001We have a quorum. In fact, all seven of us here right now. This meeting is being webcast, excuse me, live and recorded. The recording or webcast may capture images and sounds of those attending the meeting. Uh 1.4. I will now identify closed session topics of discussion. They are as follows. Recommended expulsions. Recommended suspended expulsions. Recommended reinstatements. Public employee assignment. Reassignment. Appointment. Public employee discipline. Dismissal. Release and complaints. Conference with labor negotiator. Conference with legal counsel. Existing litigation. Conference with real property negotiators. And then under anticipated litigation. 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 potential plaintiff or plaintiffs. Okay. Public comment on close session topics. Public comment on any close session item will be heard at
002this time. Pursuant to board policy, the board may limit individual comments to no more than three minutes and individual topics to 20 minutes. It is recommended you begin your comments by stating your name. Do we have any public comment on close session topics? Okay, seeing none, uh we will adjourn to close session. We anticipate close session will take approximately 1 hour. However, if additional time is required, the regular session may be called to order after 5:30. Happens once in a while. The board will now adjourn to close session. We'll now convene the regular session. Thanks for your patience. Um let's see. I'll introduce the interpreter. Alandre Moran will 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
003the table located in the back of this room. This announcement will now be shared in Spanish. Okay. This meeting is being webcast live and recorded. The recording or 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 the public comment form, the green forms located on the table at the northeast entrance to the room. Please hand completed forms to executive assistant Licia Weatherford in the back of the room there with her hand raised before the item comes up on the agenda. 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, please use the microphone on the stand
004which will be located in the center or the front of the room. We will now move to the pledge of allegiance led by board member Walter Gamyan. >> Ready? Salute. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. So, now I'm going to read out uh action taken in close session. There's quite a bit of these. In close session on a motion by board member Goyan and a second by board member Gabby, the board agreed by a vote of six yeses and one no with the yeses being Mr. Belt, Mr. D. Young, Miss Gabby, Miss Gamoy, Miss Naylor, and Mr. Odto and one nay that being Mr. Viegas to approve the resolution
005of non-reelection of probationary certificated employees listed as follows. Employee ID number see in close session on a motion by board member Naylor and a second by board member Belt the board agreed unanimously to appoint Kay Yang to the position of principal of Mineral King Elementary School. Miss Yang currently serves as the assistant principal of Riverway Elementary where she has served for the last two years. Prior to joining VUSD, Miss Yang worked in ABC Unified for 19 years. During that time, she served in a variety of roles including an elementary school teacher, induction mentor, intervention specialist, and instructional coach. She also served as the assistant principal at Carver Elementary for three years. Miss Yang earned a bachelor of science and liberal studies from California State University, Long Beach, and a master's degree in educational technology from
006Fresno Pacific University. Miss Yang holds a multiple subjects teaching credential and an administrative services credential. On behalf of the board of trustees, congratulations to Miss Yang. In close session on a motion by board member Gabby and a second by board member Naylor, the board agreed unanimously to appoint Rebecca Moore to the position of principal of Elbow Creek Elementary School. Rebecca Moore has been employed with Vice Unified School District for a total of 17 years. She began her career in education as an elementary school teacher at Riverside Unified where she worked for 5 years. After Riverside, she went to Bangkok, Thailand, where she taught English language arts for a year. Upon her return from Thailand, Miss Moore joined VUSD to teach English language arts at Devisidero and Valley Oak Middle Schools for a total of six
007years. Miss Moore then transitioned into a learning director position at Valley Oak, where she served for three years. She currently serves as the principal of Charter Home School, where she's been for the last eight years. Miss Moore earned a bachelor of science and liberal studies from Fresno Pacific Union College and a master's degree in educational leadership from California State University, Fresno. Miss Moore holds multiple subject teaching credential and an administrative services credential. On behalf of the board of trustees, congratulations to Mrs. Moore. In close session on a motion by board member Naylor, seconded by board member Viegas, the board agreed unanimously to appoint Jacqueline Vang to the position of principal of Washington Elementary School. Jacqueline Vang currently serves as an assistant principal at Devisidero Middle School. She began her career in in education teaching at
008Washington Elementary where she taught for 5 years. She then transitioned into administration with VUSD and has served as an assistant principal for the past three years. Mrs. Vang also served as a summer school principal during the summer of 2024. Miss Vang earned a bachelor of arts in liberal studies and a master of arts in curriculum and instruction from California State University Fresno. Miss Fang holds a multiple subjects teaching credential and an administrative services credential. On behalf of the board of trustees, congratulations to Miss Fang. In closed session, on a motion by member Belt and a second by board member D. Young, the board agreed unanimously to appoint Scott Brawn to the position of principal of Greenacres Middle School. Scott Braun has served as the principal of VTEC High School for the last four years. Prior
009to his current position, he served as principal of Fowler High School for two years. Mr. Mr. Braun also worked for Fresno Unified School District where he served as a manager too for a year, vice principal for seven years, and a teacher for 14 years. Mr. Brown holds a bachelor of arts and psychology and a master of arts in education from California State University, Fresno. He holds a single subject teaching credential and an administrative services credential. On behalf of the board of trustees, congratulations to Mr. Braw. In close session, on a motion by board member Naylor, seconded by board member Gone, the board agreed unanimously to appoint Michelle Zavaleta to the position of director of special education. Michelle Zavaleta has served as the director of special education and psychological services at Tallery City School District for
010the past 12 years. Prior to this role, she worked as a school psychologist at TCSD for seven years and at Lindsay Unified School District for six years. She also taught in a school psychology program at the University of Massachusetts for four years. Miss Avaleta earned a bachelor of arts and psychology with a minor in Spanish and a masterers of master of science in counseling from California State University Sacramento. She holds a pupil personnel services credential and an administrative services credential. On behalf of the board of trustees, congratulations to Miss Zavaleta. Okay. In closed session, on a motion by board member Viegas and a second by board member Naylor, the board agreed unanimously to approve a settlement agreement between the district and CSEA classified employee number 24671. Okay, that concludes um things done in close session.
011Revisions to the enclosure items and adoption of the board meeting agenda. Item 3.6. There are revised item enclosures as follows. 5.1 5.2 2 7.18 7.19 7.21 7.22 7.45 12.6 and 12.7. Do I have a motion to adopt the board meeting agenda? >> Sure. I'll move. >> Moved by Mrs. Naylor, seconded by Mr. Belt. Okay. Call for the motion. Go for the vote. Does our student board member There we go. Uh motion carries. Student board member voting yes. Um seven yes, no nos. >> Okay. Just a quick heads up. You'll notice that the room is very full tonight and we have a lot of things going on. So we have a couple things. We have a student performance here coming up next on the agenda. Then we have student achievement awards and those typically run about
01245 minutes or so. Okay. Okay. Then after that, we go into our regular meeting sequence. Just a heads up in case you're here expecting one thing and we provide you a different kind of entertainment tonight. But we will start off first with the student performance from Gold Mist High School Theater. And our presenter for that is going to be Mr. Thompson. >> Yes sir. Good good evening board president Odto. Superintendent Trump board. Uh this is an amazing exciting uh moment and our meeting tonight is this April Golden West High School is bringing Legally Blonde the musical to LJ Williams Theater. Tonight we get a sneak pe uh a sneak peek playing the lead role of L Woods. Please welcome Golden West Senior Sonia Nelson. Tonight Sonia will be pouring the musical number so Much Better.
013The song begins with a heartbroken L. Woods. Uh, however, the mood quickly changes when she learns she has been accepted to Harvard. Board members, please uh join me at this time. Please step away from your seats and a step back so we can enjoy Miss You'd come to respect my mind. And at last you'd find you could love me again. And I have turned my whole world upside down. Trying not to let you go. Watching you walk away is like a fatal blow. Whoa. Is that my name up on that list? Does someone know that I exist? Is this a mistake? Am I even awake? Pinch me now to make sure. Yes, that is my name. Black and white. Maybe I'm doing something right. Wo, I feel so much better than before. Warner, sorry I've
014been a pest, but I guess my best was not working with you. It looks like I found a cure. And I so look forward to working with you. I remember when we spent spring break in the hot tub every night. So nothing else could ever feel SO RIGHT. WELL, THIS might seeing my name up on that list. That beats the first time that we kissed. Thought I was dumb, but I think that somebody's judgment was poor. Seeing my name in black and white, it's like staying up with you all night. No, wait. It feels so much better. Hello. Much better. It's so so so much better. Cuz I am so much better than before. Maybe she's what you prefer. But hey, last year I was hurt. Maybe you will change your mind, but you might
015look up to find. I've gone on to better things, better jobs, to bigger rings. I don't have the time to cry. I'm too busy loving my name on that list. Kind of a cool ironic twist. Who else can I tell? Wait, where's myself? Mom will fall on THE FLOOR. HEY MOM, look at my name in black and white. your daughter's doing something right. I am so much better. I'll be there on Monday 9:00. Then you will see who walks THE WALK. NO, NO, I CAN'T WAIT. I WILL be there at 8 when they unlock the door. OH. OH. I'll even dress in black and white. See, I have not begun to bite. AND YOU'LL GO, "WHOA, MUCH BETTER. HELLO, much better." Soon all Y'ALL GOING TO KNOW much better cuz I am so much better.
016I am so much better than before. Thank you very much. That was a great way to open the meeting. Uh, now we move on to item 4.1, student achievement awards. Our presenter, back to you, Mr. Thompson. >> Yes, thank you. Good evening, Board President Odo, board members, and superintendent Shrum. Uh, tonight we get the pleasure of recognizing outstanding high school as well as adult students in the areas of English, agriculture, world language, and citizenship growth along with educational options overall academic achievement. The board will also recognize the United Students Association of Vicelia USAV winter students of the season. USAV consists of Vicil Unified School District secondary students decated dedicated to improving educational programs and representing student views to the board of education. These students represent the best of the best from our schools and the
017areas from which they have been selected and we are very proud of them for their accomplishments and for what they represent their school how they represent their schools and our district. Each of them is certainly worthy of this special recognition tonight. But before we begin, I first would like to recognize and thank the families of each of these outstanding students. So, thank you parents that are here tonight. Your support and encouragement helps them to get where they're at and it is valued and appreciated. I would also like to recognize and thank their teachers and school staffs. Let's let's give them a big hand. As I see as I see many of you in the room tonight here to encourage our students. All of us share pride in the accomplishments of these students. We are also
018very happy to be able to take time tonight to honor these students and hear about their accomplishments. Students, you will receive a medal as as part of your recognition which we invite you to wear at your commencement ceremony. Our communications team has created a QR code. You'll find just outside that door on your way out. If you click that, if uh the pictures that are taken tonight, you can link to those and get those as well. So during that, at this time, we're going to go and get started. I'm going to invite Adalfo Reyes, principal of Sequoia High School, to get us started. First word, it feels good to be back. >> Yes. I >> have some amazing amazing students that I'll be presenting today from Sequoia High School. First one, Anaelli Gonzalez Kaufman. An
019Thank you. Anelli has shown incredible growth and resilience this year, transforming a fresh start at Sequoia High School into a journey of academic and personal achievement. By meeting every challenge with determination, maturity, she inspires her peers and embodies the true meaning of finishing Sequoia strong. She is a senior. CONGRATULATIONS. And they won't give me any competition with this style today. Moes Santiago. From day one, Moises stood out as an assertive and highly motivated leader. He is a fierce self- advocate who deepens his understanding by thoughtfully challenging lessons and asking the right questions. Beyond his own drive, he elevates the classroom by spearheading discussions and encouraging his peers to engage and to engage. Thank you, MORES. Eduardo Samyanggo Cardinas. Eduardo is a powerhouse scholar who has redefined his academic trajectory this quarter. Driven by an uncompromising
020goal of earning straight A's, he has consistently exceeds expectations through disciplined work habits and relentless work ethic. His presence elevates the classroom. He balances high level participation with deep respect for peers and staff alike. Having involved a highly motivated leader, Eduardo has built a foundation for long-term success and is fully committed to finishing his tenure at Sequoa with maximum impact. Thank you, sir. And our student that could not make it today, Jonathan Cardinas. In just two quarters, Jonathan has staged a remarkable academic turnaround with 90% attendance rate and straight A's. He has transformed his potential to high level performance, taking complete ownership of his education. Jonathan is a respectful, positive leader who balances strong self- advocacy with seamless peer collaboration. By aggressively catching up on credits, he has successfully earned his way back to Redwood
021High School for his senior school year. A powerful testament to his grit and the success of Sequoia's promise of a fresh start. Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Congratulations, Sequoia students. You guys want to head out that way. Next up, we have Principal Tammy Olsen of Vicilia Adult School. Thank you. Tonight we would like to recognize Alicia Pñena. Alicia is a current go Alicia is in our current day CNA program which she will complete this Thursday. Alisia demonstrates the strength, potential, and determination that it takes to succeed. She is competent, professional, honest, caring, and extremely considerate of others. She has amazing work ethics and morals, and she goes above and beyond for others in need. Whether it is for her patients, her classmates or staff, no one is a stranger to Alicia Pena and
022we look forward to her endeavors to further her education to become a licensed vocational nurse and we are proud to recognize her this evening. Next, we would like to recognize Alina Falconee. Coming to Vicelia Adult School, Alina needed a lot of credits to graduate with her diploma and she did that in December and walked in January. Alina is pursuing her desire to work in early childhood education and there are many reasons she said that kept her going, but the biggest her family who are here with her tonight. She wanted her two young children to know it's never too late to reach for your dreams. Another big motivation she said was she was always told she couldn't do it on her own and she proved that she could. Alina has volunteered in her children's classrooms and
023been a leader in their school's PTO. So again, congratulations Alina. We know your future is bright. Thank you. All right, we'll get that picture together. Thank you, Adult School. Well done. Next up, we have Principal Carly Hawkins from Vicelia Charter Independent Study. Good evening. So excited to be here. So, first for our first overall academic achievement winner tonight, I would like to recognize Juan Garcia. A true eagle, Juan Garcia has dedicated all four years of high school to VCIS, showing an unwavering commitment to our school. He has excelled in the culinary and digital photography CTE pathways where his creativity and hard work consistently shine. Balancing these rigorous programs while maintaining an impressive 3.96 GPA reflects his discipline and determination. Beyond academics, Juan leads his classmates with character and kindness. Juan, your dedication to your academic
024achievements make us incredibly proud. Congratulations on this well-deserved HONOR, SIR. NEXT UP FOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AT VCIS, Miss Emily Marquez. Emily is a hard-working and motivated student who consistently sets high standards for herself. She actively participates in her classes, collaborates well with her peers, and demonstrates respect and leadership. Emily embraces challenges as opportunities and her curiosity allows her to adapt quickly and perform well under pressure. She earned the California State Seal of Biteracy, maintains a 4.3 GPA, completed many COS classes, and she's also a member of our pharmacy technician program at VCIS and volunteers at Kawia Health in her spare time. Emily's dedication and achievements have truly earned this academic recognition. Congratulations, Emily. And first up for our USAV award tonight at VCIS, Mr. Elijah Partaker. Elijah Partaker is an exceptional student and an outstanding
025individual. Throughout his time at VCIS, he has demonstrated determination, perseverance, and a strong commitment to excellence while maintaining a rigorous academic schedule. As a junior, he completed the certified nursing assistant program, and he's actually working as a CNA. This year, he he's completing the medical assistant program and will graduate with that certification in this field as well. Elijah is kind, driven, compassionate, hardworking, and extremely respectful. His dedication and work ethic will lead to a bright and successful future. Congratulations, Elijah. And last, but certainly not least this evening is Miss Laya Ramirez. Laya Ramirez is a standout high achieving student at VCIS. She is on track to graduate a full year early, having completed all of her A throughG requirements, multiple COS courses, and is in our CNA program at VCIS. In addition to her CNA
026extership and her online coursework, Ila helps to support children at her parents inhome daycare, speaking with warmth and respect about both the children and patients under her care. After graduating in June, she plans to pursue higher education to become a registered nurse. Congratulations, Leila, on this well-deserved recognition. Let's give one more big hand for VCIS. Next up, we have VTEC, which is Vicelia Technical Early College High School, and our principal, Scott Brun. Tonight we recognize Johnny Keeling, a senior with outstand excuse me, a senior outstanding VTEC A student. Johnny is one of the most dependable and hardworking students on our campus. An a systems pathway completer. He has earned small engine certification, OSHA 10 card, fire, and a fire extinguisher safety training. Johnny is a trusted farm operator, safely and consistently improves our school farm
027operations, and he was also recognized, you might have seen him on KC 24 character counts, student trust for trustworthiness. BTE is proud to honor Johnny for his work ethic, reliability, and commitment to excellence. Tonight we recognize Payton Osborne, a senior and this year's VTEC FFA reporter. She has strengthened our chapter's social media presence and community outreach while remaining deeply involved in every aspect of the program through her SAPE project raising market lambs. Payton demonstrates dedication, responsibility, and strong work ethic. While maintaining a solid academic record, she continues to lead with passion for agriculture and commitment to service for others. VTEC is proud to honor Peyton Osborne as our outstanding VTEC A student. We recognize Jenna Felix. A senior ranked fourth in her class with a 4.27 GPA that's weighted. While excelling at VTEC, she has
028completed 53 college units at the College of Sequoas. with a 3.77 GPA and will reach 60 units this spring. Jenna is on track for three associate degrees, >> including a psychology transfer degree degree. She will attend UC Davis in the fall to pursue a degree in psychology. Congratulations, Jenna. We recognize Saxon Gonzalez, a VTEC senior ranked number one in his class with a 4.58 weighted GPA. While excelling in high school, he has completed 78 college units at the COS with a 3.88 GPA. He will reach 88 units this spring. Saxon is on track for four associates degrees, including elementary teacher education transfer and child and adolescent development for transfer. He plans to attend UC Merrced to study communications with a focus on teaching. VTEC is proud to honor Saxon Gonzalez for outstanding academic achievement. >>
029Yep. Technical College. Sorry. Thank you. Next up, we have Redwood High School and principal Dr. Brandon Grid Iron. Good evening everyone. We're super excited to uh congratulate our students for tonight for their accomplishments. Our first student recognized tonight is Miss Leilani Hernandez and she's representing our world language department. Leilani stands out for her maturity, drive, and motivation to truly apply what she learns, not just earn strong grades. As a Spanish language learner, she consistently challenges herself by speaking Spanish in class, delivering thoughtful and polished oral presentations and exceeding expectations. Her confidence enriches AP Spanish discussions, brings diverse perspectives and deeper insight to our topics. Leilani is respectful, genuine, and uplifting for her peers. She has tremendous potential for continued academic and personal success. Leilani, thank you for representing the very best of Redwood. Join me
030in congratulations, Llani Hernandez. Our next student representing our agricultural department is Brienne Branch. Brienne is a highly deserving recipient of the student achievement board award. For three years, excuse me, she has been an active and dedicated member of FFA, consistently demonstrating leadership, responsibility, and strong character. Brienne has raised two lambs and is currently raising a showsteer, reflecting her commitment, perseverance, and work ethic. As our current FFA president, she leads with integrity and sets a positive example for her peers. Brienne's dedication to excellence and service truly represents the spirit of this award. Thank you for representing the very best of Redwood. Thank you, Brian. Our next student nominated by our English department is Gavin Oblad. Gavin is nominated for student achievement award in English for his consistent pursuit of excellence. He is deeply invested in course
031reading and work working diligently to refine and strengthen his writing. His tenacity is evident in class discussions where he shares thoughtful insights and listens carefully to his peers. Gavin embodies the qualities we hope to see in every student. His growth, mindset, and a positive attitude have led to meaningful success and has been a pleasure to watch him grow and thrive in English. Congratulations, Gavin. Our next student nominated for his growth and citizenship is Owen Hos. Owen continues to show what true Ranger citizenship looks like on our campus. He carries himself with respect and a positive attitude that genuinely stands out. Students gravitate toward Owen because he is kind, fair, and consistently friendly to all. He treats people the right way and sets a good example without wanting recognition. He shared that he wants to do
032the right thing and be a positive influence, especially for his younger brother and family. He steps in to help staff without being asked, volunteering at Ranger Summit, a community event, and lending a helping hand to anyone in need. Nominated five different times for five different staff members for Ranger of the Month, Owen truly represent what it means to be a Ranger. Thank you for representing the best of Redwood. Congratulations, Owen. Our next student is nominated as USAV student of the season is Adrien Lopez Guzman. Adrien is always amongst the first to step up and volunteer. He helps not for recognition but because he genuinely cares about ASB and Redwood High School community. He consistently supports classmates ensuring no one feels left behind. Adrien makes ASB a priority. dedicating his time and energy to strengthening the
033program. Respected and appreciated across campus, he embodies what it means to be a true Ranger through his leadership, selflessness, and school spirit and making him deserving of student season recipient. Congratulations, Adrian. And our final student of the season for USAV is Khloe Miller. Khloe loves ASB more than anyone. She's passionate and carries a clear vision for our program to grow, improve, and become one of the very best. Khloe is a leader at heart, challenging herself and those around her to think bigger, work harder, and care deeper. She truly embodies what it means to be a true Ranger. Her dedication and love for AB makes her a deserving recipient of this award. Congratulations, Chloe. Congratulations to all of our students. Next up, we have LDonte High School with principal Neils Burges. Tonight, I'd like to recognize
034a few of LDE's distinguished students. First, I'd like to recognize John Rosa, recognized for his achievement in agriculture. John is an agriculture student who sets the standard for excellence, serving as LD's FFA chapter president and Taller King's sectional FFA president. John leads with integrity. He's the regional proficiency winner in dairy production, the California state champion in citrus judging, and two-time national FFA delegate representing California. While his many with his many accomplishments, John maintains a 4.38 GPA while also working on his family's dairy. His work ethic, his character, and commitment truly embody the spirit of of agricultural education. John plans a career in agriculture uh business. Please join me in congratulating John. Our next student to be recognized is Juan Ikiwa, recognized for his achievements in English. On top of his analytical and creative writing abilities,
035Juan always asks thoughtprovoking questions that get everyone in class excited about what we are studying. His academic skills span much farther than just his ability to write and discuss. Though, John has challenged himself with rigorous courses, and in each course, he's mastered the curriculum, as is evident in his grades. At our school, he's seen as a leader and a mentor for our students, leading by example and showing them what it takes to be a minor. Thank you, John. Come on. Sarah Munoz is being recognized for her citizenship growth. Oh, I apologize. Sarah Atlantis. I'm sorry. Come forward. Yeah, we have two Sarah. I apologize. As a freshman at LDonte High School, Sarah faced challenges that tested her resilience through determination, self-reflection, and support from those around her. She steadily transformed those early obstacles into opportunities
036for growth. Today, she is focused, responsible, and motivated. She completes assignments, engages in class, and builds positive relationships with peers and staff. Now, a senior, she brings warmth and positivity to campus. Sarah plans to attend California State University, Fresno to major in social work and hopes to support students facing challenges like her own using her resilience and compassion. Please join me in congratulating Sarah. And please join me in congratulating the next Sarah. Sarah Munoz Ugaldi is the recipient a year's award for outstanding achievement in world languages for El Donte. Sarah is a senior excelling in her fourth year of French already bilingual in Spanish and English. Upon entering high school, Sarah took the opportunity to challenge herself with a third language. She's consistently meticulous and engaged. Highly creative. Sarah competed as a courtroom artist in
037Tallery County's mock trial competition. She plans to take her skills in language and art to cos pursuing a career in business, specifically marketing or graphic design. Please join me in congratulating Sarah. And last but not least, please join me in congratulating Jada Tour as an outstanding representative of Minor Nation and deserving nominee for the USAB winner student of the season award. As a junior, she's already making a significant impact through her leadership in ASB and active involvement in multiple campus clubs. A dedicated and accomplished member of FFA, Jada also excels academically with two AP classes, two college courses, and nearly a 4.0 GPA. She embodies the true definition of a student athlete, leading with positivity and determination along with a can do attitude. Please join me in congratulating Jada. Thank you, Eldia Monte. Next up,
038we do have a Golden West High School principal Michael Lambert. Good evening. Tonight, I'd like to celebrate some amazing trailblazers with you. The first student we're going to talk about is Sophia Nelson. If you were here earlier, you may have seen her. Um, Sophia, this is for English. However, Sophia is an exceptional student who consistently exceeds expectations in every endeavor. She approaches her work with maturity beyond her years and demonstrates that when she is challenged, she rises with determination and excellence. Gifted in the performing arts, Sophia brings the same dedication and discipline to her academic coursework. The English department frequently recognizes her as an exemplary student and a remarkable individual. Her talent, work ethic, and character make her truly deserving for this honor, and we look forward to all she will accomplish in the future.
039Sophia Nelson. Our next recipient is for agriculture and that's Addison Tyler. On behalf of the Golden West High School agriculture department, we proudly recognize Addison for her exceptional leadership and service. As chapter president and Taller King's FFA section vice president, she has represented our school locally and nationally, including in leadership conferences in Washington DC. After earning her state FFA degree, she is now pursuing her American degree and aspiring to California FFA state office. Addison secured a grant to lead a project raising a 100 meat birds, donating over 470 pounds of protein to the Vicelia Emergency Aid Council. Truly living the FFA motto. Addison Tyler. Our next award winner is for world language and that's Tatiana Torres. Tatiana, a junior at Golden West High School, was nominated for student achievement award by Madame Gibson for her
040consistency and commitment to excellence. She maintains a 3.41 41 weighted GPA while pursuing a rigorous, well-rounded course load. Tatiana balances her extracurricular involvement with strong academic dedication, never allowing one to diminish the other. Known for being considerate and helpful both in and out of the classroom, she exemplifies responsibility, character, and perseverance, making her truly deserving of this recognition. Tatiana Torres. Our next award winner is for citizenship growth and that's Valerie Orval Melesio. Over the past four years as a trailblazer, Valerie has demonstrated remarkable growth in citizenship from her freshman to senior year. She has developed stronger decision-making skills, showing increased responsibility, thoughtfulness, and accountability in her choices. Valerie has been a tremendous support to the site administration and models integrity and respect. Her positive attitude, civic engagement, and commitment to doing what is right reflect
041true maturity. Valerie's growth exemplifies the character and leadership we strive to develop in all students at Golden West. Valerie Melesia. Our next student is for USAV student of the season and possibly the youngest student recognized tonight. This is Chase Say Chao. Chase is a ninth grade student who has quickly become an outstanding member of the ASB program at Golden West High School. As the freshman class president, he proudly represents his class and approaches every responsibility with maturity and enthusiasm. Chase consistently goes above and beyond by volunteering his time, helping wherever needed, and managing our ASB social media presence to promote school spirit and involvement. He has a natural ability to connect students across campus and build positive relationships. He hopes to pursue a career in law enforcement and already demonstrates integrity, accountability, and the courage
042to stand up for what is right. It's a true honor to to nominate and present this award to Chase, the USA student of the season. Our final award winner for this evening is Andrea Reyes Padilla and she is a USAV student of the season. Andrea was nominated as VSD student of the season for her outstanding leadership and service. A cornerstone of ASB. Andrea leaves with reliability, initiative, and attention to detail. She organizes events, supports teammates, and communicates effectively with students and staff. Despite a rigorous academic schedule, she consistently makes time to serve others. Her positive character, strong work ethic, and respectful voice inspire those around her to make truly making this truly a deserving honor. Congratulations. Squeeze it. Thank you, Golden West. Next up, we have Mount Wendy High School principal Michelle Reid. All right.
043Good evening, board members. President Odo, Superintendent Shrum. My name is Michelle Reed and I serve as a principal of Mount Whitney High School. Um, I am honored tonight to present you with six wonderful young women who are very deserving of the awards that we're going to be presenting them this evening. Our first student is VCA Mote and Vara was uh nominated by the English department. So, Vara has demonstrated exceptional academic excellence, earning an outst outstanding A+ in AP English language. This achievement is even more impressive as she is concurrently enrolled in four AP courses, AP psych, AP US history, AP pre-calc, and AP English language. Beyond the classroom, Vsha actively participates in a hiphop class and club, Academy of Health Science, and volunteers at Kawia Health. Her strong character, dedication, and ability to balance a
044rigorous schedule with extracurricular involvement truly set her apart from as an exceptional student. Congratulations, Barca. Our next student was nominated by our A department, Kylie Trager. Kylie is a true example of leadership in our a program. Dedicated, hard-working, and deeply committed to FFA. She has been an active member all four years, serving as FFA secretary and for the past two years as our FFA president. Kylie has raised market lamps for the Tallery County Fair each year and never hesitates to put the hard work at the school farm. Beyond agriculture, she is active in sports, elevate dance team, campus clubs, and her church youth program. Kylie is truly deserving of this recognition. Congratulations, Kylie. Our next student was nominated by the World Languages Lab, Maria Rodriguez Reese. Maria has demonstrated exceptional academic excellence and dedication. She
045excelled in both AP Spanish language and AP Spanish lit and culture, successfully passing both exams, an impressive accomplishment. Maria has challenged herself with a rigorous course load that includes multiple AP classes and has earned a strong weighted GPA of 3.89. Her commitment to academic growth, perseverance, and high standards truly set her apart. Maria is an outstanding student who exemplifies what it means to pursue excellence. Congratulations, Maria. Our next student was nominated for citizenship growth. Carmen Himenez Robas. Carmen's academic journey is truly inspiring. After arriving in in the United States during the second semester of her freshman year, she quickly embraced the challenge of excelling in a new environment. She went on to take and pass the AP Spanish lit and culture exam, an accomplishment that speaks to her dedication, resilience, and intellectual strength. Beyond academics,
046Carmen is a dedicated member of the Mount Whitney basketball program and is known for her kindness, constant smile, and respect for others. She is a remarkable example of perseverance and heart. Congratulations, Carmen. Our next student um is a USAB student of the spring, Jazelle Velasquez Pod. So Jazelle serves as Mount Winnie High School's ASB secretary and is an active member of the Academy of Health Science. She is involved in photography and volunteers at Kuia Health, demonstrating her commitment both on and off campus. While maintaining a 3.0 no GPA. Jazelle balances numerous responsibilities with dedication and integrity. She is known for staying late to complete tasks and has often taken projects home to ensure they meet high standard. Jazelle is truly an invaluable contributor to our school community. Congratulations, Jazelle. All right. And our final reward
047recipient, also a USAV student, is Heather Madera. Heather serves as Mount Winny's ASB vice president and plays a vital role on campus as our sound equipment manager. She knows the ins and outs of our sound system and generously trains others to ensure events run smoothly. Maintaining a 3.0 GPA, Heather balances academics with active involvement across campus. She is a dedicated link crew mentor supporting our freshman class and volunteers her time working in the pizza shack and other campus snack pro snack bars. Heather's leadership and service make a lasting impact on our school community. Congratulations, Heather. All right. board president. That concludes this report. Let's give all those students one more big hand for the amazing work that they do each and every day at the school. >> Thank you, Mr. Thompson. We appreciate the work
048of the kids to get to this level and the support of their parents to help the kids get to this level. 5.1 spotlight on good things happening in the district. Superintendent Shr. >> Thank you, President Oto, board members and our community. We do still have the sound on in DO4 just as a point uh for in many if any individuals want to uh continue to watch the board meeting from that space. Um also want to echo our student entertainment tonight, Golden West. we see our talent on display and this time of year is wonderful for our spring musicals and those uh opportunities as well. And to all of our students who uh received awards for the spring uh as well, thank you and also echo uh the work of our parents and all the support
049networks that help them achieve. So, as we get ready to begin the spotlight tonight, I want to take a minute to again address the actions of a few students at Redwood High School, occurring a few weeks ago, where students chose to display on their shirts letters that spelled out a homophobic slur. I want to reaffirm that hate speech of any kind will not be tolerated in Vicelia Unified. And I want to thank Principal Grid Iron and his team who along with district support quickly addressed the situation to support Redwood school community. On the Redwood campus, Dr. Grid Iron has led important conversations with staff and students focused on education regarding the impact of hateful speech and reinforcing the expectations of respect and inclusion. To our LGBTQ students and adults, I want to affirm that you
050are valued members of our school community. We are working with principles to lead similar conversations across our campuses. Earlier this month, the students in our my superintendent student advisory group shared that while consequences are important, education is equally critical. Over a 100 student leaders that represented every VUSD school make up the advisory and acknowledged unfortunately that they use the word normalized when it comes to hate speech in our society citing social media, music, and other uh even in the news. Uh which makes it more important than ever that as a district we actively challenge that reality to ensure our schools stand for respect, dignity, and belonging for every student. I have also met with several community leaders who work with students outside of school and we discussed how we can continue partnering to create safe
051spaces and reinforce positive expectations for our young people. As a district, we're committed to self-examination, inquiry, and analysis of practices, critical review of organizational policies as we continue the conversation with our students, leaders, parents, and community so that our schools, and classrooms are safe places for all. Thank you. As we move into our spotlight on things happening in the district, following that, as we Yeah. Turn the clicker. Okay. Spotlight on schools and steam night. To kick things off, Mountain View Elementary hosted its first Steam night recently with over a 100 students and parents in attendance. Students and families participated in hands-on activities that engage students in problem solving and critical thinking. We also extend our gratitude to the 20 students from College of Sequoia Engineering Department who help facilitate the stations for our students. Evening
052activities like this give families an opportunity to engage with staff. And when students see school as fun and engaging, they're more likely to come every day. As most of our parents and students know, this was ReadAcross America week. Our teams headed out to classrooms to celebrate ReadAcross America Day and Dr. Duse week. Schools across our district held dressup days with special guest readers from the Vicelia Police Department to our board members and executive team. Literacy is critical to success and celebrating it helps promote a lifelong love of reading not only with our students but in our community as well. I'd like to congratulate our students who were named Toary County finalist in the National History Day competition. This year 47 students across the county advanced with three of those finalist are from Redwood High School.
053Congratulations to these students and their accomplishments. We hope to see you advance to the state national history day competition in May. Also, this time of year, many of our schools are holding transitions for our sixth grade students coming into seventh grade, our eighth grade going into 9th grade. I'm excited to announce that by the end of April, all incoming seventh and 9th grade students will have visited their upcoming middle or high school to learn about the programs, clubs, and activities offered on campus. It's traditions like these that help students make positive transition into their new much larger school in many cases. More than 20 middle and high school teams competed in our annual Taller County Science Olympiad, demonstrating outstanding teamwork, problem solving, and STEM knowledge. Our Vicelia United Unified Schools performed exceptionally well with Oak
054Grove taking first place, followed by Green Acres in second. We also won big at the state level or excuse me at the high school level with Redwood taking first and Golden West finishing fourth. These teams have all qualified to advance to the Northern California Science Olympiad in April where they'll compete against top teams from across the region. Thank you to Ridge View Middle School for hosting this year's event and to our teachers, coaches, and volunteers who support our students in these academic competitions. All right. Then our county's first ever, this is why I was not in a competition like this because I can't pronounce it. Pintholon. Yes. La Hoya Pathalon. Thank you. Yes. But congratulations to La Hoya Middle School who showed up ready to win and probably could pronounce. Uh the athlet the academic
055event is a fiveevent competition for middle school students that mirrors the high school's decathlon. Six students from La Hoya took home top individual scores in several categories and will be presented for consideration to the US academic competition next month. Congratulations to these students for participating and we fully expect to see you participating in the academic decathlon event in the near future. The National Education Equity Lab celebrates students for being in the top 20% performing scholars nationwide enrolled in college high school courses. These courses are taught by college instructors and students receive college credit for passing their class. Eight students from Mount Whitney and Golden West were recognized for courses in introduction to cloud computing, programming, and sociology this semester from Arizona State University and Weslean University. Congratulations to these students with our spotlight on sports.
056On this slide, you'll see two special moments for Vicelia Unified. Viva Blunt Elementary won the second annual elementary whiffle ball tournament. Congratulations to them. And the L Diamonte girls soccer team winning their first ever CIF Central Section Division 2 Championship. Congratulations to both those teams and especially El Diamonte. And I'm sure a ring is coming within their future for that championship. Congratulations to these students and their coaches for their accomplishments. Uh as we heard earlier tonight in Vapa, Golden West and Valley Oak Middle School are per uh per perform many voices one song at the LD and LD Mate performed Spongebob musical. Always taken aback by how well our students perform. Testament to their incredible instructors, parents as well. Congratulations to all of these students as our theater season continues. I believe we have uh
057Ridge View Middle School coming up and uh Golden West High School as well. Since our last meeting, several students have put their skills to the test in various hands-on CTE activities. Golden West Business and Finance Academy hosted a record- setting mock interview event with 19 industry professionals who helped high school juniors practice their interview skills and give practical resume feedback. Several of these partners have already committed to offering internships to our students and we look forward to seeing that over the summer. The Mount Whitney Culinary Arts Pathway students recently took home best overall presentation at the Taste of Taller King student culinary competition. Their creative Texas themed dishes showcased not only culinary skill but teamwork, creativity, and professional level level presentation. And lastly, our college and career readiness department hosted the first ever building and
058construction trades pathways competition, bringing together students from Golden West and Redwood, who competed in technical woodworking skills, mock interviews, and safety scenarios. This work happens because of the support of our community and industry partners. Thank you for your dedication in helping us build college and career ready students. Speaking of career technical education, LDante's Strong Academy teacher Kimberly Tucker was recently recognized by the Tallery Kings and College and Career Collaborative's annual CTE celebration as CTE teacher champion. In her first, this is her first year leading the program. She has already expanded industry partnerships, increased internships and job shadow opportunities, and added new certifications for students. Congratulations to her on this accomplishment for the impact she has on our students. As I alluded to earlier, several times a year I meet with my our cohort of the
059superintendent's advisory. Over a hundred students about two weeks ago now from 4th to 12th grade came together as they do every few months to advise me on important topics that have impacts on students. This year's cohort is planned as I said meeting in person and then outside of that opportunities and they provide feedback on strategic plan action items uh from instruction to facilities uh to other things to give valuable insight into how we move forward with intentionality and you can see some of our elementary, middle and high school students there in those images. Another great event that occurred recently, we had roughly and you can see a full room there, over 50 parents attend our dual language immersion shaping the future informational meeting held at the district office. We shared a vision for the future
060expansion of the program into middle school which will go through to visitor as a dedicated pathway and that we're exploring the international balora program for the students to articulate into in addition to other interested VUSD students because the IB program as we've shared before with the board offers dual language immersion pathway along with CTE and STEM with students graduating with an international diploma and over 30 units of college credit. We're excited about the future of this program and look forward to sharing more about that soon. And I will also add uh due to demand from our overwhelming numbers of families that are interested in dual immersion, we're excited to announce that this fall we will move to a third elementary school site expanding our dual immersion programming for our parents. And so we're very excited
061about that. Expanding after-school activities. Our expanded learning team recently hosted its annual vendor fair, bringing together 17 community partners who provide afterchool clubs, enrichment opportunities to our students. The event gave our principles the opportunity to explore and select programs that best match their student interest and the needs of their communities and the budget. We're excited to continue expanding this program to provide uh enrichment to our students to be successful. Several over 30 of our schools were presented with Energy Star awards from Synergistic. Uh on average, Energy Star certified buildings use 35% less energy, which is important because 35% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and it's less expensive to operate. We have some folks from Synergistic here tonight. Thank you for coming and for the work you do. I don't know if they want to. Thank you.
062Continuing to social media, you can see some of our news alerts that we've had. uh recently our school enrollment, new school enrollment is happening as well at that time of year continuing to observances such as President's Day. I can't read that small script. Um meeting notifications um and other opportunities for our families. uh National FFA week and we saw some of our students uh up here tonight as well as our high- five Fridays. Uh women's history month, arts education month as well. So, thank you for uh that board president Oda. That concludes my report. >> Okay. Thank you, Superintendent from Weward now with 5.2 strategic plan theme three update. Presenter is chief business officer Nathan Hernandez. Good evening, President Odo, members of the board, Superintendent Sham, and community. Tonight we have a uh update on
063theme three within our strategic plan. Um theme three is organizational efficiency and effectiveness. And I'm going to start as we often do with our foundation slide. And you can see to the right there the strategic plan. In our core beliefs, it states all students can achieve at high levels and demonstrate continuous growth. Our strategic plan is a vehicle to help us set the conditions so that we can ensure that we meet our board beliefs and commitments and meet our goal of every student, our mission of every student learning every day. So we've shared this slide before. This is our blueprint and it starts there at the top with our board uh foundations, our commitments. These are the actions that the board t uh took over the last two years as we started this process of
064developing our strategic plan. And then that middle uh section there, that's our response. It was the creation of our strategic plan with our three themes of high expectations, high achievement. I knew I was going to get the second one wrong. Um engaging the community and uh and then of course organizational efficiency and effectiveness. And then at the bottom there is our accountability. How we're going to hold ourselves accountable to ensure that we are moving forward in our strategic plan with our progress indicator metrics as well as our priority student outcomes and how this impacts students along the way. So I'll give you a minute to go ahead and read the strategic plan there. Um so uh to the right and u like I said the three themes high expectations high achievement empowering students engaging families
065in the community and organizational efficiency and effectiveness on the right 65 actions in total all completed over the next five years of the strategic plan. At the the top there is our uh theme three has 16 actions and again will be completed over the next five years. Tonight we're highlighting three key areas of progress under theme three under the focus area of resource and operational management. So you can see there the initiative there at the top resource and operational management. Uh I'm sorry the focus area and then the initiative enhancing technological resources and systems. So down to the action. The action is establish standardized technology specifications for every facility, classroom, school, common space, and office. When we talk about standardized classroom technology, what we're really talking about is equity, consistency, and opportunity. We want every
066student, no matter which school or classroom they walk into, to have access to reliable, highquality technology that supports learning, creativity, and connection. We also want our teachers and staff to spend their time teaching and supporting students, not troubleshooting different systems from room to room. This action encompasses many aspects and facilities, but tonight we're just going to focus on the audiovisisual components, the TVs, uh the speakers, and the components that make up our AV systems. So on this slide, uh on the left, you'll see the indicators for both uh research and design. We go through research, design, implementation, and monitoring within the strategic plan. Um, and within those, uh, which obviously you can't read, but it has, um, indicators for or guiding questions and examples of how we know when we've met, um, our goal of
067completing research. Um, and so on the slide here shows we in the in the research portion of this action, uh, we assessed our ex existing classrooms. We had architects go out and walk through every school. Uh we identified the inconsistencies and gaps and we also used feedback from the superintendent site visits on um what staff was interested in seeing. Uh from the design uh phase we developed that district standard for what the classroom should look like and we've got that standard is two TVs in every classroom. Um and then we focused on uh developing specifications for high schools. All of our middle schools have been modernized and um in uh in the AV components. So all of our middle schools already have the the TVs and the uh upgraded AV in those classrooms. The high
068schools uh is what we were working on first and I'll share the phases that we're in for each of the design uh process. Golden West was already completed with their modernization. So, um, we started with phase one being, um, Mount Whitney, which is complete, Redwood, LDAMe, and VTEC. In phase two, we're bringing in 11 of the 19 elementary schools that do not have the the classroom AV completed, and then phase three will be the remainder, and we'll bring all of those uh projects forward uh within the current um within the current school year. So, uh, by phasing this work, we're we're able to manage our cost responsibly, minimize minimize disruptions to schools, and improve our processes along the way. All of this work moves us toward our ideal state of ensuring standardized technology specifications for
069every facility developed in collaboration with our students and staff. And you can see a couple of examples there of classrooms. Um the AV uh the video the TVs are in the back on the picture on the left and in the corners on the picture on the right. You know every classroom is a little unique based on where cabinetry and windows are. So it's a it's been it's been a process to design uh to the to the specifications. Again the focus area resource and operational management. We're going to move to a different action under um ensuring all district facilities are safe, secure and promote innovation. And the action is to establish, implement and maintain standards for athletic, CTE and VAPA facilities. We have several uh projects underway currently or on actually on our agenda tonight. We
070have a couple more. Um so when we're talking about standards for our athletic CT and VAPA facilities, we're talking about spaces where students grow, compete, and shine and where the community can gather to with pride in their school. Oftentimes, this work is not necessarily creating new spaces, uh, but rather maintaining and updating our existing systems and facilities. Our focus tonight will be on work we're currently completing or will complete in the summer with our athletic facilities, namely around our scoreboards. You'll see some tennis courts in here. We've also got uh turf projects um happening as as well as some lighting. So our research phase began with assessing needs across athletic facilities including our stadiums, gyms, and outdoor facilities. We identified aging infrastructure, safety concerns, and areas where standardized equipment and systems would make an impact
071for students and staff. The design phase began with input from our athletic directors, our school staff, and others to ensure the projects met programmatic and student needs. Uh we also went up and down the valley, talked to other school districts where these systems were in place. Um looked at their operations and and and did all of that work prior to uh making a recommendation and a decision. Uh so the implementation, we've started construction of the projects at the two stadiums, the scoreboard projects there. Uh we'll show a picture of community stadium. Uh those projects are moving along pretty quickly. um as well as the resurfacing of tennis courts. Again, that item is on agenda tonight. And so you can see the scoreboard at Community Stadium on the left. Um I was out at the Mineral
072Keen Bowl on Friday and there were two sticks in the ground and when I drove by yesterday, it looks exactly the same. So u the project again moving along very quickly and then you can see obviously the need for resurfacing of those courts. Um all of this reflects our commitment to building safe, modern and equitable facilities to ensure our spaces are functional and future ready. So lastly, again under resource and operational management, the initiative uh ensure all district facilities are safe, secure, and promote innovation and the action to implement a facility plan to address growth in the community and modernization of school facilities. been working on this really for the last almost 3 years. Um, this action is about how we plan for the future of our community, making sure every school is safe and
073ready to support student learning while also being responsible with our taxpayer provided resources. So, research began with a close look at our enrollment, capacity, utilization, and facility conditions across the district. We studied our demographic trends, housing development, and long-term projections. not just for the next one or two years, but out for the to the next decade. At the same time, we invited the community into the process through our website, surveys, um online and in-person meetings and workshops. Thousands of families and community members shared their perspectives. That input shaped our understanding of the challenges and values in our community. In design, we've developed short-term boundary and site utilization solutions, identified longerterm needs, and aligned this work with the long-term overall needs of the district. The board approved short-term actions in December of 2024 to help manage
074enrollment and capacity in the near- term and last month longer term uh plans to invest in our high schools to add classrooms, modern modernize facilities and expand where growth is occurring and to balance our enrollment across our high schools. This is guided by our long-term enrollment trends and facility assessment. Underlying all of this work is our commitment to fiscal responsibility and transparency. We know that only half of our schools received any form of modernization from our Measure E and Measure A bonds. It's essential that we have continued community partnership if we are able to provide modern, safe, and equitable learning environments for every student. Seen a couple of these drawings before. Uh this facility plan is about planning ahead, making informed datadriven decisions, and building and modernizing schools that reflect our values and our commitment
075to students. Together, these actions under theme three are about creating learning environments that support every student learning every day. And with that, I'm available for questions. >> Okay. Do we have any public comment on this item? Any board member comment on this item? Thank you. >> Seeing none, we say thank you, Mr. Hernandez. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Item six, 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 tonight's agenda, there will 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 comments for general public comment to no more than three minutes and individual topics
076to 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 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 you begin your comments by stating your name. So looking out there, you folks know we've got a lot of public comment tonight on a couple different topics and we do want to hear everyone who wants to speak to us here tonight. I mentioned previously the threeminut limit on individual speakers. We'll hold tight to that not because we wish to be rude and cut
077people off but because we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to be heard. Um so our intent again is to hear everyone. We also have a couple different topics tonight and a couple different areas where those comments will come up. So to open with if you're here for CSEA, it looks like we have two general CSEA comments that I'll get to in a moment and invite up and then also two that are related to consent agenda. Consent agenda items aren't discussed. They're simply voted on. So what I will do is I will will ask the folks who want to speak on items on consent agenda. And right now it looks like there's two of those to come forward and speak. And then the other folks that wanted to speak on the later
078item, which is 12.6 six on the agenda. I'll invite to come come up and speak at that time. We have a bunch of folks for Redwood. Understood. Uh we'll get the CSEA ones set up and then do the Redwood ones after that as a group. We have about 20 folks or so right now that want to speak regarding Redwood. Okay. I just want to be clear on process here because we do want to hear everyone's thoughts. So, with regard to opening up for CSEA in general, it looks like we would start with Chelsea Chavez. Uh Gonzalez. Chelsea, you here? Um, because we're sharing time, I'm going to have Christine Pmentel speak first on member highlights. >> Oh, I can. >> Ah, thank you. Good evening everyone. I'm Christina. I'm an SLC tech serving VSUD since
0792025. I also serve on the executive board of chapter 83. On behalf of our executive board, we'd like to take this moment and recognize a couple of incredible classified employees who go above and beyond for our students and our school communities. First, I'd like to recognize Wayne Fletcher, custodian at Green Acres. Wayne recently demonstrated an outstanding de dedication to safely cleaning up a deceased animal and the surrounding area on campus. His quick action ensured the pathway remained clean and safe for students passing by. Wayne's diligent and commitment to maintaining a safe environment truly reflects the care he has for the students and the campus community. Second, I'd also like to recognize Shauna Weaten, a classified employee who worked alongside her library vortex club students to raise $2,200 so students have a place to sit and
080eat. With the support of the West Vicelia Kuana Club, their efforts helped purchase three 8-foot benches for students at Mount Whitney High School. This was a wonderful example of collaboration and dedication to improving student space. These are just two examples of many classified employees who show up every day to support their students, strengthen our schools, and serve this community. Chapter 83 is proud to represent them. Thank you. Good evening, board members and community members. My name is Chelsea, CACA chapter president. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the difficult reality of our district facing with layoffs and reductions. These decisions impact real people, employees who dedicate their time, energy, and care to supporting our schools and students every single day. Our union continues to stand with those affected and advocate for every member through
081this challenging time. At the same time, it also is important for our community to hear about the meaningful progress that has been made through collaboration between district and our union. In recent months, we have successfully worked together to pass five memorandums of understanding, creating new opportunities and improvements for our employees. These agreements include new job descriptions and that open pathways to growth and opportunity. Another important step forward that has been the pilot program for our transportation department establishing a weekend rotation list helping ensure fairness and clear process for employees while continuing to meet the needs of our students and families. We could not have collaborated so well without the Vicelia leadership team and our hope is that the Lindsay drivers will soon have an opportunity for a pilot as well. These arrangements show that even
082in difficult times, progress is still possible when we work together with respect and shared purpose. We know there will always be challenges for districts across the state. But we appreciate the collaborative efforts that are made ensured by every employee who remain as whole as possible. Because the simple truth is you can't run great schools without people who keep them running EVERY DAY. NOW I HAVE TWO REQUESTS TO SPEAK on uh consent agenda item 7.18. 7.18 is in short anou between vice unified school district and CSEA regarding layoff process. The first of these is Dedra Johnson. Good evening, Superintendent Strum, cabinet members, board members, and committee members. My name is Dedri Johnson. For 12 years, I have proudly served this district currently as administrative assistant in the college and career department. I don't just do my
083job, I lead with passion. Despite holding a bachelor's degree in business management, I spent years performing duties far above my title. In fact, many colleagues assume I am a senior admin role because of the level of work I produce. I have repeatedly asked for review of my duties again with pay with my contributions, but these requests have gone unanswered. Now, after a decade decade of devotion, I have now been notified that my position is being cut at the end of the school year. This is truly heartbreaking. My ultimate goal was to retire with the district. Yet, even as I face this loss of my career, I'm giving 100% to ensure smooth transition for our department for a new senior administrative assistant sharing the very knowledge and duties I was never properly compensated for and created.
084I've been told my my position is a special position and there would have to be one like it for me to take a very to take. This is very discouraging. While our students will we want them to be college and career ready, yet our own college and career department is shrinking. After this year, we will have lost two people alone. As the stitcher creates highle roles, the dedicated staff on the ground, the ones doing the heavy lifting are being phased out. I love my department and the work that we do for our students. I am here because 12 years of loyalty should mean something. And our departments cannot succeed if we continue to cut the people who keep them running. Thank you FOR YOUR TIME. NEXT UP, same topic. Mina Roachcha. Mina Roachcha. Good evening,
085board members, administration, community members. My name is Mina Roach. I'm a CSA labor relation representative and this is >> Louis Pedigle. >> Okay. So, Mr. Louie here has dedicated nearly three decades of his life to Viceel Unified and is currently the stadium grounds being laid off at the end of the school year. He has dedicated his life to the presentation and upkeep of the stadium, the sanitation and cleaniness of our school campuses as well as maintaining those grounds. Louie is a definition of how hard work and dedication allows for professional growth as he has climbed his way to the stadium grounds position. It is a shame to see a dedicated and seasoned employee such as Louie receive such news as this as his position is being eliminated. Even though CCA and the chapter have negotiated
086anou on the effects of the layoff and Louis has been given an opportunity to go back where he started nearly three decades ago back to a custodian. He has worked so hard to get to this level and to go back is very disheartening. Louie knows the work that it takes to maintain the stadium and has expressed his concerns about how the shift of the work will fall on his colleagues increasing their workload which has already been increased. This wasn't Louis career. This wasn't how Louis career with Van Unified was supposed to end. His vision was that he would have retired in a couple years but not receive a layoff after dedicating nearly three decades of his life. Yeah. I don't I didn't understand why they eliminated this position because you have to have someone there
087every day cleaning restrooms, the grounds. I could go on and on. I worked my way to get to there. I don't think I deserve from 29 years to go back where I started. I don't understand why you guys can't leave this position. If I had to, if I can't get you to reinstate it, at least let me go back to central grounds where I started from. I don't want to go back to custodial. I didn't work this hard to get to there. And thank you very much. The next uh request to speak is from Brock Neely. >> Yeah, it does start a new topic. What you're receiving is the important court documents from 2002 of the GSA network and George Lumis case against Vice Unified where you guys were given your hat. You need to
088talk to people like Dr. Viegas, why history is important to teach. Cuz obviously you did not learn. I suggest you all take a look at these. You take a look at the hate that was given out to some of these students. One of them that's listed in here didn't tell his complete story. I found out when we went lobbying an assembly member what happened to him. Actually, the entire football team raped him in the locker room cuz they thought that would the gay out of him. Thank you, >> Jeffrey Lissy. Hello. Thank you for your time. As a parent of a Redwood student, I feel the incident that occurred on Thursday, February 12th leaves more questions than answers. I understand the students involved have been disciplined. My concern is what happened to the teachers that
089were with andor saw the students? Did they receive in did they receive any disciplinary actions? Why did they not follow the mandated Keenan training they have to take as an employee of VSUD? They are mandated reporters. Why did they not report this? Why was it not until students saw the incident on social media and reported to the school that that was the first time the school became aware of it? As a parent, I'm current I currently have zero confidence in the school and the school district. What will happen when other incidents happen in the future? Will we as parents only be sent strongly worded emails with zero details of what actually happened? I am as a parent of a student of Redwood requesting a full transparent audit of what happened to the teachers who were
090there that saw the incident when it occurred. Thank you. >> Apologize. I can't read the first name here. The last name is Gomez. Looks like the first name might have been named. Okay, Remy. >> Good evening, school board and community. My name is Remy. I am in sixth grade and I attend Royal Oaks Elementary. I am a part well I was a part of the leadership last year and I felt the honor and responsibility of that role. Reading and seeing the that Redwood did what they did is disappointing inside. But I was not sure if I wanted to go anymore. I play softball competitively and I know Redwood has a great team and I'm also an orchestra and I was and I was looking forward to playing in the opportunities that they give us. The
091the students who participated in this homophobic slur because it is a slur and need to be held respons responsible for that. the unsafe environment that they created. Schools for learning without um homophobia, I don't know that word. Without racism, without violence, and without judgment, >> Stacy Boyce Good evening. I know that I emailed you all a few weeks ago about a topic that I bring up every year. I've been bringing it up for the five years that my daughter's been enrolled in this district. So, I'm going to bring it up again in regards to what's happening here. um because we have a number of issues um disrupting students mental well-being and emotional safety and something that I brought up again and again as a suggestion to address that is trauma responsive professional development and policy
092reform. Not only can that help address issues like this, it can help prevent them. It can also help all of you make decisions that are rooted in evidence and scientific research, which I know we all want to do in education, right? So, I just want to bring it up again. Again, I'm going to offer like I've done every year. I am a trauma-informed care trainer. I'm willing to provide it for free. June Rodriguez. >> Uh, my name is Jun Rodriguez and I was previously a student at Redwood. My experience made the situation not even a little bit surprising. Many of the students in this photo I recognize and have called me the slur many times before. Few of them I've had classes with. Being called the slur repeatedly has normalized it for many queer people,
093including myself. Along with the normalization of the slur, I'd like to add that if this was a racial slur, I'm sure this wouldn't be tolerated or even questioned. But because this targets queer students, we are here trying to explain how impactful slurs really are. I have had my fair share of bullying, especially because I am visibly queer. For students who may be closetated, this shows that they are not welcome to be themselves, especially with transgender students who receive the worst treatment by far. Teachers often also harbor this behavior by favoring students who may fit the norm. Queer students get shut down over and over again and laughed at for trying to speak up for their right to exist. At this point, students don't even attempt to speak up for themselves because we don't expect authority
094figures to take us seriously or even care. It is not radical for me or other queer people to simply exist or for us to ask to feel safe. And I know this doesn't have to be the case. I have transferred to Golden West and this environment was a large piece of why. While I'm aware homophobia exists subconsciously or consciously everywhere, at Golden West, I am allowed to exist in peace. Regardless if someone is opposed to the LGBT community or not, I have never had to argue for my existence. Not once have I felt unsafe or unwelcome at Golden West since the very day I stepped foot on the campus to current day and for my foreseeable future at that school. I have felt welcomed by everyone. I have never felt unsafe to exist at Golden
095West. And I will not speak for all trans students, but I have never once seen a trans student harassed at Golden West. Having a welcoming school that doesn't feel hostile, has greatly improved my mental health, which has helped me make great achievements, both academic and not. So, please care for your LGBT students and with real consequences that aren't simply words. Thank you. ALYSSA RODRIGUEZ. >> UH, HI. I'm the I'm Alyssa Rodriguez. I'm the mother mother of that very brave young woman uh who just spoke. Um I also have two younger boys who are in the district and uh I do teach high school in a different district. As an educator I do understand that these are adolescents uh whose brains are still developing. They do un they do deserve some understanding as they learn from
096their mistakes. I do understand that. But students like my daughter also deserve a feeling of safety and belonging because that is important to student success. Um really our question here is what made these student leaders feel that this behavior was appropriate in the first place? Listening to students like my daughter who regularly had slurs yelled at her uh makes it clear that there's a culture at Redwood that everyone is expected to fit into a specific mold and those who don't will be derided until the person in question will force themselves into the more acceptable mold or will stay quiet. The people who are here uh the people who are really at the heart of what happened here are those two incoming freshmen who were targeted for holding hands. Every LGBT student at the at the
097school and any student who is a little too weird to be able to fit in. They are watching you now to see if you are listening. They are watching to see if that to see that you will protect them with the same conviction that you protect their bullies. They are deciding if their voices are worth anything or if they're better off to just stay quiet when they get bullied and hope that they go unnoticed. You have a choice here. You could either move through this as quickly as possible so and just wait for it to go away or you could make this a turning point where you could commit to changing the culture of this school. In four years, these incoming freshmen are going to be the seniors at Redwood and my slightly weird neurode
098divergent 10-year-old boys are going to be the incoming freshmen. I want to know what those future students are going to learn from you. Will they stand up for my slightly weird neurode divergent children or are they going to learn the same lessons as your current seniors have to enforce social norms by bullying those who are different? Superintendent Shrum, I ask you, please keep this on your heart. Do not let this go. When the room quiets, when everybody leaves and everyone has forgotten, please remember these kids are learning from you. They're learning from all of us and they will either be our future bullies or our future heroes. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Katherine Hall. I would like to express my concern about the recent homophobic incident at Redwood High School and the impact
099on school climate. My name is Dr. Katherine Hall. I'm a pediatrician who worked with families in Tallery County for 43 years before retiring in 2021. I'm a founding board member and current president of P Flag Taller and Kings County. Most people realize how offensive the incident was and do not want their children to behave that way. Some don't understand what the impact of this behavior is. Extensive research shows that anti-LGBTQ plus messages, especially by family, but also at school, at church, and in the community, uh, increase the chances that a youth who is LGBTQ plus will have depression, suicidal thoughts and attempts, illegal drug use, STI, homelessness, poor school performance, poverty, limited uh employment possibilities, etc. Supportive behavior by family, school, church, and community will lower the chances of a bad outcome and improve the
100chances of LGBTQ plus youth having a healthy, safe, and happy life, which is what we want for all of our students, all of our youth. Studies show that schools have that have a functioning gay straight alliance have a healthier school climate for all students, even those who are not LGBTQ plus. All students feel safer when everyone is supported. Bullying is not good for those who are bullied and also harms those who participate in it. Our world is harsh. Even if in this land of the free, LGBTQ plus people have been demonized by some religious and political groups and even governmental officials. There are states that are not safe for my family to even travel through. We need a better school climate and more empathy. That requires some work so that everyone family families students and
101staff can understand their part in that process. I support the request of the LG of the source LGBT plus center for audits. These can improve school climate and make students safer. I also ask for more training for staff and students on LGBTQ plus people so that they can practice the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. >> I also ask the community, parents, churches, service groups, allies, concerned citizens to get involved in promoting civility and positive values. P Flag Tallarian Kings counties needs more members and board members to share our mission of creating an equitable world where every person especially including the mushroom aligned members of the LGBTQIA2 plus community is safe, celebrated, empowered and loved. Thank you. >> THANK YOU Ephren Bera. Good afternoon um superintendent and the
102rest of you all. I am here because I have emailed you regarding this topic. Um I'm doing an event that is has the light of Vicelia called Vicelia around the world. It is shameful that we are all over the news worldwide seeing Tik Toks >> of Mr. Shum being bashed. I don't feel good about it when I'm over here trying to promote unity, right? I've emailed you. Not one have one none none have emailed me back from the school board. And it's supposed to be an event that unifies us that shows diversity. 25 countries with the arts consortium May 1st. So I recommend you look at your emails and try to at least attend this email. I too will offer my talents of cultural awareness if you'd like to go to different schools. I grew
103up in Los Angeles. I've been called that slur and I'm not part of the community. Do you understand how hurtful that is? I can tell you what I what I went through in Los Angeles. So, I highly recommend you all watch Freedom Writers. There's a museum down there called the Museum of Tolerance. How about we also invest in taking our students to that museum FROM HERE? I believe that that's what we need. If you watch Freedom Writers, it does help. I know I went to the museum with people that were bullies and it changed their perspective of what our Jewish community went through. So, I believe that it makes a difference. Let's not talk about money. I'm a taxpayer. I'm okay with paying more taxes if it helps the schools feel safe. >> So, you
104know what? I think again, you know, we got to we got to do better. Um, you know, we got to bring more awareness. I noticed that we're proud of our displays, right? Uh our our our um our schools in LA used to do displays for black history, the Armenian genocide, the um women's history, um including Pride in June, and many other the Fourth of July before the students leave, right? You know, cuz they're not there during July. How about we start doing that? Have a display for each of these holidays. LA does it. LA. I know we're not LA, but people criticize me and told me that I'm not a Vicelian. I've been here 20 years. I think I am. So, how about you ask me what LA did because I'm sick and tired of
105hearing from people from Vicelia attack me on social media and say that I'm not a Vicelian just because I don't think like most of you up here. So, I I believe that I can be beneficial to you all coming from a big city and improving this district. Thank you. Thank you, >> Maria Gillian. >> Good evening to the board and the greater community. My name is Mari Yen and today uh with my three minutes I'd like to do two things. First a personal story and then bring up the concept of restorative justice. I hope to do that first. The personal story that this particular incident conjured up in my memory. I remember visiting my family home years ago and living there at the time was my father and a cisgendered straight identified nephew. My nephew
106was in his bedroom playing computer games with people he knew and some he didn't. I was in my dad's bedroom using his personal computer and all of a sudden my nephew's voice became very excited and loud and he was calling out the very fword homophobic slur that is at issue is the issue at hand today. I was appalled. When my nephew took a break to go to the bathroom, I approached him. I said, "Miho, I got to tell you that I'm really upset at hearing you calling out these slurs. But what do you mean, Auntie? I am overhearing you saying very offensive and demeaning words." Well, auntie, I am playing with my friends, and I mean no disrespect, but I am in the privacy of my own home. He pushed back. He was determined to
107quiet me and leave me and leave so that I could leave him in peace. So that is when I doubled down and reminded him that this home was also a place visited and by his gay cousin, his lesbian niece married to a transgender male and a half sibling that is transgender male. I told him they have a right to come into this home without being offended by your carelessness. They deserve a safe and loving environment and that is what we're going to do here. I know you love them and they love you as I do and that is why I'm saying what I am. It took a couple of years, but my nephew did approach me with an apology and he thanked me for calling him in about his behavior, saying, "Dia, it must have
108taken courage." Another thing that takes courage, I believe, is to consider a different approach rather than just punishment. We all know what happened was wrong. Very wrong. It brought disgrace. It brought a lot of um Oh, sorry. I get I didn't get to talk about it, but Okay. Thank you. >> I I'll write it to you, >> please. Thank you. As you look at the clock there, we're approaching 20 minutes. We will go past that so that folks who wish to speak tonight will be able to. So, don't don't worry about the 20-minute limit. It looks like it's uh Erica Hoggard. Hello, I'm the director of programs from the Source LGBT Plus Center and I'm here today to speak on behalf of our youth leadership programs, many of whom can be seen in pink behind
109me. School climates matter because they're often one of the most influential sources of safety, belonging, and stability in a young person's life. Many kids, particularly queer kids dealing with family rejection, spend more time at school than they do at home. Incidents like the one that happen at Redwood reinforce stigma, normalize hate, and send a painful message to LGBTQ plus students that they are unsafe, unwelcome, or unworthy of respect. That has real impact on school performance, students sense of stability and belonging. Everyone should feel safe in school. The source LGBT plus c center's youth leadership program is calling on the school board to respond to this incident by conducting an internal audit of cultural competency trainings for all educators 6 through 12th grades in VUSD. An audit of the fair act implementation throughout VUSD and an
110audit of LGBTQ plus student supports uh what they are whether or not students are aware that they exist and how easy they are to access. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Sabrina Norton. Hi. I just kind of wanted to know if any of you guys were nervous tonight. It's easy being on this side because most of us are pretty aligned, but you had to be here tonight. And I just wanted to bring up a couple points. I'm actually surprised they weren't brought up tonight. And that's the response on social media. And I kind of feel that there was a lot of hiding behind Furpa. >> Thank you. Um, this went crazy. It was mentioned that it's been worldwide, but the response locally has been absolutely appalling. And I understand that you cannot give out
111identifying student information. However, while there was a lot of people out there trying to dox the students and their parents and anybody they've ever known, I personally didn't care. I wanted to know what your response was. A simple the 10 students involved in the bullying incident on February 12th at Redwood High School received this range of following punishments or we are aware of this misinformation being put out on social media. This has not been authorized etc. or we have heard about XYZ details and we can confirm that for example there was not an official student orientation on February 12th. The official freshman orientation is in October or excuse me August. Were there students there that were there to see the campus? Probably. But there were things you could confirm without identifying a single student that
112participated that day. And it would have gone a long way in building a bridge between those of us here tonight and the thousands of people out there saying, "Who cares? Let kids be kids." >> Oh, they say it to their friends. Or you know what? A lot of them haven't turned 18 yet, so why aren't we going after the parents? There could have been a lot more communication that was not forbidden by Furpa. >> That's all we needed and we didn't get it. Thank you, >> Susie Ward. My name is Susie Ward. I'm the priest in charge of the Episcopal Church here in town. Um, this is always hard for me even though I preach every Sunday. Um, I have five generations of family members in this school district. The fifth one is now in
113school and I want it to be a safe place. But the fourth generation is the letter that I'm going to read now. This is from my son. When I heard about what happened at Redwood High School a few weeks ago, my heart broke for the lack of progress that being made at Vicel Unified and the community as a whole to combat intolerance and hate. As a kid growing up in Vicelia in the 80s and 90s, I always knew I was different and that in order to live my life in an authentic way that was true to myself, I would not be able to do so in such a conservative and intolerant community. In the '9s, I remembered it was required by school policy that all couples buying tickets for school dances had to be heterosexual.
114only one of the few examples of homophobia codified in Vicelia school policy. Though I was able to carve out a group of friends and be involved in activities in school, I knew that I had to escape Vicelia to live as my true self. I graduated early from Mount Whitney High School so I could become a Rotary exchange student and leave town. I attended colleges far away from Vicelia. Within just one year of leaving Vicelia, I was able to safely come out of the closet. A handful of years later, I came out as transgender. For the last 20 years, I have been living in San Francisco where I own my own small law firm. Most importantly, I am able to live my life authentically with the support of my friends, both and family, both blood and
115chosen. In short, I was one of the lucky queer kids who got out of their conservative hometown. I still believe that was my only option to survive. Over the last 10 years or so, with the opening of the source in Vicelia, the first LGBT pride celebration, and a few churches like St. polls that welcome LGBT congregants. I began to develop a small cautious hope that the political climate in Vicelia was shifting. I truly believe that there would be a true and safe place. But that has suddenly changed and I discovered that if I had not left, I would not have survived. I am disenheartened and frankly terrified of the reality that students that need acceptance and safety more than anything else are being shown hatred by student leaders. The actions of the Redwood ASB evidence
116an environment that is not safe for all students. Their actions promoted hatred and violence. It is unacceptable and must change. Queer students are at risk of self harm and suicide in numbers that massively surpass their straight peers. Now with my own grandchildren in school, I want this to be a safe place. Please make it so. >> Thank you. Jake Ramos. Hi, I'm Jake Ramos. I am a queer student speaking from Golden West. Not confirmed. Um, I've been bullied for as long as I can remember for being queer. I usually tell a teacher or an adult almost right after something happens. They usually always tell me that they'll talk to them. The next day at school, I wonder why it's still happening. It's simply because talking to them never works. I've been bullied by actual teachers.
117People on the internet joke that we should bring back bullying, but it's never left because that's what this is. It's bullying. It's hate speech. Making jokes about the situation is desensitizing us. But we don't need to be desensitized. We need to be angry. >> It starts with a word and it ends with kids killing themselves. I don't go to Redwood, but this affects me, too, because I know exactly how these students feel. Without proper punishment is without proper consequence. At their grown age, they know better. And as kids, we learn that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. These kids were too comfortable doing this, saying this. What does that say about Redwood? What does that say about VD? What does this say about Vicelia? All that I ask
118is that teachers who didn't stop the situation get suspended and for schools to enforce stricter rules about staff learning cultural conveyance training so then this never happens again. Thank you. Maria Ramos. Sorry, that was my baby. I'm here today. Sorry, it was a lot. I'm here today as a parent to a VUS student, a queer student. My queer student is not a threat to your straight kid, but your straight kid can absolutely be a threat to my queer student. Now, what does that say about our parenting skills? This begins at home. And just because my kid felt comfortable enough to come out, yours didn't, doesn't mean my kid deserves to suffer due to the ignorance you inserted into your child. Because hate is taught at home and my home does not promote hate like your
119home does. Take a look inside yourselves and think about how you're teaching the future. Are you teaching hate or are you teaching love? As a queer parent, I would never teach my children to hate anyone. And so we come here today to ask for justice, to ask for accountability. And it it is inexcusable to let an environment like this continue. THANK YOU. JOSE RUIZ GARCIA. SORRY, I'm a little taller than everybody else here. Um, that wasn't a brag. Sorry. Uh, good evening board and community members. My name is Jose Ruiz Garcia. My pronouns are he, him. Uh, and I'm the community programs manager at the Source LGBT plus center. I want to thank everyone for their time and the space to even be given, you know, to give a public comment. Uh, I come up
120here to ask the school board for three things. An audit of LGBTQ plus cultural competency trainings of VUSD faculty. an audit of queer student supports on VUSD campuses and how easy it is for them to access that and an audit of fair act implementation across VUSD. To preface all of this, uh I've worked at and serve rural communities of Chel County for years. I now have the pleasure of working in the city I call home, Vicelia. Uh, I'm up here not just as an employee of the source or as a former VUSD student, but as a community member who cares deeply for the residents of Vicelia, and that care extends to our youth and LGBTQ plus communities. What occurred at Redwood High School on Thursday, February 12th, is not an isolated incident. All of the
121youth currently in my programs have expressed having experienced bullying and harassment because of their sexuality or gender identity. And they aren't alone. According to Human Rights Campaign survey, 54% of LGBT youth report being being verbally harassed with anti-gay slurs. To add to that, lesbian, gay, by plus youth and children are four times more likely to complete or attempt suicide with trans individuals eight times as likely. I, like many of our community members, strive for a future where neither of those two things are the case. A future where our students can once again consider our schools safe enough for them to get the education they deserve. Again, I asked the school board today for three things. An audit of LGBTQ plus cultural competency trainings of VUSD faculty, an audit of queer student supports on campuses and
122how easy it is for our students to learn and access them, and an audit of fair act implementation across VUSD campuses. These three asks are just the beginning for the work that VUSD can do to show all of our communities, LGBT plus or allied, that they care to make our schools a safe space for all students to learn, grow, belong, and thrive. Thank you, Levi. Rest. Hello, my name is Levi Rest and I wanted to talk about how constantly the issue of homophobia is brushed past by officials so that changes can be made. We need things like audits of LGBT training for staff and LGBT resources for students. Since the addition of Club America in our schools, they have not made what I would consider a safe space. Clubs like Club America have targeted GSA
123clubs, Hispanic Heritage Clubs, and other culture clubs by making sure that we feel threatened. doing things like putting up posters over ours or even taking down our posters. And cisgender straight people at my school still say homophobic slurs constantly directed towards visibly queer students or just in casual conversation like it's nothing even after the Redwood High School incident. Things like this constantly happen. It is a huge problem in schools that is normalized and is very rarely addressed. It is clear that issues like these are not a priority for school school administrators and they need to have more attention on them. Again, we can fix these things easily with problems like audits of LGBT training for staff and resources for students. Thank you, Johnny Gonzalez. Again, Johnny Gonzalez. First of all, shout out to the LGBT
124community who showed up today for the students of Redwood High. All right. So, when we send our students off to school, we trust that you will take care of them and provide us provide them a safe environment where they can learn and thrive. Our kids should never have to face slurs or hate speech. This is not a one-off. When people heard about the incident at Redwood, they said, "I'm not surprised. Happens all the time. That's Vicelia for you." And that's not okay. We want policy change. We want this to stop being the norm in our schools once and for all. We need staff, teachers, adviserss, counselors to be inclusive of all students and not discriminate and have biases based off their own prejudice and beliefs. We need clear reporting procedures, clear student discipline guidelines, anti-bullying
125policy revisions, and most of all, we need adult adults to step in and protect our students. People have been bullied out of schools, out of homes, and out of the Central Valley because of homophobia. Freedom of speech is not the same as hate speech. Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. Freedom of speech does not mean you get to verbally harass people without consequences. Freedom of speech does not mean you get to say racist slurs, anti-semitic slurs, or homophobic slurs without consequence. How would you react if someone told your kid, "You're not welcome here. We don't like you. we're going to target you because that is the message an establishment conveys when they allow acts of homophobia, hate speech, and racism to go unchecked. Research constantly shows LGBT students experience higher rates of bullying,
126higher rates of substance use, higher rates of suicide. These don't stop when when they leave school. These effects follow us into adulthood and impact our well-being, our mental health, and our physical health. Even if someone didn't know what they were saying, weren't educated on the history of the word, the impact still matters. Even if it wasn't your intention, the impact still matters. Words are not just words. Slurs are not neutral. They're aggressive and inhumane. History shapes their meaning. Everyone knows what words you can say and which you can't. Which words are racist? Which words are misogynistic? Anti-gay, anti-quer, anti-trans slurs fall under the same category. It's not 1904 and we should know better. >> This isn't about punishing kids. It's about making sure every student knows that they are safe and respected in their district.
127We cannot normalize cruelty, exclusion, and harassment in our schools. We cannot normalize hate speech in Vicelia. Thank you, >> Bethany Taylor Daly. I'm a little shorter than everybody here, I guess. My name is Bethany Taylor Daly and I'm the youth program coordinator at the Source LGBT Plus Center here in Bicilia. And I'm here because moments like this affect the safety, dignity, and sense of belonging of students in our schools. When hate speech occurs, it isn't addressed and it isn't addressed clearly. It sends a message about what our community will tolerate. Tonight, I'm asking the board to take concrete steps to ensure that all students know they are protected, valued, and supported in this district and by this district. Specifically, I'm asking the board for three things. First, an audit of LGBTQ plus cultural competency trainings
128for VUSD faculty. Second, an audit of queer student supports on VUSD campuses, including how easy it is for students to learn about and access these resources. And thirdly, an audit of of Fair Act implementation across VUSD. Thank you for your time, Anna Gomez. Again, Anna Gomez. Okay. And McKenzie Max. >> Hi, my name is McKenzie. Others may know me as Max. I'm a mother of three, two of which attended Redwood and have since graduated. My youngest, Jordan, is in the sixth grade and identifies as non-binary, which is why the Redwood hate speech incident hits close to home for us. I'm appalled at what happened and trust that you will handle the situation appropriately, especially given the suggestions you've received tonight. Um, however, this incident proves that serious change needs to occur. Bigotry stems from a
129lack of education and in this case a lack of knowledge about the LGBTQIA+ community. Each student has a story, an identity, a voice that deserves to be respected and not simplified for someone else's comfort. If you don't understand a community or you find yourself uncomfortable with its existence, I implore you to learn, listen, and ask questions. Bullying in this manner affects people's mental health and can stick with them for a lifetime. In California, 35% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide just in the past year with 11% of those attempting it. Rates are even higher for transgender and non-binary youth, but this is preventable. Not long after the Redwood incident, my child came home from school crying because a student refused to use their preferred pronouns, which are they, them. Even after being corrected several times,
130the harassment continued. And this is not the first time. What may not be a big deal to one person makes another feel unsafe in their school, workplace, and community. I fear that my child might be a victim of violence one day, and that scares me to death. I pulled Jordan out of health class because it is split up by male and female and they didn't want students questioning them as to which class they attended. They've also had issues with not wanting to use the restrooms for the same reason. Every time there is an instance of this kind, it breaks my heart a little more and I can only imagine how Jordan and other students feel. I encourage you to review your policies and implement district-wide LGBTQ training to also include implementation at SYCON uh with
131the help of the source who is here tonight. Um they are a great resource uh to provide valuable insight and expertise. SYON is another concern of mine because it is also split up by gender. Um I've spoken with Jordan's principal and um have been for now my worries have been subsided. Um, but I know there's still more work to be done there. Um, I also encourage you to include topics of gender identity within your health education programs and students have a right to be understood. And I would love to see our community to come together and have conversation to deconstruct the fears and misunderstandings and learn from each other. Um, because at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. for our kids to grow up in a world and a school
132system where they are safe from harm and accepted for who they are. Thank you. >> So that's the last request for speaking that we've had tonight. As you heard earlier in our statement, we're not allowed to respond to you, but on behalf of the board, I thank all of those who came forward tonight to speak to us. We will now move forward with the school uh board agenda. Item seven. Would any board member like to pull an item from consent agenda? >> Okay. Uh were there members of the public who wanted to comment on those consent agenda items u you mentioned earlier? >> They did. >> Okay, got it. Just wanted to be clear. Thank you. >> Sure. So, may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Moved by Mrs. Naylor. Seconded by
133I'll second M belt. >> Call for the vote. >> President President Oto I there was a member of the public who I think raised their hand that they may have had public comment. Okay, never mind. False alarm. >> We will go back if we need to. >> Ken, are you not >> Okay, so we have a motion, a second, and a vote. >> Uh motion carries. Student board member votes yes, seven yes, zero. Um, no. >> Got it. Okay. Item eight, student representative report. Miss Mariana Ramirez Ramales Morales from Mount Whitney High School. >> Good evening board members. My name is Mariana, the current ASB president at Mount Whitney High School. On February 25th, Vicelia Unified hosted the third superintendent student advisory meeting of the year at El Diamante High School. Student representatives from elementary,
134middle, and high school across the district came together to share their thoughts and experiences and to help provide input on important topics that affect students in VUSD. Throughout the morning, students participated in several conversations that gave them the opportunity to share what school is like from their perspective. During one part of the meeting, students met in feeder groups led by our ASLs and talked about hate speech and the impact words can have on others. Students spoke honestly about things they have seen or heard at school and discussed why it is important to treat others with respect. Students also talked about how they can help create campuses where everyone feels safe, valued, and supported. Students also rotated through small groupoup discussions with district leaders about advanced learning, assessments, and student engagement. During these conversations, students shared
135several important ideas. Students said they appreciate opportunities to challenge themselves academically and would like clear information about advanced classes and pathways available to them. Students shared that that assessments are most helpful when they sh when they show them how they are improving and what they can work on next. Many students talked about how activities, clubs, athletics, and leadership opportunities help them feel connected to their school and build school pride. Elia students also welcomed everyone by showcasing their school through performances from drum line, cheer, dance, and student media. These performances helped create a fun and welcoming environment and highlighted the pride students have in their in their school community. Thank you for your time and continued support of student voices opportunities in VUSD. And now we will move into our site level reports. Eliamante High School
136is proud to cate celebrate several outstanding accomplishments from our students and staff this month. Senior Antonio Magdaleno has been named a finalist for the prestigious AVID Dell Scholar Program, advancing to the final round of the national scholarships competition. Our girls soccer team captured the division 2 section championship, marking the first section title in program history. The Eliaante Agriculture Department was also honored with the Sanwaqin regional honorary degree, one of the highest recognitions a program can receive at the regional level. In the arts, eight eleant musicians were selected for the Tallery Kings County Honor Band with freshman Matthew Werta earning first chair bass clarinet. We also congratulate Mrs. Tucker, recipient of a county CTE award for her work expanding student career opportunities through the Strong Academy. Golden West. On February 5th through February 19th, Golden West
137FFA hosted its annual Kiss a Cow charity fundraiser. Teachers and staff placed jars in their classrooms and students donated coins to support the cause. The three staff members who raised the most donations kissed the cow during lunch on February 21st. As a campus, Golden West raised over $2,100 through this amazing fundraiser. On February 29th through February 14, ASB hosted Love Week with themed dressup days, lunchtime activities, and student engagement opportunities. The week helped build school spirit and encouraged positive connections across campus. On March 2nd, several Golden West Science Olympiad students earned medals at the regional competition and qualified for the state science Olympiad competition. Their success highlights the strong academic dedication of Golden West students. Matt Winnie Winter Sports had girls basketball make it to the quarterfinals. Boys soccer made it to semi-finals and our
138wrestler Isaiah Cologne made it to CIF state wrestling championship and is ranked in the top 24 in the state. FFA participated in the Chico State Field Day and got fifth place. They also received first place honors in Tallery Kings County sectional. We celebrated a successful love week where each student had a heart on the wall. In addition, we celebrated with lunchtime activities and fun dressup days. Four. Four of our culinary students participated in the Taste of Tari student culinary event and got the best presentation award. The students are all juniors and look forward to competing against next year. Redwood High School hosted a student leadership forum called Stronger Voices Safe Places won Redwood Club presidents and team captains met for a roundt discussion about how to improve respect, inclusion, and safety on campus. Students shared
139ideas, listened to one another, and talked about ways they can help create a positive and welcoming Ranger community. Our dance team attended the USA North Kell State Classic Competition in San Jose, and two of our seniors, Claire Vorst and Haley Fonka, earned first and second place finishes. Emily Carvalho, finished second at 190 lbs in the girls wrestling CIA state championship. Sequoia is hosting pie week March 9th through the 13th. Each day will have math themed activities including pie throwing, drawing a perfect circle, and throwing a pie at a teacher. Sequoia's campus life took 10 students snowboarding March 5th and 6th at China Peak. VCIS headed into March. In the St. Patrick's Day spirit. The student activities class decorated the entire VCIS campus with fourleaf clovers with positive messages and treats that the independent student stu
140study students could collect throughout their school week to remind them how much they are cared for and appreciated at VCIS. CASP state testing kicked off for all the juniors at VCIS this week. Students are poised and ready to do well and will start each testing session with a positive affirmation card and treat to get them excited to show what they know and have learned. VTEC had a strong open enrollment month welcoming 80 plus new 9th grade students to the VTEC family. Join VTEC on March 17th, 2026 for our annual open house and drive-thru dinner. A great opportunity to experience VTEC and celebrate our community. And that concludes my report this evening. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay, everybody's favorite now, board member reports. We're going to start with Mr. Belt as is traditional. >>
141This is traditional. Thank you, President Oto. It was good to hear that Chico State is still doing some good things like attracting a business uh competitions. It was a amazing um singular honor I guess that my picture was placed on the chalkboard, well not chalkboards, whiteboards uh at Valley Oak for about a 3-w week period so that the students would have someone to focus on in writing a persuasive English uh literature experiment or more than that a a essay. They had to uh embody or look at Paul the school board member and convince him that they should be able to come to school later because it's better for teenager. They had a whole raft. So they invited me to come to the class. They asked for my autograph which is the strangest thing ever. They
142they they really built up this celebrity thing. But what I was able to share with them is one uh I don't make such decisions. There's a whole governance team that would make that. But also, it was a practice for them to do research, put it on paper, and then have their final paper written a few days after uh my what they called guest appearance. Uh but a very creative teacher, um Ms. Sedat at Valley. I appreciate that she helped them have the impetus, the initiative to actually be speaking to someone, not just writing uh on a piece of paper and typing it up. The last week we all knew about the re read across America. I hope you did that uh Dr. Seuss would have been about 122 last Monday and some of the students
143that I read to wondered if I was approaching that age and it was quite interesting. Uh, but I enjoyed going to several different schools, 27 classes, about 750 students where I read sneeches, where I tried to do voices. I did voices. I done just to try, but I tried to communicate a story that helped them understand what we've been hearing about tonight about being the inroup or the out groupoup. And that's there'll always be somebody who wants to sell you something to help you have better rep. And whether it was a TK class, which was very challenging, uh, or fifth grade class, I did my best to connect with them about what really is friends and friendship. The, um, the building construction pathway competition on last Saturday was an inaugural event. We hope to do
144it, I guess, every year uh, and include more high schools. You saw it in uh, Superintendent Shrum's spotlight this evening. I was really impressed. I know that a fellow board member D. Young and took his daughters to go see and it was a female that won all the competition. She did very very well. But again, it was practical real life application of their woodworking skills and actually also some speech skills in answering interview questions like if a finger got cut off by a saw, what would you do? And I was amazed that they had answers for that. I would just go ah call 911. But um it was very very well done. I want to say thank you to John Perez who helped um here's our athletic director for the entire district who went out
145the day before and made sure that the lines were all uh placed on the lawn at Royal Oaks Park and for the whiffle ball tournament. That's not in his job description. It was just he wanted to support the ALO group that was doing that tournament and all the students and families. It was well attended and amazing thing to witness uh firsthand. This morning I had the opportunity like I do every semester and that's to go ride a bus. Some people think that's kind of silly, but thank you Luis and staff for accommodating me and Eric Kerr for uh accompanying me. We got there at 6:30. We went on a bus ride and saw what a day in the life is like for a driver and for I don't know I lost track of how many
146students I she she filled that bus up more than once. Um and then made the rounds to see maintenance to see u uh tech services, nutritional services. I I happen to just joke though we're going to see the broccoli get chopped and they were chopping broccoli today. So it actually uh happened at the same time. uh and to see that it takes a lot of moving parts and a lot of support staff for us to have >> every student learn every day. And so I want to encourage our public that we don't take it lightly how and where and who is it takes to make sure that our students learn and that I explained to a friend the other day I these four years I've been on this board I have never seen numbers with
147so many zeros. Uh I I I've never had uh any kind of inkling to oversee a $568 million budget. Well, like any business, you want to trust people. You want to make sure that management happens well. And so, thank you so much, Mr. Hernandez, who continues to make sure that dollars go where they're supposed to go, savings happens wherever we can. Uh, I I've apologized more than once. I was a candidate running thinking that I'm going to help this district save money, that they waste more than they know how to say, and I was completely wrong. Completely wrong. This district works very very hard to make every dollar count. 80% of that 538 million budget goes to salaries and benefits because we're in the people business. We're in the education business. And so the last
148thing I want to share is that the events of the last few weeks uh that some have addressed this evening, I'm not talking to them directly. I'm just to the community. I hope all of us realize this is and it was and I pray will continue to be what we look in education as a teachable moment where all of us learn and all of us move on. Thank you. >> Okay, board member D Young. >> Thank you, President Odo. Uh I have to apologize. have a frog in my throat. So, if I sound a bit raspy, um, you know, normally I do a board report, uh, report out on kind of the events I do, uh, sites I visit, cool things we see the kids do. Um, but I felt kept to it was relevant
149to keep to the point of kind of, um, not to show overshadow those things because those are vitally important because that's what, you know, that's one of the reasons why I ran to be here is to support our community and our kids. Um, but you know, I'm also here to support individuals that feel singled out, that they feel that they don't belong. Um, that's not something I believe in as a community member. Um, a lot of that comes from a Christian um perspective, at least my Christian perspective, that uh all are welcome and all deserve love. And so it was uh it was a little rough to hear all that stuff because um you know you hear all these things and you you want to believe everything you hear but you know there's always two
150sides to a story and I don't want to devalue anyone's story. Um, but definitely it's very important that people come and they speak so we can hear because otherwise we're making decisions off of information from one place and that's not a decision at all. And so I would just like to say if you know anyone watches this just uh thank you for everyone that came and spoke. uh there's still a lot more uh that are going to speak uh if I had to take a guess and um you know I just want uh people to remember that we do are saying is I believe I belong in uh IMVUSD um that can't just be words that also has to have meaning and meaning needs to be backed up by action and so there's a lot
151of things that trouble me um you know uh as far as the Redwood incident I know as much as the public, unfortunately. Uh I don't think that is a position that I should be in as a board member. And so that's something that I'll speak to our superintendent about. Um you know, a lot of people might not like my cander up here. But when I ran and knocked on a lot of doors, I told people I'm going to try to be as honest as possible and be as transparent as possible. And sometimes you got to say things that not everybody's going to like. Um, and so again, thank you everyone that has come and spoke. Thank you everyone that's still here. Again, ready to speak. Um, I'm glad you came and I'm ready to listen
152and uh willing to uh take action, make sure that we represent what we actually say. All right. Well, thank you. Appreciate it. >> Board member Gaby. >> Yes. Uh, good evening. So, um, yes, kind of to echo a little bit, um, of that, we've had a lot of people that, um, spoke tonight. And so, I don't need to add a whole lot to that except I do want to express my support for the request, um, that we received by the source and the audits that they requested. Um, the gentleman has left that brought up the previous case, but unfortunately, it has not been the only one. Um, and I also appreciate Superintendent Shrum's um, acknowledgement that there's continued work to be done during his spotlight. But, um, if we can kind of follow up with
153more details of that and and what that really includes because while we can't control kind of what happens outside the school, um, under no circumstances should any student feel that this would be acceptable on one of our campuses. And so, um, our school climates do matter and our students do deserve better. So, thank you to the community that showed up and yeah, I think we all look forward to improving from this >> board member Viegas. Thank you, President Oto. And I want to start by saying I'm wholly dedicated to the students of our district and their safety. And let me be clear that no child should show up to their place of learning and be confronted with hate at them directed just for being who they are. And so as we look towards the future,
154we have to ask ourselves how we can push for both accountability and healing in this moment. And so I too fully support all of demands presented by the source and members of the public tonight and our community. And I ask our district to move as efficiently as possible with the requested audits on cultural competency training on resources for students and implementation of the fair act. And I know there have been a lot of conversations around accountability, justice, punishment. But as an educational institution, I think we know that the solution to ignorance isn't arbit arbitrary punishment. Instead, it's education. It's restorative justice. And so, as one of our community leaders put it, actually in an email to all of us, um I want to credit uh Nikki Schul, an active member of our community, she said,
155"Hope is learning. It's reflection and growth. How we all respond to moments like this will shape the adults that these students become and how our community can grow from this moment." And to folks online who or in the public who may try to weaponize religion as attacks on our LGBTQ students or any sort of group, let me remind you that we are all God's children and every single person deserves love, respect, and a sense of belonging. Not just in our schools, but in our broader community. So, as mentioned earlier, let this moment not just be about punishment. Let it be about restorative justice. Let it be about education and understanding impact. Last week, I attended a community meeting with the source and several members of the public so that I too could better understand impact
156and how our community can come out of this even stronger. But today and every day, we must fight for the dignity, the safety for all of our LGBTQ students, all of our staff and our community um here in Bicellia and beyond. And I also want to thank all members of the public for being here today, especially those providing public comment. I know it takes a lot of courage to stand behind a microphone and to speak true to power. Um, it can be very intimidating, but hearing your stories both around this incident at Redwood, both around uh these proposed layoffs, uh, I hope can sway hearts and minds. I am deeply appreciative of all of our classified employees who have dedicated years of service, of loyalty to this district and And I'll I'll save some of
157my other comments as we approach this item, but I'm reminded that, you know, and I asked this question earlier that we have a according to our second interimm report, a projected reserve of $32.6 million. And as I think about the lives that are being impacted by these proposed layoffs, I ask how we can do more for our employees, how we can do right by our employees and our community. And I will close with that comment. Thank you. Yeah, board member Naylor. >> So, I just wanted to say also to um Miss Mariana, right? Thank you. You did a great job tonight. I don't want to dismiss that. You know, I know there's been a lot going on, but I we really appreciate you and I um look forward to the student report every every um
158board meeting. Um you know, there has been a lot tonight and I do appreciate people coming out and speaking. Um, but as a school board member, and I think I can speak to for most of the school board members up here, you know, that golden rule is what someone said it, you know, do unto others you wish them to do unto you. That that's that's what it's all about. Everyone should feel safe, all students at all times. And so, if that means that we need to kind of look and within ourselves and find out how we fix this and it's not, again, I appreciate this not about punishments, it's about educating. We're in the business of educating students and that's what our focus needs to be. Um I also wanted just to kind of give
159a shout out because I did visit Mount Whitney and I know we've been focusing on tonight but um thank you Mrs. Reid for giving us a tour. Showed us the cadet u program out there, the core cadet program which was very impressive and got to see my son in his health science academy um do an amazing job. I thought, "Oh my gosh, you know, he's really doing that hands-on activity." And also Mr. Prada, who really cares about our students and is there, you know, as all our teachers, you know, to educate our kids and give them the best um skills they they can possibly have to get on to go on to college or whatever their dream is. Um then also we visited Manuel Hernandez. didn't get to meet um Miss Joiner cuz she wasn't
160there, the principal, but I just want to give a kudos to assistant um principal flaws who gave us a great tour. So, thank you so much. >> Board member Gwyn, >> I I do want to thank people that came out tonight. I want this place to be a place where you can express your opinions and your views and your concerns. I would like to give kudos to uh Dr. Grid Iron at uh Redwood High School. He has done a great job getting that get doing the restorative justice, getting kids together, understanding that respect and belonging are really important and that each of those kids has a role in that. So, thank you Dr. Grid Iron. I don't even know if you're still here, but there you are. I want to thank you for what you
161did. Um, I'm going to switch gears just a little cuz we are about educating kids. And um you know when I heard when your report when you talked about the Dell scholarship I can't wait to see our results of how many kids are a agy ready and able to go to college. Um I had forgot something in my board report last time so I'm going to do it right now. Um we have four schools that have automatic admission. California State University, Fresno, Pacific College, Pacific University. I get in trouble for saying Pacific College. It was Pacific College when I was there. Uh Pacific University, UC Merrced, and our new one is Soma State. And I found out at a VPI meeting that they are taking kids that um that are AG already pretty much AG
162ready. They're taking them to tour that campus. It's our kids that are um in ourmies and our pathways that there are majors at Soma State for those kids and and they're taking these kids to tour Soma State. So, I just want to talk I want to thank you, Mrs. Nelson, for what you're doing in that department. There's some amazing things going on. So, thank you. >> Okay. statement. I don't really have anything to add beyond what's been said here tonight across the the day is here at the board. I would like to add uh thanks to principal Bo Yang at Crowley for the visit I had there last week. School looked great in lots of different ways. Um beyond that, no report. Superintendent Shrum, >> thank you. just one addition and we'll this this is
163uh just found out this evening and we'll be sure to spotlight this but I want to congratulate Liamante High School that has just been named as one of California's distinguished schools and so that information just came out uh today and so very excited to hear that for academics in closing uh the gap with student performance and so congratulations to that staff and that team and that leadership and as I said we'll be sure to spotlight that uh in our next meeting, but we just got that notification. So, congratulations, LD Monte. >> Okay, brings us to item 11. And uh Miss Gabby, would you fill in for the clerk since she is on her way out of the room? >> Okay. 11.1, recommended expulsions. May I have a motion to approve the recommended expulsions? A >>
164Motion by board member D. Young, seconded by Allen. >> Board member Belt. Call for the vote. There you go. >> Motion passes. Six with one absent and student uh board representative abstains. >> Go. There you go. It's like riding a bike. 11.2 recommended reinstatements. May I have a motion to approve the recommended reinstatements? >> I'll motion by board member D. Young, seconded by board member uh Naylor. Call for the vote. >> Vote passes. Six with one absent. Student board representative abstaining. >> Okay. 11.3 recommended suspended expulsions. May I have a motion to approve the recommended suspended expulsions? >> I'll make a motion. >> Okay. Motion by uh board member Viegas, seconded by >> I'll second. >> Seconded by board member Gabby. Call for the vote. >> Motion passes. Six with one absent and board student
165board representative abstains. Okay, that takes us to section 12 of the agenda, general agenda. First item up, 12.1, 2025 Vice Unified School District second interim budget report. Presenter is CBO Nathan Hernandez. Good evening, Superintendent Oto and members of the board. Sorry, President I had a I had a flashback. Uh, Superintendent Shrum, uh, President Oto, members of the board. Uh, this evening, uh, we've got a review of our This is just start I'm going to start over. It's been a long night. We're not used to these. Uh, so we're going to review our second interim budget report uh, for 2526. This is a report through January 31st of 2026, kind of the halfway point of our school year. Uh our next report to the board will come when we bring our 2627 adopted budget in June
166and we'll look at our 2526 uh budget again and again back to our foundations within the commitment for student learning. Um it I can't read that again. Um it reads that among some others if we ensure equitable allocation of resources then we will ensure the success of our students and our budget is our tool to ensure that again every student's learning every day and our commitment to meeting our board's goals and actions. So we're going to talk through a second interim again we'll go high level uh through the general fund uh unrestricted and restricted summary. We will uh take a look uh specifically um focus in a little bit more on the revenues and the expenditures. Again, this is pretty high level uh review as a lot of our resources are um uh combined into
167into these reports. We'll look at our multi-year projection and our uh outlook for the next uh three years uh two years and the current year and then uh talk about next steps. So the interim report as I mentioned this is all activity as of January 31st. Um so it is an update that we provide to the county and then the county also provides to the state and the report um sign signals what uh signals a certification of the district's ability to meet our financial obligations for the current year and the next two years and that's our multi-year projection. So we do currently show a positive certification which means that we have met our required 3% reserve and our projection for the next two years current year in the next two years uh shows that we
168have a positive ending fund balance when we look at the my just as a reminder it's a planning tool so it includes assumptions uh for actions that haven't happened yet so we have made assumptions for how we will balance our budget over these next two years. And so while it does show a positive projection, that assumption um could change if we don't take take those actions again to balance our budget for these next couple years. So this is our general fund summary. Um it's made up of both restricted and unrestricted funds, and you can see the combined uh amounts on the right. The restricted includes our programs like title one um CTE routine restricted maintenance uh special education and also has our spudbug uh and our learning recovery. So our one-time funds are all on
169the restricted side. If you go down towards the middle in blue there, the darker blue where it says net change in fund balance, that shows the difference between revenues and expenditures for our unrestricted and our restricted general funds. On the unrestricted you see the deficit of 15 million that is our current year deficit within our unrestricted general fund and 26 million within the restricted funds. The restricted funds is where our again our one-time funds are. So um what that means is that we received revenues for learning recovery as an example two years ago that we are spending down in the current year. So we have no revenue for learning recovery this year but we have about $12 million in expenditure. So it shows as a as as deficit. Um and then the combined there shows
170the deficit of $41 million. Um and so as we you know uh Dr. Vas mentioned our reserve of $32 million. Our requirement the 3% is about 16.6 million. So, we have about a $16 million buffer between our reserve on hand and our reserve requirement. If we don't make any adjustments to our budget with a deficit of 41 million, we would not have a positive certification next year. So, again, a little bit deeper into revenues. You can see our LCFF source is a little bit higher. uh that's a result of uh adjustments for our first period attendance and our first period attendance had an increase in our TK ADA um and not just the the the number of TK students but also the amount per student that we're receiving from the state the state add-on was
171included and so you see an increase in our LCFF um uh funding there also um in other state revenues uh reimbursements for uh the our medical our uh MA program as well as uh transportation uh sale of equipments within the local other local revenues and then Cte and Special education. We did receive some additional pass through funds from the SULPA for um this interimm report and so you can see the difference in first interim and second interim. a huge difference between those and usually between our two interimm reports we don't have uh big swings in in in that in that reporting period. On the expenditure side again not big changes but you can see between services and supplies. Uh typically what happens is we'll budget um carryover funding into uh into a materials and supplies
172account and then as we go through the year those funds can be moved between the different um services and supplies and and and the net there is um basically no change between the two. uh the increase for the summer assistance program, that's the summer classified summer assistance program where the state provides uh actual revenues. And so while there's an increase on the uh expenditure side, there's also an increase in the revenue side. So they offset, but those are funds that come to us from the state for that program. When we looked at that $15 million deficit in the unrestricted general fund, we followed that uh pretty closely because that is where the majority of our our expenditures are. All of our classroom staff um uh LCAP funds all within the unrestricted portion of the general
173fund. So, we have a $15 million deficit currently. we back out those carryover programs and those one-time expenditures. Um, so we can see like what our actual operating deficit is, which is about 6 million going into next year or 7 million going into next year's budget development process. And that's important as we're looking at our multi-year projection. Again, we back out all of those one-time and carryover cost when we look at the projection for 2627 the next year. And you can see on the unrestricted side, it goes from 15 million down to 2.74. Again, that includes some assumptions about next year that we're making um in this in this budget. Uh we showed at the first interim in December a number that was about 23 million for 2627 and that included moving all of the
174one-time expenditures into unrestricted. Um now we have more information from the state. there is another round of one-time funding coming. So, um probably the fifth or sixth year of one-time funds. Um but they promised us this is the last year for learning recovery and we don't know uh what the um student supports professional development block grant if that will continue beyond next year. Um so uh the outlook the governor issued his budget proposal in January. He'll issue a revision to that in May. Um that budget proposal included a cost of living adjustment of 2.41%. In our budget that's about $9 million. Um our a cost for step and column and just our normal increases is close to $7 million. So, while that cost of living adjustment can help offset some of that cost, it doesn't
175provide enough to bring us all the way out of our deficit position. And that's what we showed in that multi-year projection. Um, again, additional onetime fundies funding being proposed from the state, but no new programs were proposed in the January budget proposal. Um, again, we're continuing to watch enrollment. Um, we have programs in place that were put in place by the state this year for attendance recovery and we're looking at other ways to maximize recovery either in the summer or through inter sessions or after school programming uh to help uh improve our attendance rates um going into next year and then of course the expiration of one-time funds. So next steps that that the governor will issue that may revise in May. Um and then we'll be back here in June to present uh the
176proposed budget for 2627. And then we'll come in September with our unodudited actual report on the current fiscal year. And with that, I'd be happy to stick around for questions. >> Okay. Is there any public comment on this item? Any board member comment on this item? Board member Viegas. >> Thank you, President Oto. Uh, thank you, Nathan, for the presentation. I'm wondering if, um, we have any estimates or indications as to, you know, California is looking at a potential 5% billionaire's tax on the 200 wealthiest Californians. And I know most of that money is supposed to be allocated to healthcare to address, you know, the $880 billion that are being cut from Medicaid by the federal government. But as as I know, part of that money is also supposed to be also supposed to be
177dedicated to education, specifically K through 14. Um, do we have any indication or estimates as to how much that could potentially mean for our district? >> Yeah, I haven't seen um estimates on that proposal. Um, we also know that we have Prop 30 and Prop 55 that were passed for education back in 2012 and then uh and that is likely going to be on the ballot again this year. That was a 1% tax and in our budget that's about $40 million. Um, and so I I don't know what the percentage is that's supposed to come to education, but we can do some additional research. >> Thank you. >> Any other board comment? >> Can I just Can I just say thank you? >> Not yet. >> Any other board member comment? Yeah, Mr. uh, Dion
178Young. >> Nathan knows that we we we're very do much appreciate you, Nathan. um question. So projected deficit uh over the coming years, you know, of course uh you know, uh school budgets, uh district budgets, they're all estimated because uh got to love state of California. Um with the projected deficits though, do we have any idea where we're planning to shore up those deficits or are we going to tap into that reserve or is there something like just a general idea? Yeah. So, um, so we are potentially looking at, uh, uh, moving to using some of our reserve, uh, for the deficits. We also know next year there's going to be additional onetime funds that are coming from the state. We don't know how much that is yet. Um, but we've also put some processes
179in place in our budget development where we are allocating more funding to schools, most of that the onetime funding. um and so that we can build a sustainable budget over these next three years uh without the one-time funds in place. And so um we put that process in place this year and so that we can balance our budget over these next three years. >> And uh how much of this is related to like the ballooning costs of just from inflation for things like construction maintenance? Uh so different funding sources for facilities uh versus the operational side of the budget but um we have seen just in our maintenance budget, routine maintenance budget, the cost increase quite a bit for just materials and supplies and contracted services. And we looked at our elementary school that cost
180us, you know, $25 million in 2018 cost us $48 million, you know, this year. So it's quite a bit of inflation in the construction industry. So, if you were a betting man, how much would you bet on? We're going to get that onetime money from the state. >> Well, the onetime funds from the state um is, uh, you know, that was in the January proposal, so that's coming to us. We just don't know how much. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Uh, all right. Thank you. >> Any other board member comment? Okay, seeing this is an action item. So, may I have a motion to approve the 2526 Vicilian School District second interim budget report? >> I'll move. >> Okay. Mr. Belt moves. Miss Naylor seconds. Call for the vote. >> Motion passes. Student board member votes
181yes. Um, seven yes, zero no. >> Item 12.2, Two, public hearing, adoption of resolution approving an energy services master agreement with electric motor shop for stadium light improvements. I'll now open the public hearing to allow for public comment on this item. CPO Hernandez, it's all yours. >> Good evening, President Oto now and Superintendent Sh, members of the board. So, this is a public hearing for the adoption of a resolution approving an energy services master agreement with electric motor shop for stadium light improvements. Um that we're requesting approval of findings pursuant to government code section 4217 confirming that the cost of the lighting energy retrofit project for the mineral kebable and community stadium lighting will be fully offset by projected savings. Um there's a savings report within this report that shows within about 22 to 23
182years the uh savings offset the cost of the project. >> Okay. Any public comment on this item? Any board member question or comment? >> One question. Um Mr. Hernandez, this is this is a fund 400 which is a special reserve account. Correct. >> Can you tell me a little bit about what that is? >> Sure. Um, so fund 400 special reserve account. So it's um can be used facilities that's a little less restrictive than our other facilities funds like uh developer fees or routine restricted maintenance. It can be used for facilities projects. Um but like in this case it's not specific to a capital project like uh building a doing modernization or >> but there again it's not some it's not monies we could use elsewhere for salaries or >> it is not monies that
183can be used for very good >> operational costs >> any other board member comment okay seeing none I will close the public hearing and then may I have a motion to approve the public hearing of the adoption of resolution approving an energy services master agreement ment with electric motor shop for stadium light improvement. >> I'll motion to approve. >> Motion uh by board member Gabby, seconded by by board member Naylor. Call for the vote. >> Only you would know. >> Uh motion passes. Student board member votes yes. Seven yes. Zero no. >> Let there be light. Okay. 123. Notice of intent to employ certificated personnel on approval of variable term waiver request for speech language pathologist. >> Thank you, Superintendent Odto. Mr. Dylan, >> I did it too. Thank you, Nathan. Thank you, Superintendent from
184And Odo. >> Um requesting from the board to uh approve this variable term waiver. So, for a speech language pathologist, we're pleased to have uh a new speech language pathologist coming on board with our district. >> Okay. Any public comment? Board member comment. Okay. I will move to approve this item. >> Second by Mr. Viegas. All for the vote. >> Motion passes. Student board member votes yes. Seven yes. Zero no. >> Okay. 12.4. Four public hearing California School Employees Association CSEA Chapter 83 interests initial proposal for classified negotiation second read. >> I am pleased to welcome Shauna Weaten to present this item. >> Right. I now open the public hearing to allow for public comment on this item and welcome Miss Weaten. >> Good evening Superintendent Shrm board president Odo and fellow board members. This
185is the second proposal of the California School Employees Association and its Viselia chapter 83 to the Vicelia Unified School District 2026 2027 reopener negotiations. The California School Employee Association and Viceelia Chapter 83 CSA present their second proposal for the 2026 2027 reopener negotiations under the provisions of the current bargaining agreement. It is CSEA's intent to alter or amend the following articles as indicated and present our proposal to the public's decision in accordance with the governor code 3547. Article 8, promotions. CSEA proposes to modify and enhance the promotion selection process. Article 10, employee benefits. CSEA proposes the increasing district's contribution to employee benefits to cover increases and maintain the current benefit standards for all unit members. Article 13, salaries. CSEA proposes to enhance the salary schedule to provide an equitable wage increase to help maintain the
186integrity of salary schedule and acceptable standards of living for all employees. Article 15 leaves CSEA proposes to update and modify language for the jury and personal necessity. All other provisions of the collective bargaining agreement in force of June 30, 2027 shall remain in full force in effect. CSEA reserves the right to make any additional proposals at any time during the bargaining process, including but not limited to the responses of proposals made by the district. I would like real quick to have all the CSE members in the room please stand. >> Thank you all for being here this evening. We appreciate you. Okay. Is there any public comment on this item? Board member comment on this item. Okay, I'll close the public hearing and this is an action item. So, may I have a motion to
187accept the California School Employees Association CSEA Chapter 83 interest initial proposal for classified negotiations second reading. >> Moved by Mrs. Snaylor, second by Mr. Belt. Call for the vote. >> Motion carries. Student board member votes yes, seven yes, zero no. >> Okay. 12 point 12.5 public hearing. Vicilian fight school district interest initial proposal for classified negotiations second reading. Um I'll open a public hearing to allow for public comment on this item. Mr. Dylan, back to you. >> Thank you, Board President Odo. Uh Superintendent Sh, members of the board, we present the second read of the district's initial proposal to CSEA chapter 83. Our district mission is simple yet profound. Every student learning every day. And our goal is a mutually agreeable contract reached through an open and honest collaborative exchange of information. We are committed
188to a shared positive outcome that reflects our deep respect for the vital role that our classified employees play in our student lives. As we shared during the first read, we have an interest in opening article 7 to update the transfer process for better operational efficiency. Article 17 to ensure our language reflects the most current safety environmental standards. And additionally, we will engage in our annual mutual discussions regarding salary and employee benefits. Um, I would like to recognize and thank the six members of our district bargaining team uh for their ongoing support and participation in this process as well as uh the members of our CSEA bargaining team um and their ongoing collaborative uh responsibility as we carry out these next steps. So with the board's approval of this second read, we look forward to such
189collaboration in good faith with a shared commitment to providing exemplary education for the students and the community that we serve. Thank you. >> Is there any public comment on this item? Any board member comment on this item? Okay, I will close the public hearing. Call for a motion to approve the Vicilian unified school district interest initial proposal for classified negotiation second reading. Do I have a motion? >> A motion. Motion by board member Gabby. Second by Miss Naylor. Call for the vote. >> Motion carries. Student board member votes yes. Six seven yes. Zero no. >> Okay. 12.6. Recommendation and resolution to eliminate particular kinds of classified service classified positions. Presenter on this again Mr. Dylan. >> Thank you board president Odto. Uh the district bring forwards brings forward to the board a recommendation and a
190resolution to eliminate particular kinds of classified service. Uh we ask that the board take action tonight uh to approve the resolution in front of you um allowing the district to move forward accordingly and comply with its uh responsibility to provide notice to employees by March 15th. >> Got it. I understand we have a uh comment by Superintendent Trump. >> Thank you, Mr. President. do have a statement I want to say uh in uh with this uh our greatest asset are our dedicated people who show up every day for our students. We recognize that staffing adjustments cause concern and I want to speak directly to the heart of the matter, our commitment to our workforce and the stability of our schools. Faced with difficult budgetary decisions due to inclining enrollment and the ending of one-time funds,
191our primary goal has been to minimize the impact on our current employees and maintain necessary supports and services for students. We've worked tirelessly to ensure that as many staff members as possible are in meaningful positions within the dis district. In the 2425 school year, we added 117.65 65 full-time equivalents of classified positions. During that same year, in March 2025, the district eliminated 79.06 FTE. That resulted in a net increase of 38.6 FTE of classified employees. Through effects of bargaining and the concerted efforts of our teams, there were no classified employees whose employment was terminated as the result of a classified position elimination last year. zero. For the 2526 school year, we added 187 FTE positions and are now limiting 83.04. Overall, we still have an increase this year of 104.5 full-time equivalent classified positions. At
192this point today, all but 14 of impacted classified employees have been assigned to a position for the 2627 school year. And we will continue to work with our labor partners, CSA chapter leadership during the coming months to identify positions for as many of these employees as possible. Our focus remains on transparency and support. We are proud of the work our teams have done to keep our staff employed and our schools running smoothly while reflecting the changing budgetary times. By shifting resources, we focused on keeping current team members in their positions and maintaining employment within the district. But by eliminating certain vacant positions were able to preserve the jobs of current hardworking staff members. We understand that every vacant position represents a future opportunity and we do not take these decisions lightly. Every adjustment is evaluated
193through the lens of the student experience, ensuring that our schools and essential services remain supported. We hear and validate the concerns being voiced by our classified staff. Even when an employee lands in a new position, that change is difficult and that adjustments to positions and FTE impacts that individual and our district collectively. We remain committed to an open dialogue with our labor partners and our community as we navigate this path together. We are encouraged by the career opportunities reflected in the overall increase of 143.1 FTE during the past two years. This is the outcome when the district and local labor leaders work together to provide a strong workforce committed to ensuring every student is learning every day. Thank you. So, at this time, I'll call for public comment. And I do have three requests to
194speak. The first of these is Katie Kaine. Good evening, folks. My name is Katie Kaine. I am a born and raised vicelian. Attended VUSD from kindergarten through graduation. By the way, experienced all the stuff they talked about. It hasn't changed. Um, and now I have the honor of working as a classified staff member at College of the Sequoas. In addition to that, I serve as a CSEA chapter president for COS and CSEA's regional representative for the 12 districts we represent in Northwest Tiller County. All of that to say, I am intimately familiar with how our local school districts run, not just yours. As a taxpayer, I have major qualms about the district budget here at V USD as it relates to laying off classified workers. For the last three years, the district has consistently underproed
195their revenue anywhere from 43 million to $247 million. In those same years, the district has consistently laid off or reassigned classified staff. And the significance of that fact is the value of that discrepancy each year was enough to pay all annual salaries of your entire classified staff body five times over at the minimum, not just the laid-off people. Every district around VUSD has negotiated raises for the last several years to assist with combating the inflation that is strangling our working-class families. VUSD has handed off handed out pink slips and relocation notices. As VC has laid off those staff, they have added managers that cost multiple times what any one staff person costs. These low and mid-level management positions have also had the negative impact of removing duties typically performed by classified staff at that less
196expensive rate, which drives up the cost of operations and disenfranchises your longtime employees. How many of those administratorships were laid off? How many administrators took a pay cut? Because we know that you guys aren't or they're not worried about paying their bills like the classified staff are. This for a district that is supposedly consistently facing uh such a financial crisis that they have to annually dilute their workforce. This seems like a poor business strategy. I would like to impress upon you that our educational institutions are held up by three legs. Classified staff, certificated teachers, and administrators. And if any one of those legs is weakened, the institution cannot stand. You cannot expect teachers to be successful without adequate paras and aids. You cannot expect your campuses to be clean and function properly without adequate custodians
197and maintenance technicians. VUSD will not be successful and it will cannot be successful if the classified staff body is weakened and spread thin as they are. Our students do not get the education and services they need, which means our future taxpayers don't get the support and growth that they need to build up our communities. CSA doesn't have the ability to decline layoffs. They can only negotiate the effects. But you do have the ability to do something about this. You are not just a board overseeing a district. You're the board overseeing employees that need jobs, and the district needs to do the necessary work to keep those people employed. I also want to thank the amount of empathy that I've seen on the faces of every board member here tonight as all the people have been
198speaking with the exception of one face. I've never met you, Mr. Shrum, but I've seen nothing but contempt on your face for every person that's been up here speaking the entire night. Fix your face. Next up, Helena Perkins. Good evening, board members. My name is Helena Perkins. I am a classified member of Palmdale Chapter 296. That's three hours for me to get home. where I sit on the executive board as immediate past president. I'm here supporting Vicelia CSEA chapter 83 and its 1,700 bargaining unit members. But more importantly, I am the CSEA area Director and sit on the board of directors for the largest classified employee union in the nation serving 250,000 members to which Vicelia Chapter 83 resides along with 23,000 other classified employees in area D. Upon your arrival, you may have noticed
199individuals holding signs, chanting, rallying in support of no layoffs, no cuts because they hurt students. By definition, a justifiable layoff is a legitimate non-discriminatory reduction in force driven by business needs rather than individual performance such as financial downturns, restructuring, or mergers. It must be documented, objective, and compliant with employment laws. Vicea school district board members, if you are sincerely here for the students, you must be here for classified. Reconsider laying off unfortunately. Reconsider reductions. Reconsider eliminating positions. Reconsider, eliminate contracting out. No layoffs. This has to go. This type of mindset has to go. Students and schools rely and thrive on classified employees. Thank you for your time. Have a nice evening. Susie Chambers. Good evening. Um, my name is Susie Chambers. I'm the director of field operations for the California School Employees Association. Um, before
200that I was the field director for the Fresno Field Office. Um, so I've watched over nearly six years as the field director Vicelia Unified make the same decision every year. that's laying off classified employees. Every year it's the same pattern. Classified employees bear the greatest impact. Certificated management layoffs are far fewer. And in the same breath, the district cut classified employees. They then come to us asking to contract out our work. Every year this happens. Enough is enough. We're done. Balancing the budget on the backs of the workforce that holds this district together is not just unsustainable, it is unjust. I'm not new to this district. And I'm not new to this pattern of behavior. You voted and approved classified layoffs last year and the years before, but let me remind you of something important.
201Classified employees are your community. They are your constituents. They were here before every one of you sat at this dis. And despite your resolutions, they will be here after. School employees vote. Their families vote. Their communities vote. And the voters remember. They remember who stood up for our schools. And they remember who chose to balance the budget by cutting the people who make those schools work. Tonight, I'm asking you to stand with your employees. Stand with your community. Stand on the right side of this moment because Vicelia students and staff deserve leadership that lifts them up, not one that pushes them out. Thank you. Is there any other public comment on this item? So, my name is Joel Ventura. I'm maintenance one painting. There's only three painters with this whole district. They want to eliminate
202my position just to subcontract all the painting which we need it every day. I go to every every school around here. They need painting from ceiling to floor. I mean, and you guys want to eliminate my position? I mean, now maintenance just hired a new secretary, but they're eliminating my position where I'm fixing your guys' schools. I mean, I don't think that's fair enough for me to lose my job and hire a secretary just to do paperwork when I'm over here cleaning and fixing up your schools that they should be clean for the students to be in the class, you know? I mean, I'm just expressing myself. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other public comment? Okay, seeing no other public comment, I'll go into board member comment. Mr. Vieas, thank you, President Oto.
203Um, I wanted to and I know I had emailed a couple of staff members about this question. Um, earlier in the agenda in the past, we have, you know, approved a waiver for not spending 55% on classroom salaries. And so as we look towards these layoffs, I'm perplexed as to how we're both failing to meet the required amount of spending per state law on classroom salaries while at the same time proposing layoffs. And I want to say I understand as a district we have to make choices, but our classified staff have played an extremely vital role at all of our sites. And we've heard today how many of them go above and beyond. And regardless of how large or how small every site is, uh each of our students deserves those classified employees in the
204classroom and outside the classroom. And so whether it's our our warehouse workers or our IT workers, our custodial staff, you know, people are working hard and our dollars aren't going as far because of inflation, because of tariffs. And I applaud that last year we were able to, you know, have zero individuals not have their employment terminated with the district. But we also have to acknowledge that moving to these other positions also means a potential loss of hours. It means a potential loss of pay. oftent times it means a huge cut for families who are already struggling and working hard to get by. And so how do we as a district also know that we are providing the same amount of services to our students? Um when I hear about proposed cuts within specific departments, we
205know that the work doesn't stop. That burden just shifts to other classified employees who now have to work longer hours, who have to stretch their dollars further. Um and so I again ask how one we're both failing to meet this requirement while proposing these layoffs and what else we can do um in the future to make sure this also doesn't become a reoccurring theme uh of layoffs proposed every single year. Thank you. >> Any other board member comment? >> Yeah, Mr. D. Young. >> Thank you. Uh President Odo, um you know, I try to look at these things objectively. Uh we're talking about uh right now at this point there's 14 individuals that we do not have a position for. Correct. If I'm I'm getting that right to say not school. >> We have 14
206employees who we've yet to bargain the effects of layoffs for to identify positions for next year. That is correct. >> How how likely is it that these individuals will not find a home? >> I don't want to speculate on specific indiv individual positions. I don't think that's fair to the individual employees, but it it the goal of the district is to help identify positions. >> Um, you know, I don't think anyone doesn't know that I'm a classified staff as well. Um I work over at a small district in Tiraabella where we have similar things have happened where you know you unfortunately um human resources is a place that you cut and what that means is individuals typically that remain take on the burden and uh I specifically I have been hurt on the job because
207of those effects. I have spoken to other individuals at this own district that have been hurt from similar things. Uh some of them being very close to me. My biggest concern uh you know besides hearing all the you know these u heartfelt speeches which it's hard to ignore but who's going to do the work? Um cuz essentially we deemed these positions necessary but now they're I'm I'm assuming they're still necessary but we can't afford them. Is that would would that be a correct statement? >> What you're seeing for you are positions being eliminated due to lack of funds. >> Lack of funds. Um and I understand lack of funds. Uh but the other concerning part is this always going to be a place where these funds are cut. Like is there is there no other
208place that we could figure out a way to shore up for staff? Cuz I've said this over and over again that things don't teach peach kids, it's people. Um, we all have that story about that wonderful teacher or that grounds worker or whatever that made a difference in our lives growing up being a kid at school. Um, so how do we do that if uh, you know, if we keep cutting our people? Um, that's not something that I ran on specifically and that's not something I believe in. So that's just what I'm trying to like uh, wrap my head around. Are you wanting a response? >> Can you restate the question? We're wanting a response to >> Oh, Ben. Um, uh, how are we going to keep going on this trend? There's going to be
209a certain point where we're going to be limited in the individuals that we can go to and like, you know, for example, uh, uh, uh, pair educators uh, that work with some of our most vulnerable students. uh there's a certain extent that we have to have them. So once we stop cutting from that, if it's supplementary, where else is it going to come from? Um that's essentially what I'm saying. You know that talking to Nathan Hernandez earlier, he talked about shoring up the budget, uh which none of which was mentioned about further cuts to staff, which we're not even talking about certificated. >> Sorry. So, so the question is with you know again that hasn't been answered like who is going to do this work. So to speak specifically to individual work I I don't
210know if I'm prepared to share that. I can we can follow up with you on that and get information if there's specific requests about individual work performed. As far as how we do that you know Mr. Hernandez talked about the allocation model that we introduced as a district to allow for our school sites through the SYPA process in alignment with our LCAP to ensure that we're making data informed decisions with feedback from those closest to the work being performed at the school sites so that staffing decisions are made with that information in hand to ensure that we then have a sustainable staffing model going forward. One of the challenges we face right now is that we have staffing numbers that are anchored to one-time funds over the last 5 years. >> And prior to those
211five years, our staffing numbers look very different. >> And it's a challenge. And it's it doesn't I'm I'm not going to show it doesn't feel good. It's it's hard stuff. And these conversations are hard. And I commend our classified leadership and our district leaders who engage in those conversations because it sucks sometimes. But there that process of identifying h how we work through those through a staffing allocation model that takes us from one-time fund dependency to a sustainable budget is how we'll move forward in making those decisions. >> So so essentially we got into this position because we use onetime funds for ongoing >> we have used onetime funds and I'll let Mr. Hernandez, if you want details, cuz I'm not the guy to talk about, but we have, as you saw earlier, we've used
212onetime funds for the last 5 years to maintain operational uh expenses. >> I I would like uh to ask a general question if possible. Um what is the process that the district follows in looking at contracting out services and how actively do we involve our CSEA partners in that process and what does that look like moving forward? >> Yeah. So, first of all, the Contracting out has lots of different meanings and and some are services that are unrelated to existing staff, but speaking specifically to contracting out services that would potentially be work performed by classified employees. Um, whenever we've done that, we've always communicated that with our classified staff. Our preference is not to do that. It it's it's not the best thing if we can avoid it at all costs. In fact, this year
213we've taken really concerted efforts and changed hiring practices and and thank you for our principles adjusting and adapting and they've taken on responsibilities in doing that. But we've been able to substantially reduce um especially in some of those hard to fill positions, special ed support staff, um we want people who live here, want to work with our kids, and want to make a career out of that. Um I that's my background. people here know I've been here for 19 years and we've done that work. Um we're this year alone already in the last six months we've been able to reduce the number of contracted employees by over 70% um because of changing that practice. So we don't want to do that. Um, the only time we would even consider doing that is to meet obligations
214to students and providing necessary student services that we otherwise can't fill with the existing labor force we have available with our classified employees. >> President Odo. >> Yeah, Mr. Another question though too is uh I appreciate hearing from others in CSEA around the state today tonight uh as well as locally uh I too am a CSCA member still as my part-time work at COOS but with all that said this was not made am I correct that none of these decisions were made in a vacuum it wasn't like somehow the district office made this determination the bargaining team worked very diligently with our leadership locally of chapter 83. Is that right? Did the bargaining team work on this or was this done >> there that that there was information that was shared earlier. The district has
215the autonomy to propose layoffs. We bargain with the unit through that process. That said, our district and our bargaining unit leaders have done things to be human- centered, to have conversations with people ahead of time, to notify, to provide information about vacancies, to provide >> counseling services that are available, to support, to link them to resources, knowing that our legal obligation actually begins after the board takes action. >> Sure. So, so to get this straight then it there were decisions made about how to and I call me simple-minded, stop the bleeding. I mean, we have a budget that's unsustainable. Um, one thing I appreciate about Mr. Hernandez is that he takes very personal making sure that all the dollars are spent correctly but also forward thinking. Um, it was only three years ago we gave
216everyone a 10% raise when that was not happening anywhere else that I'd heard. Uh, am I right? I mean, we've given raises. We've tried to always do at least a cola. It's not like just the CSEA has taken a hit. As a matter of fact, what was the budgetary uh program that the district office went through just recently? We went through and asked to cut a percentage of every department. What was that, Nathan? How much? >> 5%. Straight across. And so I I hear our fellow board member complain about getting a waiver. It was about 5% is what we are missing as far as the target uh of certificated uh salaries. So it's I guess I it makes me very frustrated to hear that decisions are made without human thinking because that's not true here.
217we have a continual uh shrinking uh and an uneven unknown of what the state of California is going to do next. Uh if most of schools in California are closing sites, we have never closed a school site in Vice Unified, have we? Because we've been able to maintain, we've been able to actually have enrollment slightly decline, but not massively. But the reality is no business and the public sector can't be any different. No business can continue to just spend money more than they're taking in. They will go out of business. And the numbers have been very very clear. I mean these numbers are staggering. Millions and millions. I mean it's it's it's quite amusing to me that we just talk about 16 million, 20 million, 580 million. I I have never had that kind of
218money. So, I have no idea what it's like, but that's what we deal with. We have to deal with with reality. And the reality is it's unsustainable to just continue to do the same old same old. In my research with Mr. Kerr and seeing what they're doing throughout our CSA employees is that they're learning how to do things smarter. That actually the traveling custodians for one. We did a a trial this last year, a pilot program, and now we're going to go into it more fully because it works. And that is that instead of driving a van to four or five different schools, they're going to go to one school, two or three of them, and that's their school to clean at that evening. That's coste effective, saving money, saving jobs, but still getting the
219job done. that we may no longer as much as I really like the stadium custodian. I I've personally got to know him. It can also be something that we can massage into all maintenance helping to make sure the stadiums are taken care of. It may not be that we need that one position. I would hope everybody's already looking at that very thoroughly. But the bottom line is it it's not them against us people. If we don't save money, if we don't make good decisions, we'll all lose our jobs. That's the reality. I mean, it's you just can't continue to go on the same old place. So, uh, as difficult as it is, I I know we have to make wise cuts and it's being shared all the way across the board. It's not limited to
220just classified employees. >> Okay. Any other board member comment? Yeah, Mr. D. Young, >> you first, please. >> You want to go first, Randy? >> Uh, so I'm not in a disagreement with you, Paul. Um, uh, I just disagree with how, uh, like we're talking about balancing the budget, how it gets balanced. I just don't think it should be balanced on staff. Staff are the ones that do the work. Staff are the ones that are going to get us to our strategic goals. uh which is also something concerning because that reflects if we don't then that also reflects onto our superintendent and we evaluate him based on those goals. Um and so you know I know we're talking a lot about classified staff on here but there's other things on here too. Um I just
221want to mention on here like our board manager position that's on here. Uh I have heard every almost every individual on this board complain about we need a board manager and yet it's on here and uh I understand the position is you know you know maybe cost a lot of money or what have you but it's something that I don't want to speak for the board because that is not my role but it's something that I want I think it's needed there is work there um just like there is work for our special friends and pair of professionals Profals and maintenance and custodial and bus drivers and you know all the other names on on here for positions. Um so you know with that said we could go on and on for this but um
222for the sheer fact that I don't want the remaining individuals to bear the burden on this um and you know also eliminating vacant positions also causes an underdue burden on the individuals that remain. I can't support this. >> Okay, Mr. Viegas, thank you. Um, as mentioned earlier, the work needs to be done. It continues to need to be done. And therefore, in eliminating these positions, that work is now shifted to other employees of the district who are already stretched thin. And as we think about all of our classified employees, we're increasing case loads for folks. We're increasing we're increasing workloads for folks and stretching people further than they already are. And when we talk about individuals moving positions, as mentioned earlier, we have somebody who's been working here for almost three decades and is now
223looking at restarting all over with a much lower salary, a much lower position. And that is time, that is money that is deeply affecting the livelihoods of our employees. So even if we are looking to maintain our employees with the district which of course I want us to do we can't simply ignore the fact that these are cut hours that these are a significant loss of salaries and whether it's cutting hours whether it's cutting positions I think we can look to alternatives as mentioned earlier um we have several positions whether it's it's middle upper management in which we have many many uh lucrative salaries and so what can we do to continue to empower and support our employees who are already struggling to get by. And so, as we stated earlier and as was stated
224multiple times during public comment, we cannot have amazing schools without the amazing employees who make that so. And so, for all those reasons, I am voting no tonight. Any further board member comment? Okay. And I'm going to call for a motion then to approve the recommendation to um eliminate particular kinds of classified service classified positions. I have a motion. >> I'm just going to say because I am going to make the motion. >> And what I'm going to say is that this was worked out with our district and the bargaining team. They talked about it. They worked it out. They worked hard on it. Is that what you told >> that when we're going to move forward? >> Well, okay. I'm not going to argue with you. I'll just make the motion. >> Okay. We
225have a motion >> to support the resolution. >> We have a motion to support the resolution by board member Gain. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Okay. Second by Miss Gabby. Call for the vote. >> Motion. >> Sorry. Mo um motion passes. Student board member abstains. Five yes, two no. >> Can I say something though, just real quick? >> I just want to make sure and I know you said this to us because it hurts my heart on this vote. This is a hard vote. Um I know we have to balance a budget. I understand that. But my understanding is they're going to tr you guys are going to try to ensure that we don't h we don't lay off a lot of classified. I know we're laying off some certificated. I
226know we're laying off 5% of across the board, but that we are going to make a concerted effort to keep as many employees as possible. That's >> we are making an effort to keep as many employees as possible. That said, I do want to acknowledge changes in FTE, reduction in hours, um changes in positions that result in a change in salary still occur. And that's hard. And I'm not pretending that that's not occurring. That still does occur despite our efforts to maintain employment. >> Yeah. The expectation of the board is that you make these decisions thoughtfully, make these recommendations thoughtfully with everything in mind, and that they're done with humanity, which I think is what we've heard here. But it's our responsibility to take your recommendations and act upon them if we have confidence in
227those processes. I think the board has pro has confidence in those processes. Obviously, there's some communication that needs to happen here on those processes so that we can be uniform there. Anyway, moving on to the next agenda item 12.7 resolution to eliminate certificated employee services for the 2627 school year due to a reduction of particular kinds of services. Mr. Dylan, back to you. Thank you, board president. Um bringing before the board resolution to eliminate certificate employee services um due to particular kinds of service for the 2627 school year. Um and would ask that the board take action to approve this resolution so that the district can fulfill its obligation to notice the employees um by the coming deadline. >> Right. Any public comment on this item? Board member comment on this item. So, similar to
228our previous conversation, I I just want to recall I remember the the joy that we had a couple years ago in when we stated that we had a full-time counselor at every site across our district and how amazing that was. And in my head, I was thinking, you know, what took so long? And now, as we look at cutting uh, you know, 10 counselor positions across the district, um, again, echoing the previous conversation, the work will still continue and remains to be done. And you know when I asked the district about well how are we going to manage I know we have added other supports including psychologists including social workers including other staff at our sites but at the end of the day that's simply shifting the burden and the workload and the case load
229to all those individuals who are now also going to be stretched further as students continue to deal with mental health issues continue to need supports outside of the classroom. And so, as stated earlier, I think again we we can look to alternatives. I think we can um continue to reflect, but for for those similar reasons, I will also be voting no on this item. >> Okay. >> Miss Miss G. >> Yeah. U Mr. Dylan, if I'm not mistaken, many of those counseling positions were one-time money. When they were hired, they were told it was onetime money. Am I wrong or am I correct on that? Many of the counseling positions, actually far more than 10 were brought on using one-time funds coming out of the pandemic. The the nature behind the money that was provided
230was to address social emotional needs coming from the pandmic >> in the in the years coming from that. Correct. I acknowledge there's still needs. Um >> and although money goes away, we still have services that students need and we have to get better and more strategic and and more effective in providing those services. And I'm grateful to our classified staff, our certificate staff, our school site leaders who are putting systems of student support in place to make sure that we continue giving students what they need. But yes, you are correct in that um over actually over 90% of our one-time funds were directed to support staffing at school sites, but understanding that's 90% of funds that have to be ultimately unraveled, >> right? the these are extremely heartbreaking decisions that we have to make, but
231we have to make them. And so I make a motion that we support this resolution. >> So before we go there, any other board member comment? >> Sorry. Um the one thing I would say is how do we continue also though to partner with the city and outside organizations because at the end of the day we're here for student learning and while their mental health needs does impact that um there are people that that's their specialty and um you know our teachers went to school to teach you know whatever subject that is or multiple subjects and um you know we can't do everything well and I'd really you know if we can do teaching and learning Well, then how do we also partner with some of those? Um, you know, great example, the source was
232here tonight, but there's, you know, there's counseling services, VIS, all of these things outside in the city. And some of that is us also and me too like advocating for that for our students. Um, with some of these other organizations, >> we we are really fortunate that we have very positive relationships with human, you know, HHSA, VIS, other, you know, partners. Um, you mentioned the source. We have amazing community partners and our district actually is one that's very fortunate. For years and years, we have outline strategic processes of how we coordinate supports with community providers. >> Mrs. Naylor, >> I was going to reiterate that too, but you said it well. We have a lot of resources out in our community that we we don't tap into and we we should because they're the experts.
233You're right. We we are here to educate kids and we're not, you know, the social emotional piece of it. Um we have some great partners out in our our city that can help us with that. >> Absolutely. And our family resource center staff are, you know, mental health support staff, they work closely daily with our community providers to do so. >> Okay. Any further comment, Mr. Dion? Well, I guess the uh central question is is this are counselors and I don't want to leave out the social sci science teachers. Is it still needed? I understand the budgetary concerns, but are these still needed? >> These illuminations were made by our district leaders at school site levels, at department levels. Uh some of them based on a declining enrollment. So, we talked about teachers. Um we're
234talking about we still maintain appropriate class sizes. We still maintain the requisite number of sections providing you know courses for students. Uh but positions were eliminations or decisions that were made using input from our school communities from parents from staff through the SIPA process to inform the decisions that are being brought forward with you tonight. And see, that's interesting to me because I've talked to plenty of principles that have said, "Yeah, you know, we have to eliminate our counselor because that's where it has to come from. Everything else we absolutely need, but this is something that we wish we could keep, but we can't cuz we don't have the money." So, you know, when I hear those types of things, it sounds like there is a need. Um, which look I understand if there's not
235enough money we have to spend on what we're mandated by law and supplementary has to uh unfortunately take the burden of it. Um, but again like reductions like this will essentially lower the uh the ability of our services to our students. Correct. That's that's the biggest thing that I'm worried about and especially after everything that's happened today with the whole Redwood incident and everyone that's came and spoken up. I don't think the uh the ramifications from you know CO is over. I think that's you know going to be a lifelong thing. So my concern is how is this going to then affect the students now having less counselors having the remaining staff have a larger uh you know case load. Um, and if there are external services, why haven't we used them already? >> We
236we do utilize them. Um to answer your question uh will this you know negate from you know students I I would not want to say that because I think that doesn't that doesn't frame well the hard work and the continued efforts that our teachers our psychologists our social workers our administrators our behavior intervention technicians all the other staff members who are part of a multi-tered system of support the wraparound students continue to provide um and I agree with you. If we had more money, I would love to keep additional positions. That that's definitely not what we're saying. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Oh, please. >> I'm just going to I work a lot at the state level and I'm telling you where we are right now is amazing. They're closing libraries in Silicon Valley. They're
237closing the libraries at the schools. They're closing schools. um there. So, where we are right now, in my opinion, as awful as this was tonight, we are in a really good position. We we have our enrollment has not dipped to the point where we have to close schools. I mean, that these these other board members I'm with, they're frantic because they can't keep teachers. How do you live in Silicon Valley when you're a teacher? So, they're closing libraries. They're clo they're closing CTE classes and CTE pathways. So, where we are right now in my opinion is amazing. So, that's my last final emotional statement. >> Okay. Any further comment, Mr. Vieas? >> Yes. Thank you, President Oto. I want to acknowledge um the the sincere comments from my fellow board members. Um but I also
238want to say I I understand that schools cannot do everything especially when we are not funded adequately to do so >> but that does not mean that we shouldn't try and all credit to Vicela youth services to so many of our external partners who uh do this amazing work and who do partner with our schools and yet I still worry that not every student qualifies for those services that not every family will be able to go to those places. our family resource center as incredible as it is not every family student is able to go to those resources to make them happen. Um when I think about access families students feel closest to those sites to those teachers to those administrators to those staff that they see on a daily basis. It's one of the
239reasons why I've been saying why why aren't we offering you know know your rights workshops presentations directly at sites why can't we bring some of these services directly to our sites where people are most connected and so for those same reasons I I say you know we must continue to advocate for these resources um yes schools cannot do everything but that is why we are still trying to make sure every student has a warm fresh meal that we provide food that we provide clothing that we provide all these resources that go above and beyond that so many of our incredible staff and external partners do. And I do believe it is the role of our school district to ensure that every student has a counselor at their site that they can talk to regularly. Um
240that our psychologists, that our social workers, that our behavioral intervention technicians aren't overburdened with a case load because of the reduction of these counselor positions. And so I believe that we must try for the sake of our students, for the sake of our community, for the sake of all of us. Thank you. >> Okay, I do have one more thing. Sorry. I'm going to say something to I and I agree with you, Randy, but um again, we only have so many resources and we can't just say we're just going to throw it out there and you know what? If we if we sink, we sink. We I'm in a fiscal I work in the fiscal division, the sheriff's office, and you know what, we have to cut and we have to make sure that our
241accounts payable, you know, that we can meet our budget, we can meet our payroll, and I do that every day. And sometimes it they're they're hard decisions and they hurt, but you got to balance the budget. That's the bottom line. >> Yeah. And I also would like to invite my fellow board members. We have to advocate at the state level. I mean, they're messing with Prop 98 again. Okay? So, there's legislative uh legislative uh action week. Get on and sign up and be with me at these planes and talk to our representatives. So, I invite you to do that. So, check your email where those are. >> Okay. Okay, we have a motion on the board on the table from Miss Scamoyan. Is there a second to approve this resolution? >> I'll second. >> Okay,
242second by Miss Gabby. Call for the vote. >> Motion passes with student board member abstaining, five yes, two no. >> Okay. Agenda item 12.8, resolution of release and non-reeployment of temporary employees. Mr. Dylan, >> thank you. uh bringing before the board this evening uh this resolution um ed code outlines specific provisions when temporary uh contracts can be used to employ certificated employees. Um the district has utilized uh a a very small number of temporary contracts to employ employees under those circumstances. Um but needing to bring forward to you tonight um in order for us to notice um those employees through the uh approval of this resolution to release those individuals. >> Okay. Is there any public comment on this item? Any board member comment on this item? Seeing none, I will call for the motion
243or call for a motion. >> I'll motion. >> Motion by Miss Gabby, seconded by >> I'll second. >> Miss Naylor. Please vote. We have one absent from the room. >> Motion carries. Student board member abstains. Six yes. one absent. >> Okay. Takes us to 12.9. Warrant list. January 31st, 2026 to February 27th, 2026. I make the motion we approve the warrant list. Would anyone like to second? Miss Neighbor. Second. Call for the vote. >> Come on. >> Motion carries. Student board member voting yes. Six. Yes. One abs. >> Thank you for the patience of our board member this evening. You've done super work under tough conditions. >> This meeting is adjourned.