PUSD BOE Meeting - 09/12/2024 - 6:00PM

001good evening welcome to this regular board meeting of the power Unified School Board it is September 12th and it is 6:01 p.m. this meeting is being recorded and broadcast so if you are here you might be seen or heard on our recording I now invite you to stand for the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you for our report out of closed session clerk kuet Clos session began at 4:05 and the Board of Education took the following action in close session 2.1a in the matter of conference with legal council pending existing litigation case number ADR 07172015 Patel and a second by plotsky the vard voted unanimously to approve

002the settlement agreement 2.1 DB in the matter of conference with legal counsel pending existing litigation case number ADR 08820 24 on a motion by sitma and a second by Patel the board voted unanimously to approve the settlement agreement 2.1 DC in the matter of conference with legal counsel Penny assisting litigation case number ADR 081 32024 on a motion by kuet and a second by plotsky the board voted unanimously to approve the settlement agreement 2.1 DD in the matter of conference with legal council pending existing litigation case number o0 a2024 7020 448 on a motion by kuet and a second by sitma the board voted unanimously to approve the settlement agreement 2.1 D in the matter of conference with legal councel pending existing litigation case number oah 2024 04351 on a motion by ploty and a

003second by oconor Radcliff the board voted unanimously to approve the settlement agreement 2.6 DB in a matter of public employee appointment director of Finance on a motion by sitma and a second by Patel the board voted unanimously to take action and close session to appoint Justine galora as Director of Finance is she here yes welcome to the [Music] [Applause] team no other reportable action was taken during close session and close session adjourned at 5:49 thanks please note that all members are in attend all six of us hi Miss Kylie and for the welcome to the public Miss Kylie welcome to the monthly meeting of the Board of Education if you would like to address the board on any agenda slip item please complete a speaker slip all requests to speak must be submitted to the

004clerk of the board before the agenda item comes up speaking time for agenda items is 2 minutes per speaker if you would like to address the board on a non- agendized item you may do so under item 4.2 public comments speaking time is limited to 2 minutes per speaker with a maximum of 30 minutes total unless waved by the board president there will be a 30-second yellow warning light when time is running out speakers may only speak on one topic under item 4.2 and may not defer their speaking time to another individual if there are concerns regarding specific individuals it is preferred that their speaker refrain from naming them publicly to respect their privacy the board will accept and review any written materials that will provide more specific information the brown act does not permit

005board action or extended discussion on any item not on the agenda but your concerns will be referred to staff with that said welcome and thank you for coming thank you Miss Kylie 3.5 is our approval of the agenda sequence are there any changes staff wishes to make no thank you anything from the board how about a motion motion to approve and a second and on motion by Dr Patel and a second by Miss plotsky uh I'll go to miss Kylie for the preferential vote first thank you and everyone else all in favor I that's unanimous six nothing thank you 4.0 our student board representatives are here welcome back we missed you last month I will start with let's start with mckeny juus from pawe high welcome good evening board members my name is Mackenzie jua

006and I'm the ASB president at pawe high school I hope to share with you all the exciting developments at Powe High School the beginning of school year comes with all sorts of fun and from my very own class of 2025 we got to sit on the white chairs on the field instead of the bleachers for our first day of school assembly a small Milestone but it marked the first of many l the senior year I got to MC the assembly which was exhilarating as Not only was the sun blazing but so was our Titan Pride we LED multiple class rooll claws where each class attempted to outdo each other with school spirit I might be a little biased but I definitely think the seniors were the loudest additionally our esteemed Senor ctez and our ASB

007vice president of student affairs Sophia Grim LED cheers that could be heard all the way in RB I know our week zero school was imagined by admin to take the place of registration week and set a positive example for us Titans and how we will take on the school year freshman orientation was held the morning of the first day of school where peer counselors introduced our freshmen to the cl to PO high and helped them find their classes on the second day of school we did our discipline roll out and listened to a motivational speaker teach us what the importance of gratitude and its impact on those around us at lunch existing clubs put on Club rush and all the students were very excited to find clubs that interested them the first full week of

008school our peer counselors put on start with hello week they created opportunities for our students to make new friends and create unity and belonging on campus in alignment with the Sandy Hook promise my classmates's favorite activity was Finding their name written on paper animals hidden around campus because they belong at Powe High I know I left you all disappointed when I spoke in last April or this April since I wasn't able to reveal the the prom location and theme last spring we had a great time falling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland and dancing the night away at Liberty Station luckily our homecoming theme was announced last Friday and is making a flash with students on campus I know I've had my dress picked out since July would you guys like to know the location

009and theme good okay can I get drum roll this year po high school will be holding our home company coming under the sea at the Birch Aquarium I've wanted to go there since my freshman year so it's very exciting our fall sports are back and better than ever our very first flag football team won their first tournament 4-0 beating teams like Santana high asb's Titan tears Commissioners have brought new meeting to our Friday Night Lights student section they've been working diligently all August to prepare for a home opener football game which was August 30th they brought student section leaders free merch green accessories and decorations to the PO High student section to show their appreciation for dance cheer and football Titan teres will be bringing the student section love to all our fall sports teams

010by creating activities events and social media content to highlight them thank you for your time tonight and all your hard work you put in to create an incredible back to school seasons for my classmates and I thank you Miss jua from Westfield Lana fwin [Applause] welcome good evening my name is Lana fwin wesu asb's 2024 to 2025 president I'm honored to speak to you tonight about the vibrant and dynamic happenings at wesu high school as we embark on another school year I am thrilled to share the exciting and impactful events that have been and will be taking place at our school highlighting the spirit and commitment of our students and staff we recently kicked off the year with our back to school rally a spirit event that truly set the tone for the year ahead

011this rally was made more made even more special by the inspiring presence of Gabby Scott at wesi alumna and an Olympic athlete who competed in Paris this year our club Rush Event was a resounding success featuring over a 100 clubs represented in the plaza this event is a testament to the diverse interests and and passions of our students offering them numerous opportunities to explore their talents and engage with their peers we also marked several significant initiatives aimed at promoting well-being and support within our school Community including start with hello week suicide prevention week and no place for hate activities including the distribution of kind messages on clothing pins name tags for students to find later around campus and an information on support hotlines which have been instrumental in creating a supportive environment where hopefully every

012student feels seen and heard as the school year continues we are embracing traditions and activities that bring our community together our homecoming dance on October 4th is just around the corner with a theme of haunted homecoming welcome to the realm of TM Burton which entails exciting events including float building spirit week activities and an unforgettable homecoming rally these Traditions are not only not only celebrate our school spirit but also Foster a sense of belonging among our students we are excited about numerous events and performances that will showcase the talents of our students the band and color guard are gearing up for several tournaments in Rancher Bernardo Mount Carmel Mir Mesa and much more their dedication and hard work promis to deliver outstanding performances that will undoubtedly make us all proud additionally our theater department is

013preparing for a magical presentation of The Wizard of Oz this November so we expect you all there the production will be a spectacular display of creativity and teamwork and we eagerly anticipate the opportunity to support our talented actors and and crew in conclusion the energy and enthusiasm at Westview High School this year are starting strong from inspiring and lumna and inspirited events to meaningful initiatives and extraordinary performances our school Community is thriving I'm excited to see what the rest of the year holds and confident that together we will continue to achieve great things thank you for continuous support and dedication to westv high school thank you Lana I wouldn't miss it I never miss the theater performances I'm on it um from Oak Valley we have Angley Albert and Aaron Miller [Applause] [Music] welcome good

014evening pauna staff and community members thank you for the invitation to speak about Oak Valley Middle School which we are very proud to belong to our names are anley Albert and Aaron Miller and we are members of this year's ASB class it's hard to believe that was just three weeks ago that we welcomed over 500 new sixth grade Falcons to Oak Valley Middle School with our we belong crew our crew leaders set up games and activities to get our Falcons familiar with the campus the staff and most importantly each other we hosted our Back to School sixth grade social where sixth graders hung out after school played games made crafts and enjoyed our Splash Pad which helped us keep cool in the crazy heat our next event coming up is trivia Thursday on September 26th

015after school we'd like to invite you to come play to see if you can meet some of our staff members speaking of Staff members our ovms staff is incredible this week during start with hello week we played staff Bingo and we even brought you a copy so you can get to know the amazing adults we get to hang out with each and every day they make school so fun and they work so hard for us we also wanted to give a special shout out to our fabulous custodial crew who make our school Sparkle you'll see some of them on the bingo card and they really are our VIPs when you stop by our school we hope you can thank them for all they do our club Rush is scheduled for Friday and we already have

01616 clubs up and running our Falcon start clubs for books robotics running film editing gardening diversity public speaking and chess club Rush is always a fun event and we look forward to seeing many Falcons connect with each other we know the Oak Valley is exactly where we want to be and exactly where we belong we would love to invite you to campus to come see what we are doing each day you'll see thinking teaching learning school spirit and students who truly love where where they are middle school can be awkward but ovms makes us feel like we belong and we are proud to be Falcons thank [Applause] you all right if I show up there's going to be more copies of the bingo card right okay good good thank you from Midland Elementary we have

017Violet Mendes come on down good evening members of the power unified Board of Education my name is violet Mendes and I am a fifth grader at Midland and a general officer on Midland's Elementary student council I'm excited to share the amazing things that are happening at our school te Midland's teachers meet in greet was held the day before school started and it was a well attend and it was well intended ATT ended with families and community members such as Mission Federal soccer soccer shots and Impact Martial Arts it was a positive event that highlighted our PTA and our foundation which launched our new school year our back to school night was held during the second week of school and it was a huge success Midland offers child care so that our parents can attend the

018important meetings with our teachers we had our first Rattler walk assembly and our special guests with the PO High Titan ambassadors they shared a presentation about kindness and good character this assembly kicked off our schoolwide character counts program for the year the character counts pillars of respect trustworthiness fairness responsibility caring and citizenship Inspire us to be our best each day at Midland looking ahead we are gearing up for the paway rotary parade next weekend did you know that Midland has won more entry Awards in the in the rotary parade than any other school in PD True Story start with hello week is next week we are focusing on helping everyone feel included at our school we also have our no place for hate program so everyone can feel safe and happy at school we have

019a family night coming up soon on helping students feel confident and courageous with activities and fun lessons we have many leadership opportunities at our school like student council safety Patrol peace Patrol yearbook welcome ambassadors preschool leaders no place for hate leaders hope Squad and fifth grade band leadership opportunities support students feeling like they belong and that they are helping our school we have so much to be proud of at Midland Elementary and I thank you for allowing me to share our Midland Magic with you tonight excellent job Miss Mendes that is the end of your portion if you've got homework or really almost anything else to do I don't blame you if you leave so you're you're welcome to stay and join us for the fun as well though so now would be a good

020time though we're we're moving on to our public comment uh if you would like to address the board hopefully fill out fill out a public speaker request for form submitted to miss Anderson over here before the agenda item is called speaking time limited to 2 minutes per speaker with a Max of 30 minutes total on this item so submitting a card does not guarantee you'll be able to speak I'm reminder if you have concerns regarding specific individuals it's preferred you refrain from naming them publicly the appropriate complaint process can be obtained again from Miss Anderson she's the keeper of information down there um the board will not allow any disturbance or willful interruptions of our meeting we have an expect that everyone here will conduct themselves with decorum respect and civility so with that in

021mind clerk KET please call the first Speaker first up is steuart cook June 13th okor Ratcliff said the equity advisory committee worked for a year to provide performance data for our Dei programs I've been asking for this documentation for 3 years with no response when do we see what our rates of diversity equity and inclusion are and how they compared to previous years rackliffe spoke emphatically about providing belonging now to all students staff and Families how do we measure someone's degree of belonging and where's the data that shows anyone is being provided with belonging they haven't even provided us with objective data for Dei even though some of these programs have been in place for five or more years but now they're going to provide our entire families with belonging because belonging is obviously not

022possible without Ratcliffe and the apostles on the school board how can our students be getting Dei or belonging or Joy especially minority and marginalized students that these programs are specifically designed to help because it's those very students whose academic performance is decreasing and all the while mental illness in our schools is increasing how about providing objective documentation that shows dei's performance first before you arrogantly and narcissistically commit to being the Savior that will provide the masses with belonging and joy I look forward to getting this Dei info you were talking about on June 13th and since the equity advisory committee worked an entire year for this and you brought it up several months ago that should be enough time for you to get the information to us by next [Applause] meeting Tim Dockery good evening

023everyone my name is Tim doerty and I'm a school board candidate for area a in November in the November election and since announcing my candidacy in the spring I've had the privilege of meeting so many incredible members of our community teachers parents business owners and Civic leaders it has been an honor to engage with so many passionate people who care deeply about our schools and I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to those groups and organizations that have participated in this nonpartisan process whether through discussions forums Q&A sessions or endorsements including all the teachers parents and administrators and school board members I've encountered my volunteers who have supported me too many to name the PTA pawe Federation of teachers and PSA Green Valley civic association and pawe chamber Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church the

024Lincoln Club the West un Nexus newspaper the Union Tribune and its Associated newspapers pure K12 the San Diego asian-americans for equality organization whose indorsement I am especially proud of it's clear from both my conversations with the community and the superintendent survey that there's a growing sense of distrust and dismay with leadership including this current board unlike my opponent I have no ties to current board members I bring an outside View and pragmatic approach approach along with the community experience needed to rebuild trust and focus on fundamentals if you'd like to get involved or learn more about my campaign please visit timd forp usd.com and thank you very much for your time tonight [Applause] thanks Dees vashista good evening members of the board superintendent and the superintendent's cabinet it's a pleasure to be with you here

025today my name is Dr davish visha and I'm standing in the election for PD board trustee for area a today it is my distinct pleasure to announce that as of this week our campaign is endorsed by the pawe Federation of teachers this means so much to me personally is I am the product of a strong strong K through2 public education and I also serve as an educator in my clinic teaching medical residents about how to excel as primary care doctors I know that to excel as a teacher you have to put in a lot of late nights emotional labor and often undercompensated work I take the pawe Federation of teachers endorsement very seriously and reaffirm my commitment to Fair wages and benefits for our outstanding PD teachers as a young person in our increasingly unaffordable

026Society I know that many of our wonderful teachers face a perfect storm of student debt astronomical housing costs and high child care costs despite these challenges our teachers continue to show up day after day as standard bearers of the Excellence that defines PD if elected to the board I will work collaboratively with our teachers to ensure their concerns are addressed by District leadership when our teachers are well supported it is ultimately PD students and families that benefit thank you again to the pawe Federation of teachers for believing in our campaign for school board for believing that I can help lead us toward a brighter future for all students davish VES PD area a thank you lenise see Christ I would like to speak on the important topics of trust transparency and the relationship between this

027board and the community it serves on Friday just before the weekend an agenda was quietly posted for a public meeting scheduled for Monday at 3 p.m. the topic was the selection of the next superintendent along with the results of a survey conducted by a highly paid consultant it's been more than a month since the district provided any updates about the superintendent search one would have expected an official communication encouraging parents in the community to participate share their thoughts and engage with the findings instead the notice was posted Ed with little time for the public to adequately prepare or attend limiting opportunities for Meaningful involvement the survey completed by nearly 1100 community members highlighted serious concerns including a lack of trust low morale and ethical issues with the school board these are significant matters and I

028encourage everyone to review the survey additionally the board is moving forward with appointing a new superintendent while elections for two board members are imminent notably two current members were two of the three votes which hired Miss Phelps in 2017 and one is now running for higher office I urge this board to pause engage the community and let voters have their say rebuild the trust that has been lost relle babler the spending in this District seems to be continuously out of control so it's important that the public the taxpayers are aware of this because of the upcoming elections and those on this current board who are rerunning and bond measure efforts looking over the agenda and packet how are we able to afford things like mending matters if we have no money we currently are in

029a $15 million budget deficit money we have to shave off so why are we then going to give them over $1 million if we don't have it the con the another one is a concerned parents Alliance over $100,000 and what about all the hvacs is it not an option to have our PD maintenance do some of this work because outs Outsourcing is a at a higher cost you all don't talk or reveal enough for us and thoughtful discussions comments or your board reports so that we know where the money is going transparency and decision-making of funds then there is the never- ending litigation cases that are read at the beginning of each board meting meeting we just heard a bunch today I think I lost count of how many that we settled on there are

030several cases that we continuously settle settle settle when you settle what seems to be all cases you are setting precedent for more money to just go to lawsuits no wonder law firms love working for our district their pockets just keep getting bigger and bigger figure lastly it has been brought to my knowledge and it's troubling that HR in this district and Associate superintendent Jame Mr Jimenez ended up eliminating everyone's paperwork for volunteers is that true Mr Jimenez now anyone that has volunteered has to redo their paperwork now I was also told there wasn't enough time allotted for all volunteers to redo their paperwork so I was curious as to why the sudden change was there an audit were things not being done right is this now CH do this change now Wast of time and

031resources lastly can you send out emails for special board meetings like the one on Monday it seems sneaky almost like you don't want the public to show up PSD Remains the wild wild west of settling lawsuit after lawsuit poor money management poor decisions and an incompetent [Applause] board Craig pond hi I'm Craig Pond I'm running for the trustee seat of area e as I've been talking with voters in the community uh it I see that there is a big perception problem and perception is reality the reality is that this district is not fiscally responsible people ask me what can be done and there are many things that can and should be done but I can cite at least three perception problems um that uh that are present on our agenda tonight item 38 board policy

0323400 sets a limit that District Personnel can spend on New Capital assets without requiring special permission tonight's change raises the spending limit from $5,000 to $50,000 it seems the changes to accommodate purchase of unusually expensive assets like lease and subscriptions for accounting services but there is no language that limitate that limits any other spending on Capital assets with the state of the district's budget all spending should be tightly controlled keep the $5,000 limit and ask for special permission to spend more items three J and K these are change orders for HVAC upgrades at schools the total of the change orders on three contracts uh runs over $160,000 I work for a G for a government contractor I understand change orders and I know that this represents sloppy estimating and loose management of funds our district

033does not have if we are to change the reality at least let's give the perception that we can be fiscally responsible thank you Aden Hassan does a blow job have educational value in a language ARS classroom would it be appropriate for an adult to speak to an 11-year-old about how about behind closed doors should we show video discussing the book this one summer which talks about was found in the bookshelf in my son's sixth grade class whose classroom is also decorated head to toe in gender and sexuality this is at Twin Peaks now my family does not take pride in talking about sex with children so I reached out to the principle to discuss this first he defended the book and accused the parent who posted it of cherry-picking the pages and that it's actually

034a good book if you read it in context let me be clear I don't care what position the book takes you are exposing my child to oral sex against the will of our family this isn't about book Banning in the same way that PG movie is appropriate for this age group and anything with a higher rating requires parental consent books discussing sexuality should require parental consent you want to bring a book into the classroom that talks about sex get the parents consent with full transparency or keep it out of the classroom don't hide it among the literature for an unsuspecting innocent child to stumble upon but what really worries me is that this teacher is the head of ASB at Twin Peaks and she so she is responsible for Student Activities on campus her class

035has also been selected to screen the new language arts textbook which is to replace the current one for power unified when I brought these concerns up with the principal he accused me of being an entitled parent for wanting transparency in their selections for student curriculum and activities and you know what I am an entitled parent if the teacher and the principal agree with exposing my 11-year-old to then I damn well deserve to know what else they want to bring into the classroom and campus this teacher was chosen for these positions not despite her personal beliefs but because of them her obvious Personal Agenda should not be part of our children's education her selection for the ASB leader and textbook screening should be reviewed and brought to the attention of all parents at Twin Peaks thank

036[Applause] you Susan vanwinkle good evening good evening board members uh Mr superintendent cabinet uh my name is Steven Kelly I a 23e resident of Westwood a community and Rancher Bernardo my town home along with a hundred others are adjacent to Westwood Elementary School our town homes are part of the Westwood one and Westwood two homeowners associations I'm Susan Ben winkl also an honor an owner since 2001 in the Westwood Town Homes I'm I'm on the board of directors of Westwood One homeowners association and serve as the treasurer since 2022 our Association Management has been asking PD's maintenance department to trim several Groves of towering overgrown palm trees on Westwood Elementary Schools property overshadowing our homes as well as school structures we have provided photos for each of the board members uh to take a look

037at unfortunately our boards our association's efforts have not been successful PD maintenance claims that a 40-year-old agreement obliges the associations to resolve this issue to actually go on PD property and take care of any Landscaping issues on school property that we're unhappy with despite repeated requests for us P USD has never provided us with such an agreement these discussions are documented in multiple letters and emails which you'll find in your own records we will provide a letter from P we have provided a letter from PD's own attorney acknowledging that such an agreement does not exist he claims we worked together in the past to resolve related issues but we know of none and he gave no example around the same time by way of a concession to us PU USD offered to trim or remove

038the trees if our associations would pay half approximately just just a moment so they put in two different cards and Susan vanwinkle came up and then um Stephen Kelly came up do they get an extra two minutes since it was two cards yes okay we'll give you the extra two minutes thank you our associations had rejected that offer since it has no basis in any agreement recorded and would put the associations in violation of their own covenants why do we care about overgrown palm trees in October 2007 The Witch Creek Fire raced through Westwood destroying hundreds of homes I remember vividly getting the call to evacuate in the middle of the night Brave firefighters saved the school and all our wood structure town homes since that time these palm tree Groves have not been maintained

039and are in our opinion torches ready to ignite in the kind of for Firestorm that devastated our community years ago in our talks with the Fire Department officials we have learned that flying flaming Embers from burning palm trees can travel over a mile and readily find their way under Eaves and roofs setting homes on fire which they do and have done here and elsewhere Code Compliance officials have visited the site and while acknowledging that these trees do pose a fire threat not just to our homes but to the school as well they advise that because none of the trees are within 100 fet of any structure they cannot compel PD to deal with them PD maintenance has also used that as a reason for its lack of needed maintenance in addition to their claims about

040non-existent agreements with us we simply ask you to as you look at the pictures if this were your home your neighbor allowed palm trees or any other kind of vegetation to grow and Decay unabated near your home would you not have a conversation with your neighbor about their responsibility to take appropriate action to protect your neighbor's home your home and all the neighbors homes as well and if your neighbor came back and insisted did you pay for half the work because of an alleged 40-year-old agreement with the previous owner that he cannot produce what would your response be board members we appeal to you to please do the right thing be the good responsible neighbors that we're sure you want to be direct your staff to trim or remove these trees and prevent a possible

041disaster once again thank you for your time thank you [Applause] Elias Snider yes good evening my name is Aaliyah and I'm a local PD parent I would rather be at home reading right now but I am here yet again to speak in support of our teachers Librarians and schools who dare to have books that deal with the world as it exists beautiful dirty scary confusing wonderful complicated as well as sexually and verbally explicit the book Banners are here yet again attacking books that are critically acclaimed vetted by professionals traditionally published and award-winning they sit here with shock value Snippets never willing to look beyond anything that they find unacceptable one of the books they are currently outraged about is titled this one Summer by Maro Tamaki Common Sense Media writes this book a five out

042of five it is described as a graphic novel that expertly captures what it feels like to be on the cusp between childhood and Adolescence while containing some explicit language violence and references to pregnancies and sexual acts it is praised for having positive role models as well as focusing on on the importance of family and friendships from author Judy Bloom I believe that censorship grows out of fear and because fear is contagious some parents are easily swayed book Banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children's lives this fear is often disguised as moral outrage they want to believe that their children don't read about it then their children won't know about it and if they don't know about it it won't happen let me provide some honesty they know about it all of

043it and it is not coming from books in closing to all the book banners here tonight and to those of you watching online I would like to offer you these three words thoughts and prayers thank [Applause] you that that concludes all okay that concludes public comment item 4.3 is the 2024 outstanding contribution to inclusive education and disability advocacy award hooray associate I'm sorry interim superintendent myself superintendent also you're both yeah all right I'll give you the upper one thank you tonight it's my honor to present for board recognition the 2024 outstanding contribution to inclusive education and disability advocacy award this award was presented to power Unified School District uh a month ago from the Thompson policy Institute on disability at Chapman University this was presented at their annual Summit on disability and inclusion the board

044would like to publicly recognize the members of our inclusive practices team and related staff for their unwavering commitment to increasing and improve to increasing access for students with disabilities and to improving their experience on our campuses will you all please come up staff uh and Michelle will you join me and we'll show off this award and take some pictures [Applause] think TR [Applause] do you have to introduce it item 4.4 classified employees of the year it is now our honor to present for board recognition our PD classified employees of the Year teachers of the year and Volunteers Of The Year these employees and volunteers represent present the highest caliber of Team PD working on behalf of our students last spring many of us got to go on surprise visits at each of their school sites

045and work sites and we are so thrilled that they are here tonight to receive their plaques and be honored by the Board of Education each Honore should come up when their name is called and we'll turn it over to other members of cabinet to read the names while President okon Ratcliff and and interim superintendent miselle present the awards here upfront also if any site supervisors family or colleagues or employee group or District leadership are here to support you they are welcome to come up for the photos as well all right we'll start with James Jimenez thank you Miss peek well let's get started with our classified employees of the Year our first Honore is lamise Abu Salem English language learner instructional assistant at Bernardo Heights Middle School lamise has been a pillar of Bernardo Heights

046English learner program for the last eight years being a student new to the United States is extremely challenging both emotionally and academically whether it whether it is fleeing from war leaving Family behind going from an a student to an f- student due to having to learn a new language English learner students have so many mental health needs lamise provides unconditional love and emotional support for her students once trust is established the learning can begin we should also mention that lamise was also named San Diego County classified employee of the year her name and her name was Smith to the state level program for possible recognition by the California Department of Education congratulations our next classified employee of the year is Augustine Steve estan Steve is a custodian at morning Creek Elementary School Augustine or Steve

047consistently demonstrates unwavering reliability in his duties whether it's ensuring that classrooms are clean and ready for the day ahead or responding promptly to any maintenance issues one of his greatest strengths lies in his meticulous attention to detail he takes pride in his work ensuring that every corner of the school is spotless and wellmaintained Steve is not just content with meeting the basic requirements of his role he consistently demonstrates initiative and leads by example by taking on additional task and responsibilities without hesitation congratulations Steve our next classified employee of the year is Ava Peters Eva is an administrative assistant for our learning Support Services Department here in the district office Ava holds a heart for serving others whether Ava is supporting our work with English Learners assisting our caring connections program or working with our families

048experiencing homelessness and meeting their needs through the youth and transition program Ava approaches all with great care and respect even when the support of our families experiencing homelessness extends outside the typical workday Ava steps in and steps up every time typically when Ava learns of addition needs at these events she takes it upon herself to help meet those needs congratulations Ava and congratulations to all of our 2024 PD classified employees of the Year well deserved and now we'll move to recognizing our teachers of the Year thank you James we are going to start with our recognizing our teachers of the year um will Ross Kalen please join us Ross is the visual and Technical arts teacher at Rancho Bernardo High School through his digital media production and broadcast journalism classes and the studio 701 internship

049Ross empowers students to to pursue their creative passions and ideas while preparing them for their future college and career goals his alumni have gone on to attend the nation's top film schools and film festivals direct music videos and national award show broadcasts and even work on a former president's cabinet at the White House as technology evolves Ross incorporates Innovation Innovative teaching techniques and tools to reflect the the everchanging landscape of media thank you Ross next we would like to welcome Elise Milling 8th grade Humanities and Performing Arts teacher at Mesa Verde Middle School Elise is Guided by the belief that to be a student in her class is to be seen as a human first each one with their own unique story as both a Humanities and Performing Arts teacher she often integrates the subjects

050together to create unique and memorable learning experiences she has grown Mesa verde's performing arts elective classes to include students of all abilities Alise is the proud is proud that students in her choir and drama classes aren't just the typical theater kids she is also passionate stay up here one more sentence she is also passionate about Building Bridges through cross campus collaboration with both Westview and Mount Carmel thank you Elise next we have Nicole Stow education specialist at Sunset Hills Elementary [Applause] as the education specialist at Sunset Hills Elementary School Elise has created an environment where all students whether or not they have an IEP have a safe space where they can access supports and sensory breaks in her room Nicole says her strengths lie in building rapport with all students viewing them through their strengths

051not deficits she believes every child deserves a CH ANS and has a right to be their individual self she founded the Little League Challenger program in Rancho penus skos little league for players who have varying disabilities to enjoy the game of baseball congratulations to all of our 2024 PD teachers of the year thank you Miss Peterson and now it's our honor to recognize our volunteers of the year and we'll start with Evan Creek from Del Norte High School Evan is a Del Norte High School alum who served as the library teachers assistant during his time as a student and requested to come back in a volunteer capacity a few years after graduating now Evan comes to the library every day for a full day of volunteering while evans's day typically consists of relocating and organizing

052books storage runs and deliveries it is the student connections and interactions that led Del Norte to nominate him for this award Evan always makes himself available for students and often offers advice encouragement and guidance he has made a lasting impact on nigh hack Nighthawk culture [Music] congratulations next we have susette lamb from Pomerado Elementary School susette has played a pivotal role in successful fundraising community building and inaugural events let's get everybody in the photo currently she serves as the events coordinator of the school's parent and W Wildcats Paul volunteer organization susetta often uses her professional experience as a wedding planner to take pomar initiatives to the next level this year under her leadership the school successfully brought back two student favorite Traditions that had been absent for many years career day day and the Pomerado

053Wildcat run the Wildcat run was the first entirely school le run raising a record high amount for school enrichment activities and events congratulations and thank you for your service and finally we have Kim snowski Twin Peaks Middle School [Applause] Kim's ties to Twin Peaks Middle School are deeply rooted as she is a parent alumni and serves as the foundation president PTSA member and Library volunteer Kim's leadership influence dedication and service has directly impacted Twin Peaks in so many ways she has grown the foundation membership and expanded the group's reach from purchasing needed school supplies and resources to including campus beautification and Improvement projects Kim also played an part in the initiatives to support student Mental Health on campus and improve campus culture congratulations Kim and thank you for your service and dedication and once again

054congratulations to all of our 2024 PD Volunteers Of The Year thank you for your selfless dedication to our schools our program and of course our students 5.1 is the approval of consent count the rest of the agenda is way less fun but you're welcome to hang out with us 5.1 is approval of the consent calendar I know we have a couple polls from the public we need to pull um 5.2 D and 4 point I mean sorry 5.4 C so it's 5.2 D and 5.4 C 5.3 C could have before um I thought I had it it says 5.4 I have it learning Support Services approval of updated board policy the 5,000 series okay I know which one you mean at least okay got it anything else that a board member would like to pull

055no okay with that is there a motion to approve absent those two items on a motion by Miss platsky a second by Dr sitner all in favor I I thank you so let's jump to 5.2 D soon as I can get there this is award a contract to Burnham for request for proposal our FP 202-4311 as part of our review we submitted an RFP for other consultant services to bid on our program and services including our current consultant this recommendation is to change our consultant to Burnham uh Burnham is also a large benefits Consulting organization that works directly with school districts we utilize these services to help us manage the finances of our benefits Employee Program to negotiate on behalf of the district directly with our medical carriers or our drug prescription carrier as well

056uh and to assist us with our benefit admin platform that employees use for open enrollment as well as our benefit staff utilize for managing our program each month of the year thank you Mr her menz cler kuet um Dr Dees fashisa please good evening my name is Dr D fisha I'm running for Powe Unified School Board area a I ask that we pull this item because it speaks to me in two different ways the first being that it has to do with medical benefits which is important to me and the second is that it has to do with fiscal responsibility and I think it's an example of good taxpayer stewardship what the district did here is that it looked for a new vendor and the annual Savings of finding a competitive bid here are 120,000

057per year to me this is very important as we are currently facing a budget shortfall and no amount of money should be not worth pursuing to try and save the district and I hope that we can continue this thoroughness as we navigate the next few years it's an approach that I support and would hope to continue if elected I also want to speak just more broadly about the fact that the most recent contracts for employees uh preserved the healthc care premiums at the current levels for two more years this is very important to me especially for our teachers and classified employees that they can afford Healthcare thank you are there any questions from the board comments discussion is there a motion motion to approve thank you on a motion by Dr Patel the second by

058I'm sorry I missed that second Dr sitma any further commentary no all right all in favor I that passes unanimously thank you just to make sure I got it 5.4 C the appr okay the approval of updated board policies 5,000 series Miss Peterson thank you Madame President um as part of our review of board policies we we receive input and recommendations from the Cal California School Board Association and um ensure that we align our policies to their recommendations in board policy 5113 absences and excuses uh it provides a assurances that students who are absent from school uh with an excused absence receive um assignments that are comparable to those that occurred while the student was absent in board five in board policy 5126 awards for achievement this adds um language that ensures that um none

059of the awards that uh students are eligible for require a fee on the part of the district in um board policy 5146 and 51457 those are both um mandated changes according to the new title one law and update so the first 5146 oh I'm sorry a Title Nine thank you um the first one 5146 is um um assuring rights and protections for married pregnant or parenting students and then in 51 45.7 uh this is Title 9 UM and addresses students rights um under sex discrimination and sex-based harassment thank you Miss Peterson I apologize I didn't realize my mic was still on I was going to ask you after you were finished thank you though Clerk kuet Miss relle babbler please first and foremost no supporting documents on this shell on this agenda shell were provided

060to the public when the agenda packet was released the district should post everything at the same time they post the agenda for the obvious to be transparent moving forward can the board policy changes be included with the agenda item for the Public's review these policy updates are very important must be available to the public to ensure the district will be safe and protected luckily I received the updates from someone who requested it which leads me to BP 51457 a unfortunately is known in our district that there have been times when students have lied or have had false allegations for a teacher so I would like to know what happens after an investigation the conclusions are made that the student falsely accused a teacher if you look under disciplinary actions in this document there's nothing that

061mentions what happened happens to a student if this investigation deems that they have lied it seems there must be something here to safeguard teachers that they may if they're targeted for some unknown reason I believe the majority of our teachers and students are really good and wouldn't exhibit this type of behavior but because I've been been attending board meetings for a few years it's why I'm bringing this up I've repeatedly heard of students not being disciplined for physical and or bullying Behavior so I believe the district needs to send a clear message that the district will hold students accountable if they lie or falsely accuse a teacher of something they did not do I'm not a teacher but if I were I would be very concerned about the district not having something in place to

062safeguard their integrity I'm guessing the teachers unions might be outraged as well by not having this as mentioned earlier you did not provide supporting documents for this or any other policy changes and therefore should not be voted on tonight the public has an has not had ample time to review the csba policy changes thank you are there any questions comments discussion from the board I I do think it'd be nice for us to post things online so that people do have access to all the materials I think that is very important um so hopefully moving forward we can go ahead and try to make an extra effort to go ahead and do that I am in complete agreement with you I think we've already discussed that as well so behind the scenes so yes yeah

063we we did have an actual discussion about that um in the meeting that they were going to all be posted since it's all online now any other comments thoughts I'll make a motion to approve thank you Miss plotsky on a motion to approve this item motion by Miss plotsky is there a second second a second by Dr Patel any further discussion all those in favor I that passes unanimously thank you 6.1 is approval of a new classification executive assistant confidential Mr Jimenez thank you president OK Conor [Applause] ratliffe the executive assistant confidential is a classification that has been recently created with the reorganization and our business support services department the executive director of finance budget and accounting position has been developed and filled This Confidential assistant position will directly support this position as well as

064our payroll department and our Director of Finance because of the nature of the responsibilities and duties of This Confidential position and that they are supporting the executive director with information related to bargaining proposals uh budget proposals related to classification studies or other items impacting labor relations with our collective bargaining Partners this information this position is warranted under the government code to be a confidential position this position has been created the job description is attached for your review it's been presented to the Personnel commission for approval and it's been recommended that it be placed on step nine of the confidential employee salary schedule this evening it's presented to you for final approval so that this position can be posted and filled thank you Mr her menz um it was my understanding that this position possibly already

065has an incumbent who was in the non-confidential position who was intended to move to the confidential position is there a new posting what can you explain that this uh Position will be a promotional opportunity um there is a lower level confidential position that supports the Director of Finance this new confidential classification will replace that and the incumbent if they apply and when the position will support all facets of that department so this is not a new new an additional person this is just a new job classification that is correct thank you very much for that clarification any questions from the board discussion a motion motion thank you on a motion from Dr sitma I assume to approve the item thank you is there a second second from miss plotsky any further discussion or questions no

066all right seeing none all in favor I that passes unanimously thank you 6.2 is approval of employment agreement and board resolution number 17-22 for the appointment of interim associate superintendent of business support services Mr Jimenez thank you Madame President with the recent uh vacancy of our associate superintendent of business support services um our intent is to post and recruit to fill this position however in the interim uh we're recommending that we appoint an interim associate superintendent of business support services this item on the agenda is a resolution for approval by the board to appoint an individual to serve as our interim and it also includes an employment agreement for the individual as required under the government code that it be approved in public session uh and providing an oral summary of the terms of compensation

067of an employment agreement this point I will turn it back over to president OK Conor Ratcliffe to summarize the employment agreement and call for a vote for the approval thank you Mr her menz so this item is our consideration of this recommendation for approval of the employment agreement for Gregory Magnuson to serve as interim associate superintendent of business support services and join us over here in this vacant seat so again as Mr herenz said government code section 54953 requires an oral summary of everything in this contract so let me give it let me give it to you bullet by Bullet here the term is from September 12th 2024 to February 28 2025 or until a new associate superintendent business support services starts employment whichever is sooner unless otherwise agreed to by the parties the interim

068associate superintendent of BSS shall inform the shall perform the job duties as set forth in the associate superintendent business support services job description applicable federal and state laws and regulations board policy and administrative regul regulations and Direction provided by the board the interims associate soup BSS shall devote such time as necessary to fulfill the job duties and to ensure the continuation of services in the business support services department the interim associate soup of BSS that compensation shall be paid for at the hourly rate of $139 66 per hour less applicable deductions required by law the interm associate soup BSS is not eligible for Health and Welfare benefits other fringe benefits sick leave or vacation during the term of the agreement the interim associate superintendent business support services shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual and

069necessary job related travel expenses in compliance with applicable laws and board policy and administrative regulation that's the summary at this point is there are are there questions is there discussion I'll take a motion I'll just make one comment after reviewing your resume we're very fortunate to have some of your expertise so um with that I'd like to make a motion thank you on a motion by Miss kuat is there a second second second by Dr Patel last chance before the vote anything oh all right all in favor I that's unanimous we do need a second vote for the resolution um that that supports this and hopefully you read it you did I know you did is there a motion to approve that resolution motion to approve the resolution as well thank you Miss kuat is

070there a second second by Dr Patel all in favor I thank you that also passes unanimously we'd love to have you join us Mr Magnuson [Applause] and I hope you're ready because we're on BSS section right now so get on it all right go 7.1 is the approval of the 2023 2024 un audited actuals financial report but you've got help Joy Romero come on down are you excited to have someone sitting here fantastic I bet he's excited to have you okay thank you Madame President good evening can you hear me okay so tonight we present for the board's approval the district's and audited actuals for fiscal year 2023 2024 the agenda of the presentation will uh go over the unrestricted general fund followed by restricted then we will review the general fund combined net activity

071ending balance and carryover we will also look at the remaining balances of the one-time black RS and briefly go over other funds but before I begin please allow me of course I want to say thank you to the entire Finance Team all the sites and departments who's been involved in closing the books before the deadline so thank you everyone next slide please so here are some key financial highlights in the general fund our net activity Revenue minus expenditures in the general fund combined was negative 5.8 million the negative net activity or deficit spending was expected as we are spending pending down the one-time categorical grants of that amount the unrestricted portion of the net activity was 1.2 million to the good 53.6 million of the general fund combined ending fund balance were unexpect unexpended budget

072that will be carried over in this current year and we will look at the details later so in 2324 we end the year with an ending F balance in the general fund combined of 119.5 million again 53.6 million of that are carryovers next slide please so let's review the unrestricted general fund next slide starting with revenues as you can see on this table our un audited actual total rate revenues in the unrestricted general fund was 6.3 million higher than what we estimated so we have minor adjustment in lcff which gives us a quarter million more of Revenue under state revenue the fourth quarter Lottery apportionment is higher and under local Revenue a 4.5 million Inc uh increase which includes good 1.9 million of interest income also I think it's important to point out that included

073in this 4.5 million is 1.8 million of gasby 31 accounting entry which requires the cash in County Treasury to be booked at fair value so that's 1.8 million included in that 4.5 and the rest are local revenues uh donation and use of facilities next slide please for expenditures I'm not going to go over each line item overall our total expenditures was 3.4 million less than estimated 351 million is what we estimated we end up with 347.50 million 2.3 m million of that amount the difference is the unexpended budget that we will carry over so we estimated our carryover in the unrestricted general fund was 4.5 million we end up the year with 6.4 million in carryover so that's a 2.3 million increase and the other 1.1 million UNS spent program and departmental budgets next slide

074please so here's the recap of the unrestricted general fund net activity for the unrestricted actuals total revenue and audited actuals 4346 million less total expenditures of 347.50 million the excess is 87 million other sources and uses of negative 85 million which includes contribution to restricted and inter transfers is also included in this 85.8 million bottom line the net activity in the unrestricted general fund is 1.2 million so you see an increase in net activity of 4.5 million next slide please so to summarize what accounts for the increase in the net activity again we have the increase in the carryover of 2.3 million 1.1 million unspent programs and departmental budgets and the net of Revenue and other sources and uses and contribution the increase is 1 million for a total of almost 4.5 million difference next

075slide please so let's look at general fund restricted the total revenues in the estimated actuals for the restricted general fund is 103 million and audited actuals revenues is 9 99.7 million difference of 3.3 million so at year end Any Grant Subject to deferral if not spent the amount not spent or being deferred or revenue is not recognized so this amount is around 2.7 million plus we have other Revenue adjustments adds up to a.3 million less in the restricted general fund revenues next slide please so here's the snapshot of the restricted general fund expenditures I will not go over each line items but bottom line what we want to see here estimated Act was 2.9 Million of total expenditures we end the year with 108.3 million in expenditures so the difference of 12.6 million is the

076unexpended categorical grants next slide please so this slide um outline the increase in net activity in the restricted general fund the projected net activity was 17.1 million in negative netive and the actuals is negative over 7 million so that shows us that we have 10 million more in categorical carryover next slide please so here are the list of what makes up the additional increase in the categorical carryover so here are all the programs that we end up having more in their carryover we projected our carryover in the restricted general fund to be 36.8 million with this additional 10 million we close the books with a 46.8 million of carryover in the restricted general fund next slide please so now we'll look at the general fund combin so here's the general fund combined revenues and expenditures

077we have seen the details already so bottom line net activity 1.2 million in the unrestricted ne7 million in restricted for combined net activity of again Nega 5.8 million next slide please so so here's our ending fund balance in the general fund combine we began the year with 125.4 million less the negative net activity of 5.8 million our ending fund balance in the general fund combined in 2023 2024 is 19 19.5 million also on this slide we're providing the breakdown of the components of the ending fund balance just want to highlight the carryover of 46.8 million for restricted and 6.8 million in unrestricted for a total of 53.6 million that we will be adding in the 24th 25 budget next slide please so here's what makes up the 6.8 million in UNR red general fund carryover

078the same list of usual carryover we have every year end I will not read them all but we'll be happy to answer any questions you have later and next slide please here are the list of the categorical programs carry over again total of 46.8 million same thing I'm not going to read all of them but I I would like to draw your attention to the first three large amounts these are the one-time blrs uh the Arts and Music instructional material blackground with 13 million learning recovery emergency blackground of 8.4 million left and the educator effectiveness blackground of almost 6 million next slide please so now we want to go over and provide more detailed information of how they we spent uh those three large Block Run starting with Arts music and instructional materials our funding

079that we receive is over 21 million we spent or the total expended as of June 30 as you see on this slide almost 8.3 million so the remain remaining allocation as we close the books in 2324 is 13 million we budgeted 9.4 million in the current budget year 2425 and the remaining 3.6 is planned to be spent in 2526 next slide for the learning recovery emergency Block Run The District's allocation is 14.3 million total expended as of June 30 2024 5.9 million that lives us a remaining allocation of 8.4 million as we close the books 2425 is budgeted in the current year of 6.8 million and the remaining 1.5 in 2526 and the last final Block Run that we want to review the educator Effectiveness block grant total Grant allocation of almost 11.2 million we

080spent spent almost half of the funding that we received 5.2 million there and the remaining balance we plan to spend in the next two years I just want to remind the board and the public that all these expenditures that you have seen on the slides for Arts music instructional materials Block Run the learning recovery emergency blockr and the educator Effectiveness blockr are based on the board appr budget plan next slide please so now let's turn our attention to the district other fronts um by the way the sax Report with more detail information was provided to the board electronically we also have print outs available for public review of the detail sax report but what we have here on this presentation is just a summary of the ending balances of our 12 other District funds so

081starting with our beginning balance as of July 1 2023 for each fund showing their revenues that we recognize for 23 24 the total expenditures and other financing sources and uses so beginning balance M uh plus revenues minus expenditures plus other financing sources and uses is the net activity and net activity plus the beginning balance is the fund ending balance as you can see all the district funds has a healthy fund balance uh fun 63 we know every year F 63 has a negative uh fun balance because they follow the full acral method of accounting uh versus the modified approval that we use in all added District funds and the difference between full acral and modified acral with full acral we have to recognize all the long-term liabilities versus modified acral only shortterm liabilities but if

082we convert other Enterprise fund or fund 63 to modify acal like the other District funds the fund balance in fun 63 is million next slide please so at this point we want to ask the board for approval of the 2023 2024 and audited actual finan report and 20 2425 beginning fund balances thank you very much M Romero wonderful presentation thank you the sax report as always riveting yes um any any comments or questions from the board I just want to say thank you for this presentation and thank you to staff for bringing it Forward I I do keep a close eye on the special state grants like of course prop 28 and the the Arts and M music Grant the elop money and I appreciate that you noted that it was according to our approved

083budgets so thank you any other comments questions nope all right yeah thank you very much at this point then is there a motion motion to approve motion to approve from Dr sitman is there a second second second from Dr Patel any further discussion Miss Kylie you're up yay or nay okay I she says and everybody else I thank you that passes unanimously six to nothing thank you thank you very much and welcome to PD 8.1 is a public hearing and approval of resolution number 14- 2025 entitled sufficiency of instructional materials for 2024 2025 I believe I'm going to let you introduce it Miss Peterson and then I'll open the public hearing okay thank you Madame President each year we bring forward as a public hearing a resolution for sufficiency of instructional materials for the school

084year instructional materials include standards aligned textbook for our four courses of mathematics English Science History social science as well as World languages and health it also includes teacher developed materials such as units of study aligned to standards and open educational resources we ensure each student has access both at school and home as needed to support their learning and this is an action item thank you Miss Peterson at this time I'm going to open the public hearing 7:30 clerk kuet are there any public comments there are none thank you very much at this time I'm going to close the public hearing 7:30 and we're back are there questions or comments from the board no see none is there a motion motion to approve thank you Miss kued is there a second second thank you Dr sespa

085any further discussion on this one all right Miss Kylie your vote please thank you everyone else who wants to vote I I all right that sounds unanimous six to nothing thank you thank you Miss Peterson 8.2 is approval of the 2023 2024 Arts and Music in schools annual report Miss Peterson thank you Madame President um on November 8th 2022 California voters approved proposition 28 the Arts and Music in schools funding guarantee and accountability act proposition 28 provides an ongoing funding allocation each year which must must be expended at the end of 3 years the expenditure report will occur as the funds for each year are expended so this um report is just an annual report it should be noted that the state did not provide a template or a reporting uh but rather reporting requirements

086so what you see in this report refers only to the 2324 funds in their first year of allocation and how those funds were utilized according to the state requirements that we report on so are we anticipating something very Sacramento is that's long and arduous and you can't read anyway I'm sure that is forthcoming fantastic we'll wait for that for next year's allocation fantastic are there questions comments just me okay is there a motion motion by Miss platy I'll second a second by miss kuet any other comments Miss Kylie your vote thank you and everyone else I that looks like six nothing again we are blazing through this team 12.1 is board member reports Miss Kylie what you got for us as we all know the school year started about three weeks ago and I had

087the incredible experience of a great first day of my senior year at Del Norte High School my friends around the district that I talked to all had a similar experience a moment that felt surreal nerve-wracking and exciting and we are all in a moment of transition here I think away from the last remnants of covid and quarantine and moving on to what feels like real life walking onto campus was a mixture of anticipation and Nostalgia and like so many seniors across the district I finally felt the weight of the Year settling in settling in that this was the time for college applications rekindling friendships and growing for the last time as a kid I know across the district College apps have really started to set in and my school's counseling team as I know many

088other High School's counseling teams have been working hard to ensure that every kid has equal opportunity to apply for college this year speaking with my friends it seems that everyone is also in a state of excitement over the football games that are starting up again I watched our first home football game even though it was a loss cheering alongside the rest of my student body but even happier when we bounce back with military night the next Friday as I know many schools around the district are doing with military night across high schools I know games are coming back with Seas of Blues Reds and blacks and greens and I'm embracing this moment of transition a time to reflect How Far We've really come and across the district students are diving back into organizations that spark

089their passions whether it be speech and debate Deca math club science olympiads at my own School I've seen firsthand students enthusiastically rejoin activities preparing for Club rush and our schools and these extracurriculars are places where students grow find their voices and develop skills that will carry them Beyond High School on my own campus I've reaffirmed my commitment to ensuring that all students have access to resources that they need through various tutoring organizations and at dorte we've introduced an additional day dedicated to academic support and as the president of my own club we've expanded peer tutoring for English and Humanities we also have started to produce one act plays in um coordination with the pow PAC Theater and we're looking to build up that relationship for perhaps other high schools in the district Beyond Del Norte

090I've had the opportunity to connect with ASB leaders from Powe to Westview to other schools and even middle schools through these conversations I've been able to gauge how students feel about important issues including the cell phone ban and possibility of inner District events in the coming year like science fairs and other collaborative opportunities the passion and ideas I've heard and problems that students addressed that I hadn't thought about are eye openening and I'm excited about the potential to bring these initiatives to life in the coming year as the year progresses I look forward to continuing these efforts to listen collaborate and advocate for students across the district love your optimism that's wonderful um good evening everyone we made it through the Heatwave um even we struggled at home and I want to personally extend deep

091appreciation to students families and staff for your patience and understanding as we dealt with HVAC issues at several School sites as we've shared um many times before we have serious infrastructure Improvement needs and look forward to honest conversation ations around possible solutions in the future for today's report rather than talking about schoolside events I want to take some time to share out some gratitude for getting our school year off to a fairly strong start despite several unexpected circumstances as I said before we've had facilities related issues open positions that we've not yet filled and some significant changes due to Bud budget shifts and we've also kicked off our new ebike safety program so thank you staff for making sure that we're trying to address all of these challenges as we continually deliver a worldclass education

092what I see at our school sites the eyes of our students across the district is a system that believes in them that strives to support them and that also works towards continual Improvement and I sincerely appreciate the students family and staff that continue to provide uh feedback to staff and even to me personally as our eyes and ears so we can address the challenges when they arise because we're not in all spaces all the time and we need that um information so that we can address those problems and with that I wish everyone a good evening and that concludes my report good evening I hope and everyone has had a great back to school start my back to the board work has been very busy and budget a budget heavy one besides attending our budget

093advisory committee this week as you saw by tonight's agenda we had quite a bit of financial information both in con sun and in the materials presented this evening and I was doubling back to reviewing last month's information as well as I was away on bement leave pouring through July August and September's purchase order expenditures and new contracts line by line often asking countless questions from our interm superintendent and Business Service reports for clarification or verification and once in a while even a very slim chance of Correction before the vote comes here to the Das the reason those I those don't get asked here from me anyways if you're wondering is look I look through them at as a career Financial lens and I tend to ask a lot of questions I attended the community advisory

094committee for special needs this week for the first business meeting of the year on Tuesday which was held hybrid I was so emotionally charged and motivated when hearing their passion in detailed goals and already mapped out plans of advocacy for the this large sector of families and students in our district if you want more details about this group if you're looking for support for yourself on how to Advocate best for your child or children or you want to attend attend or volunteer to be a part of this group please reach out to pdac gmail.com for more information one last important note before I hand this over to miss C veret September is suicide prevention month please talk to your children no matter what their age third fourth and fifth graders as heart make heartbreaking as

095it sounds is becoming the new new start Threat Level point if they have a phone put 988 into their phones as a contact and explain to them this is a number that they can call 24 hours a day 7 days a week if they need to talk to someone and they don't feel like that someone is you as hard as that may seem for a parent check on your quiet kids check on your happy and outgoing kids check on your a students check on your students that struggle check on their friends your neighbors kids your relatives kids this is one of those times where it takes even more than your normal village and as we teach our kids at school if you you see something say something even if you aren't sure it's better to

096be safe than sorry thank you and that ends my report thank you all I'm glad school is off to a a decent start as as Dr Patel said um first off I'd like to just say again to congratulations to our classified employees our teachers of the year and our volunteers of the year and I look forward to uh seeing them on the fire truck at the pawe day's parade I hope we'll see a bunch of you else out there because that's a nice little tradition that we have in our town um second um kind of an overwhelming thing I think for all of us as a superintendent search um and we've been spending a lot of time on that and um I want to really say thank you to um everyone who completed the survey

097and gave us your input and we definitely saw some very significant commonalities and what we're looking for in the next person which is which is wonderful um to count go on the ebike safety um I'm so happy to see the partnership with the PO sheriff and the SD police um I drive by Twin Peaks frequently when the kids are coming out and it's frightening um and I would like to get ahead of this and hopefully we can avoid um true disaster um which would be heartbreaking um and then finally um I'm excited that the budget committee has started um to start it off with um Mr Kevin Gordon and and Mike Simonson is is phenomenal um I hope people come to the other events because they're very educational give people a good insight into um

098not only our local budget but what we see from the state and federal so on that I end my board report good evening and happy September hard to believe that we're already into the fourth week of school I hope everyone is finding their rhythms and settling back into new routines I'd like to take a moment just to officially welcome Mr Magnus and the das look forward to working with you in your your time here this month I spent um significant amount of time working with some members of the from our transportation department H listening to to their thoughts their concerns uh suggestions that they had that can make their Department better our transportation department is a vital piece of of our district and I know that we can um there's some amazing amazing big-hearted people

099over there that make sure our kids get from point A to point B it is a very complicated um display of how the all happens um I wish I could be on a fly in the wall to see that scheduling and what it looks like um and I just want to thank everybody that is that dedicates themselves to making sure our kids get safely from point A to point B and I know we definitely can do do better there um I hope everybody had an opportunity to attend their respective back to school nights I was in attendance at paway high in Twin Peaks the welcome back is always fun and entertaining and it's just as much a social event for the parents as it is for the kids um hopefully we all learn a little

100bit from attending our our kids classrooms and the space that they spend a significant part of of their day and I have to say that I think the most interesting class that I attended was work experience while the class only meets one day a week the students are required to be at work or in an internship the other four days uh the content for that class is super important students are learning about everything from child labor laws harassment in the workplace filing taxes to name a few it is a great opportunity for our students to have to learn about the working environment while not only working but getting a high school credit congratulations again to our 2024 classified employees of the Year teachers of the year and Volunteers Of The Year we're so appreciative of

101all the work that you put into this District as Miss kuet mentioned the uh 59th annual pway day's parade is this Saturday the parade kicks off at 9: it is a great Community event schools from all over the district participate with bands and floats I look forward to seeing if Midland truly Rises to the top like the young lady said this evening to see if they are get an award I will see them um every Youth Organization from scouts to to karate are showing their moves and marching along I hope the painted goats make an appearance again it is a fun event for the whole family so find a spot along the Route if you're looking for a good good fun Community event to attend this weekend tomorrow I am looking forward to attending the

102USA science and engineering festival with many of our students at the convention center there will be stem workshops Robotics and a host of speakers on a variety of topics it is sure to be an educationally engaging experi experience for everyone I look forward to sharing out on that next month I will also be attending our District's first Middle School cross country meet tomorrow hosted by Oak Valley so good luck to all of our Middle School cross country Runners and then I will head over to pawe high and work in the concession stands at the football game I highly recommend working in a concession stand at a high school football game if you have never done it before it is the best best place to see everyone everybody wants food and they're always in a great

103mood like Miss like Miss plotsky mentioned it is National Suicide Prevention month while our district has a lot of great resources in place to help those with struggling mental health it will continue to be a work in progress if you know anyone going through a tough time please reach out to them have a great rest of your month and with that I conclude my report so now that we've had some time to settle in I can always count on Dr sesman to tell us exactly how long it's been I can't wait to start visiting schools again um it is truly the best part of this job it's also the best way to feel the successes and the needs at our school sites boots on the ground there's no substitute but because I haven't started those

104visits yet I've spent a lot of time assessing data asking questions learning about how some of our District programs are going so I just want to spend this bit of time talking about one of those our access diploma program and our team of inclusion specialists in particular at the high school level who work on facilitating the success of our students with the most significant support needs who are working toward their High School diplomas um PA unified remains on the Leading Edge as an early adopter of this new pathway the state keeps making changes even as we think we've got it so that's always fun um but the job of making grade level content accessible for our students with disabilities has not been easy work we're Paving the way literally with every new unit of study

105in every core academic class at every High School grade level and if that sounds like a lot it really with a capital r a l l y is um leading much of that work is a fabulous team of inclusion Specialists Tippy Robert berts at RB High Michelle Crawford at Mount Carmel Lauren Felker at delte Priscilla Alvarado at Powe High Megan Brady at Westview and Barb Budan who is literally just everywhere um without their work we wouldn't be anywhere near as far along as we are now ensuring that our students who previously would have earned a certificate of completion After High School they can now work instead toward a diploma um many of our teachers our Ed Specialists instructional AIDS are also working very very hard to make this program success they're the all day everyday

106implementers of the accessible curriculum and it is not smooth sailing yet to say the least there are some detractors there's some there are some we'll call them opportunities but um some are still trying to grasp their part um but as I said it's early and we will get there um we will have an inclusive School Community where our adults all have high expectations for every single student where our content and our accessibility experts are working together helping all students succeed with that grade level content where all students can learn and socialize with their peers and graduate with a diploma we're going to get there I love this work it's worth it thank you to everyone working on it and before I close and I don't do it often enough I want to thank our at

107least the not newbies up here um cabinet level of leadership sitting here um Mr misel Miss Peter pet Mr Jimenez Miss peek at the end I'm not skipping Miss Wendy but uh um you have really all stepped over uh stepped up over the last several months um to fill gaps that really needed plugging um I know that was a lot and I'm grateful to all of you for that work and I know the work doesn't stop and wait no matter how much we need a short pause to um regroup um so thank you all so much especially um today to miss peek our chief Communications officer for a little bit longer as she embarks on a new adventure um I think I already said this once but as you're leaving we've got some big heels

108to fill um we'll miss your work so much but we'll miss you even more thanks yes the reference to heels I was going to close with my shout out to Christine but you know what I'm going to just piggyback right there since uh you set me up so well so I'm looking at that wall and then there were three superintendent's cabinet it's uh it's an incredible moment for our organization and to Shelly and James I I and to Christine I thank you for hanging in there and as you shared Michelle like everyone's picking up doing more the expectations don't go down when there are fewer people they they remain the same as as high as ever um and our interest in delivering great service um it it continues and and we don't do our work

109without the people in our audience without the people in this building that you don't see without the people at our school sites without the people at Twin Peak Center like it's team posd is for real we have great people and that sets us up I think in moments like this which are unfortunate right unplanned um un unwanted uh but but it sets us up to to get through them um and in the reset uh to be as good or better than ever so full of Hope full of optimism full of that belief that our better days our best days are forward Christine I got a phone call from a university president you know this this this individual over at a neighboring college and uh the the administrative assistant said hey um can you take this

110call from our president she she's got a reference check for for Christine peek and I said sure when would you be available I said well let me look at my calendar June 30th 2028 sounds good true story she was like quiet what did you say 2028 let me look maybe 2026 I you're really pushing me now so then you know we kind of worked our way to an agreement that I would take the call and um anyway it was a painful call but um I'm so excited for you and grateful so EXC excited for the next opportunity and for an opportunity to grow again for you uh and sad for us um whether it was a a worldwide pandemic um organizational leadership transitions there have been a couple for you um something simple like headlice

111something really challenging and un unprecedented like tsunami warning you know like it doesn't really matter what the world throws at us with you uh um at the helm we have always been in good hands we've always had the right word in the right moment and it's timely um you have been a great partner to our principles you have been oh my gosh a lifesaver to us in so many moments when we were vulnerable in so many moments when our brand uh was was suspect right like you you've had that perfect message um your relationships with people in the media um I there are so many stories told and Untold that you have influenced so thank you I I mean that so I we need to give her a round of applause cuz you've been a

112great teammate thank you all right and Mr Magnuson I'm just going to say again looking at that wall welcome thank you so glad to have you here it is a it is a pleasure to be here and I want to thank uh the cabinet members certainly the board you superintendent those that uh have made this uh today and when I visited the district a couple of weeks ago just a very very pleasant experience and I look forward to working with you all as well as the community and sites we're in good hands with this uh gentleman he has a wealth of experience so um appreciate that um you guys a couple of you had mentioned this is suicide awareness month I just I'd be remiss if I didn't say it's also uh National attendance uh

113awareness month and and I link the two because there is a link people who are isolated aren't aren't as healthy people who are connected and connecting are safer uh when you're deeply in Connect when you're deeply involved and connected within Community there are more eyes more handson right right more checkpoints so um it's not just Revenue it it really is so much more than that there are academic benefits uh but there are also relational benefits and so for all of our kids and to our parents who get them to school every day thank you thank you for that okay we're going to get out of here before 8 o'cl look at that oh my God I wasn't ready I that was just so fast okay item 14 the next regularly scheduled board meeting will be

114Thursday October 10th 6: PM right here it is 7:56 and we are adjourned [Applause]