right. Uh 19B, adopt resolution number 14-04-25, approving and adopting a fee justification study for residential, commercial, and industrial development projects and authorizing an increase in statutory level one developer fees. Mr. ator. This resolution just authorizes or uh authorizes the fee level to go to level one and that would be uh $5.17 for residential and 84 commercial per square foot. Do I
112have a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trusty Pearson. Uh uh let's do questions now. Let's do questions now. Um Trusty Anderson, thank you. Um when was the last time that Newport Mesa made these changes? So the last time the district conducted a study, I don't have the exact date, but I do know that it was over 30 years ago. Okay. And how often does the state change the allocation amount? So the state uh changes the fees that we're allowed to charge every two years in an even year. So a lot of opportunities. Yes. In the past. Um and while some of our um enrollment is declining in certain schools, it's not at other schools. And what are some of the other kind of um efforts or development that you think
113we might need this extra this additional funding to help help offset? So, uh we're expected uh to have uh almost 3,000 additional units uh built in the within the district's boundaries over the next decade. And so we do expect that there's going to be significant impact to school facilities and uh some of those impacts will be um how you say in that how I say will will impact certain areas of the district more than other areas. Is that the the question? I'm sorry I don't think I Well, yeah. And I was just thinking too with like TK things that we don't currently have the infrastructure for. Correct. In fact, um for uh TK expansion, um developer fees find uh paid for all of the the additional uh classrooms that were were required for TK expansion
114that we put in this last summer, which is so important for us since it's an unfunded mandate. And then also too, um it it covers modernization of our existing facilities. Could you speak to that piece as well? That's correct. So when facilities are put in, you know, you think that they're going to they usually have a lifetime of about 50 60 years. And so um developer fees do cover the cost of of modernization uh for our uh uh school facilities. And so part of that is to cover the cost of repair and replacing school facilities uh that need to be replaced. Thank you. Um, and do you, one of the things that was interesting to me in reading through this is the cost seems so much higher for residential um, than for commercial. And oddly,
115basically 9 cents for rental storage units, of which I know in my neighborhood, I would really love to see those be housing rather than, you know, 700 new storage units that just seems like there's a new one every weekend. Um so is there um in Costa Mesa specifically we have a lot of live work um development that continues to happen. Do you know what happens in that situation? Does that tend to be charged at that residential rate or does that tend to be charged at the commercial rate or so the law really is specific to habitable space. So the the concept is is that if you build something and it's going to attract people that are going to impact the the school facilities, then it really zooms in on on those impacts. And so the
116study looks at various different types of facilities and the draw that those have in terms of impacting school facilities. And so like you say it is a little bit interesting how storage units right are charged at nine cents per square foot versus other commercial which is 84 cents. And the the reasoning behind that is that um they found when they look at storage units they don't draw extra people. They just u take care of people's stuff you know that are already here so to speak. And so it is kind of interesting that you bring up a really good point because it seems like oh it incentivizes a lot of storage units when we could really should be having housing, but it's really about the what what the the type of development what is it attracting?
117Is it attracting people that are going to impact the school facility and if so then it has to come up with the right number? What does that mean for the school district? How what does that kind of impact? And this is we I mean the state decides these numbers. So it's not it's not us, it's not the county, it's not the city. The entire state despite all the diversity of development or redevelopmental needs are all at the same rates. That's correct. Okay. Thank you, Trusty Crane. Yeah. So um 30 years is a very long time. So I'm glad because uh this is very timely given all the arena requirements that are happening from the state. So there is going to be a a lot of construction in our cities uh because they the cities are
118are have to meet these quotas. Um you mentioned 3,000 new units. Um are we are we um articulating with the cities to see what there if there's studies that are including any u studies that involve family units um as far as because those are the ones that affect us really as far as attendance. Um I mean I we still collect the money because the residential units but are how many of those residential units are expected to be family oriented or those kinds of things. I think it's important for us to make sure that we speak to our you know Costa Mesa and Newport city council or um city managers in order to make sure that we have numbers that will help us understand how much revenue is going to come our way and how our
119schools are going to be affected our neighborhoods. Um so um also are the funds that are going to come in are they discretionary? They go into our general fund and we can spend them how we want to or are they specific? That's a great question. They go actually into a very specific fund and it's very tight in terms of we issue a report every year on how those funds are spent and they can only really be spent on um how do you say uh facilities for schools and the things that uh we need to be able to um fill in those facilities. So for example furniture that kind of thing. So, um, all the portables that we put in last summer were, uh, charged to fund 25, which is the developer fee fund. Okay. And
120then you mentioned that every two years the the fees are reassessed. Can they fluctuate down? I've never seen them go down. Okay. Just saying. Just because as we project Okay. And so, and then are we then intending on re-evaluating the fees every two years or we're just going to go another 30? [Laughter] I think we just vote on the fees and not predict the future. Sorry. At the board's direction, we will certainly please. Yes. Thank you. All right. Are we We appreciate you bringing it forward. Thank you. Yeah. I know. This is great. Are we ready for the roll call vote? Yes. Sam. Trusty Wagon. Yes. Trust. Yes. Trusty Murphy? Yes. Trusty Pearson? Yes. Trusty Anderson? Yes. Trusty Crane. Yes. Right. Motion carries. 60. Uh, next up, public hearing of the California School Employees Association,
121Chapter 18, initial proposal for successor agreement to the Newport Mesa Unified School District for negotiations commencing 2025. Um, Mrs. Olsen, thank you and good evening. As you heard uh President Amy Ching say that we this is their proposal coming forward for negotiation. Starting the negotiation cycle is this document. It is a sunshine document which shares with the board the articles that CSEA is interested in. A successor negotiations means that the entire contract is open. And so you will notice that for CSEA they are sunshining article one the agreement, article three hours of employment, article four grievance procedure, article five safety, article seven transfers, article eight leaves, article 11 wages, article 12, health and welfare benefits, article 13 association rights, article 14 layoff procedures and effects, and article 17 the hours for bus drivers. So, we
122ask that the board um open the public hearing to receive the CSA chapter 18 initial proposal. All right, the hearing is now open at 7:56. Um any public comments? Seeing none, hearing closes at 7:56. All right. Then 19 D receive California School Employee Association chapter 18 initial proposal for a successor agreement to the Newport Mesa Unified School District for negotiations commencing 2025. Miss Olsen, thank you. And so now with the public hearing closed, it is the recommendation that the board receive CSEA Chapter 18's initial proposal to Newport Mesa. Do I have a motion? So move. Second. Moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trusty Pearson. Roll call vote. Trusty Wagan, yes. Trusty Sylu, yes. Trusty Murphy, yes. Trusty Pearson, yes. Trusty Anderson, yes. Trusty Crane, yes. Motion carries 60. 19E public hearing of the Newport Mesa
123Unified School District initial proposal for successor agreement to the California School Employees Association chapter 18 for negotiations commencing 2025. Miss Olsen, thank you. Likewise, uh the district is sharing with the public um our initial proposal for the successor agreement that we are going to be asking the board to approve. So this we ask that you open the public hearing for the initial proposal for the successor agreement from the district to California Association School Employees Association chapter 18. A mouthful. Yes. Okay. Open the hearing. The hearing is now open at 7:58. Do we have any public comment? Seeing none, I'll close the hearing at 7:58. 19F approve Newport Mesa Unified School District initial proposal for successor agreement to the California School Employees Association chapter 18 for negotiations commencing 2025. Miss Olsen, thank you. And so with
124the public hearing closed, uh we ask that the board of education accept the district's initial proposal for the successor agreement negotiations with CSEA Chapter 18. All right. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Uh moved by Trusty Anderson, seconded by Trusty Ursulu. Uh roll call vote. Trusty Wagan. Uh yes. Trusty Soilu. Yes. Trusty Murphy. Yes. Trusty Pearson. Yes. Trusty Anderson. Yes. Trusty Crane. Yes. Motion carries 60. Uh 19G. public hearing of the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers initial proposal to the Newport Mesa Unified School District for reopener negotiations commencing 2025. Miss Olsen, thank you. Likewise with our NMFT labor partners and again you heard President Rhonda Reid speak to that they too are sunshining their agreement or sorry their proposal um for negotiations. This is a reopener negotiation which mean it is limited negotiations
125and in this particular case it is one article in addition to salary, health and welfare benefits and in their document um NMFT is proposing um addressing issues within article 3 days and hours of employment. So we ask the board to open for public hearing. Okay. The hearing is now open at 8:00. Do we have any public comment? Seeing none, I will close the hearing at 8. 19H received the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers uh initial proposal to the Newport Mesa Unified School District for reopener negotiations commencing 2025. Miss Olsen, thank you. So, with the public hearing closed, we recommend that the board of education receive NMFT's initial proposal um to the district for reopener negotiations for 2025. Do I have a motion? So, move second. Uh moved by Trusty Crane and seconded by Trusty Anderson.
126Oh, was that Pearson? Oh, sorry, Pearson. Uh roll call vote. Trusty Wagan. Yes. Trusty. Yes. Trusty Murphy. Yes. Trusty Pearson. Yes. Trusty Anderson. Yes. Trusty Crane. Yes. Motion carry 60 19 I. Public hearing of the Newport Mesa Unified School District's initial proposal to the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers for reopener negotiations commencing 2025. Miss Olsen. Thank you. So, we ask that the board of education open the public hearing um prior to accepting or approving the initial proposal from the district to NMFT for reopener negotiations commencing 2025. The additional uh article that the district is proposing to address is article six evaluation. So, we ask that you open for public hearing. All right. The hearing is now open at 8:01. Are there any public comments? Seeing none, I will close it at 8:01. So, we close
127with Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Let me let me restate my state. I know. I got one more. I really want to do. All right. 19J approved Newport Mesa Unified School District initial proposal to the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers for reopener negotiations commencing 2025. Miss Olsson. Thank you. And I apologize for that. I was on a roll, too. So, yeah. Um and so with the closing of the hearing, we ask that the board of education approved the initial proposal from the district to NMFT for reopen negotiations commencing 2025. And I do want to take a moment to thank both of our labor partners for having submitted the documents in a timely fashion so that we could get started and we do have dates ready to roll. So um thank you to our partners. Awesome. Do
128I have a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Trusty Anderson Anderson seconded by Trustee uh Ersoyu. Roll call vote. Trusty Wagan. Yes. Trusty. Yes. Trusty Murphy. Yes. Trusty Pearson. Yes. Trusty Anderson. Yes. Trusty Crane. Yes. All right. We got through all those. 20. Discussion action calendar. Uh, no. Actually, we have nothing that has been moved from consent. So, we're good. Okay. 21. Resolution adoption calendar. 21A. I adopt resolution 13-04-25 to standardize district facility components for the designation of specific materials, products, things or services on public works projects. Honeywell International Incorporated for the standardization of the fire alarm control unit and related equipment or devices. Mr. Trader, public contract codes requires us to u bid out work and and issue to the lowest uh bidder. And in this case though, uh this is a fire alarm
129systems. You can imagine uh having multiple fire alarm systems and having to maintain them. That would be um uh how you say cost prohibitive and resource prohibitive. And so we're asking for an exception to u apply a standard for fire alarm systems to make it more manageable and cost effective. All right. Do I have a motion? So moved. Okay. Second. as a neighbor of a school that fire alarms go off often. I thank you very much. Yes. Uh moved by Trusty Crane, seconded by Trusty Anderson. Roll call vote. Trusty Wagan? Yes. Trusty Soilu? Yes. Trusty Murphy? Yes. Trusty Pearson? Yes. Trusty Anderson? Yes. Trusty Crane? Yes. Uh the motion carries 60 21B. Adopt resolution 15-04-25. Recognizing California Day of the Teacher May 14th, 2025 and National Teacher Appreciation Week May 5th through the 9th, 2025.
130Miss Olsson, thank you. Well, is great pleasure to be able to bring this resolution forward tonight, especially after hearing all of the celebrations as we started the evening. Um, it is the time of year when we pause to share our appreciation for our teachers and educators in our lives. I think each of us would have a story or two to tell about a teacher who's made a difference. And whether it was through a warm smile, a kind word, a listening ear, or support to attain a goal that we didn't think that or ever imagined that we were able capable of, teachers leave lasting impressions that shape our confidence, our curiosity, and our sense of humor. Purpose as well. I don't know where the humor came from. It is. We're all teachers. You have to have
131that humor. Um but daily in each of our schools and we w we witness this and we certainly saw the evidence of that tonight not only for the from the efforts from our teachers and our staff um to reach distinguished schools which creates that environment for students to achieve. But then also you hear of all of the wonderful stories from our students um their accomplishments or even what they think their favorite how would you what's your favorite thing about your school and you heard the importance of that connection with that they have with teachers. So educators they they inspire us yet challenge students. They cultivate a love of learning and connect with students giving them a sense of belonging to be seen heard supported and safe. Tonight, in honor and recognition of our teachers, we
132bring forward a resolution acknowledging the National Teacher Appreciation Week and the California Day of the Teacher. All right. Do I have a motion? So move. Second. Moved by Trusty Pearson, seconded by Trustee Crane. Roll call vote. Trusty Wagan? Yes. Trusty? Yes. Trusty Murphy? Yes. Trusty Pearson? Yes. Trusty Anderson? Yes. Trusty Crane? Yes. Motion carries 60. All right. Now, on to informal reports. Dr. Smith, I mentioned earlier um how inspired we are this time of year by our students. I I want to add to that the inspiration we receive from our classified, our certificate, our management staff, as well as volunteers. Some of these things I mentioned to the board, and apologies for being redundant, but I want them on public record. we as we started this year with um a recommmitment to ensuring that every
133single one of our students and staff felt seen, heard, supported, and safe. It's nice to say that, but what does that look like in practice? And since our last board meetings, I've been to a couple of activities um that really demonstrated that to me and inspired me. I went to a Ray Avid family steam night and saw students demonstrating their robotics. uh students who are English language learners whose parents don't speak any English at all. And as someone was translating to these parents, um they were moved to tears with pride at how their students were doing with their robotics, right? The surprise, the joy, the pride in their students. Um that family, that student felt included, felt seen. Um, having them describe their project too to me was just again inspirational. I was invited to
134a link link and rather bubbles for autism event. I don't know the link between bubbles and autism, but what I did see was a whole whole group of of students on the uh field with staff and volunteers with t-shirts that celebrated belonging and connectedness and love and acceptance and bubbles everywhere and joy. Um, everybody on that field was seen that day. I went to Harbor View uh to watch the Ancient Rome Showcase and these kids have a green screen that they produce a television show, news broadcast, it becomes Ancient Rome News, Hot Rome Minute or something like that. Apologies, I I know I butchered that. Harborview students will let me know. But there was one student in particular that a southern draw. She was a lead anchor and she was just going off and I'm
135like, "Wow, this kid should be on TV right now or the movies. I mean, she's amazing." And so I leaned over to one of the staff members next to me. I'm like, "This kid's amazing." Said, "You want to know what's really amazing?" I'm like, "What's more amazing than that?" Said, "That student has only been here about four weeks. They're part of the Palisades fire. Their family lost everything." Right? This kid was crushing it. When they finished, the whole audience stood up and started clapping, right? clapping for this girl and screaming less than a month. This is how this this student is is seen and valued on her campus, how much her students supported her. And then I went to East Bluff to participate in Otter News and uh the interviewers were a little shy uh
136and I could tell that they too were English language learners, Russian descent. They did a great job interviewing me. At the end, I was so impressed. I said, you know, of your whole school, how do you pick these two students? And the teacher said, 'We do intensive interviews. I was like, wow. So tell me more. I mean, why did they rise to the top? Said that student right there that interviewed you came to us in the interview said, I have been here almost a year. I haven't made any friends. I believe that if I'm a part of the news, I can make friends. This student is now the roving reporter running around campus with a microphone interviewing kids. What What'd you do on spring break? Where'd you go? Oh, how's your school lunch, Jeff? I'll
137be reporting on that later. Um, this kid has friends, right? This kid has friends, a ton of friends, a school full of friends, and didn't have them before. So, people talk about putting words into actions, making these statements a reality. That's what that looks like. And it looks like that because of the adults in our system providing a space where that's not just the expectation, it's a reality. It's our staff members again, certificated classified management, our volunteers, including parents and others. We're making it happen here and it's inspiring to me. So, I just wanted to share that publicly. That's really heartwarming. Thank you. Awesome to hear. Um, who would like to go first? We'll take volunteers this time and uh report out on if you went to any uh one of your committees or anything
138like that. And then one one fan fun activity you guys saw because there were so many in the six weeks. Yeah, there's ton. All right. Well, who's gonna look at me? Michelle. Sure. Sure. Um so I my uh liaison report is the city coast Mesa um meeting that I went with uh the city the Costa Mesa sanitary district messa water um in the very board meeting boardroom Leona helped me with that thank you so much um it's always good to have all those agencies come together and be able to talk through what's going on in Costa Mesa and how we can make Costa Mason the best place to live. So, um, so I really enjoyed the meeting and the updates from everyone. Um, one big one, uh, Mesa Water Education Center was open. I think
139most of most everybody I was out of town got to go to that grand opening. Um, they're very excited to continue, uh, more field trips with our students to go learn about water. Um, which I know sometimes sounds boring, but is not. and um and uh it was nice to see that uh the presentation on the snowpack and the water levels and it looks like we're going to be okay this year. So that was great to see. And then um I liked the talk about preservation. That's what um that's what the students learn when they go to visit uh the education center. as I told them, please continue to tell my kids to turn off the water faucet because that is very very helpful. Um, and then we also had a presentation on the alkaline
140battery recycling program that we run with uh with all of our schools, most of our schools. There's a few that still aren't participating. And I know Leona, I don't have that in front of me, but um for any teachers, principles out there listening, um the schools are getting about $1,500 back um through Yeah. through the if you fully Right. if you fully um if you meet your quota, if you will, of how many batteries you need to return back in. And I know at Kaiser it was really easy. Um, the little basket was like right in the office right when you walk in and you just send your kid with all of your old batteries back and you tell them to dump them in the basket and they do. So, and you get $1,500 back.
141So, hopefully more schools will take them up on that. And um and there was some bike walk safety safety routes to schools discussion which um I'm not going to get into because you know those are fun conversations to um have with everyone but just so you know we are all trying to make it easier and better for students to safely get to school for pedestrians to safely get to school for um for our car drivers to safely get around the pedestrians and the bike riders. So, um, so thank you for everyone who put so much work into that. Um, it's bike to school day coming up. So, uh, which the which is really great because, um, that's how kids and families can sometimes learn how easy it is to bike to school and, um, you
142can certainly walk to school. So, everyone look out for that because we need more bikers and walkers to go to school. That certainly will will help with some of these issues. Um, and then I guess I have two shoutouts. Um uh so just uh real quick to um Miss Portwood and the entire drama team over at Costa Mesa, especially our student board member who's not here anymore, but um senior India Howton, she was the lead in MMA Mia and she did an amazing job and there was standing ovations and people were getting chills and tears and um it was a fabulous production. So thank you Miss Portwood and your entire drama team. They are fantastic. Um, thank you for all you do for our kids. You could see the joy on their faces every night.
143Um, and then a quick shout out to Tyen Sakai who won um, uh, the best coding. He won best coding at the district's robotics competition. And then his team came in second place in their category. And I couldn't get all the information from him because he was it was choppy to get it from him because he was so excited that they beat Newport Harbor. Like so excited. And um he was thrilled. I mean like that was the best part. So, um, so, uh, as usual, thank you to our teachers and our principles and certainly CTE and everyone who puts so much time and energy into these programs to get our kids so involved and things that they love and things that they excel at and things that they're going to go do amazing things with
144in their future. So, um, you know, I just can't thank you all enough. So, that's that. All right. Now, we're gonna go down to Lisa next and then we'll come back this way. Well, I'm with Dr. Smith. This is my favorite time of year. Um, I mean, I can't I mean, it's a list of things that I went to see this these last six weeks. Newport Coast Elementary's Aladdin play was fabulous. Their Steam night was um amazing. Harbor View did Adam's family. Um, they also had their ancient Rome showcase which was amazing. Lincoln did the play Annie and Bubbles for autism. Um, I think it's because every bubble is different. I think that is the that is the is why they do Bubbles for autism. Um, and it was so great to see everybody out
145there. Um, CDM did Crybaby and I I'm going to give them a shout out. I I'm going to be honest, we were going to leave it at intermission. I think Carol was there too. I had my daughter with me and we were supposed to be at a birthday party and it got to intermission and my daughter looked at me and goes, "We can't leave." I'm like, "I know we can't leave. This is fabulous." And I wanted to know what happened. I'd never seen Crybaby. Um I I mean I've gotten up and walked out of Seager Place before, but I could not leave the Crybaby play. It was amazing. And if they don't get a lot of tappies, I don't know. I mean, they'll get a phone call from me. Yeah. Um the Newport Harbor Dance
146Show is always fabulous. It It could be on Broadway. Um they were all incredible. It's incredible to see our kids succeed. Um the other my favorite event is the City of Commerce Awards banquet. Um it's such a great night. Is that what it's called? City of Commerce Awards. Chamber of Commerce. Um such a great event and it's unique in the way that it brings all the valictorians. They award all the valadictorians from CDM, Newport Harbor, and our private local school, SAGE. Um, and I know we're not supposed to compare, but our Newport Harbor and CDM validictorians are going places, and they're going to the same places that these that our our private schools are going to. So, we're so proud of everyone and all the teachers, the district that get our kids on the same
147path. um it doesn't take the tuition to get them to these wonderful places. That's it. And the fact that um Mr. Bolton had a validictorian. He did have a validictorian. Yeah. His daughter. Um I was able to attend with several others up here. The Newport Elementary playgrounding. Thank you to Lance for helping to make that happen. Um and Mr. Trader. And um I'm also excited about the um swim opportunities after school for College Park Elementary. Now um I was also able to attend the Ray Avid night and um it was really great to actually talk to one of the teachers there who is a a junior. No, he was a City of Newport lifeguard and he wants to help do um some swim efforts with Ray. So, it's just interesting when you start having these
148conversations, how many people want to help. Um, and then I also was able to attend the Wilson Elementary um community schools gathering with different um nonprofits getting together to care for Wilson and their ELAC. And Victoria is having a lip sync battle, the first one, which I'm very excited about. So, I will send you all the info because I'm sure it'll be hilarious. He's so cute. Uh, none of my committees really met. Um, but I did have the pleasure of attending um as a panelist the AC acade academy of global studies u capstone projects uh at Carl Delmare High School. I went two days and I'm always wowed by the fact that our students are wellprepared as they move on. um although they're only juniors, uh they have a have to make a 20-minute presentation
149that includes a hypothesis, um research, a mentor, uh data analytics, surveys, and then of course the a presentation to a panel. And it's just incredible the subjects. One of them was about veterans and their post-traumatic uh disorders after after um from Vietnam. And the the the student was so engaged in his topic where but whereby he met with 18 vent veterans. He said I I didn't want to give him a survey. I wanted to meet with them. And this is it was just so incredible his his uh connection to his project. So this is just not educational skills. Those are like human skills. I called his mom said you you're you should be proud of your son. He you can teach him things, but you can't teach him that. You can't teach him humanity, and
150he has it, and you should be proud of him. So, anyway, um moving on. Um the steam night at Newport Coast Elementary, that was incredible, very well attended by students and families. And we loved the fact that they had an element that was optional, which was the SC a science fair project that kids could opt in to it. And so, that was wonderful. And I think it was cute. One of them was a pet. Uh, is my pet left dominant, right dominant, or ambidextrous? Well, it was right-handed, right? Right pod or whatever as a dog. Clever. Um, going to the East Gala coming up. And I did want to give my hat off to all of our retirees that have um served us so loyally all these years and have made Newport Mesa a special
151place to be. Um, thank you. Classified. I mean, Eleanor, I you you were you were the you were you were one of my anchors during COVID. You were sat right there and I always just stared at you when things were getting really bad because you're right there steadfast and just g giving us the love. So, we're going to miss you. Um, of course, many on that list also will be missed. So, thank you all for your service. Um, I believe that it was a um I wanted to also thank the board and superintendent Smith because we came with an idea and you did not say no. You said let's look into it and you do that a lot and this is why I think we move we're moving in such a wonderful directions because you're
152willing to listen and then we like to see the data and analyze and then move forward. So, this is a prime example of a win-win situation where we're offering our loyal employees a chance to move on, feeling safe, financially safe, and then for us to also regenerate. So, thank you. Um I would like President Wand. Yes. If possible, I would like to close the meeting in the name of Gina Forbath. Um a legend in Costa Mesa in Newport Beach who just passed. Um she was the founder of Share Ourselves and also the founder of Save Our Youth. And I would love to respectfully ask to close the meeting in her name. Thank you. We will. Um, Leah, yes. Um, I'll make it brief. I went to DACA. It was great to see so many parents
153engaged. I went and spoke with the youth at Resilience OC and Cambodian Family. They have a group Chamoy of um, students that are learning about leadership and activism and it was great. Um, they're doing awesome stuff and um, everyone needs to go and see Once Upon a Mattress May 1st through 4th at CDM Middle School. The tickets are now on sale. you will see my daughter dancing up a storm in various situations. So, um, everyone needs to go to that. Um, and thank you again to all the teachers, um, and all the staff. Um, you all do so much for our kids and, um, it's great to be able to appreciate you. Although I am very still concerned like why California's Day of the Teacher is not within the National Week of the Teachers. This
154is very confusing to me, but I will get over it. Um, that there are two different times of the month of May, but it's okay. I will survive. So, thank you. All right. Well, um, everyone has gone to everything that I went to. So, that's wonderful that we're all attending everything. Um, I wanted to give a shout out to, um, Brian Dozer was here, superintendent of of Co-Sign RO, but um, last month, let me see what date this one's actually no, April 10th. Um the uh students at Estansia in our construction um pathway uh they won best in show for the open class division for design competition at Golden West College and it was um it was like building a tiny house. um and they won. Um they beat all these other um you know,
155schools from all over the county and and so our construction pathway is doing wonderful things and I no doubt that these people will these students will get um hired right away um once they they graduate. But that is just showing how much all of our um CTE programs um really do uh help these students not only just to find a job afterwards, which is not most of them. These kids are doing it um to for their resumes to just kind of taste out what they like um and what where they want to go um study and what they want to do in college. So everything that we provide in in CTE and in partnership with Coastline AOP um is just is just shining in our district. So thank you for all that SNCT kind of
156night. Um and um without further ado, I want to close in memory of Jean Forbath who is the founder of Save Ourselves and Save Our Youth, which are two great um organizations that are still helping the community out today. Um, and so we close at 8:26 in memory of Jean Forbath.