001Okay, I'm going to call the public session to order, or the meeting to order. We have a quorum, there are four of us here, and more coming. Uh this meeting is being webcast live and recorded. The recording or webcast may capture images and sounds of those attending the meeting. Uh closed session agenda items are as follows. Recommended exp- expulsion, recommended suspended expulsion, public employee assignment reassignment appointment, public employee discipline dismissal release complaints, conference with labor negotiator, conference with legal counsel existing litigation, conference with real property negotiators, anticipated litigation there's one case, one matter involves facts and circumstances that might result in litigation against the district, but which facts and circumstances are not yet known to the to the potential plaintiff or plaintiffs, and then public employee evaluation for the superintendent. Let's see. We anticipate Okay.
002Uh public comment on any closed session item will be heard at this time pursuant to board policy. The board may limit individual comments to no more than 3 minutes, and individual topic to 20 minutes. It's recommended you begin your comments by stating your name. Is there any public comment? Besides Mrs. Naylor. No. Okay, so we're going to we will adjourn to closed session. We anticipate closed session will take approximately 1 hour. However, if additional time is required, the regular session may be called to order after 5:30. The board will now adjourn to closed session. So, we will now convene regular session. I apologize for our tardiness here. We had a little bit of stuff to talk through, and it went a a little bit long this evening. Uh I'll now introduce the interpreter. Alondra Moran
003will serve as the Spanish interpreter for this meeting. Meeting attendees who would like to listen to the Spanish interpretation of the proceedings, please pick up headphones from the table located in the back of this room. The announcement will now be shared in Spanish. Alondra Moran servirá como intérprete al español para esta reunión. Invitamos a los asistentes de la reunión que deseen escuchar la interpretación al >> Thank you. This meeting is being webcast live and recorded. The recording of webcast may capture images and sounds of those attending the meeting. Members of the public who would like to provide public comment on items listed on tonight's agenda, we recommend you fill out a public comment form, the green form, located on the table at the northeast entrance to the room. Please hand the completed form to executive
004assistant Alicia Weatherford before the item comes up on the agenda. She's back there with her hand raised. Uh we recommend you complete a separate form for each agenda item on which you would like to comment. Members of the public providing public comment, we will ask when the time comes for you please to use the microphone on the stand located in the front of the room. Next, I will invite board member Randy Vegas to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. Salute 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 liberty and justice for all. And now I have the pleasure of reporting action taken in closed session. So, in closed session on a motion
005by board member Gamoyan and a second by board member Belt, the board agreed unanimously by vote 7-0 to appoint Katrin Naylor to the position of principal of Charter Home School Academy. SO, KATRIN NAYLOR HAS SERVED AS AN assistant principal for the last 5 years supporting both Pinkham Elementary and La Jolla Middle School. Prior to joining VUSD, Ms. Nayland worked at Wonderful College Prep Academy where she served for 2 years as an assistant principal and for 3 years as an agriculture career prep coordinator and counselor. At the start of her career, Ms. Nayland uh spent 8 years as an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor working with students at Corcoran High School, Lemoore High School, Brush High School in Colorado, and Durango High School in Colorado. Ms. Nayland earned a bachelor's degree uh a bachelor's of science
006in agriculture education and animal science from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, and a master's degree in educational leadership and administration from California State University, Fresno. Ms. Nayland holds a single subject teaching credential in agriculture and an administrative services credential. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, congratulations to Mrs. NAYLAND. OKAY. ALSO IN CLOSED SESSION ON A motion by board member Otto and seconded by board member Naylor, the board agreed unanimously to appoint Martha Diaz to the position of interim principal of Visalia Technical Early College HIGH SCHOOL. MARTHA DIAZ CURRENTLY SERVES AS THE ASSISTANT principal of VTEC High School where she has served for the last 6 years. Ms. Diaz has worked with VUSD for a total of 11 years serving as an assistant principal at VTEC High School, Golden West High School, and Highland Elementary.
007In addition, she served as the summer school principal at Riverway Elementary for 2 years. Prior to joining Visalia Unified, Ms. Diaz spent 9 years teaching mathematics at Manteca Unified School District. Ms. Diaz earned a bachelor of arts in Spanish from the University of California, Davis, and a master's degree in teaching from National University. Ms. Diaz holds a single subject teaching credential in math and an administrative services credential. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, congratulations to Ms. DIAZ. OKAY, AND ON TO REVISIONS TO the enclosure. There are revised item enclosures 4.2, 6.1, 6.2, 8.13, 8.15, 8.16, and 13.1. Do I have a motion to adopt the board meeting agenda? So moved. Okay, moved by Ms. Moved by Ms. Naylor, seconded by I'm sorry. Okay, seconded by Mr. DeYoung. Call for the vote. Motion carries. Um
008student board member voting yes, seven yes, zero no. Great. And that takes us now to tonight's student performance, Ridgeview Middle School Choir. And to present them, executive director of student services, Natalie Carson. Thank you. Good good evening. We are very excited to welcome the Ridgeview Middle School Concert Choir. The Concert Choir is under the direction of Kimberly Corio and accompanied by Laura Wynn. They are performing American folk song named 900 miles telling of a story of longing for home. Board members, we invite you to please leave your seat seats and step off to the side in the front to get a better view. Welcome Ridgeview Concert Choir. >> I AM WALKING ON THIS TRACK. I'VE GOT TEARS IN my eyes. And if that train runs me right, I'll be home Saturday night cuz I'm 900
009miles from my home. And I hate to hear that whistle blow cuz I'm so far. But that long, long train is whistling down. miles and miles and miles and miles from home. Miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles Well, this train runs by my door cuz I know that train is long. You can hear her whistle blow a million miles. And if that train runs me right, I'll be home Saturday night cuz I'm 900 miles from my home. >> Thank you so much Ridgeway choir choir concert choir. Please give them another round of applause. If you were just here to hear the Ridgeview kids sing and you'd like to leave, that would be perfectly good. Not to force you out. But go be with your kids. Okay,
010we'll step forward into 4.1. Public recognition. This is Yeah. Visual and Performing Arts, VAPA students, and winter athletics. Yes. Good evening President Odo. >> Yep. Board, Superintendent Schram, it's It's always nice this time of year as we have a lot of opportunities to celebrate some amazing things that are going on in our district and that's why this room is so full tonight. So, it's exciting and thank you for family for being here to support your students. At this time, I'm going to hand it over to Mr. John Perez who oversees is our director of athletics and also tonight will be representing our visual and performing arts programs highlighting the programs they have. John Perez. Good evening Board President Odo, Superintendent Schram, and members of our community. Tonight, I have the privilege of introducing Visalia Unified's
011outstanding winter sports teams and individual student athletes. Before I begin, I want to take a moment to extend my appreciation to all those who have supported our student athletes throughout their journey from the early mornings to the late nights, the countless drives to practices and games, and the hours spent cheering from the sidelines. Your dedication has not gone unnoticed. Additionally, many of our student athletes participate in multiple sports throughout the school year and some may be at practices and competitions tonight and are unable to attend. Tonight, we have ISO Unified state qualifying wrestlers. First, from Golden West High School, Isaiah Colon. He captured the East Yosemite Championship. He went on to win the CIF Division III Championship, placed fourth at Masters, and he earned a berth in the CIF State Championships. And his coach is
012COACH GONZO MESA. FROM EL DIAMANTE, CHRISTOPHER CREASON. He was a CIF Central Section Division II champion, CIF Masters champion. He He has competed to state for the second year in a row and he was seeded number one in the state of California. He finished his career with 100 wins and 100 pins. From El Diamante, Aiden Ortega. AIDEN COMPETED AT THE STATE TOURNAMENT. He was the CIF Central Section Division II champion, first at divisionals, and placed 10th at the Masters. His coaches are Chris Creason and Gage Benevidas and athletic director Kimberly Watamura. And from Redwood High School, Enrique Segura placed fourth in the D1 division tournament. He was a state qualifier. John Benitez, fourth in the Division I divisional tournament, state qualifier. Mason Vasquez, eighth at the D1 divisional tournament, state qualifier. And Osiel Perez, eighth
013at the D1 divisional tournament and a state qualifier coached BY DAVE WATTS. AND FINALLY FROM REDWOOD HIGH SCHOOL, Emily Carvalho. First in the D1 Divisional Tournament. She was the Central Section champion and she finished state at the CIF state tournament coached by Anthony Harrison. Again, a round of applause for our state qualifying wrestlers. Fit them in there? Thank you. Around the piano. Next from Redwood High School, the girls BASKETBALL TEAM. YEAH. THE RANGERS ENTERED THE DIVISION 1 CIF Central Section playoffs seated number nine and they defeated number eight Righetti to earn a right to advance to the regional state championships. The Rangers traveled to Granada Hills Charter, came up short, but they finished the season with over 20 wins. Team members tonight here are Ariah Plaza, Carly Calderone, Alyssa Diaz, Janice Gonzales, Savannah Leroux, Veronica
014Flores, Ariel Madden, Jordan Powell, Laney Rowe, Eris Madden, team manager, coach Gary Hilton. Again, round of applause for the girls Redwood BASKETBALL TEAM. SO, MY POST PLAYER IS IN THE BACK. AGAIN, thank you. Next from El Diamante competition cheer. It's great to be able to see all these championship hats, too. Continued a great run the last few years, the Miners finished the season as a CIF Central Section Division 3 champions. Team members here tonight, Kira Geary, Sierra Ion, Malia Carlton, Fernanda Chavez, Kaylee Garcia, Casey Geary, Lily Gonzalez, Amaya Herrera, Jayden Mayo, Adrian Rodriguez, Laley Sanchez, Aubreyana Severns, and Airy Shaw with coaches Taylor Ashby and Candace Benevides. Again, a round of applause for the competition cheerleaders from El Diamante. Thank you. Again, El Diamante has some more championship hats. Next from El Diamante, THE GIRLS
015SOCCER TEAM. THE MINERS EARNED THE CIF CENTRAL Section Division 2 championships and competed in the round one of the state regional playoffs. The section championship and the state playoffs are first in school history. The team finished the season with an 18 and one, sorry, 18 and eight and one record and finished second in the EYL. Team members here tonight, Jasmine Rio, Isabella Avalos, Brooklyn Bowden, Kaimeli Bowden, Sophia Benevento, Danielle Benitez, Poppy Chaney, Zoe Chaney, Anaya Clark, Rachel Crawford, Aubrey Del Rio, Mayli Diaz, Emma Guerrero, Haley Hammon, Marissa Lopez, Lila Martinez, Valerie Reyes Vasquez, Melissa Reese, Lillian Sari, Evelyn Santos, Reagan Sistini, coaches Spencer Vandergriff, Alex Del Rio, and athletic director Kimberly Watamura. Again, a round of applause for girls soccer. THANK YOU. AGAIN, A LOT OF STUDENT ATHLETES, but it's a great problem for Vice
016saying to fight. Next from Golden West, the girls wrestling team. A year after finishing as a CIF Central Section Division 1 champions, the Trailblazers finished off this season as the Division 1 Section dual champions. The Trailblazers are proving to be one of the top teams in the section. Team members here tonight, Jasmine Co Passes Passes, Sofia Camacho, Kaylee Fernandez, she was the individual champ and a state qualifier, Carly Williams, Erin Sepsey, Natalie Gonzalez, Serenity Bame Novella, Gabriella Miller, Rebecca Miller, who is a state wrestling qualifier, Alexa Torres, she was the individual Division 1 champion and state qualifier, Lorena Gonzalez, Justine Perez, a state qualifier, Lilly Plummer, Micaela Castianos, state qualifier, Gia Monay Ramos, Merely Hernandez, and coaches Jessie Perez, Robbie Sanchez, and Andrew Sanchez. Again, round of applause for the Golden West girls wrestlers. Look
017at those beautiful shirts they're wearing. >> We were supposed to practice ahead of time. Sorry. Thank you. Indeed, it was a great season for Golden West wrestling, the Golden West boys wrestling team. A year after finishing the season as a CIF Central Section Division 4 champions, the Trailblazers were the Division 4 dual champions, finishing off another terrific season. Team members here tonight, Jason Gutierrez, Theodore Sierra, Walter Chavez Sarabia, and head coaches Angel Ole coaches Eric Ole. Again, the Golden West boys wrestling team. Congratulations to all the athletes tonight. Parents and athletes, you are more than welcome to stay for the remainder of the board meeting. However, if you'd like to take this time to go and celebrate your athlete, I encourage you to do so now. Again, thank you very much. I would like to
018now introduce the director of visual and performing arts, Alan McFarlane. >> All right. Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. My name is Alan McFarland and I'm here today to honor both individual achievements and ensemble recognition for visual performing arts in the spring semester of 2026. I want to start with those students that made the All State California All State Honor Choir. Students, come on up. So, with us today we just see three. But actually and we'll just stand awkwardly in the middle there. Enjoy your crowd. So, while we have three students here, actually eight Vacaville Unified students auditioned and actually made it to California All State Honor Choir that took place in January of this year in Sacramento. They spent three busy days rehearsing all day long, finishing the weekend with an amazing, wonderful performance. So,
019students, congratulations on that recognition and congratulations. We're so glad you're here and we'll pose for A PICTURE, OKAY? SO, WHILE THEY'RE TAKING THEIR PICTURE HERE FROM DOVER INTERMEDIATE, we have Ava Grimm. Ridgeview Middle School, Isabella Wallace Isabella Wallace. And here today from Redwood, Abigail Ray. Copy that. Thank you. All right, students. Thank you. Very nice. All right. Next, I want to bring up those students that made the California All State Honor Band and Honor Orchestra. Band and Orchestra, come on up. ALL RIGHT. SO, JUST LIKE THE CHOIR STUDENTS, these students had to submit auditions and then even go once they were selected go to Sacramento at the All State Music Conference in January and do another round of auditions. Um and then they they made We had two people that made the high school honor
020orchestra and two people that made the uh high school honor band. So, today with us we have for band, we have Matthew Garcia and William Schaefer, and for orchestra, Zachary Timoca. Congratulations. Hey. Thank you. All right, students. Thank you. That is not easy to do at Sacramento. People are coming from the airport from all over the state, hundreds of kids, and it's the best of the best, and it's amazing to see four in band and orchestra and another eight in choir. Those Those guys are are pretty great. Next, let's move on to ensemble recognition. Uh four groups. So, our first one we want to bring up is the Redwood High School Chamber Singers. Come on down. Joined by their teacher, Mr. Curiel, of course. Now, that is not the entire chamber orchestra, just a select
021group of some leaders here. Joining us today, what did I say? Chamber Oh my gosh. Chamber Singers choir, right? Today joining us, we have Jayce Darnell, Abigail Ray, Emerson Minick, and Carson Zachary, and Mr. Curiel. So, uh of course, under the direction of Mr. Curiel, the accompanist, Hannah Board, uh the Chamber Singers were chosen to be a a uh showcase group at that Allstate Convention. Just a handful of select groups got to perform, and it was an amazing concert in a packed uh church downtown Sacramento, standing room only. The audience was in tears. Uh the audience was loving it. And so, to be selected, first of all, a huge uh huge honor and really does set this group uh among one of the the the premier programs in the state. So, congratulations, Gregory. All right.
022Okay, good to Thank you, Gregory. I want to bring up two uh select group of leaders representing two chamber orchestras or advanced orchestras here. I want to bring up students representing the Redwood Chamber Orchestra and the Golden West Advanced Orchestra. Students, come on up. So, representing Redwood, we have Juliana, Zachary, Stephanie, Sophia, uh and then representing Golden West, we'll have Gian, Marissa, Mateo, Gilani, and Matthew. So, these two orchestras are traveling down just at at the end of next week to Riverside, California, to perform in the California Music Educators Association All-State Orchestra Festival. So, this is a select invitational, if you will. Uh they had to first to even qualify to apply, they had to earn a unanimous superior ratings at regional festivals. And then after that, they still had to turn in a a
023uh extensive application process in court uh including recordings and all of that. So, we're really proud of you guys. Golden West is under the direction of Joseph Sosa and Gregory Smith. Redwood is under the direction of Rodney Yocota, Elijah Avila. Congratulations on being, first of all, selected and then great luck, safe travels as you go next week down to Riverside. >> It's sure. Oh, no. We're good. You're good. No. No. Redwood Chamber Orchestra, Golden West Advanced Orchestra. Congratulations. All right. Our final ensemble to recognize today is the Redwood Wind Ensemble. Redwood Wind Ensemble is under the direction of Mr. Jordan Ray, and we brought a select group of leaders here to represent them. We have Scarlet Boyle, Matthew Tapete, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Angel Espinosa, McKinley Koford, and Abigail Reyes. So, a round of applause for the
024students and teacher here. And now, let me tell you why. Later this month, and I think just about 2 weeks, the Redwood High School Wind Ensemble will be traveling traveling to New York City to perform in Carnegie Hall. The Redwood Wind Ensemble was selected to perform in the 2026 National Honor Band after completing a rigorous application program process that included live video recordings. And not only were they just selected to perform in the festival, they were actually assigned the the top rating in the Symphonic division. It's the highest performing ensemble division in the in the entire festival. So, students, what a first of all, what an accomplishment to even be mentioned in applying to those things, to then be selected. They're they're going to get the chance to work with a world-renowned composer and conductor,
025college professor Mr. Frank De Kelly. So, it's going to be a fun trip, but of course lots of learning and lots of work. Congratulations, safe travels, Redwood Wind Ensemble. Congratulations, Redwood. That concludes the visual and performing arts section of the agenda. Families, if you were here just for them, go out and enjoy the night with them. Thank you. May This is a great chance to exit. Okay, so now we move on to uh recognition of 2026 VUSD Employees of the Year presented by Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Development, Ben Dillon. Thank you. Good evening, Board President Otto, members of the board, Superintendent Schram. Uh I am very pleased to come after that amazing group of students and also share with you about an amazing group of adults who work in our system. And so, tonight
026we will be recognizing each of the employees of the year by the different classifications that we include this. Keep in mind, these employees have been recommended by their colleagues, which is really a special thing. People who work alongside these folks each and every day acknowledge the expertise, the experience, the compassion, the care, the diligence that they bring forward to work in service of our students each and every day. And so, to begin with, we will go ahead and move on to the first of these awards. And so, just a little bit of process, I will announce each employee who's receiving award tonight, provide an opportunity for Superintendent to present you with the award. I think there's a couple folks who should that they want to just maybe make a brief statement to the board and
027to the audience. When we're done with everyone, I will have all of the employees come up and we'll take a picture with the board at that time before we take a a brief recess. So, the first of our employees tonight is our school employee of the year. And I am pleased to present to you Armando Vargas, site custodian at CANYA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO Canya staff for all the support. Thank you. ALL RIGHT. MOVING ON TO OUR elementary school teacher of the year. Please to share with you our elementary school teacher of the year is Susie Sanchez, elementary school teacher at Mineral King ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. MY GOSH. UM, GOOD EVENING. UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this recognition. I'm truly honored. Um, teaching has my whole heart. Every day is
028different, sometimes challenging, but always worth it because of our students. Uh, they're what make They're are what makes this job so special. Um, I also want to thank my co-workers. I'm lucky to be a part of a team that supports each other, shares ideas, and fully cares truly cares about kids. Um, this feels like a reflection of all of us. And to my family and loved ones, thank you for your constant support. Thank you. Congratulations. Next, our middle school teacher of the year, and our middle school teacher of the year is Amy Aubrey, math teacher at La JOYA MIDDLE SCHOOL. HI, WELCOME. ALL RIGHT, HELLO. UM, I just wanted to say thank you for this opportunity, um, to receive such a, um, such an honor, um, to get to receive this. So, um, thank you
029very much for that. I appreciate it. OUR NEXT EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR IS OUR HIGH SCHOOL teacher of the year. And our high school teacher of the year is Stacy Gonzales, avid and gateways teacher Redwood Element REDWOOD HIGH SCHOOL. UM, THANK YOU, EVERYONE. THIS IS A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT. UM, I just wanted to thank my family. Um, you guys have been my rock and my sisters have been a wonderful role model for me. Um, it has been a blessing to work at Redwood and to work with such amazing staff. You guys uh fuel me and lift me up and I am so thankful for the staff and the admin that are just my biggest cheerleaders. So, it is just a privilege to work with children and it is my passion and um it is just
030such a blessing to have such full circle moment. So, I'm going to soak this one in. Thank you. And finally, I am pleased to announce our administrator of the year, Britney Guerrero, principal at WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. ALL RIGHT, YOU GUYS KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS. UM, GOOD EVENING. I'm truly honored and humbled to receive this recognition. To be named administrator of the year is incredibly meaningful. But I know this award is not just mine. It belongs to the people who walk alongside me every single day. To my family, thank you for being my foundation. When I first stepped into administration, it was a family decision. We made a commitment to always prior- prioritize what matters most. And your love and support have allowed me to lead with purpose. To my husband, thank you for
031always being there for me, my sounding board, whether you wanted to hear it or not, uh you got it. Um, to my parents, mother-in-law, sister, and brother-in-law, thank you for always showing up for us. And the kids, you made this job possible for us. To my staff, this honor reflects the work you do every single day. You are the heart of our school. Your dedication, collaboration, and belief in our students is what makes our campus so special. The culture we have built together, one rooted in relationships, high expectations, and support, is something I am incredibly proud of. You don't just educate students, we have changed lives. To our students, you are the reason we do this work. You inspire me daily with your strength, your growth, and your resilience. Watching you begin to believe in
032yourselves and your future is the greatest reward that I have witnessed. You are capable of achieving anything you set your minds to, and it is a privilege to be a part of your journey. This recognition represents a shared vision that all students deserve opportunity, support, and someone who believes in them. I will continue to lead with that purpose, advocate for every child, and work alongside incredible educators who make a difference every day. I am proud, I am grateful, and I'm honored to serve. Thank you. So at this time, I'd like to invite all of our employees of the year to come forward, um receive your uh plaque of recognition, and I'll invite our board members down to take a photograph together. Yeah. Good. Good. Okay. >> So, congratulations to all of the folks that have
033won awards here tonight. On behalf of the board, we're very grateful for what you bring to our schools and our kids. We will now take a brief uh recess to honor you folks. You guys can get together and talk a little bit and celebrate the moment. We will reconvene at 6:35. Okay, so we'll come back together and the meeting of the Visalia Unified Board of Education will now reconvene. 6.1, spotlight on good things happening in the district. Our presenter is Superintendent Kirk Shrum. Thank you, President Odo, board members, uh and community and guest. Uh great evening with uh appreciate our our student performance in addition to our student recognitions, uh which will obviously continue now, and our staff recognitions with our employees of the year. And so, also want to echo our congratulations uh to
034them as well. So, a lot happening as we move into spring and welcome back from spring break and get ready for CASP testing and all the other things, graduation events, promotions, all of those things are now just just a calendar turn away. And so, our know our our district team and others are working to get that ready. And so, we look forward to all those events that happen in the spring. As we have a spotlight on our sites, we start with Mountain View's family resource night. Mountain View Elementary hosted a successful family resource night last month bringing together nearly 100 students and families and 10 community organizations sharing valuable resources connecting with attendees. Families enjoyed a picnic and had the opportunity to build valuable connections with other families and school site staff. Last month our
035family and community resource center attendance team with the Tulare County Office of Education Ed Choices team hosted the Lucky to Learn Attendance Challenge for elementary schools. Conyer Elementary won with an outstanding 97% attendance rate leading strong participation across all VUSD schools. Students and staff celebrated this achievement last week with a Rosa Brothers ice cream treat provided by the county. Great work, Conyer Elementary. Also, several elementary elementary celebrated Say Something Week last month promoting safety, kindness, and strong connections on campus. From daily student-led announcements to themed dress-up and thank you notes, schools reinforced being an upstander and speaking up when necessary. Say Something Week is tied to our anonymous reporting system found on our website and utilized throughout the school year by students and community members to alert our schools and district of suspicious activity. Thank
036you to our schools who celebrated and to our community for saying something when they see something. Also, congratulating our two 2026 First California District Aerospace Valley Event Championship, Redwood High School Robotics earned first place at the 2026 First California Aerospace Valley Championship. It inspires students to pursue careers in science, technology, and engineering. This competition featured 30-plus teams tackling real-world engineering challenges in a fast-paced, high-tech environment. Redwood's robot team won first place for showcasing innovation, teamwork, and strategy. Congratulations to these students on this great accomplishment. And I think there might be a couple of members of the robotics team here tonight if they want to wave THEIR HAND. CONGRATULATIONS. I WAS NOT ON A ROBOTICS TEAM, SO I'm in that that's awesome. Spotlight on student success mock trial teams, again also here at Redwood High School,
037attended the mock trial state finals last month. Where senior Susanna Perez earned outstanding defense witness. Susanna was selected by legal professionals as the top witness portrayal among 34 teams statewide. This award recognizes her strong preparation, performance, and ability to handle cross-examination. The competition highlighted exceptional student talent talent, collaboration, and real-world legal skills. Congratulations to all of our mock trial teams for a great season, another great season this year. Congratulations. Also, we have several students who were recognized for the Tulare by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting for being for having their art featured in the Tulare County Farm Bureau Student Art Calendar. The calendar highlights student artwork celebrating local agriculture from across the country. In addition, we have Addison and Axel, three additional and three additional VUSD students were highlighted as featured artist, which
038you can see on the screen. We're proud that our students made the calendar every year goes to show we have incredible talent across our district. Continuing our spotlight on student success, a lot is happening in our career technical education. I'm sure many of you follow them on social media. They are always posting a lot of the great things that are happening for our students across our schools. Congratulations to our VUSD high school students who competed and placed at the 2026 Tulare Kings County Expo at College of the Sequoias. These students represented their schools, pathways, and futures at a high level showcasing real skills, professionalism, and creativity. Our First Responders Academy seniors took a big step forward with their future careers by participating in mock interviews with local safety industry partners. Students visited Quill Park at
039Shannon Ranch Ranch for a social and they spent the morning with residents in memory care and the afternoon connecting with those in assisted living sharing the joy and they did some plant science work with that. So, congratulations for those students and all of our career technical work that's happening across our district. Now, continuing we had several of our students as part of a memorandum of understanding with Sonoma State. 48, which is one of our new partners for automatic admission. 48 students and seniors had the opportunity to visit the university campus last week. Students toured dorms, spoke to student spoke to college students, and received conditional acceptance from the office of admissions. Through our university MOUs, we're showing students that higher education is within arms reach. Thank you to our board for making all these partnerships
040possible. Now, we have another group you might have mentioned. They're kind of hard to miss in our in our audience today. This is no stranger, our Odyssey of the Minds from Linwood Elementary. We have seven elementary Linwood fifth graders who took first place in problem five, division one at the Odyssey of the Minds state competition recently happened this March. They are the only Central Valley elementary team advancing to the world finals in Iowa. Odyssey of the Mind emphasizes creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork. Students created an original script, built costumes, sets from recycled materials. They excelled in spontaneous challenge requiring quick problem-solving skills. And so they're here tonight, so please stand up and let us RECOGNIZE YOU. SO I THINK YOU SEE EVIDENCE OF THE CREATIVITY. I'm sure I have a problem I could give you
041all to help me solve really quick, but but I'll I'll I'll trust that you can do that. But thank you for being here tonight and congratulations to our students, parents, and their and the and our sponsors on the staff as well. A lot of hours go into all of our clubs, all of our sports, VAPA, all those things. It takes parents and our staff especially to support our students to make these things happen, mock trial, and all of those events. So thank you very much and congratulations, and we wish you good luck to bring home maybe a championship, a world championship. Excellent. All right. Continuing on, spotlight on sports. Moving to sports, last month approximately 13 of our elementary school sites hosted parent PE day, giving families the opportunity to observe and participate in a
042PE class along students. I believe, if I'm not mistaken, this was piloted last year. This experience highlighted the structure, engagement, and intentionality of PE instruction, while also demonstrating the positive impact that physical activity has has on our students' overall ability to learn in the classroom. This event was well received and helped strengthen the connection between schools and families around student wellness and academic success. And our elementary PE team, if you've ever seen them out there operating, it is always engaging and active for our students. Congratulations, and I I those parents enjoyed getting a glimpse into the school day of what their students get to experience. Moving on to visual and performing arts, several performances are in full swing across VUSD, another great thing that happens in the spring. Last month, Ridgeview Elementary brought Beauty and
043the Beast to life, and Mount Whitney High School hosted its dance show at LJ Williams Theater. Hundreds of students participate in these productions each year, and there still opportunities to enjoy the season as we have Golden West with Legally Blonde coming up later this week and the weekend. So, congratulations to these students for showcasing their hard work and talent on the stage. Also want to spotlight one of our community partners, Kiwanis Club. We extend our sincere appreciation to the West Visalia Kiwanis Club for their refurbishment of school benches at Mount Whitney High School. You can see that several of us tested them out and they work really well. The Library Vortex Club played an important role in helping bring this project to life. This generous contribution will benefit students for years to come. Thank you
044to our Kiwanis and our district staff, school staff as well for organizing that. Speaking of our staff and our communications team, last month VUSD's communications team and media efforts were recognized at the state level by the California School Public Relations Association for excellence in strategic and creative storytelling. The team received several digital media awards including California Gold, the association's most coveted award. These honors reflect VUSD's continued focus on innovative communication leadership and showcasing district priorities. And also receiving a special recognition at this event was Felisa Hanna who received the Rising Star Award. So, congratulations to her and our communications team for all of the work they do to communicate with our community and as evidenced by that success. Moving on, elementary students from the American Indian program visited the Visalia Wood Creek Farms for a
045hands-on field trip experience. Students learned about farming, including how vegetables are grown and harvested, and interacted with farm animals. This visit also highlighted cultural traditions, helping them learn respect for indigenous practices and perspectives. I'm proud that we can offer these experiences for our students and know how important it is for their families. 38 students also traveled to the 19th annual access to higher education summit at the College of the Sequoias. Students explored pathways to our programs and connected with student support services and resources. Visalia had two winners in the essay competition and second place, Eva Reyes from El Diamante, and third place, Sierra Day from VTEC. Lilliana Chokin also received from VTEC won first place in the art competition. Congratulations to these students and our staff who made this possible. Also, another, I believe, our
046first uh ever family wellness conference was held this past weekend. This event focused on helping parents support their children through round tables, panel discussions, and hands-on activities. Topics included behavior and social skills, technology, online safety, mental health, and much more. All sessions were available in Spanish, and we had several community organizations also in attendance supporting this event. This event was open to the public, and over 100 individuals attended this successful event. So, I have no doubt that we will build uh and continue this event as we move into the future. Speaking of our student voice, we had our last student advisory this time uh last week at Golden West High School, where again students shared ideas, uh helped us focus on what our campaign would be for next year. They gave information on our CTE
047pathways and community partnerships. I'm very proud of these students. Over 150 of our students from elementary all the way through high school have done over the course of this year bringing innovative ideas and challenging our teams to think outside the box. We really appreciate their feedback as it helps shape the work that we do at the district level. And speaking of that, we have pretty cool announcement that we're making tonight and sharing for the first time. So, we've been thinking about our athletic program. It's been I'm not sure off off hand how many years since a new sport was added in Visalia, but 10? More than 10? Safely safely say more than 10. 15? Do I have 15? Not, but definitely more than 10. So, it's been a while since this has happened. And so,
048we had an opportunity to focus first on girls sports additions. And so, we did some student surveys working with our high schools around how can we create increase equity, inclusion, and engagement. And emerging really neck and neck were two sports, girls flag football and beach volleyball. And so, as we took that information, we looked at CIF, feasibility, all of those things. And so, what we're excited to announce tonight is this fall, girls flag football will be introduced at all four high schools giving more students opportunities to build teamwork and leadership skills. This program will follow CIF guidelines and more details, participation, all of that information will be shared soon. Now, also based on the student interest, the district is evaluating our facility capacity and identifying next steps toward the addition of girls beach volleyball for
049the 27 28 school year. So, very excited about these opportunities for our students and we'll continue to evaluate our sports, our VAPA, and other opportunities. As our board knows, within our strategic plan and One Visalia can connected, we've made the point of how do we make sure we have every student connected to a meaningful activity, whether that's sports, VAPA, a club, whatever that might be inside or outside of our school because we know that when students are connected, they do better, they have better attendance, they feel better about themselves. And so, this is another step to increase. And And as our board also knows, we're now measuring through our dashboard, we have an ability now to to measure for the first time how many of our students are actually engaged in an activity beyond their
050classroom instruction. And so, our counselors and others will be using that information to help connect with students who might not be connected. So, we're very excited about that work. Also, great work that's happening. And we've talked about our Paper Partners before. And several years ago, we started with on-demand tutoring. Now, what that was at the time was students could log on anytime during the day after school about 4th through 12th grade and get academic help with a virtual tutor. Now, not a not a person on the screen, but someone interacting. And they could share a problem, get input. Also, many of our teachers across the district, especially at a couple of our high schools, use essay review where students are able to upload an essay, they get feedback, and then the the teachers use that.
051Now, what we also know at the same time is that high-impact tutoring, and people have heard of that term, where students are really intensely working for a set amount of time. It's research-based. I think it's about 30 minutes three times a week if I have that right off the top of my head, shows academic growth. And so, working with Paper, they've expanded their programming now to high-impact tutoring where a student logs in is actually working with a real-life tutor who's there on the screen based on the skills that they need help on based on assessments that they're given. So, this is a little different than logging on and chatting with someone. This is a an adult working through problems with the kids on the screen. And so, at the same time, we've recognized we have
052an opportunity to how do we better utilize intersession? Um and after school. And so a couple things I want to point out and and I shared the information with the board earlier about winter intersession. So earlier this year we spotlighted our winter intersession from Mark Math 1 held at Mount Whitney High School. We started with a group of 13 students engaged in this high impact tutoring with one of our with a phenomenal uh high school math teacher guiding them as well. And as a result both between that targeted instruction and student commitment all 13 of those students passed Math 1 that first semester. So it puts them back on track through A-G. Now building on that success during spring break we expanded this model to Math 2. 12 students joined up participating recommended for passing
053their first they were in danger of not passing their course. This effort was intentionally focused on our sophomore class uh because they're as you know working within that three-year math progression. So according to our teacher the two intersessions and this is this is quote allowed students who have not experienced success in math a different personalized tutoring on targeted math concepts. Students interacted with tutors which had a strong influence on how they performed on assessments. And at present 25 this is where we piloted it Mount Whitney High School students if they continue this current semester on their trajectory will not need to attend summer school. And that's a huge win when you think about other opportunities for that students in the summer if they work whatever it might be or now they can maybe accelerate in
054the summer versus having to take uh you know a a catch-up class. Now at the same time we recognize that with extended learning opportunity we have a unique chance to capture academic skills after school. So once students are dismissed we already have great programs after school A-Levo sports arts all of those things but how do we build in some academic components to that? And so we piloted about uh with again the high-impact tutoring. You see an image there of the student interacting. There's There's an adult on the screen. In addition, so now we're implementing a pilot program across four elementary sites. We have 236 students in grades 3 through 6 who are participating in after-school high-impact tutoring. It's intentionally aligned to our scope and sequence, so they take our curriculum, our scope and sequence. Each
055student begins with a diagnostic, and after 6 weeks they take that diagnostic to measure their growth. And so, you can see I won't read all of it. You can see the growth of these students at our three elementary schools where we're piloting this. The outcomes reflect not only academic progress, but confidence and engagement. Um and you can see some of the things the students have said. Uh and one of our teachers, uh Vanessa Ruiz at Washington Elementary, uh indicated, you know, we're also seeing the impact extended to the classroom. She noted that significant improvement in her students' engagement in class, their confidence level during the day. So, we have an agenda item later on today where we're going to leverage our ELOP funding to be able to bring the academic high-impact tutoring to all of
056our elementary schools' after-school programming. And teachers will help select which students participate in that based on their need, uh and that sort of thing. So, we're really excited about extending some strong academic experiences into our after-school programming. As we go into our spotlight, social media, and other pieces, lots has been happening. Again, family wellness conference we mentioned, honor society student recognition, parent and family wellness conference, El Diamante was named a California Distinguished School, and we'll have a a recognition for them next month. They go in 2 weeks uh to the state uh recognition down in Anaheim. So, we're really excited for them. Uh Say Something Week, spring break, of course, everyone was excited about that, high-five Friday, uh and then of course our 2026 employees of the year. We had school nutrition month, national farm
057worker awareness month, autism awareness month. Summer school registration being open, we're advertising that, and then child abuse prevention month were also some of the items that we had on our social media. So, with that, it's a lot, but there's a lot happening that we're proud of within our district, and so that concludes my report. Thank you. Moving on to 6.2 strategic plan theme two updates. Presenter is executive director of student services Stanley Garza and executive director of teaching and learning Brienne Phillips. Good evening board president Odo, members of the board, Mr. Schram and community. Tonight, I will be updating you on our strategic plan, specifically theme two. This evening, you will see all three of our core beliefs brought to life through the work of theme two. With our commitment serving as a foundation of
058our design and development of our strategic actions. The blueprint our blueprint for the future. This slide connects our core beliefs, our commitments for student learning, and our mission of every student learning every day. At the top, you'll see the board's direction, your focus on improving academic outcomes. In the middle, we show the bridge between what the board is asking for in the outcomes we are designing toward. And at the bottom, we provide transparency showing how we monitor and report progress to the board and our community. And as we have here, we have an overview of our VUSD strategic plan. As you can see, it is thoroughly addressing the needs of our students and community to move us forward to 2030. Tonight, our focus is on theme two, empowering our students, engaging families, and connecting with
059the community. This theme takes a comprehensive approach to strengthening existing systems and designing new ones to ensure every Visalia Unified student is supported, connected, and thriving. It also highlights the importance of meaningful partnerships with families and our broader community working together to empower students and foster their success. The first focus area we will be updating on tonight is supportive learning and growth. Zooming in further the initiative, ensuring all schools have a safe school climate. And the design is to implement a comprehensive school safety plan. As part of our ongoing commitment to student and staff safety, Visalia Unified continues to strengthen and layer emergency response systems through the implementation of the Raptor alert platform. Currently, staff have access to the Raptor application on their desktop or laptop computers. And many also have opted to install the
060app on their mobile devices, allowing for quick access in urgent situations. To further enhance our ability to respond immediately to emergencies, we are now expanding to include the Raptor badge alert system. Board you approved this in August, and this added layer requires staff to wear a badge that functions in tandem with our identification and providing a discreet rapid way to call for assistance. With a simple sequence of clicks, staff can signal the level of urgency. Three clicks indicates that a student or situation requires immediate assistance, while seven or more clicks initiates a full lockdown response and alerts administration and law enforcement. We have begun begun rolling out the Raptor badge alert system across the district, and all schools and departments will receive training prior to the start of the next school year. This work reflects
061our continued focus on proactive safety measures, ensuring that staff are equipped with clear, efficient tools to respond quickly and effectively in any situation. While strengthening our emergency response systems is essential, it is equally important to understand how students experience safety and belonging on our campuses. To complement this work, the district is elevating student voice to better inform and improve the overall student experience. This action focuses on creating meaningful avenues for students to share their perspectives, influence decision-making, and actively contribute to shaping the overall school experiences across Visalia Unified. By elevating student voice, we're ensuring that our systems reflect the experiences and ideas of those who we serve most directly, our students. The 2025-2026 school year marks a significant expansion of our student voice structures. Rather than relying on a single advisory group, the district has
062developed multiple student advisory and leadership forums across schools and programs, engaging principals AS and ASLs as active partners in the process. This design allows for a broader representation, more frequent feedback, and stronger connections between student perspectives and district decision-making. Students are sharing their voice and helping us make their schools a more engaging place to learn and thrive. We are strengthening USAV as it the district's hub for student voice by structuring meetings around leadership development, site-based reporting, dialogue with district leaders, and clear action steps that students take back to their campuses. This ensures student input is both elevated and actionable. In addition, we are developing a student senate model at each secondary school based on the work in progress at El Diamante High School to create more consistent systems for gathering student perspectives. The proposed structure
063includes elected, appointed, and selected representatives, providing balanced representation. This allows school leaders to identify students with leadership potential, including those that may not traditionally pursue leadership roles, ensuring voice across all student groups. Building on the importance of student voice, the district is committed to ensuring that all students not only feel valued, but also have clear and equitable access to the services and supports that they need. Central to this work is fostering an environment where students feel confident seeking help and are able to readily access the resources that support their academic, behavioral, and social-emotional success. Board members, we heard your feedback, as well as input from our community. This evening, we will be sharing updates related to student supports, the implementation of the FAIR Act, and the training provided to our staff. Good evening. Um I
064have the honor to um share back a report on our of um of our district team looking into students' access to resources. And when we look at our resources on the previous page, you saw that there was um up an area located on one of our campuses around where students have free um or just open access to resources um where they can go and either scan a QR code or pick up a pamphlet meeting their needs. But our resources on our campuses extend well beyond physical materials, such as pamphlets. At the core of our system is a comprehensive network of student supports, including our counselors, school psychologists, behavior intervention technicians, and social workers. On any given day, especially during a passing period, you'll see these team members actively engaging with students through informal check-ins, building
065relationships, and creating accessible entry points for support. In addition, these informal connections, we have formal systems in place to ensure students can access help when needed. These include our request for assistance process, as well as our see something, say something protocols. The see something, say something training begins in the fifth grade. Um and on any of our campuses, you'll see our posters um frequently posted around campuses, as well as within each classroom. Request for assistance is through our PowerSchool portal, where all students um can input in, and that goes then to the receiving end of our support services. The impact of the system is evident in our data. To date, we have over 136,000 counseling log entries, and these reflect both our one-on-one support, as well as small group support. As you can see on
066the screen, um here there's a snapshot of some of the supports that we've delineated as a result of the 136,000, we've broken out a few of the specifics as to what those were in response to. Taken together, both our informal and formal connection points demonstrate that students are actively engaging with available supports. This reflects a system that is not only in place, but one that students know how to access and trust. The next piece that I'd like to share a report back out on is our Fair Education Act. The Fair Education Act became effective in January of 2012. In 2016, the California Social Science Framework was revised to reflect the requirements of the Fair Act. And then in 2017, the state published their approved curriculums, and then in 2018, that is when Visalia Unified adopted
067their social science curriculum through K 4 K8. I state all of these dates because in VUSD we adopt off the state approved curriculum and their vetting processes ensure that the Fair Education Act is met. Additionally though, we also have a um there is not a state approved list for our social sciences curriculums um in our 9 through 12. So in our high school. So that is up to us to ensure that we are in alignment with the social science framework, which is in alignment with the Fair Act. We do that through three different phases in our adoption process. We do that through um determining our guiding statements. Those are determined through alignment with the with the framework. And then we have different rubrics that we have utilized over the course of the years in order
068to um vet both at the district level and then from the teacher lens as well. Um what we did find is that we found the majority of our students uh do see themselves within reflected within the curriculum. We do survey our students every fall um through our school climate survey and we found that 82% of our students do see themselves reflected in our in our curriculum. Additionally, we have um also looked through our course outlines um through our process because while we have the curriculum, we want to make sure that we have the curriculum in place within our course outlines. And through our course outlines, we have also found that we do um meet the Fair Act requirements showing diversity within our units of study. And with that, I will pass it back. So as
069far as staff training, you are familiar with the process by which trainings are assigned through Keenan and all employees receive required training at the start of the school year. In compliance with Ed Code, we provide annual trainings focused on the awareness and prevention of bullying, discrimination, harassment, and intimidation. In addition, staff participate in training centered on building a respectful workplace and learning culture with an emphasis on identity, collaboration, effective communication, and understanding and respecting individual differences. For the current year, an additional training that aligns with the requirements of California Assembly Bill 5, the Safe and Supportive School Schools Act, has been added. This training provides LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for educators. While the legislation mandates training for certificated staff that work with students in 7th through 12th grade, the district has made the intentional decision
070to extend this requirement to all employees that work with students in 7th through 12th grade. This approach reflects our commitment to ensuring that every staff member, given their daily interactions and meaningful engagements with students, is equipped to contribute to a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment. And finally, we are excited to build on this work through shadowing a student and deepening how we listen to and elevate student voice across our system. This effort is grounded in our commitment to move beyond assumptions and intentionally experience school from the perspective of our students. By shadowing a student throughout the day, we gain real-time insight into the academic, social, and behavioral expectations students encounter, as well as the supports they receive. This experience allows us to more closely examine the alignment between our systems, our expectations, and the
071realities of student experience. It is important to emphasize that this is not an evaluation of staff or school sites, but rather a systems-level learning opportunity for district leaderships to better understand and improve the conditions we create for students. The debrief process will center on identifying patterns and trends rather than focusing on isolated moments. Through this reflection, we will examine the student experience both from a leadership perspective and through a holistic lens, considering academic demands, emotional experiences, and overall school climate. This work is designed to deepen our understanding of how district systems are experienced at a student level. Ultimately, the initiative is intended to strengthen alignment between our vision, our expectations for students, and the day-to-day realities within our classrooms and across our campuses. This work reflects our commitment to deeply understanding the student experience and
072ensuring that our systems, expectations, and daily practices are fully fully aligned to support every student success. Everything shared today reflects our district's ongoing commitment to ensuring students are not only heard, but actively shaping the future of their schools. While most students are report report feeling supported and believe they have a voice, our goal is to continue expanding and strengthening these opportunities. As highlighted in our spotlights, many impactful practices are already in place, including student-driven clubs and leadership opportunities. At the same time, we recognize there are gaps, and we remain focused on reaching students who are not yet connected. Thank you for your time and continued support as we work to advance the priorities of our strategic plan and elevate student voice and leadership across our district. Okay, any board member comment on this topic? Mr.
073Bell? Just a small question. Um Mrs. Garza, when when will be the shadow student day? The 20th. The 20th, thank you. Of May or No. April, this month. Thank you. That's what I wanted to confirm. Okay, anybody else? Okay, any public comment on this item? Okay, seeing none. Thank you much. Thank you. Now we move on to general public comment. General public comment on any topic not on the agenda may be heard at this time. If you have public comment on an item listed on an item on tonight's agenda, there'll be an opportunity for you to share your comments at the time the item comes up for discussion by the board. Pursuant to board policy, the board will limit individual individual comments for general public comment to no more than 3 minutes and individual topics
074to 20 minutes. To comply with the Brown Act, California's open public meeting law, board discussion is limited to items on the agenda. Therefore, when receiving public comment for items not on the agenda, the board's role is limited to receiving such comments and the board may not engage in dialogue with the public. The board thanks the public for its participation in public comment and understanding of the board's responsibilities. It is recommended to begin your comments by stating your name. I do have 10 or 11 or so requests to speak here. Um we will gently enforce the time. We want to make sure we hear from everyone here. So, please, if you would be mindful of the time available to speak on comments. We'll make sure that everyone gets heard tonight. Uh leading bat off tonight are
075Leading batting lead off tonight is Patrick Hempill. Good evening, board, Superintendent Schrum. My name is Patrick Hempill. I'm the VUTA president. In reflecting on the changes that have been worked through in the past few months, I believe it is important to reflect on a couple of noteworthy items as we We forward to meeting the needs of our students in the coming school year. Firstly, with the approved elimination of over 10% of our counseling positions in the district along with other classified positions that support student behavior at our sites, it would seem important to evaluate our tier two behavior supports moving into next year. We've spent much time and effort working to strengthen our tier one practices this year, and rightly so. However, even environments where our tier one practices are dialed in can fall apart
076when our tier two or tier three intervention interventions are insufficient or lacking. This should not be a new realization for us. Our district has worked through a number of iterations of supports and strategies over the last few years. To this end, as we downsize critical human capital in these areas, it would seem an opportune time to ensure that the gaps in our systems are tightened. Without increased efficiency and coordination of programs, how can teachers and admin be expected to address the issues that persist when there will be less people to support them? Extreme behaviors cannot be allowed to unravel classrooms and learning environments already stretched thin on time and human resources. Which brings to light another important conundrum that I have addressed to you in small measure in recent months. Teacher workload across the board,
077but especially in our elementary classrooms. Our district has added a large number of new programs and initiatives in the past years. DIBELS, Foundations, a new grade book, a new writing curriculum, tightly defined core blocks, third and fifth grade curricular revamps, UVA, and a new math adoption coming next year to name a few. All of this in conjunction with an assessment calendar full to the brim with a myriad of district designed and outside assessments with data needing to be funneled into different computer programs and formats for consumption. None of these things are inherently bad in and of themselves, and in fact, many of these things are good and necessary. In their totality, however, they have created an environment which is oversaturated and missing critical focus and prioritization. To take advice from one of our UVA mentor
078professors, it seems we are in need of practicing some addition by subtraction. Teachers are desperate for a narrowing of focus so that they can spend critical time planning instruction and teaching our students rather than the Groundhog Day of endless assessment tasks and data gathering that they currently find themselves in with not enough meaningful time to respond to the data they are so diligently gathering. To credit district leadership, they have begun visiting sites and meeting individually with teachers to help understand and address these concerns. There are also larger teacher listening sessions that have been scheduled at the end of this month so the teachers and district staff can collaborate on finding solutions to these challenges. I'm hopeful we will come from these meetings with solutions that will benefit student learning across the board. However, I believe
079it's important you all are also aware that these processes of these processes, especially as you serve in your roles of guiding the district. There are many programs and initiatives that come across your agenda that you purchase and approve. Many of them are great and surely intended to serve the best interests of our students. And in fact, many of them teachers would not do without. It is important to remember that the most important of the entire equation, however, is the teacher and not the systems or programs. Our teachers need time to teach and use their expertise to intervene so that students can be successful. We must ensure that the systems implemented and the data gathered are not the end result in and of themselves, but instead work in service of our teachers and students. Thank you.
080Next up, Genie Young. Hi, my name is Genie Young. My son is Mason Young and he's a sophomore at Redwood High School and he is part of the robotics club that just went to Lancaster and won their competition. So they are super proud of that. He's also in the ACE Academy and he has been able to receive real hands-on experience with engineering through this robotics club that he would not have received elsewhere. And so, our concern with the robotics club is its continuation within the school. We would like more support from the school and the district with the robotics club. We have an understanding that the teacher who currently is running the robotics club, he volunteers evenings and weekends to make this possible, make it happen, that his contract is not going to be renewed
081next year. So, we're just concerned at how this program is going to continue on for these kids who so badly need it and want it to continue on. And um there's going to be somebody else who's going to need to step up to be able to run this. And we understand that it could be a big inconvenience for a teacher to dedicate that time. It's long hours in the evening, it's weekends. And so, um we would like to find some sort of solution for this to continue on, such as a stipend for the teacher to help motivate somebody to want to be a part of this great program for these kids, or a stipend for a community member that would be able to run the program. Um or the possibility of a local organization or
082business that would be able to help fund that stipend. Thank you. Uh Khaled Al Rotoub. Good evening. My name is Khaled Al Rotoub. I'm a robotics dad. I was at Edison High School. This is my ninth year doing this. My daughter was a team member at Edison High. And then when the teacher stepped aside, I stepped in as a volunteer parent putting in 1,000 hours a year to run the program 2 years in a row. And then the program folded. And as part of the booster club, uh we had our fiduciary duty to take care of the equipment and the money we raised. So, I went around the valley trying to find a place that needed to start a team. And then I got a rumor that Redwood was interested. So, I contacted Russ Brown
0833 years ago and I came down volunteering uh for the last 3 years uh to keep the team going and sharing the knowledge with them and buying them equipment. Uh paid their $6,000 registration last year. And uh I'd like to see the team going. Uh it takes a lot to get a team going and not everybody on the team is uh per se an engineer. You need people in the business to raise funds. Uh you need people to do social media, take pictures. So, the students who get involved benefit from many many levels. Uh one of the best thing that could happen if there is a curriculum for that, so that make the teacher that is involved on campus uh able to rein the students in and the students would have commitment and then they're
084able to to run the team. Uh whatever direction the school decides to do, I'll be more than willing to come and talk to anybody, advise them. And if a new teacher come on campus, I'll be more than willing to come down and uh show them the ropes to help keep the program going. Thank you for your time. Thank you. So, I apologize in advance. I am going to butcher the name. Elena Voronetskaya? Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Uh my name is Elena Voronetskaya. Uh my son's name is Benjamin Peacock. He is um senior at Redwood High School. He has been in robotics club for the past 3 years uh and been a life-changing experience for him. Uh he will be graduating this year, and I have seen how much um time he put in in
085this, and how much it changed his life and perspective on life. Uh I would like this program to continue running. I would like to see more support from school and from the board, if possible. Thank you. Sabrina Norton Hi, my name is Sabrina Norton, and this time I took notes, so I apologize. Um I want to address board member DeYoung. Hi. Um I know I look a little different. Hope you remember me from the last meeting. Um I know we can't talk directly in this format, so uh let me do this. At the conclusion of the last public meeting, your final statements included this quote, "There's a lot of things that troubled me, you know, as far as the Redwood incident. I know as much as the public, unfortunately. I don't think that's a position
086I should be in as a board member, and that's something I'll speak to our superintendent about." I found that incredibly interesting, since I was the one who mentioned the district not being transparent with the public. But I guess I owe you an apology, right? It's not your fault you didn't know anything, right? But on February 12th, the district press release signed by Superintendent Schrum, the district claimed that they will be supporting Redwood administration in conducting a thorough investigation of this matter, including taking appropriate action and providing necessary consequences in accordance with district policy and relevant law in reference to the t-shirts worn by the students at Redwood creating a derogatory term towards LGBT students. Uh so then the next day on February 13th in a follow-up release the district claimed that following a thorough investigation
087appropriate disciplinary action has been taken in accordance with district policy. While specific details are not made public, please know that this matter was addressed seriously and thoughtfully. And then I guess someone changed their mind because in another press release on February 17th the district put out stating that while specific details cannot be made public, please know that as we continue our investigation we are taking appropriate action in accordance with district board policy and applicable law. So I guess as I have not seen any further press releases, my new questions are what exactly is or was the district investigating? Uh how many investigations will or has there been be and has will Superintendent Schram be sharing the results of this these investigation is with the board and finally do you need any help with suggestions for
088things to investigate in this matter? Because in addition to myself there were about a dozen other people here at the last meeting who I'm absolutely certain will have no problem helping you out. Thank you. Dr. Sarah Garcia Hello. Dr. Sarah Garcia, I'm a licensed clinical psychologist. I'm also a concerned parent. I have a 2025 recent VUSD graduate who actually was awarded here last year. Um and another student that's a 2027 graduate that I don't have in VUSD for the following reasons. Um I'm here to talk to you about the fact that we're a village, right? Takes a village to raise a kid. Our children spend the bulk of their time with us until about 5 or 6, then the bulk of their waking hours are spent with you all in Visalia Unified. As a village,
089we're failing. This is not a one-up. I'm not here specifically to talk about Redwood. Natalie and Brian, awesome presentation. We're not seeing that though as parents and clinicians in the community when we have people coming into my office or just coming and hanging around my house and A saying that they have no idea that there are services available at all, what those services may be, and then laugh about like, oh, like I even if I knew like I would access that, I'd be mocked, right? Globally, as a village, I propose that this is a report card for you. I understand that in private session last month, you agreed to pay out 3 million for a sexual violence situation. I understand that brings it up to 18 million in 10 years. So, let's talk about the
090culture that Visalia Unified is is establishing or continuing to establish. We have hate crimes. We have sexual violence. We have gender-based violence. We have racism. We have all these things, right? So, if you're going to spend the bulk of my kids' waking hours with them, I have expectations, and they go far beyond a beautiful presentation. That was epic. Literally, I looked at that and was like, "That is amazing." They have concrete methods of actually keeping track of what's happening. They have all these things. My question to you ladies would be, that's awesome that 80-some-odd percent responded or responded positively. So, then all students had to mandatory turn that in. So, you know that all students were surveyed. I I don't think so. So, my guess would be that there is a number of students that
091that didn't turn in surveys. Nonetheless, I'm here as a clinician to share with you that if it's wonderful that you're supporting all these things. Girls' volleyball, go, right? I also want kids to live. I want kids to make it alive. I want kids to graduate and be alive. That's important, too. That deserves the same amount of enthusiasm, Kirk, as as sports, okay? So, that is my encouragement as a clinician and as a parent. It's shameful. You're failing. Okay. Thank you. Uh Katie Cain. Good evening. My name is Katie Cain. I'm sure you're not all equally excited to see me again, but I would like to assure you that I will be a staple at your meetings until I'm satisfied that the annual staff layoff and reassignment cycle is over for good. On that note, I
092do want to note that the district's team reduced the effects of the reductions to only five actual layoffs so far, which would be worth congratulating if it didn't mean a bunch of people still lost income, benefits, and several vacant positions will never be filled. Uh Ms. Gamoyan, you stated last month that you did not want to argue with the staff trying to correct your misunderstanding of how negotiations work. Since 34 years in a bargaining unit and 8 years as a board member haven't been enough motivation for you to educate yourself, I thought I would be kind enough for it to do you the honor. As I specifically stated in my comment last month, clearly someone didn't have their listening ears on, uh, the union doesn't have the right to decline layoffs. The only right the
093union has is to try to negotiate some of the effects of those cuts through the collab though the collaboration level is largely up to the district's discretion. In short, CSEA agreed to those layoffs about as much as a hostage agrees to be held against their will. Mr. Belt, last month you lied to this board and its audience by stating that you were a CSEA member at COS. You are not only not an adjunct professor as I have heard you try to claim, but you are not a classified staff member either and are not even eligible to be a member of the California School Employees Association. I did not get a reply to my email to you on this matter, so to be clear, you are not one of my amazing dues-paying members and you do
094not speak for classified staff. You also made statements implying staff should shut up and be understanding claiming that the board had demanded 5% cuts across the board and that this was just the result. However, the district didn't make 5% cuts across the board. They made anywhere from 25% cuts in some areas, 0% cuts in others. Oh, and they're actually adding two brand new HR admin that started $140,000 a year plus all those brand new positions and admins that I saw that started $160,000. That's like a million dollars. You could have saved a lot of positions with that money. Someone's really bad at math. Um, so lastly, someone actually got up on that podium last month and admitted with their whole chest that this district ignored the explicit instructions that came with COVID money and used
095those one-time funds for ongoing expenses. That was dumb. Like big dumb. Uh, uh, but it tells me that most of you are asleep at the wheel and just trusting what administrators tell you. Uh, your job's not to trust them. Your job is to police them and hold them accountable. Don't nod at me. I know what you said last month. Your Your job is to provide respectful scrutiny and oversight and representation of the public. Voters elected you to police the district, not to endear yourself to them. I'm going to have a lot of fun making sure some of you lose your seats in November. Thank you. Thank you. Looks like Corey Contreras. Hello, I am actually reading a statement on behalf of Corey Contreras. Uh Corey Contreras is a K-12 student um and felt more comfortable
096having a safe adult share her story. Corey writes, "I am a queer student in Tulare County. I was shocked at the red Redwood photo she's referring to last month. My vision of Visalia was shattered. This shows me, as a student in Tulare, an outsider in Visalia, that I am not safe here. I am an outsider of Visalia, though I am still going to share some things I've experienced as a queer student. In middle school, I was once followed home as a guy continuously threw rocks at me while calling me slurs. Throughout middle school, I was continuously harassed verbally and sexually. The crime committed against the queer students at Redwood in that photo was unacceptable and disgusting. I have a friend who attends Redwood, and he shared that even outside of school, he is verbally harassed
097by grown adults as they drive by in their cars. School is supposed to be a safe space, but not for him. He is consistently called slurs, harassed, and has been heavily bullied at Redwood since he came out in middle school. What I ask of you is to please implement an audit of LGBTQ+ cultural competency trainings of VUSD staff and harsher punishments for students who commit hate crimes towards queer students. Protect our queer and trans kids. Thank you. Thank you. Ignacio, looks like Bayon. Good evening. Um my name is Ignacio Bayon. I I'm here to share data from the COS program review and uh planning dashboard. Um as a current COS student who came from El Diamante, I've been thinking a lot about what this data means. It's not just as numbers, but as real student
098experiences. At COS, we already know that LGBTQ+ students have face success face a success gap. But what stood out to me is that how much larger the gap is for students coming from Redwood High School. 10.5% compared to the 7.4 overall. And it's not just about grades. LGBTQ+ students from Redwood are almost twice as likely to have to withdraw from classes compared to their peers. An 87% higher rate. That's not That's not a small difference. There's that students enough that they can't stay in their classes. Come Coming from El Diamante, I don't I don't see the same pattern in the data from students like me. And that makes that makes me think, what's different? What's What are the students from Redwood going through before they even get to COS that might might be impacting them
099this much. Because because by the time we all get here, we're supposed to be standing on equal ground. But this data shows that some of us some of us aren't. This isn't about blaming a school. It's about recognizing that students don't all arrive at college with the same experiences or level of support. And and those differences matter. When I when I look at this, I don't I don't see a gap. I see a group of students who might not be getting what they need. And who are paying the price for that later in life. I want I want to be an educator. And viewing this data as a COS student and former VOSD student, I it's it's really disheartening. If we if we care about student success, then we have to care about where students
100are coming from. And where they're being supported before they even walk into a college campus. Thank you. Thank you. Jose Ruiz Garcia. Uh good evening board and community members. My name is Jose Ruiz Garcia, my pronouns are he/him. And I serve as a community programs manager at the Source LGBT+ Center. I'm here today because setting students up for success cannot wait. And right now, too many LGBTQ+ students are being left behind. Student success requires safety, belonging, and support, but many LGBTQ+ students in our district are still facing bullying, exclusion, and invisibility. When students don't feel safe, they cannot focus, they disengage, and their outcomes, as stated by Ignasio before me, clearly suffer. And this is not a future problem, it's happening right now. If we are serious about equity and student success, which I believe
101everyone here is, then we must act with urgency. I'm asking the board to take three immediate steps. This is steps that uh I inquired about the last meeting, uh but I have some follow-up following the presentation that was given today. First, uh conducting an audit of LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for all district staff. Prior to the planned trainings, have staff attended trainings provided by LGBTQ+ organizations and individuals. Second, audit LGBTQ+ supports for students on VUSD campuses, and ensure they are visible and accessible. How many of the presented instances of students seeking support were LGBTQ+ specific, and what specifically were those supports? Third, an audit of the FAIR Act implementation across the district, uh particularly anti-bullying policies and education. I understand that the school district's findings state that 82% of our students see themselves reflected in
102the curriculum, but I inquire as to whether LGBTQ+ students find themselves reflected in that percentage. Our LGBTQ+ students cannot wait for safer, more supportive schools. They need them today. These are concrete actions that will show students right now that they matter and should all have the opportunity to learn, grow, belong, and thrive. We can continue this work to ensure that all students are being set up for success. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Uh, Erica Hockyard. I have shared a report with you via uh, my name is Erica Hockyard and my pronouns are she/her. I have shared a report with you via email from the COS Program Review and Planning Dashboard. This dashboard is readily available public data and I encourage you all to explore on your own time. Across the College
103of the Sequoias, LGBTQ+ students experience a 7.4% success rate equity gap. However, for students coming from Redwood High School, that gap increases to 10.5%. The largest amongst all of the USD feeder high schools and nearly double the next highest gap. In addition, LGBTQ+ students from Redwood are 87% more likely to receive an excused withdrawal compared to their non-LGBTQ+ peers. Significantly higher than the 24% disparity observed across the college overall. These two indicators, lower success rates and higher withdrawal rates, point to a pattern that appears to be site-specific rather than system-wide. This suggests that LGBTQ+ students from what Redwood may be encountering distinct barriers prior to or during their transition to college. From a policy perspective, this raises several considerations: the need for further investigation into school-level climate and support structures, establishing ongoing data monitoring to
104track whether interventions reduce these disparities. Um and this report does not explain causation, but it does provide strong evidence that a disparity exists and is concentrated. Addressing it will require collaboration, transparency, and a commitment to equity-driven decision-making. I'd also like to bring your attention to the 2024 Protective Factors in the LGBTQIA Adolescent Experience a Systematic Review Study. This study reviews the impacts of minority stress on LGBTQ+ young people and interventions to improve health outcomes for queer youth. The study found that tradition traditional interventions aren't moving the needle enough, and that data suggests holistic system interventions like holistic school policies or district-wide policies and parent education go farther to reduce suicidal ideation and increase student successes. So, ultimately, um there's a straightforward goal there, ensuring that all students, regardless of identity or high school background, have
105an equitable opportunity to succeed in school. Thank you. Thank you. Is there any other public comment? Okay. Seeing none, we will move forward. Item eight, uh consent agenda. Would any board member like to pull an item from the consent agenda? Okay. Seeing none, may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Okay. Motion by Naylor, second by Oto. Okay. Call for the vote. Motion Motion carries. Um student board member votes yes. Six seven yeses, zero noes. >> Okay, item nine, student representative report, Ms. Sophia Diaz from Redwood High School. Good evening, board members. My name is Sophia Diaz and I'm the student body president at Redwood High School. On April 7th, Visalia Unified hosted their final Superintendent Advisory SSA meeting of the year at Golden West High School. Student representatives from elementary, middle, and
106high schools across the district came together to share their perspectives and provide input on important topics connected to our district's strategic priorities. Throughout the morning, students participated in a variety of activities that allowed them to reflect, connect, and share their experiences. The event began with a campus showcase led by Golden West students featuring performances from choir, orchestra, drama, jazz band, and dance. These performances created an energetic and welcoming environment while highlighting the talent and pride the students have at their school. Students also met in feeder groups led by super assistant superintendents where they reflected on their experiences in SSA this year. During these conversations, students shared what had been most meaningful about having a voice in their district decisions and offered ideas on how to continue improving student voice opportunities across our schools. Students then
107participated in a small group discussion with district leaders focusing on key areas of the strategic plan. During these conversations, students shared several important ideas such as students discussed the importance of strong community partnerships and how schools can create more opportunities to connect students with real-world experiences. Students shared their thoughts on college and career pathways including how early exposure at the elementary and middle school levels can help students better understand their options and how high school programs can better prepare them with real-world skills. Also, lastly, students gave their input on the district's theme and priorities for the upcoming year, sharing ideas on how to better communicate these goals and increase student awareness and involvement in their campuses. Overall, the SSA meeting at Golden West High School provided uh with it provided students with a meaningful opportunity
108to share their voices, reflect on their experiences, and contribute ideas that will help continue improve our schools and strengthen student engagement across Visalia Unified. Thank you for your time and continued support of student voice opportunities in VUSD. And now we will move on into our site-level reports. At El Diamante High School, um they continue to demonstrate excellence in academics and student engagement. We're proud to share that El Diamante has been recognized by the California Department of Education as of 2026 California's Distinguished School in the category of achievement gap closers, highlighting our commitment to equality and student success. Through our catch-up day intervention, students participated to improve grades with over 600 students recognized at a reward lunch. Next High School, Golden West. Uh Golden West welcomed eighth-grade students for a second campus visit on March 24th.
109Visiting students had the opportunity to tour the campus, learn about programs and activities, and experience the positive culture at at well, Golden West as they prepared to transition into high school. Golden West ASB also hosted a bubble tournament on March 16th through March 18th. Students formed teams and competed in a bracket-style competition that generated strong student involvement and school spirit. The event concluded with a teacher versus student championship game where teachers secured the victory. Next High School, Mount Whitney High School. Uh Mount Whitney culinary provide continues to thrive. They participated in the COS College and Career Expo. First, second, and third place in cupcake decorating went to the Mount Whitney students. Their culinary arts received a second place award for their eggs Benedict and knife skills contest. The Mount Whitney dance show was also amazing
110and had a showcase of all dance levels or all levels of dance. They performed to a sold-out crowd. Next, FFA did a community service outreach and visited Quail Park Assisted Living on March 28th and hosted two succulent socials for the residents. Brought student-grown succulents and pots to help residents create designs to keep in their rooms. Next high school, Redwood High School. Redwood High School's Future Business Leaders of America students attended the State Leadership Conference and had an outstanding performance. They earned five or more first-place finishes. Their successes Their success highlights their hard work and dedication of our students and advisers. We had also hosted our 2026 car show on campus, which featured over 20 student participants. The event provided a great opportunity to showcase student interest and build school spirit during lunch. The awards that
111were presented were best overall, best classic, most unique, best 4x4, and at least I have a car. Next high school, Sequoia High School. On March 27th, Sequoia students took a field trip to explore COS's culinary academy. Next, on March 27th, they also Sequoia's second annual Easter egg hunt with over 300 egg filled or candy filled eggs hidden on campus. All students hunted and collected the eggs before going on break. Sequoia will be having an extended lunch and career fair on April 16th where students can explore closely close to 20 different careers while enjoying College of the Sequoias Galactico and Tiki Snow. Next high school VCI S on March 23rd over 40 graduating VCI S students had the opportunity to participate in the COS CTE Caravan where COS showcased their amazing CTE programs at their Hanford,
112Tulare, and Visalia campuses. The visits were a huge hit with the students. Last Thursday on April or yeah, April 9th VCI S had an outstanding open house hosting a record number of families coming out to engage in what their students have been learning over the past years and it was a great success. Um next on April 4th 24th the VCI S Marine Biology classes will be heading to Monterey Bay Aquarium and have the opportunity to work hands-on with employees and job shadow careers in the field. The class classes will also be touring CSU Monterey Bay. And the last high school V-Tech. V-Tech will be inviting over 83 incoming 9th grade students to orientation on April 16th. V-Tech will also be hosting a blood drive on April 24th as a part of civic of a civic
113action project. Lastly, V-Tech is excited for our 11th grade students to participate in the CASP testing. V-Tech students have been practicing testing strategies for the last few months and that concludes my report this evening. Thank you. Thank you Ms. Deuce. Appreciate the insight from the student perspective. >> Yes. Now, board member reports. I break with tradition. Mr. Belt, you're up first. Tradition. Thank you President Oto. By way of clarification, for 6 years I have been a trainer at the COS Training Resource Center, considered an adjunct and a classified employee, though I don't pay dues for the classified employees association. I was a classified employee for Visalia Unified uh in the IT department many years ago and I'm a son a retiree of CSCA, lifetime retiree who raised me right. Making decisions and working hard is
114what we all try to do. Um I have not tried to falsify who or what I am. And so just to put that out there since we can't address anyone specifically. I would also like to share that um up until this evening I had not seen such personal attacks on this board and I'm sorry that's happened. It seems that the community that we normally hear from though may vehemently disagree with what's happening or have a a desire to see something happen that's their focus. Rarely and actually in the three years I've been here have I ever seen personal attacks made on anyone, administrators or board members. That's appalling and frustrating and difficult to see and hear. I don't think that represents Visalia. In talking about Visalia though I have a few things that I would
115have put into the report that I tried to make sure I wrote down so I wouldn't forget them because sometimes I do. I want to appreciate so much the three principals that I visited their classes or their campuses this last month, uh Principal Duval at Mineral King, Principal Gomez at Green Acres um and Principal Guerrero at Ridge at Washington Elementary. I appreciate all that you do and as I've told your spouses you do your job is bigger than any job that I've ever seen. But um it takes a family to make sure you're continuing to do it. And so I appreciate all that you do. The attending online, which was again throwback from what we learned through COVID, of the CSBA Legislative Week was very um informative and enlightening uh with board member Gamoyan, uh
116we actually engaged state assembly uh individuals and senators uh as a panel to find out what they are thinking about education and how uh we can be a resource for them and to them in communication and information. That was very enlightening uh to be a part of that. The multilingual celebration uh headed up by Claudia Arden Diaz was the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time. Because not only were we celebrating that students uh who do come from all different languages uh are excelling and doing well and are succeeding, but when they actually learn a second language and become literate in both, then they earn that seal that they actually uh have on their diploma and wear around their neck the um the cords that we were passing out that evening in seven
117different languages, which is absolutely phenomenal. Uh thank you so much for heading that up, Claudia and staff. The student advisory day was quite enlightening to watch the interaction with our staff to give input from s- what as early as how young? First graders? Fourth graders? I don't think not they Fourth fourth through 12th grade from all 42 school sites. Uh they engaged and they were engaging with our staff to talk about what students want to see and hear and do and think and how they get information and um it was phenomenal and I think Superintendent Shrum you should have a plethora of feedback from all of those students and I'm glad you do that so regularly. That's probably one of the highlights for you to actually hear directly from students. I wanted to highlight what
118happened on Saturday. I know that I'm missing something because right now this book is just a blur. But the family wellness conference first annual which I'm sure Mrs. Garzaro is it is the first annual headed up by Gina Ferrarezzo of the she's the director of student wellness was one of the most amazing opportunities for parents to actually get input and to get feedback and to give feedback about the wellness of their family and their individual students. uh The doctor Rabadeau I think I just slaughtered his name. The keynote speaker had done his dissertation on children, schools, family interplay. And he's from Visalia originally. He actually was the director of Visalia Youth Services and now he is actually with University of Massachusetts Global. I took copious notes myself and took pictures of all of his slides
119because I was being schooled as well as the others who were in attendance. It got off to a little bit later start because we had buses show up in Linell Camp and Goshen and no one got on them. But we were waiting for them and then we found out from transportation oh they returned back to the transportation depot empty. And so we went on with the day. I was amazed to know and to see and to meet our behavior analysts. I didn't know we had behavior analysts and I've been here for almost four years and been at Visalia Unified 40 years. And so I was quite impressed. They actually made a presentation in complete Spanish as well as in English letting parents know what's available and what they do to assist administrators, to assist teachers,
120to assist students on a daily basis, all six of them. And then I came across Mr. Rodriguez, who's bigger than life if you've not met Ivan, and discovered that not only do we have trauma-informed uh practices, he is a banner waver for trauma-informed practices as a marriage and family counselor himself, and having been head of Visalia Youth Services previously. And so the interaction, the the opportunity for our staff and for county staff uh from the Department of Education as well as the 20 different community services that were in the quad for the last hour and a half, so that parents, families could find out what's available. I applaud all of your work. Thank you staff for doing that. And let's continue to do it. Maybe find a different weekend that is easier to to attend
121uh that we can actually have hundreds rather than less than 100 uh attend because it is one of the finest things I've ever seen Visalia Unified do to fortify. We don't do this so our in a bubble. We do it with families, alongside parents, and our see the success of our students. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Deol. Thank you uh President Odo. Um just like to start by saying uh thank you for individuals giving public comment, and uh it doesn't often happen, but always willing to stay after the board meeting and chat. Um like most board members, we have emails, um potentially phone numbers too posted online. So, you know, there is that availability. Um but again, uh uh thanks for speaking out. Uh I want to make sure I don't forget these sites uh
122cuz they were skipped uh last board meeting, but um uh for Ridgeview Middle School, Mount Whitney High School, Manuel F. Hernandez, Four Creeks Elementary, Cottonwood Creek Elementary, and uh Mineral King Elementary, I just want to say thank you to all the principals and staff uh for allowing us to invade your domain uh for a short amount of time and see the great work that you're doing. Um and it is especially too um being able to have uh occasionally conversations with the kiddos um while they're in the midst of learning. Um that's probably some of the best uh feedback that I've gotten as an individual on this board. Um so, I appreciate that and thank you to all the individuals, which most are here. Um but um I want I I I I feel this might
123be the appropriate time, but I I know um I can't remember if it was the second or third board one of my board meetings I brought up to we had the topic about reading and the importance of reading and how that can make an impact on the individual. And I actually talked about a book or graphic novel, you could say, uh that affected me when I was a student growing up with uh you know, a learning disability with with uh with the dyslexia trying to learn how to read. Um and I was actually able to find that book. My wife was actually able to find it. And I had mentioned before, if we can see on here, it's it's called Cat Kong by Dave Pilkey, which you might uh know that name uh even though
124this book is 33 years old, this little paperback here. Um but he's uh well known for Dog Man and Captain Underpants by a lot of our elementary kiddos. Um, but, you know, this book is in pretty good shape. It's a little ripped and a little dirty. Um, but for our Reading Across America, I was able to take this book, which still has a profound effect on me, as silly as it is, and read it to, I think, about 150, maybe 200 kiddos. Um, and they all loved it. And a few of them asked me to do some research on if there's a Cat Kong 2 and to let them know. And so, I figured this is the best way I have done the research. There is no Cat Kong 2, unfortunately. So, um, uh, yeah.
125Write one, yeah. I'll have to talk to Dave about that one. But, um, it was great to see something as silly as a, as a book about a cat that's, you know, acts like King Kong, uh, written by, you know, a well-known author that kids love his works, um, being able to share something I had when I was five with kids now, um, is what reading, learning, uh, you know, being part of a community, being part of a school system is all about. Because we don't learn in a vacuum. We have to have that, uh, emotional connection at some extent with the individuals around us and with the learner and with the teacher. And so, it was great that I was able to share something that the kids loved and they wanted to know more
126about, that maybe that can spark a little bit more interest for them next time they go and look at a book, uh, in, where that they might pass up. Maybe they'll grab it and give it a shot, and it might just be the next best thing that makes a great effect on them. It, whether it's uh, silly or not, it's all important because, uh, even looking at pictures in the book is one of the first steps um to learn to read and to love to read. And so really wanted to share that. Had an awesome time. Would love to go back and do voices again for the kiddos um and promote reading and our libraries as much as possible because that is a big part of everything else that's involved with what we're doing at
127Visalia Unified. Um but uh you know, outside of that I was a very proud papa to see one of my kiddos in the beauty of the presentation Beauty and the Beast uh over you know, by Ridgeview over at the Rotary Theater. I was able to see that play a couple times. And it's very interesting to watch a play multiple times by students cuz then you can notice different nuances. And they did a really awesome job like we've said pretty much on every performance. But even though when a lot of kids got sick and they had to get people to stand in, you know, the show must go on and the show went on and they did an awesome job with the finale. So I just want to say, you know, thanks for breaking a leg
128and doing a great job on that. It was a pleasure to see and have my kiddo be a part of it and it really for me and and my younger girls really gives that sense of connection that we talk about all the time about you know, feeling a part of the community of the school district which really you know, solidifies that investment that you want to have. Um next I want to talk about something that happened a little more recently which is the joint board meeting with Visalia Unified COS and with the city of Visalia. We were at Rawhide Stadium and we got to tour the new facilities which was great. But one of the things that I took away from it is that there was a fairly big call for uh green spaces and
129being able to access that with the increased number of sport sporting groups and kiddos that are essentially looking for places to play sports and to practice. Um and I know there's a lot of well, there's a couple roadblocks for Visalia Unified. You know, we we as a district, we have ELO P which goes fairly late. And you know, above even our educational goals, we have to make sure that our students are always safe. And so I think with the interest that the city um displayed at that meeting, there's a potential there that we can possibly work together and get those spaces to a place where we can open them back up to the public because after all, they are they are the publics. You know, it's all public money that pays for all this and
130so it only makes sense to me that that is offered to the community and especially the kiddos that probably go to the schools as well that they can be and have that um kind of sense of agency and ownership at our sites. And so hopefully I know we've I've talked to our superintendent and uh about this and it looks like something that we're going to dig into. So I'll also be following up on that to make sure you know, that that's something we can look you know, look at under a full scope. Um Next I want to talk about kind of it kind of blends into the other things and it was actually something you said Trustee Bell a while ago. You had mentioned and then you know, like sometimes things just kind of fall
131off, but I I still think there's a lot of relevance to it and it really brought it up to the forefront again when we were talking about uh from the strategic update we had about uh shadow a student uh to understand the student experience. Um those those things I think are highly important. And I'm going to do a reference to the science of reading for everyone that's learning that or already understands that is that when a young learner come comes across a new word they've never read or seen before or pronounced when they learn that word, they always refer it to their background knowledge with other words and with what they what their context is. And so that method of learning is just kind of, you know, how our brains are wired. Uh but we
132never stop learning that way. It's not like you, you know, graduate with your degree or masters or doctorate or whatever and you stop learning. Uh I believe that everyone is a lifelong learner whether they like it or not. Um and so being able to shadow a student to see and to feel and to understand what they go through and to experience as much as you can in that kind of position I think is vitally important because hearing hearing something is not enough sometimes. Uh a lot of times you can have an understanding of a topic and not have uh you feel like you have a full understanding, but then once you experience it, that completely changes. And there's lots of different things that you could refer to that. Um but you know, to that point
133like I was mentioning about trustee Belt had mentioned um that you know, maybe we have certificated staff that are managerial positions uh sub for a classroom once a month. And I know you you propose that more so as a mechanism for a cost saving to uh you know, once a month maybe every other month or something have a certificated management pop in and teach a class when they need a sub. Um I also see it from the other perspective that uh I think sometimes we can be out of something long enough where we lose that connection that we uh as many educators uh got in the whole business and were so fond of in the first place. Um you know, it's like what's that old saying about um uh getting getting back on the horse?
134Um I'm I'm not probably not saying that idiom right. But um I still think that's a great idea and especially now with the uh layoffs and reductions that we've had, I think uh that would go a long way to save a little bit of money cuz every little bit counts. But then also to give uh everyone an idea of especially higher up in a hierarchy that you understand how the effects of decisions and the ramifications they have at the level that's most important, which is right where our kids are learning. Um and I think that same is true not only for something like that, but also for uh shadowing uh uh you know, certificated um and even classified staff. Um because again, if you're not in it, you only know what you know. And so
135uh you know, I another saying I could say is you know, you you see one, do one, teach one is kind of the saying you that I've I've heard a bunch. Um but you know, that's kind of like a a step to that. Uh I think that is a great idea, Trustee Belt. I think we could add to it. I think this is this very similar to shadow a student, which I also think is an awesome thing. Uh something we can do at least once a year and really gain some great feedback off of that. Um but you know, that's me rambling on. Um those are the kind of the the points I wanted to really drive home on that, especially after seeing that update. Um lastly, I just want to say thank you to
136cabinet, district staff. I've had a couple of meetings in the last uh month or so uh explaining some topics which uh has very been very important to me, and I know it takes a valuable time from our people, and so I just want to say thank you again. It is always appreciated, and I do use that information to try to make uh the best uh decisions possible. And uh lastly, uh I said this at the beginning, if anyone wants to stick around and talk to me after board meeting, I'd be happy to. So, with that, I will conclude my board report. Thank you, President Holdom. Thank you. Ms. Gaby. Thank you. Uh I want to start definitely with a big um positive that is um you know, exclusive kind of to El Diamante and Mount
137Whitney, but I know all of our schools and our CTE programs um just go out of their way to really set up experiences for students. And um my daughter is in the Strong Academy and had the opportunity um I actually don't even know how it all worked cuz she just signed up and off she went up to Sycamore um for the weekend with um in conjunction with the uh Mount Whitney Medical Skills program, and they got to do hands-on like medical skills training all weekend. Um I have not heard her so excited about something with school. Um not to say the school lessons aren't awesome, but um she came back just I mean, talking about intubating and suturing and went without knowing any students, just signed up, and had the best experience. And that was
138over a weekend where um you know, I know teachers volunteer their time, that all takes even the time that you know, you're employed to set up those things, it goes above and beyond that. And so, those are such in just such great um experiences for our kids that then connect them back to school and why they're doing all this learning. And I know, you know, we all know that, but just shout out to CTE that that they're really doing some cool stuff with kids and um it means a lot. So, thank you to all the hard work that goes in there. Um now, a couple other things. Um as far as um following back up on our kind of safe and supportive um schools and and the recent incidents, I do um echo the value
139of student shadowing. I think you can learn so much from um that academically, you know, socially, you can learn so much from the student shadowing. I am though a little bit I don't know if the word's concerned, disappointed that our staff training is a Keenan um compliance or Keenan video. As someone that's done a lot of Keenan videos, um they're definitely focused on compliance and not really meaningful professional learning. And so, like if maybe we can retake a look at what are some of our options. I know that's easy, but like sometimes we need to do what's right, not what's easy. And Keenan videos kind of shout that we're just kind of taking a compliance easy route. And so, if we can think about how we can engage in some actual conversations about reducing bias
140and addressing student needs, I think the student shadowing is a great way to start that. Um but but I'm not sure that that Keenan videos are are really going to um really go to the extent that we may need. Um lastly, this is a very biased one. Um and while while I definitely appreciate um girls flag football and any girls sports starting, I am it's kind of like on that easy um you know kind of thing. I know we have fields but I guess I have some questions and we didn't ask after the presentation. First kind of like why the fall? I think we have a lot of girl sports in the fall. I think there's you know at least about five of them. And and are there teams in the valley that we can
141compete against? I know the only one I personally know is CBC but it's a winter sport there. And so that's that's kind of a question there. And bigger than that I just think about the future of girls like what do they do with some of these sports? Currently I don't know maybe there's a few colleges that do girls flag football but there's like over well over 300 even just division one volleyball teams that give out you know 10 plus full ride scholarships each per roster and that's just division one schools. There's over like 100 collegiate beach teams. It's the fastest growing college scholarship out there. And so we have a lot of paired sports where you have water polo and swimming and cross country and track and so our female athletes get to train in
142multiple sports all year. But volleyball being one of the biggest girl sports out there doesn't really have a follow up and so I know that space is at a premium but if there's a way that we can kind of push on that I don't Yeah flag football you know is fun and I don't say that that shouldn't be if we could do both that's awesome. But just looking to the future and what does that really mean for our girls and their opportunities? I don't know how much comes out of that in relation to beach and so that's just kind of honestly my soapbox at the moment. So thank you for putting up with that and that's the end of my report. Thank you. Mr. Viegas. Oops. Uh thank you, President Odo. Um I want to
143reiterate some of the comments emphasized by my colleagues. I think it was really wonderful experience. Um I want to say it was my first year on the board where we actually actively got to shadow as board members uh CSEA employees. And so I remember shadowing um you know, first one of our bus drivers and one of our BITs and you know, just really opening my eyes to a lot of the incredible work that happens on our campuses. Um that isn't always acknowledged or seen. And so um in addition to the the amazing kind of, you know, uh program going forward shadowing a student. I think, you know, how can we as board members be also actively involved in shadowing uh students or or, you know, um you know, CSEA members and you know, just really
144being actively engaged in the classroom. Um I know we we also had similarly um a student listening session um at I think it was Mount Whitney High School several years ago um that was attended by all of our board members where we got a lot of really clear insights into, you know, how you know, students were feeling directly impacted on the ground. Um I I would love to see that initiative brought back to life. I think our student board members and um our student committees do an excellent job of also, you know, reporting back. But I think there's something different about just being in that space with a group of students and a board member um and and just being able to listen and learn uh directly from students as well. Um so to the
145extent that we can, you know, bring that back and make that possible, I certainly would uh love to participate. Um want to give a huge shoutout to all of our uh winter percussion and colorguard teams who also competed at the South Valley Winter Arts Association championships. Um many of them who also competed in other circuits around the Central Valley. Um so many hours that go into those performances, you know, prepping, rehearsing, um also, you know, countless hours spent by coaches and parents um in rehearsals and sectionals. So I just want to give a major shoutout uh to all of our schools, all of our parents, and our coaches uh who competed and represented our district. Um also want to reiterate uh board member De Young's comments around green spaces and you know, to the extent
146that we can uh partner with our city and maybe even COS to open up more green spaces for our community, the better. Um I know there are constant challenges in terms of, you know, um youth sports teams and we have, you know, wonderful E-LAP programs. Um but would love to see, you know, what we can do as a district to provide more green spaces for our families um whenever they aren't being used by our school teams um or facilities. Um and I also want to um echo board member Gabby's comments in terms of, you know, what we can do um to go beyond just compliance. How can we continue to partner with the source to ensure that we are ad- adequately offering resources, training, um not just for for staff, for board members, you know,
147for everyone in our district um and ensure that we have comprehensive, you know, LGBTQ supports across our district. And um really excited about the expansion of some of our sports here coming forward, uh but also looking at uh volleyball through a different angle, actually through uh you know, uh a kind of gender equity. To my knowledge, we don't offer men's volleyball, correct, in the district? Um and and I know there are college teams and similar scholarship opportunities, etc. available. And so, I would also, in addition to as we look at beach volleyball as an expansion uh for girls volleyball, you know, is there any sort of opportunity for us to also begin to offer uh men's or boys volleyball uh moving forward? And that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you. This is Naylor. And
148thank you. Um I was able to visit a couple of schools and I just want to give a shout out to um Principal Bishop. Um I toured La Jolla and I was very It was just so um I don't even know the word to say, but I I was just so in a you know, the kids in PE, we were watching them and I was amazed. They were doing square dancing and they were all involved. They They didn't care who their partner was and they were doing the squares and they were, you know, full-on and I I've never seen that before and I just thought, you know, they had student teachers out there that were It was all organized. Every kid knew what they were doing. I I was impressed and so kudos. Along with
149all the other classrooms, I mean, I was just so impressed with the square dancing. I just thought, "Wow." Um, but also I attended um Goshen Elementary and thank you, Principal Lucatero, doing a great job. The kids were, you know, all focused. It was a Friday. I know Fridays are hard, but that's the only day I have off every other Friday from my job and um it was nice to see the the kids. The TK um students were, you know, they were all sitting down, they were listening and then all of a sudden they got up, started a paint job. I thought, "Well, maybe it's time for exit because, you know, you got paint everywhere." But um they were they were very excited to be there. Um I do want to give a shout-out to I
150did attend the Visalia Ed Foundation along with I'm sure I'm going to probably steal your thunder here, but um it was a great event uh as a fundraiser and our our Visalia Ed Foundation gives a lot of scholarships out for our classroom teachers. Um so I I just would encourage people to attend. It's their major fundraiser. It was a nice event. They had dancing, line dancing, um just a lot of different things um available there. And then I wanted to welcome Miss Diaz. You did an excellent job on your board on your student board report, so thank you. That concludes. Thank you. Ms. Kamoe. Um I I would love to have beach volleyball, but I kind of like the flag football thing because more kids are involved. Someone who's not very athletic, I think I
151could block. So, um I love the idea of the flag football. So, thank you for that. Um I just wanted uh I love student voice. Um Mr. Thompson, um toward the end of the event, um gave a inspiring speech and how important it is to have student voice at the site. And lo and behold, I go to Goshen that Friday and um Mrs. Lucero talked about how she has student voice with her kids on campus. And I think that's I I just love that. I thought that was really important. Okay, now I'm going to talk about something really boring. Um we had legislative week. Uh it was the week of uh March 17th through 18th. And um the CSBA is taking on an initiative to close the achievement gap. They have a series of legislation
152that is going because I think what happens is we're held accountable, the the school districts are held accountable, and then we're getting demands from the State Board of Education, from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the super the State Superintendent, the California Department of Education. We're getting mandates, mandates without money. And there's not this cohesive program. So, there's going to be legislation to make the state uh accountable with a dashboard and looking at um getting these agencies together and focusing on programs that work. And so, um I'm I'm very excited about that. I did write a letter as an individual board member to their legislature to make sure that this legislation passes. If you're interested in writing a letter, let me know. I'll tell you how. Um and so I I'm very excited about that
153work because ever since I've been teaching and I've been in education for 40 years, we have not closed the achievement gap. So I I think this is important piece of legislation. Thank you. Thank you. So many good things said up here tonight at the dais. I don't have anything to add, so in the interest of time and whatever, I will have no report. Thank you, Mr. President. I'll I'll echo uh um Clerk Gamoyan's comments on the Assembly Bill. Uh definitely one to look into uh for our educators. Um the California uh support structure is very different from a lot of other states uh and accountability or lack thereof. Um and so I I individually also think that's that is some uh good legislation and hope we see that uh come through. Um also want to
154welcome everybody back from spring break. Uh we've been back a couple of weeks now and uh you know, our teachers, our students, our staff uh hit the ground running. Uh as I mentioned before the break, you know, not everybody takes the break. So we had a lot of employees and folks over the break uh working on making our facilities ready to go. Um you know, air conditioning, well although we might not need it right now, but air conditioning and things coming back and it takes a lot of work and effort uh for those things to happen as well. So thank you to our staff uh and our students and as we enter testing season, uh it's a great opportunity. I know our students are going to shine because they're going to show uh what they've
155learned from the efforts of our our staff and our teachers. So uh welcome back and we look forward to a productive uh you know, just a couple of months now before uh our students walk across the stage. So uh looking forward to that. That concludes my report. Off we go. 12 administrative panel recommendations in action. I have a motion to approve the recommended expulsions. I'll motion. Second. Okay. So, motion by Gaby, seconded by Gamoyan. Call for the vote. Oh, okay. Um And one out of the room. Yeah. Motion carries. Student board member abstains. Six yes, one absent. Good. Okay. Uh may I have a motion to approve the recommended suspended expulsions? I'll motion. >> Motion by Gaby. >> Second. Seconded by Naylor. Call for the vote. Come on. Come on. There we go. Motion carries.
156Student board member abstains. Six yes, one absent. Okay. General agenda 13.1, adoption of instructional materials for elementary music first read. Our presenter tonight is executive director of teaching and learning, Breanne Phillips. Good evening again, board president Otto, superintendent Strom, and board. Tonight, I'm going to bring to you a first read on our elementary instructional materials focused on our music adoption. And as our presentation is loading, um I'll just launch into that we believe that all students can achieve at high levels and demonstrate continuous growth. With this belief at the core, we have laid the foundation um to ensure that every student is learning every day. The music adoption supports teachers in providing high-quality learning experiences for students and equips them with the necessary educational tools to support student success. Through our collaborative adoption approach, future
157training of teachers, and intentional implementation plan, we are setting the conditions for success of our learners. Tonight, we'll review our adoption process, as well as the recommended instructional materials for elementary music. This slide is um you see every time I come up for a first or first read um and our process for our piloting and adoption and adopting. But specifically, we like to zoom in on the specific components and timelines for our um adoptions. So, within the music adoption, you can I just want to point out that we began this process back in 2024, and it has been very intentional to um uh process in order to engage all of our teachers, as well as all of our students, which you'll see on our next slide. After beginning this pilot process, we had a small
158group of teachers, but the rest of the elementary general music team quickly saw that the new resources and wanted to participate in the pilot process. In working with our publisher, we were able to um use for the entire of this academic year all um all of our elementary general music volunteer teachers voluntarily opted into the pilot process and have been using these new resources throughout the entire academic year. This adoption committee recommends Quaver Music. In addition to having engaging activities and a robust library of of resources, Quaver Music is the only general music curriculum to be formally adopted and recommended by the California Department of Education's Instructional Quality Commission. As always, we like to gather a few quotes from our teachers um and one I'll read out. Quaver Music has highly engaging resources for all
159students from TK through sixth grade. This program has created a willingness for students to experiment and build upon their own musical knowledge. We also like to get feedback from our students, even our youngest ones. Our first grade students stated, "I like moving my body fast when we when the music goes fast. I loved the activity where we used animal sounds to make funny rhythms." This program comes with presentation screens and interactive activities, differentiation, extension and enrichment resources and activities, culturally responsive resources, formative and summative assessments with rubrics, and it integrates with PowerSchool, Clever, and Schoology. This 6-year adoption includes student and teacher digital licenses, custom support to adapt uh custom support to adapt Quaver music lessons and resources to VUSD's music scope and sequence, in-person and virtual implementation training, professional learning, and support through adoption
160at a cost of $206,412. Um this is not an action item. It is a first read only. Okay, do we have any public comment on this item? Any board member comment on this item? Mr. Built. >> I may have one. I would refer all of you to slide eight. That's uh one of the most um mature of the teachers uh that are moving around with our little ones teaching music. And having helped her with Quaver, I'm very impressed uh because it's not only innovative, but interactive. It helps the teacher actually put together lesson plans that are multi-leveled, multi-faceted. Uh thanks to Alan for all your work at that. It's um I would say it's highly recommended to continue with it, but I know that this is first read. We're not going to accept it today.
161but also I would point out it's a 6-year adoption, so it literally will get a lot of bang for this buck. Any other board member comment? Seeing none, thank you much, Ms. Phillips. Uh let's see, 12 13.2, amended public hearing for site suitability for the Lowry Ranch site due to legal land description. I will now open up a public hearing to allow for public comment on this item. Our presenter is Chief Business Officer Nathan Hernandez. Good evening, President Otto, members of the board, and Superintendent Schrum. Uh I got the hard part done. Thank you for opening the public hearing. So, this is uh the second time we brought this item forward. Uh this item came forward in February um as a public hearing, and this is the site suitability for Lowry Ranch. Um that means
162that we have approval from the Department of Toxic Substance Control as well as Department of Ed to move forward with the purchase of this property. Uh we had to correct the land description. Uh so, the parcel number was correct when we brought this forward in February, but the description and of the land was incorrect, and so we're bringing this forward again for another hearing. And requesting that the board approve the suitability of purchase of the property. Do we have any public comment on this item? Not all at once. Okay. Uh any board member comment? I'll make a motion. I will close the public hearing and accept Mr. Viegas's motion to uh approve the amended public hearing for site suitability for the Lowry Ranch site due to legal land description. Seconded by Ms. Naylor. Call for
163the vote. Come on. Motion carries. Student board member votes yes. Seven yeses. Okay. 13.3, adoption of amended resolution 25-26-19 approving the purchase of Lowry Ranch due to revised legal land description. Back to see us again, CBO Hernandez. Yes, this is the second item that allows us to move forward with the purchase and sale agreement for that property. And just as a reminder, this is the property that we're planning to put the new elementary school on in Northwest Visalia. And so again, correction for the land description. Got it. Public comment on this item? Seeing none. Board member comment on this item? Seeing just as much none. May I have a motion to approve the adoption of amended resolution 25-26-19 approving the purchase of Lowry Ranch due to revised legal land description? I'll make that motion. I
164think I made the original one. Okay. Motion by Mr. Belt, seconded by? I'll second. Seconded by Mr. De Young. Call for the vote. Motion carries. Student board member votes yes, seven yeses. Okay. We're almost there, kids. 13.4 warrant list March 1. I am going to make a motion to approve the warrant list for March 1, 2026 to March 27, 2026. Who will second that? Okay, Naylor seconds that. Business department seconds it. Call for the vote. Motion carries. Student board member votes yes, seven yeses. The meeting is now adjourned. Thank you, folks.