001I'll call this public session to order we have a quorum this meeting is being webcast live and recorded the recordings or webcasts may capture images and sounds of those attending the meeting the closed session items are recommended expulsion recommended suspended explosion Public Employee assignment reassignment appointment Public Employee discipline dismissal release complaints conference with labor negotiators conference with legal counsel existing lit conference with real property negotiators anticipated like public employee performance evaluation for the superintendent uh public comment general public come on any closed session item will be heard pursuant board policy the board May limit individual comments to more than no more than three minutes in individual topics to three minutes it is recommended you begin your comments by stating your name I don't believe there's any public comment so we will now adjourn to closed
002session welcome parents and students for this wonderful night we are going to convene our early bird session 3.2 introduce interpreter Gus Mora will serve as the Spanish interpreter for this meeting meeting attendees who would like to listen to the Spanish interpretation of the meeting please pick up the headphones from the table located in the back of this meeting room this announcement will now be shared in Spanish so thank you 3.3 meeting announcement this meeting is being webcast live and recorded the recordings or webcasts may capture images and sound of those attending the meeting 3.4 student achievement awards and recognition Mr Thompson our assistant superintendent of learning and Leadership perfect thank you good evening board president gamuyan board members and superintendent Mr Shrum I am as you said Mark Thompson assistant superintendent of learning and Leadership
003and tonight is my great pleasure first of all welcome everyone it's great to have the full house tonight and to celebrate all the positive achievements your students are accomplishing so well done to you and thank you for being here um so what we're recognizing tonight is outstanding high school students in the areas of reading growth consumer family studies industrial technology social sciences Visual and Performing Arts and Orchestra along with educational opportunities overall academic achievement also the board we will also recognize the United Student Association of Visalia a spring student of the Season usav consists of visal Unified School District secondary students dedicated to the improving the educational programs and representing students view to the Board of Education these students represent the best and the best from our schools in the areas from which they have
004been selected and we are very proud of them for their accomplishments and for how they represent their school in our district each of them is certainly worthy of the special recognition tonight but before we begin I would like to recognize and thank the parents and the family members for their outstanding students so I want to give a big hand to you guys as you support them and I also want to give a shout out to our teachers and support staff who also support your students each and every day in the classroom let's give them a hand as well foreign as we all share in this Pride together right Family School staff and the students themselves for their achievements um we're happy to spend this time with the us tonight to honor these students and hear
005about their accomplishments students will be receiving a medal tonight as part of their recognition which we encourage you and invite you to wear it at your commencement ceremony also parents just so you know if you have not already received this paper it was when you walked in tonight but this paper is important because in the top right hand corner here there's a QR code we will be taking pictures tonight with your students and the board members you can use that QR code to go ahead and access those pictures later on so there's that so without further Ado let's get started I'm going to bring up our principal from vcis Miss Carly Hawkins good evening board members president gamoyan and superintendent schrem my name is Carly Hawkins and I service principals Visalia Charter independent study I
006am proud to present vcis's student overall Achievement Award this evening to Benjamin Stokes then is represented tonight by his parents Andy and Don Stokes and by a supervising teacher Mrs Lupe Wilkinson Mrs Wilkinson States Ben has been my student for almost two years though he could have graduated much earlier due to his acceleration he has chosen to stay at vcis to participate in our Visual and Performing Arts program and every pathway we offer including acting technique dance choreography vocal performance and stage design and Technology he is a valued member and true leader of the vcis vapa department as in his passion shows most recently in our spring performing art showcase at L.J Williams this past Saturday in addition Ben has taken several cos classes as a concurrent student earning him over 30 college credits while
007still in high school then constantly strives to be the best version of himself is with great pleasure that I present this overall Achievement Award to Benjamin Stokes [Applause] in addition I am honored to present our second overall Achievement Award for vcis to Nevaeh Haso Nevaeh is represented tonight by her parents and by her supervising teacher Mrs Shannon Boswell Mrs Boswell States Nevaeh is at the top of her class academically ranked third with a GPA of 3.93 outside of the classroom Nevaeh is a natural leader she is a student representative for our school side Council and is also a leader in her Church community she teaches Sunday school Volunteers in the daycare and is involved in various activities and service projects through her church Nevaeh is passionate about the medical field and her dream is to
008become a neonatal nurse practitioner in pursuit of that dream she has chosen to become heavily involved in our CTE medical assistant program and will be honored at the vusd macna pending ceremony on May 19th she is currently interning at kuya Delta's Cardiology Center and has become certified in CPR life support first aid and has earned her HIPAA certificate her drive and can do mindset will serve her and others well she is committed to everything she does and has a gift of making those found her better it is with a great pleasure that I present this overall Achievement Award to David hasso [Applause] foreign good evening board members president gamoyan and superintendent Trump my name is Scott Braun and I serve as the principal of Visalia technical Early College I am proud to present vtec's overall
009Achievement Award to Megan vanessen foreign she is a she is accompanied by her parents Mr and Mrs Van Essen Megan her diligence efforts have earned her this distinct honor of being a lifetime CSF member Mrs Taylor her advisor for yearbook states that Megan Van Essen is one of the outstanding seniors at VTEC Megan was involved in yearbook class her senior year and instrument was instrumental in designing the cover and contributing pictures for the yearbook she's involved in FFA for the last four years at VTEC she's also involved in fun fact car racing more specifically many Outlaw cars she began racing at the age of seven but stepped away from her racing during her senior year for FFA in the fall she will be attending Estes Institute of Cosmetology in closing I would like to commend
010Megan and her remarkable achievements for her unwavering commitment to her academic personal Endeavors Megan we are honored to have you Among Us and wish you continued success in your future congratulations Megan foreign I am proud to announce vtec's other overall Achievement Award to Olivia coverston she is accompanied by her parents Mr and Mrs coverston Olivia has achieved the remarkable distinction of being among the top five in her senior class with a GPA of 3.91 while completing six courses at the College of sequoias Olivia has been an integral part of vtec's AG program which she stopped to come to this Awards even though we have our VTEC FFA awards banquet tonight but she's excited to be here also where she has demonstrated remarkable responsibility and diligence Miss Boyer her instructor has been impressed with her work
011ethic and stating Olivia comes early stays late helps her peers and never seeks recognition although she is a master barbecuer I saw today she is truly an unsung hero at VTech where she has played an instrumental role in managing the farm congratulations Olivia [Applause] I am proud to present vtec's usav spring Achievement Award to Alina Martinez Alina's dedication to academic Excellence has earned her the prestigious honor of being a lifetime member of CSF since her sophomore year Alina has played an integral role in developing the VTEC yearbook Alina has gone above and beyond completing six college courses at the College of sequoia's while maintaining an oppressive 3.67 GPA her leadership teacher Miss van ocken speaks highly of her stating that Alina has been an ASB member for the last three years has grown tremendously and
012now she's leads as the VP for ASB her talent for communication and Leadership has made her an invaluable member of that team Alina's accomplishments are true reflection of her exceptional character her unwaving unwavering commitment and her Relentless pursuit of Excellence esteemed parents of Alina Mr and Mrs Martinez your daughter's achievements are a testament to your unwaving support and guidance congratulations Alina [Applause] I am proud to present vitek's Second usav Spring Achievement Award to Estrella Ayala Hernandez [Applause] Mr and Mrs Ayala Hernandez your daughter's talent and hard work are a testament to your unwavering support and guidance it fills me with great pride to stand before you and allowed her achievements Australia's leadership teacher Miss van ocken speaks of Australia with high regards stating that she is among the best ASB students she has ever worked
013with although she's not the loudest Australia's dependability and her outgoing personality helps her tremendously she always Rises to the occasion going above and beyond helping out with events dress-up days and even brings a fresh perspective with her innovative ideas Australia has taken on challenging courses and pursuing excuse me and pursuing um completing four College of Sequoia classes Australia has improved herself to be as has proved herself to be a star excelling in her uh GPA being a 3.44 she recently committed to Chico State and will be attending there in the fall congratulations Estrella [Applause] foreign board president Mr moyen and superintendent Shrum my name is Adolf Reyes the proudest principal Sequoia High School where our motto is the promise of a fresh start so tonight I have the privilege of honoring some amazing students our
014first one under the mentorship of our ASB director Mr Ludwig will be Donovan Pena parents are Bethany Chapman and silvano Pena so Donovan currently is a junior has been dedicated to getting his credits caught up while enjoying high school the high school experience Donovan was an enthusiastic wrestler until an injured injury sidelined him but he focused on other things and he got into Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai Donovan is one of those students who was willing to help out even though he wasn't part of our leadership team but then became part of ASB he's been able to blend his studies and activities while remaining successful in both because of his contributions to academics and activities we're especially proud the fact that Donovan was part of the first group of students ever from Sequoia High School
015to attend the California Association of student leaders in Santa Clara this past April we're extremely proud of Donovan so Sequoia presents tonight Donovan Pena another one under the mentorship of ASB director Mr Ludwig was Lucia Villa Senor she couldn't be with us but the amazing thing about her she was one very instrumental in helping us bring a therapy dog Toby to our campus and he's been very influential with our students but mainly our staff the other amazing student that we have tonight is Gabriela Duarte so parents are Brenda and Juan Duarte Gabriela arrived to Sequoia High School with one major goal to prove to the parents that she can do it and graduate early the biggest change that Gabriella made to become successful is making was asking for help when she needed it she states
016that Sequoia helped me become successful by giving me a fresh start and believing in me Sequoia is very proud of Gabriella for earning the perfect 4.0 this last quarter she'll be graduating on May 31st and pursue a college education she also wants to learn how to drive okay Gabriela wants to other students as a cool high school to know this dreams don't work unless you do tonight we give you Gabriela Duarte my other amazing student Eric Estrada please step forward parents Patricia Aguirre Eric Estrada's main challenge when he arrived at Sequoia was being very shy just like me and fitting and and fitting in Eric States I was never the social person in life being at Sequoia brought me out of my comfort zone and made me realize how free life could be and I'm
017proud of who I'm becoming in life so koi has really taught me a lot about myself and how life works that's the promise of the Fresh Start folks the other thing is he has worked very hard in Edgenuity and his classes to get ahead in Quarter Two he completed 44 credits that's day and night work and a lot a lot of um late nights in quarter three he has all A's in his classes he is an 11th grader who will be an early graduate and pursue a higher education we're extremely proud at Eric we have Eric but mostly I love the words that he's going to leave us with focus on what is best for you so folks I give you Eric Estrada let's go to our picture guys [Applause] okay good evening superintendents from
018board president gamoyan Boyd members and community members I'm Tammy Olson The Adult School Visalia Adult School principal and tonight I am proud to First honor um our Visalia outstanding student Fanny Alvarez [Applause] Fanny received her high school diploma in December of 2022 and started our evening CNA class this January of 23 and we'll complete the program and set for her license this month as a matter of fact she finished her last clinical on Saturday she is enrolled in our medical terminology class for summer school and plans to apply for our next VN cohort banny's teacher Mary Silva says Fanny's determination perseverance kindness strength hunger for knowledge and learning serves as a role model and positive example for anyone she comes into contact with fanny has faced challenges raising her five children learning a second language
019and pursuing her educational dreams but it is all for the betterment of her life as well as her families Manny is a prime example of outstanding character and dedication and I am very proud to present to you Fannie Alvarez Visalia adult school's outstanding student and staying with our medical themes tonight I present to you kelia sellers who is supported by her family tonight she is a first semester vocational nursing student she is a wife and mother of two children an event in her husband's early life has inspired kelia to become a nurse so she can help others realize that they can live their best life even with a medical condition kelia is innovative and keeps her nursing instructors on their toes with her hunger for knowledge each day she comes to school with a smile
020on her face and willingness to learn because she is open to learning from other students and they from her Helia has become a valuable member of the nursing student team when faced with the role of leadership she tackled issues and challenges with a positive can-do attitude she has self-confidence and consistently shows respect for both her classmates and instructors with her friendly positive attitude she is an inspiration and we know she will go far in her nursing career congratulations kelia sellers another Visalia outstanding students [Applause] thank you foreign board president camoyan board members parents students fellow Educators and community members I am Bob Aguilar principal at Mount Whitney High School it is an honor to stand before you introduce my Winnie's Award winners for reading growth consumer family studies industrial technology social science Visual and Performing
021Arts and our usav spring students of the season on behalf of Mount Whitney I do want to congratulate all the student Award winners for their outstanding work at their respective high schools let's begin with our reading growth award we have Giselle Isabel Velasquez Paz a ninth grader her parents are Pedro and Christina Velasquez she's been nominated by our assistant principal Julie Hill in our curriculum Department Giselle is a respectful kind and hard-working student she stays focused on her work and has completed some challenging assignments with determination that is above and beyond her peers Giselle is a model student when it comes to work ethic Integrity respect and determination it is this type of work ethic that has helped her improve her reading and comprehension skills Giselle deserves to be recognized and as she continues to
022work hard she will achieve her dreams once it once High School is complete Giselle plans to attend college that will eventually lead to a medical school and becoming a physician my wedding is proud to recognize Giselle Velasquez for the reading growth award congratulations [Applause] foreign next up we have William Cannon Madrid 11th grader his parents are Wilmer and nikora County Madrid I scared him a bit I said he had to have a five-minute speech but I told him that's okay he didn't have to do it uh William is nominated by a culinary arts department and our teacher Lisa Bocce William has excelled academically he comes to class every day with a positive attitude he is present and participates in all class activities William always goes above and beyond and demonstrates excellent leadership skills his determination
023is impressive his willingness willingly listens and responds well to feedback which helps him excel in his work teachers and students love working with William and has been a joy and pleasure to have him in class William is still working on his future plans and we get to keep him one more year to help him pursue his interests After High School it is a pleasure to recognize William Cannon Madrid as Mount Whitney's High School's outstanding student and consumer family studies congratulations Williams Mount Whitney is very proud of you [Applause] next up we have industrial technology with Eli Rodriguez 12th grader [Applause] his parents are magic Sushi and Gonzalo Rodriguez and he's been nominated by teachers Thule Cardoza and Carlos Ruiz Eli has been a staple in the AG department and at the end of this school
024year he will be a dual program completer spending four years in the AG mechanics and AG engine power and Technology programs he has helped fabricate a welding trailer and completed a contract bill for personal protective equipment earning him a profit of 850 dollars what are you doing with that money Eli in the AG engine power shop repairing brakes lawn mowers and use of scanners Mrs Cardoza states that he has become one of the individuals that she knows will get any task done when asked upon Mr Reece and Mrs Cardoza believe Eli will become successful at whatever he wishes to become because it is hunger to learn and his work ethic Eli is also a student athlete running both cross-country and track for the past four years in the fall Eli plans to attend COs in
025the industrial maintenance program my winning offers its sincere congratulations to Eli Rodriguez great job [Applause] thank you next we have social science Amador Rodriguez a 12th grader her parents are Hector Amador and Sandra Rodriguez and she's been nominated by our social science department and teacher Todd Souza yazanite has been very involved in her school and Community she has been an avid for four years has served as a peer tutor has taken part in campus and community events and has been a member of the Key Club where she has helped the local elementary school put on events for the students designate also finds time to be a part part of our Pioneer Partners we should help the Tulare County Special Needs class fundraise and help students cook and do crafts outside of school yazinite has volunteered
026at a local church serving pie and taking part in children's church activities has also started her own business where she makes jewelry academically she's been awarded the Pioneer Pride award and has been on honor roll every year while taking advanced placement courses and dual enrollment English classes yazinite has an overall GPA of 3.7 and is in the top 10 percent of her class next fall yesterday will attend Fresno Pacific University majoring in Liberal Arts and please join me as my winning graduates Amador Rodriguez for a job well done [Applause] we now have our visual performing arts and next to me I have Sarah beardenbly a 12th grader foreign Bly she's been nominated by choir and our teacher Tim Howard Sarah's been a pivotal member of both the choral program and the color guard she's on
027the choir Council helping to organize functions and lead the day-to-day rehearsals of the choir Sarah's in all four Advanced choral ensembles at Mount Winnie high school she's also the captain of the color guard many times leading their practices and acting as a mentor for younger students Sarah's a favorite among her peers and embodies the ethics and morals that my Whitney looks to have in all of their students the choir and band programs are better because of the amazing work that Sarah does every day after high school Sarah plans to go to cus and then further her education in the study of wildlife conservation Mount Whitney congratulates Sarah being Bly for a job well done congratulations next in visual Performing Arts we have Tammy Findlay a 12th grader [Applause] Sammy's father is Mitch Finley and she's
028been nominated by our driving department and teacher Amber Payne Tammy has been an incredible asset to both the drama and choir programs she's the current president of the drama club leading her peers in the Monumental task of putting on these large shows she's been in both drama Productions and the school School Musical Tammy is always willing to go to the extra mile to support the cast or group that she is with she's also inquired not only singing but leading those shows as one of the Masters of Ceremonies Tammy plays a major role in both of these programs while she also while also being a member of the Medical Academy here at Mount Whitney these programs are successful because of the fine work that students like Tammy bring every day after graduating Tammy plans to tan
029cos and then transfer to a four-year University and study drama to in order to become a Drama teacher so please join me as my Winnie congratulates Tammy Finley for a job well done [Applause] next we have a student that's not able to attend tonight over here he's playing baseball right now against our rival Redwood so I want to say though Lucas reneso is our usav spring student of the Season at 11th grade his parents are Ulysses and Carmen Reynoso nominated by our ASP and Lucas brings hard work every day and we want to make sure we recognize Lucas so congratulations to Lucas our other usav spring student of the season is Nevaeh Diaz our 12th grader her parents are Miguel Diaz and Monica Angulo and she's been nominated by ASB Nevaeh is a senior who
030is dedicated to our AVID program for four years academically she has excelled to Mount Whitney evidenced by her becoming a California scholarship Federation lifetime member as a student athlete Nevaeh has played soccer for four years three of those years on the varsity team she also runs Varsity track for the last three years after graduation Nevaeh is excited about attending cos to play soccer and major in Early Child education we got another educator on our hands so we are very proud to honor Nevaeh Diaz with the uscv spring student of the Season congratulations Nevaeh [Applause] um good evening president gamoyan superintendent Shrum board members and guests my name is Dr Amanda Richard and I'm the principal of Redwood High School and I'm humbled and to serve as students staff and families of Redwood High School it's
031my privilege to recognize these very disturbing students these this evening earning a student Achievement Award for visual arts I would like to honor Emma Souza and Emma unfortunately isn't unable to be here this evening thank you for the drama Department I have the honor of recognizing Brooklyn Birch Brooklyn is here this evening with her parents Jared and Susan Burch Brooklyn has been four years of in four years of drama participated in three years of musicals four years of plays and four years of one acts as well as Redwood improv shows and all School improv shows she has been the drama club president for two years and organized meetings every Tuesday for the last two years she has created a space that is welcoming for all students to be involved in and feel included Brooklyn portrays
032characters with her soul and makes an audience feel exactly what they should above all that she is kind respectful hard-working dedicated and supportive to everyone congratulations [Applause] I also would like to uh to uh honor for our Orchestra department rose Candelaria Rose also cannot be here this evening because they are having a concert this evening up next earning a student Achievement Award for Consumer family studies I would like to honor Chloe Lawson [Applause] Chloe is here this evening with her parents David and Gloria Lawson Chloe is a senior who will be a double pathway completer in food service and Hospitality as well as business as a member of FCCLA Chloe entered the culinary display competition in February where she had to prepare colorful colorful Patisserie items Chloe plays first at the region competition and went
033on to compete at the state competition in Riverside in April Chloe displays so many qualities that make us proud she is creative adventurous and very responsible after graduation she plans on going to cos then transferring to Fresno State where she will major in business she saw she shines a bright light onto Redwood High School earning a student Achievement Award for industrial education I would like to honor Alex verdusco Alex is here this evening with his parents Leon Alexander and Alma Sanchez Alex verdusco was selected because he's an outstanding student in the industrial education program he has been in the automotive technology program the Metal Manufacturing program and the ace Academy Alex is the type of student who can excel in our CTE classes because of his approach to New Challenges he will ask questions when
034needed but more importantly and more valuable in an actual work environment he will try to figure things out on his own he has a good imagination and he will defend his ideas when challenged about them congratulations Alex [Applause] earning a student Achievement Award for reading growth I would like to honor Giselle Murio [Applause] Giselle is here this evening with her parents Lydia Ramirez and Romero Romeo Mario excuse me Redwood High School is proud to recognize Giselle Muriel for her outstanding work in class and her reading Improvement that she has demonstrated throughout her four years according to the iready diagnostic she has increased four grade levels just this school year alone not only has she displayed growth in her academics but she is also an overall participation in class Redwood is lucky to have such a
035kind respectful and hard-working student congratulations Giselle [Applause] earning a student Achievement Award for social science I would like to honor Bethany Garcia unfortunately Bethany could not be with us this evening earning a student Achievement Award for usav I would like to honor Taylor Langford [Applause] Taylor is here this evening with her parents Sean and Kathy Langford Taylor is an important member of the Redwood ASB program she's been a leader on campus since her freshman year she was a freshman class president and is now a sports commissioner she is extremely mature and makes sure all of her duties and responsibilities are finished on time into the best of her abilities she is a wonderful ASB representative and loves to find ways to help we are a better school because of Taylor and that she is on
036our campus congratulations Taylor [Applause] and last but not least earning a student Achievement Award for usav I would like to honor Isaac Nelson [Applause] Isaac is here this evening with his parents Scott and Rachelle Nelson Isaac is involved in ASB choir CSF and is the president of the students against trafficking club and our newly elected ASB student party president for the next school year he is heavily involved at the Redwood at Redwood and within his church he is honest and reliable he loves to lead whether that be an ASB his club's his club or at church he relates well to his peers and adults he has a don't quit attitude and always strives for Success he is confident and friendly students gravitate to him because of his ability to have fun and include others he's
037a great representative of the USD and Redwood congratulations Isaac okay foreign president Guerrero excuse me Des Moines board president gemoyan board member superintendent Shrum students parents and families my name is Kim Nelson and I am the very proud principal of el Diamante High School it brings me great pleasure this evening to recognize these outstanding El Diamante students the first student that I would like to honor this evening is Jaden McCord Guerrero Jaden is the son of Rosa Guerrero and Tobias McCord Jaden is the recipient of the automotive award Mr Perez the edhs automotive teacher says Jaden is an exceptional student he has taken it upon himself to help clean up the auto shop in every way possible for his and other students future on the auto program Mr Perez sees Jaden as a leader because
038he gives guidance and direction to his fellow classmates Jaden has a vast amount of knowledge about the automotive industry and he has grown tremendously in his Automotive course Jaden zest for knowledge will pave the way for his bright future it brings me great pride to present the automotive award to Jaden McCord Guerrero [Applause] the recipient of the reading Improvement award at edhs is ziamora yoa Gonzalez ziamara is the daughter of Emma Gonzalez and Jose ziamara is a wonderful example of what resiliency looks like in elementary school she struggled with reading and writing but she worked hard to overcome challenges she refused to let her auditory processing deficits hold her back from achieving at high levels in high school ziamara has worked her way into AP classes she is now ending her High School career with
039an AP class in a dual enrollment class at cos her weighted GPA is at 3.95 and she is currently ranked 75 out of 447 students to say that our English Department at edhs at pradaver would be an understatement she will truly be missed next year and she takes the as she takes the next step in her education I am honored to present the reading award to see Amara the El Diamante social science department would like to recognize Severa Rasheed as the most outstanding student in social science severe is the daughter of nafisa of Saul so Vera has taken five social science offerings here at edhs AP European History AP US History apgov AP psych and ethnic studies and she's also serves as a social science academic tutor Mr Morrison had this to say about zavera
040she was outstanding even in its AP Euro class through Zoom as a sophomore and she passed the AP exam with the five sovere has a college weighted GPA of a 4.39 and is involved in numerous clubs on campus including CSF and the book club to name just a few Mr Perez had this to say about Severa she's an amazing student who is always eager to learn she has advanced the way we want our students to be here at edhs so Vera's plans to attend colleges the sequois in the fall before pursuing a degree in Psychology it is with great deal of Pride that I present the social science award to severo Rasheed but paint Fernandez is the recipient of our Performing Arts award here at edhs she is the daughter of Richard and Monica Fernandez
041Peyton actively participated in our vapa programs throughout her four years at El Diamante she participated in both dance and choir during all four years of high school and has been a member of the motion dance team for the last three as well as the member of the chamber singers for the past two additionally Payton has participated in three school musicals Peyton exemplifies the qualities that we want at El Diamante to to we want our students to show perseverance Integrity courage and kindness which she shows it is with great pleasure that present the vapa award to paint Fernandez [Applause] our next fapa award goes to Celine model school but she's unable to be here this evening but I will definitely relay the kind words that her teacher said about her the spring usav student of the
042Stephen the season award goes to Olivia Olivia Beno um Olivia's here tonight with her parents Kevin and Lisa bino Olivia is an outstanding student she's a student athlete and a leader here at El Diamante high school she has earned this honor for the effort she gives every day to make the events at El Diamante special and memorable for all our students she is quick to volunteer kind to her classmates and does not leave work unfinished Olivia is the vice president of the call of the class of 2023 and she has served in edhs student government for three years she is a talented scholar athlete earning a 4.25 GPA her memberships include ASB CSF minor Nation mending mindsets and the minor swim team after graduation she plans on attending a university in San Diego where she
043will pursue a business degree I'm very proud and honored to present this award to Olivia the other usav student of the season is Tawanda sharamuka um well Tawanda is an amazing exceptional young man and I will definitely make sure that he gets the sentiments from our ASB advisor Mrs McBride so ladies and gentlemen El di Monty outstanding students there's nothing finer than a minor foreign if El Diamante could come back really quick we'll take a picture now that we have Tawanda here okay wants to sit down good evening board president superintendent Trump members of the board members of the audience my name is Michael Lambert and I'm the proud principal of Golden West High School and we saved truly The Best For Last tonight so I'm going to introduce you to some amazing Trailblazers and
044read some information that the teachers that they have currently in classes shared about them our first award winner tonight is Grace Aiken for vapa choir and drama Grace is a senior at Golden West High School and is a major part of the Trailblazer Community she's an active member of Campus while holding herself to the highest academic standards having excelled in AP senior literature AP senior government AP Language and Composition as well as honors English for freshman and sophomore year Grace is well a well-rounded leader and an officer and all she does whether it's choir drama swim water polo Key Club CSF or NHS that's a lot Grace represents the Student Success to to higher levels that students strive to achieve as the Golden West Performing Arts nominee Grace is considered a triple threat performer that
045means she is an actor a dancer and a singer most recently Grace performed in the lead role of Annabeth in Golden West musical theater production of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief she's a country girl and the baby of the Aiken family Grace is the youngest child of John and Laurie Aiken we are proud that Grace and all of her older siblings have been an active part of the Golden West academic and Performing Arts family congratulations Grace our next evapo Award winner is for visual arts and this is Milo Torres Alvarez visual art is materialized thought reasoning relating judging conceptualizing Etc it is called upon with every making experience the visual arts is a language of its own and Milo Torres Alvarez uses it to express academic Excellence Milo's work demonstrates craftsmanship at a high
046level of technical skill Milo's work content shows creativity and the quality of ideas behind the pieces show depth and understanding the craftsmanship and content of the pieces work together to make a strong emotional impact on the viewer Milo enters the room as a willing teacher's aide in the morning and an exemplary student in the afternoon Milo meets each research and making challenge with literal giddiness and which is contagious both Milo's peers and I eagerly await the creative language Milo will use to further Express outstanding growth and talent currently Milo is taking on the challenge of using unconventional materials to conceptualize a work that calls for viewers to consider their environmental footprint you will be able to see what Milo creates at the district office I believe it's generally right in that hallway there in the
047fall of 2023 at the at the high school student art display congratulations Milo [Applause] our next student Award winner is Jasmine macia Sanchez and she's the recipient of the reading growth award Jasmine has shown tremendous growth this year she has become an Avid Reader and writer her skills in both areas have shown impressive Improvement she comes to class eager to learn and to expand her skills her writing has become more in-depth and more critical her reading levels and her interest in Reading have been a joy to witness I am truly proud of what Jasmine has accomplished this year Jasmine is the epitome of what it means to be a Golden West Trailblazers congratulations [Applause] our next Award winner is for social science meet Riley England Riley is a kind selfless hard-working mature confident and Brilliant
048young student in my AP government political science 2 class Riley was one of the top students consistently engaged in intellectually inquisitive Riley is highly active in school activities she has served as French Club president and is currently the president of the choir and vice president of the Key Club Miss England also is involved in drama and participated in mock trial she is a part of the National Honor Society is a CSF life member and is one of our four valedictorians Miss England is one of the sweetest and kindest people I know whenever someone's in trouble especially emotionally Riley's the first to assist lending and understanding ear and a helpful heart it's an honor to know Riley England congratulations [Applause] our next Award winner is one of our usav spring season Award winners and this is
049Marley Montgomery from the moment you meet Marley Montgomery you can recognize immediately that she is someone special from her beaming smile and kind demeanor to her quick talking conversation Marley is a magnanimous and positive representative of what it means to be a Trailblazer this year alone she helped lead the girls golf team to second place in the valley title all while taking on a rigorous caseload of dual enrollment and AP courses in one evening Marley helped raise hundreds of dollars for the Golden West Clothes Closet Marley is a fierce advocate for building a better Golden West Marley never lets her voice be quieted and always stands up for what's right congratulations Marley our next usav spring student of the Season Award winner is Jose Reyes Solorio Jose is an example of a student who's always
050doing what is right as a four-year member of the student leadership team Jose has been an instrumental in developing programs to increase student voice on campus and involvement Jose oversaw the restarting of our metric Club on campus and it was one of the group members responsible for the Golden West winning the annual step-up challenge this year at football games rallies or any activity you could always rely on Jose to make the event brighter more energetic and better for his peers and Community furthermore Jose is one of the kindest students on campus also Jose is involved in a Civic engagement project where we're painting a mural on one of our walls at Golden West so it's been amazing to work with him as a principal as well congratulations Jose [Applause] yeah I have one more student
051who unfortunately was unable to make it I just want to make sure that that student's recognized and that student is Luke Johnson and he won the award for industrial technology so I just want to recognize him [Applause] thank you students and parents we're going to take a little break to set up reset the room and we'll reconvene at seven o'clock thank you uh 4.2 introduce interpreter Gus Mora will serve as our Spanish interpreter for the meeting meeting attendees who would like to listen to the Spanish interpretation of the meeting please pick up the headphones from the table located in the back of the meeting room this announcement will now be shared in Spanish by Mr Mora said is thank you 4.3 meeting announcement this meeting is being webcast live and recorded the recordings or webcasts
052may capture images and sound of those attending the meeting members of the public wanting to provide public condiment on items listed on tonight tonight's agenda we recommend you fill out the public comment form green form located on the table in the back of the room please hand your completed form to Delia Smart Board manager before the item comes up on the agenda are you in the back okay okay we recommend you complete a separate form for each addenda item you'd like to come comment on Miss smart is sitting in the counter located to the west side of the room members of the public providing public comment please use the microphone on the stand located in the front of the room our Pledge of Allegiance 4.1 will be led by Dr tododo ready salute I pledge
053allegiance 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 4.5 I'm going to report um action taken in closed session in closed session on a motion by board member Villegas a second by board member Odo the board agreed unanimously to appoint Dr Jesus Gonzalez to the principal of Ridgeview Middle School Dr Jesus Gonzalez has served as the principal of Ivanhoe Elementary for the past two years and has served our school district for a total of 13 years Dr Gonzalez began his educational career as a bilingual teacher in Fresno Unified School District where he taught for six years before teaching at Lindsay high school for one year since then Dr Gonzalez taught history on AVID for four
054years and served as a print assistant principal for six years at Redwood High School as well as serving as an assistant principal at Divisadero middle school for a year he also served the Tulare County Office of Ed as an area administrator for one year and the migrant resource coordinator for three years Dr Gonzalez earned a Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies and a master of arts in education Administration and supervision and a doctorate of Education from California State University Fresno he holds a multiple multiple subjects teaching credential and an administrative service credential credential on behalf of the Board of Trustees congratulations to Dr Jesus Gonzalez the board took the following action in closed section session on a motion by board member Villegas and a second by board member Naylor the board voted 7-0 to approve
055a settlement agreement between the district and parties representing oah case 202-330-20796 and 202-21-20670 during closed session the board completed the superintendent's evaluation with an overall rating of exceeds expectations consistent with the superintendent's contract this rating meets the standard for a satisfactory employment evaluation over the last year the superintendent has laid the foundation for the district structures and procedures for a system of accountability in the next year the board expects the superintendent to continue to develop and Implement those systems district-wide through coaching and feedback Cycles necessary for staff growth development and retention that will support results and improve student learning outcomes and position all students for Success at the next board meeting the board will bring forward a new contract for the superintendent congratulations [Applause] 4.6 revisions closer and sorry closure revisions are items 8.1 10.7
05610.8 10.10 do I have a motion to accept those revisions Motion in a second okay on a motion by board member Naylor second by board member belt on favor student board representative votes yes and motion passes unanimously 4.7 student performance La Jolla Middle School Advanced Orchestra superintendent Mark Thompson well good evening board president superintendent Trump board members good evening audience we're in Fort Street tonight I would like to welcome La Jolla Middle School Advanced Orchestra under the direction of Tori Stratford tonight they will Delight us with selections from the Disney movie Brave uh so let's give them a big round of applause for being here tonight and celebrating with us foreign now yes [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] thank you foreign [Music] thank you [Music] oh thank you [Music] thank
057you Lord thank you Lord Ohio Advanced Orchestra we appreciate the time and also your patience before that is set up so thank you so much we'll take just a moment so we can reset up again families if you do want to join your students feel free to do so as you can step out so thank you a vusd employees of the Year superintendent Shrum thank you president good morning board members uh guests that are here this evening it's a pleasure to be here tonight to introduce some outstanding employees of the district each year Visalia Unified School District invites staff to submit nominations for the vusd employee of the Year Awards for those nominated one staff member has identified per category School employee of the year administrator of the year outstanding Teacher of the Year from
058each level elementary middle and high school the vusd employees of the Year award has been a long-standing tradition and tonight I'm proud to introduce to you our 2023 vusd employees of the year and so just for those here if you haven't noticed we have a nice Banner in the back recognizing the individuals so you can see uh you're forever immortalized in a banner and I know you you would be the first to say you know there we have many great teachers in our district which we do but tonight we're here to honor and recognize the best of the best and so congratulations to each of you for being here so we're going to introduce you say a few words you'll have a moment to say a word or two if you would like then we'll
059do an individual photo with the board and then following that we'll have a short recess that will be set up outside of this room as well just to celebrate I think there's some some punch and some goodies the kiddos will like that too so here we go we're going to begin with our school employee of the year this individual is student focused and works collaboratively with teachers and paraprofessionals alike to provide structure and support for her students she has worked with at promise youth for the last six years from Charter Elbow Creek and now Creekside I am pleased and honored honored to introduce Miss Nadia Garcia as vusd's classified school employee of the year [Applause] Nadia please come up to accept your reward feel free to say a word or two and then we'll we'll
060do a photo I'll hold that for just a second um congratulations to all the nominees um I just would um this is a very proud moment for me um like I said Creekside is such a wonderful unique school um I love working there and I just want to say thank you to our principal Mr Perez and to Mr Burgess and to our senior admin secretary Miss Sandra who they go above and beyond for all of us and students and staff members and like I said I love working there and I love making a difference in the in our youths lives so thank you so much [Applause] foreign next we have our elementary school teacher of the year this individual is always trying to find ways to connect our school with the community and make long-lasting
061relationships with her students families she spends long hours finding ways to be Innovative in her classroom and engage her students our elementary school teacher of the year is foreign Melissa please come on up this is both a profound and humbling moment I stand here before each of you tonight because I am the product of those that have believed and invested in me a huge setup to my support Squad my GLC community and those amazing individuals that have lifted and elevated me for that reason I would like to take a moment to thank a few special individuals my husband and four daughters my family my friends that have become family my colleagues mentors and all those that pass on their words of wisdom knowledge and guidance I am the teacher I am today because you chose
062to believe in me to my students and their families on me I see you and I believe in you the way that you have believed in me and this moment would not be possible without your support yes for that I thank you I began the summer sitting on the back porch with dear friends proclaiming that this year I would be a spark I did not set out to set the light for others or even lead but to merely listen and encourage my friends and colleagues to find their strength and passion I wanted to help spark others in a direction that would serve to elevate and Inspire even more Educators My Hope Is that I walk away tonight knowing that I have sparked at least one individual because together we have the ability to impact others
063including our own lives to all my first year teachers and Veteran teachers that are watching from home I see you I know your struggles I know your heartaches and I know your successes I applaud each of you and I am honored to stand here and call myself a teacher may we all continue to stand in our why and Spark one another all right now no one else is going to want to speak but but it'll be okay our Middle School teacher of the year is someone who consistently constantly uses the phrase whatever is best for kids I am in he builds relationships with his students and leads with respect and empathy I am pleased to announce our Middle School teacher of the year we all know very well Rodrigo assess your audio as the middle
064school teacher of the year Rodrigo thank you good evening everyone congratulations to all the recipients for this year I don't have a speech written out but uh I'm just gonna speak from the heart um seven years ago I left my sales job um to Embark in this new Journey as a teacher of substitute teaching um and I knew two to three days into it that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life um I feel like the universe has put so many wonderful people in my path that have mentored me that have befriended me and given me all the advice uh that I need to to become the teacher that I am today I want to thank my wife uh and my family for being so patient these past few
065years while I was getting my credential in my Master's Degree it's been a journey for sure and they've been so patient and so supportive um my my family my parents my brothers my in-laws my whole family has been so supportive um as I look around this room I see so many of my friends and colleagues that are here and I'm so appreciative of you um you guys make coming to work even more fun than it already is um some people don't really ever get the opportunity to say they're doing their dream job and I can sit here today and tell you that I'm living the dream like I'm living my dream job so thank you for everyone that has um again uh given me advice and have been supportive in some way or another thank
066you [Applause] our next teacher of the year has been in the district since 1983. she is someone who impacts whose impact stretches far beyond her own classroom and students influencing instructional practices across the broader Regional Consortium she is also retiring this year well we do have a way of bringing people back so just just there you go uh so but you know understand so we're proud to present Miss Diane Townsend with the high school teacher of the year award come on up oh she could not I didn't think I saw her she could not be here with us tonight but she did send us a few words I think we have a video right okay good evening my name is Diane Townsend and I want to thank the Visalia Unified School District Board of Trustees
067and the Visalia Unified School District for this wonderful award um I've been doing this for 40 years all 40 years at Visalia Adult School and it is the most phenomenal job in the world I'm retiring this year and I'm really going to miss making the difference in in our students lives and the difference that they make in my life I especially want to thank Barbara Marshall with our Sequoia Adult Ed Consortium for nominating me I want to thank my principal Tammy Olsen for supporting me all these years and I want to thank my son who has been there every step along the way and I appreciate everybody thank you so much foreign congratulations I hope she's she's having fun tonight all right next up our administrator of the year it's often said that when I
068T work is done right you often don't know anything has been done at all right unsung heroes so I'm honored to present Mr Adam brown with the administrator of the Year award Adam come on up thank you everybody everybody that knows me knows that I really love what I do here I always have and the reason I love it here is because I get to work with so many people that care so much about our students and our staff and every everybody else it's amazing I have the special privilege of working with 35 amazing people that make up our tech services team um great people love them and uh I this uh this is really you know one for the team so thank you very much appreciate it [Applause] congratulations to all of these individuals
069uh thank you for uh representing vusd and I believe is there an additional video or okay we've got an additional video and then we'll turn it back over to the board president after that but I know these teachers represent thousands of others uh within our district who all come to work with a passion and a drive um you know they will tell you and you heard teaching is not easy right we know that but the difference you can make is unlike in this profession unlike a difference you can make in any other profession and you think about um you know elementary middle or high whether you're teaching 20 years 20 kids a year 30 40 50 60 right you multiply that by the span of a career and then you think about the impact those
070individuals have in the world no other profession can say that but teaching so thank you for being here tonight and thank you for what you do every day for the students and this community whether you're in front of a classroom or supporting the work that makes it happen we appreciate what you do so Chuck I think we have a little piece and then we'll turn it back over to president gamoyan foreign [Applause] job is for ability to connect with students on a daily basis she works really hard to make that connection uh seeking the best of your student not only that she's collaborative with her colleagues bringing out the best in them as well what are some of the things that make Melissa Duarte the best at what she does probably the first is phenomenal
071and she's committed to the field of Education as a transformative process and she's committed and passionate about people what makes Mr cerasero the best at his job is the passion with which he teaches his content he always puts students first that never changes in how he approaches his day-to-day and ultimately Mr Sarasota is somebody who is a team player and will do whatever is necessary to make sure that we do the best that we can for students of Valley Oak what makes Diane stand out in her job is her ability to model and promote fairness equity and respect for diversity she's been a high school diploma teacher for Visalia adult for 40 years where she serves a diverse student population with creativity and caring I'd say Adam is the best job for several reasons one
072is because he's just really good at what he does and secondly he's also a great teacher he's very patient always eager to show people how things work he's always patient with people when they have questions you know I know I can go to him at any time I have a question if I want to learn something if I don't understand something I'd be happy to go over it with me and help me learn and grow I want to congratulate you for the excellent and great team member that you are Melissa thank you for all that you do we appreciate you doing thank you for what you do we appreciate you thank you Diane for everything you need it and I just want to Echo kind of what these principal principles have said you know you
073you inspire us thank you so much because we're here for kids and I can see all of you have a passion for children thank you and we're going to take a little 15-minute break for a reception all right let's reconvene our regular session 8.1 Spotlight on good things happening in the district superintendent Shrum all right thank you president good morning uh board members and our public obviously we've already had part of our Spotlight with recognizing our teachers employees of the Year our student performance and all those other uh great things and so pleased to bring you our Spotlight oops sorry I was I was turning it wasn't ready yet as a reminder of course Guided by our core beliefs and commitments and our priorities we're excited tonight as we do every meeting to Spotlight uh
074the great things happening within our district and so going to start at Ivanhoe where they held a mini Loft event The Academy of Health Sciences kids were fantastic leaders came uh and helped engage the kids to see potential future Pathways and Ivanhoe was also this project was one of 10 schools to receive a a foundational science grant last year and the folks at the state are excited about that progress so I think these things are so powerful for our students when they get to see especially the older students and just get to see what might be out there and available for them Mount Whitney High School had a veteran speaker event five veterans came and spoke to the junior U.S history classes they spoke about their experiences while serving in Vietnam the draft other important
075topics and how they never received a proper welcome back after the war veterans included of the USD campus supervisor and Coach Carl line pops and Mr John Perez the father of District athletic director John Perez so a great experience for our students to hear history in person Spotlight again on our students at our recent State PTA comp conference their artwork was recognized from the reflections program so I want to congratulate Elijah Sanchez high school student and in Muhammad Elementary School student who received recognition at the state PTA convention for their submissions to the reflections Visual Arts programs I hope we see all of our schools participate in this great event next year the theme for the program this year was show your voice so what a great theme and congratulations to those students you know
076it's becoming a theme right every Spotlight we have a teacher that's been recognized or a student you know by the media for uh their character and this week was no exception congratulations to Freddie agaleando 8th grader who was highlighted for his character on kse 24's Character Matters his teacher says Freddy is the pitcher you would see in the dictionary next to the word respect thank you Freddie for being so respectful and I believe he goes to Global Learning if I'm not mistaken and so congratulations to him can't wait to see more and Spotlight on Student Success at the end of April several elementaries competed in the tcoe Science Olympiad competition nearly 250 students from 15 Tulare County Schools competed in 19 events you can see the winners on the screen we had some winners from
077Visalia students launched Rockets floated paddle boats and much more as they completed tasks and test related on school subjects so congratulations to these young scientists and I think we took uh second place we got Oak Grove third Hurley fourth Annie R Mitchell and fifth Elbow Creek so out Simply outstanding again hope to see our more and more of our schools participate in these such events Spotlight tcsba winners congratulations to these seniors who received a scholarship from the Tulare County School boards Awards what an incredible accomplishment and uh I know that we're just beginning the scholarship season well underway and our high schools have scholarship nights coming up and so just congratulations to all of our students receiving scholarships from our various Community State local organizations and then also colleges as well Student Success language ceremonies
078several of us on the board have the opportunity to go uh to a couple of events that were held last week over 150 graduating seniors were recognized for achieving the Seal of biliteracy by mastering two languages by graduation and then the following night over 450 students in grades ninth through 11th were reclassified as fluent English proficient in a different Ceremony this is more than double the number from last year and tripled from other years these are incredible achievements accomplishments such as this being bilingual or being you know receiving the reclassification further helps set these students up for future success in whatever pathway they want to go on so congratulations these students especially their teachers and our district team who helped put together such an amazing event I enjoyed attending both of those um also this
079past weekend I believe the Tulare King County African-American recognition celebration took place over the weekend very proud that we had seven students awarded a thousand dollar scholarships and over twenty six thousand dollars in scholarships were awarded overall so congratulations to them on this incredible achievement another outstanding event many of us had the opportunity to attend recently hosted Special Olympics elementary middle and high schoolers and adult programs across Visalia competed in Special Olympics we want to thank our families students and staff for their support and their participate participation it is you know it's not that late um and also thank you Golden West uh that hosted that event I think that's the first time we've had that on a Visalia campus so that was that was I'm seeing confirmation over there so it was wonderful to
080see that now I have to tell you I've become fascinated by the El Diamante Esports team I'm an active follower of them on Twitter and I'll see a couple that one of their staff members here tonight um they this has just been a phenomenal group of kids here the El Diamante Varsity Esports team competed in the play via versus Super Smash Brothers ultimate league this spring against 135 high school teams finished with an undefeated record the miners became the first high school team from Central California to win a state Esports Championship the team consisting of Gabriel Woods Uriel Sanchez Daniel labato will now go on to Nationals to play for uh for the play versus cup I'm probably not using the right terms but um it has been I've got to visit that classroom and
081just you know several of these kids have already received scholarship offers for college simply outstanding and I know most many of our high schools have this and so it's great to see but just just um you know super shout outs been fun to follow their Journey this year uh Spotlight on our Visual and Performing Arts Crowley families enjoyed an afternoon filled with jazz music and Tacos uh while enjoying uh um the jazz band from the Middle School thanks to Sarah bezaletti who organized this event hope to inspire and recruit students to join the band and again similar to what we saw at other schools you know when our young students see the opportunities before them in middle school and high school they're going to Aspire to join those things and so a great great Outreach
082there Spotlight on our staff you know we couldn't do this without all of our district teams and so recently we had a need for some emergency support at one of our schools and our painters were called out early in the morning before their normal shift to take care of something so that our students would not be able to see that and just the spirit and the work ethic of these individuals commenting and saying we don't mind at all we had to do this for our kids their positive attitudes amazing even though they had to come in early and and really you could say that to all of our facilities and maintenance teams who just whatever they need to do pivot at the last minute if necessary just to make sure our schools are safe and
083ready for kids to learn and teachers to teach and so they appreciate them very much at the district we held our recent Leadership Institute with our principals and our district team focused on a deep dive into our core beliefs and commitments and how this should be reflected in our leadership and what that means I also held our classified advisory made up of office paraprofessionals and campus safety officers we had over 20 participants in that superintendent's advisory we'll Spotlight it next week but I had my high school and Elementary student advisories today so that always makes my day when I get to meet with that group uh Spotlight on our district here um you know again we've talked a lot about safety and just the ongoing work we have to do we know this is an
084ever-changing world and uh you know we have to be prepared for any type of event even though we certainly hope uh that it never happens and I've talked a lot about the partnership we have with the Visalia Police Department fire department of the city in general um and so there was an active shooter simulation drill uh conducted a week ago our entire cabinet team and other members of our district leadership team were invited out to be part of that event and what that really allows us to do is kind of see what are people's roles in an event like that right deeper understanding of how we can get out of the way of people that are there to render support and how we can support their work right as they're supporting our work and it
085was just amazing to see these Professionals in this simulation that again you know we certainly hope we never have to experience in Visalia but we know from the news and the media that these things we don't know as I say when when they might happen we can't predict time and location but what we can do is be prepared and be know what we need to do when we when we uh to respond and so I just again want to shout out our Visalia Police Department for inviting us to be part of this truly shows the partnership that we have a huge shout out to this group of teachers you know we know that we have work to do in Visalia and it's not because we don't have great Educators um they are working very hard
086every day but what we're doing isn't producing the results and we can go down a path of blame um we can blame externally well it's other people's faults or this or that right a lot of those things aren't in our control or we can look Inward and say well what can we do different maybe what can we do what can we do together part of that's the professional Learning Community Journey we're on but recently May 4th all math one teachers in Visalia Unified gathered to launch the 23-24 school year and it's not even August yet and this group of teachers came together to really engage in deconstructing the standards basically what do our kids need to know addressing critical questions what do they need to learn and how we're going to know they learn it
087learned it and working together to develop that I I that math one is so foundational this was our eighth and ninth grade math one teachers and so I'm excited to see uh this develop over the Year this group come together as a professional Learning Community um and and I have no doubt when we see math one data this time next year uh it's going to be a totally different story because of the commitment of these teachers at getting better together and so I just want to give a shout out to all of those teachers and the district support team helping to put that together for our kids also Spotlight on a district we held Employee Appreciation Night at Rawhide Stadium we had several hundred staff members there and also a vusd student perform the national
088anthem in a couple of our employees of the year were able to throw out the first pitch so unlike last year it was not 115 degrees so it was a very enjoyable night and saw a lot of employees and their families which I think was so neat when you get to see spouses and kids and all those other people you know really a family event so it was really enjoyable also continuing our college career Readiness with v pie held a recognition to highlight our outstanding industry Partners who devote their time to technical education providing Hands-On work-based learning opportunities so many community members involved in this that several of us also hadn't had an opportunity to go to we couldn't do this work without our Community Partners providing these opportunities for our kids so thank you
089to Vicki and the team and uh just all of those community volunteers that make that happen one that I'm very excited about and thankful for our boards investment in this opportunity is the development of our strategic plan so far we have held 16 staff listening sessions over 700 participants we this month will be able to to finish almost every single faculty and I just appreciate as busy as May is as many things as are happening these teachers and staff members are coming out so that their voice can be heard I think we probably have well over 700 at this point and we have many more in the next couple weeks from that point we'll move on to students to community and we've also launched our online survey which will be open so we're starting to
090get lots of lots of feedback and look forward to developing that continuing over the fall I mean over the summer early fall and then starting to present back out what we heard and then talking about what does that mean for the future of Visalia Unified as we build our strategic plan um we heard loud and clear from our community we need a new website we need to update um and so it's exciting when you begin to see some of these things start to come to fruition so this summer we're heading into the final stages of our website design we have a go live date right now of July 31st 2023. we want to make it accessible and easy to navigate for our community we're basing a lot of design and content based on feedback that
091we've received and this summer we look forward to finalizing the website and then they'll also be staff trained and then school-based teams trained as well so we can work on making sure we're able to keep things up to date there'll be an employee facing piece of this that's internal and then of course the external piece as well so uh very excited about got some early looks at some drawings of what that might look like and I think it's going to be exciting fresh and a place where people will be able to find updated information so excited to see that come to fruition social media early childhood education celebrated administrative professional days and our high five Friday at Valley Oak Middle School Middle School continuing we have national teacher appreciation week and again you know just
092how much our teachers mean to us and we heard tonight um you know just just amazing Stories and testimony of of why they're in this profession and love what they do every single day School nutrition employees week and then Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month were all recognized and so finally as you know we are focused on finishing strong we have our posters that are up around our campuses I have done a message to all of our students for our teachers to show talking about finishing strong but we know kids are always going to listen to their peers as well and so we've launched a series of messages that we've sent to school sites as well to show for peers to hear from their own peers and so I think we're going in tonight
093with the most recent finish strong message thank you we are finishing the year strong and we're going to ask some students why they do their best how are you doing your best to finish the year strong I always do my best by persevering and by always listening to directions so that I never miss a step how are you doing your best each day I'm doing my best by putting my 100 in everything I do and just like listening and participating in everything I can how are you finishing the Year Strong by doing your best I'm trying to get good grades on the state test so I can finish strong how do you do your best every day I read and listen to my teacher why do you give 100 on your assignments to finish the
094year strong well I just want to try my best to get good grades be prepared for middle school and so much more in life jobs anything like that why do you do your best every day that way I can feel proud and um that way I can make my teacher feel better what does it mean to do your best by thinking positive and give you my 100 why do you always do your best to finish strong I probably do my best to finish strong so that I can be ready and prepared for future years and for when I get a career and a job and a family that I'm giving my full effort and finishing strong no matter what it is time to finish strong and do our best and Madam president that concludes my
095report is there any comments or questions from the board all right thank you Mr Shrum we're going to move on to 8.2 adoption of instructional materials English language development one uh assistant superintendent Mark Thompson well thank you good evening board president good morning superintendent Trump board members thank you for all still being here with us tonight I know you came here just for this I'm pretty excited about this tonight uh so tonight this is going to be an action item just so you know right up front so this will be an action item as we're looking to move quickly through this so that way we can be well prepared for the beginning of next school year with this material in hand today we are focusing on our ELD English language development classes that we're focusing
096in on obviously we start off with our core beliefs and commitments this hits obviously number one achieve a high levels and demonstrate continuous growth providing high quality learning experiences allow all students to reach their fullest potential equipping students and staff with Educational Tools necessary for achievement and growth and I think in this you're going to see that tonight that we're actually equipping with things that they need to really expand student learning in uh Ela for English learners so again what we're always focusing on we've been focusing on this is our foundation which is a quality first instruction looking to get students College and Career ready and investing and focusing in plcs so I wanted to talk a little bit uh because we've actually gone down this journey I started two years ago actually uh talking
097about El curriculum and the reason why but we first we took a pause uh to look at kind of what our structure was because you can just go and jump in and adopt in a curriculum but that doesn't always make the solution to everything what we realized when we first started looking and the team started looking at this um Mr Don Diaz and the team started looking they realized we had a lot of different classes at every high school they were labeled different things so if you can see up there we had uh things academic assist gateways different things and they were called different things and we're utilizing different things and so different different curriculums different pieces so we wanted to First just acknowledge that that's what we saw was our current reality and that
098was the first thing that we felt like we need to adjust and we need to add to look into so that way we have a consistency and a Continuum of services working for our kiddos so some of the areas of how we looked at this when we realize this was going on actually a group of us just down the street here we have Soma which is a model district for El Learners in our state and actually we went over there and did observations with them and kind of saw what they were doing in their classes each and every day in their newcomer program but also looking um at Lindsay Fresno Anaheim Unified singer as other districts that were doing newcomer and Els well and and just trying to learn and grow from them what we
099realized was this is that we didn't really have a clean scope in sequence for our students and have Clarity of what that looked like also with having uh entry and exit criteria so that way it was very clear so that was the first work that had to be done we'll share that work here next so again kind of sharing what those needs were different sites at different uh course names for a designated ELD designated dld just you know is targeted ELD it's a class specifically focusing on El Learners and providing them uh the goal obviously is this is they are tested and prepared if we are all learning a different language we're not just listen speaking but also reading and writing so it's all four components it's not just one piece of those things but
100all four of those together so just realizing we didn't have that no clear entry or exit criteria new cover Academy is only at one site so that limits the ability for students to get in and mount newcomer Academy students are currently not mainstream throughout the day so those are some of the challenges that we saw in areas that we felt we need to focus on and work through so we came to this one and I know you look at this like whoa there's a lot here it is but it's actually it's fairly simple to walk through so when you look at that obviously we have our El student to the left there and what we had to identify first of all we realized as we were working with teachers um and kind of talking through
101is there wasn't even Clarity for there's there's different El students and groupings so there's an El student that is a newcomer a newcomer as a student that's a year or two uh up to three years that's new to our uh to United States or to our educational system if you look at the top that's really that starting point there is focusing on newcomers and if you look at the bottom in the Blue Area you see what we call ltels ltel stands for long-term English Learners these are students that maybe have been in our system or been in the state system uh being you know United States system of education for a while but we're not seeing the growth that we need to see in them for them to exit out of the program so why
102we've we feel this is a very important delineation is because how you service and work with students differs on if they're brand new to this to the language or if they have had access to the language and maybe are having difficulties uh mastering that and being able to be successful so that's what this is as we're targeting in today as you see 23 24 on the top there you ELD one we were really looking at our newcomer program and these students that are coming in and looking at curriculum that really Targets in on the skills they need to be successful a very research-based targeted approach so it it's important for us to build connections build relationships make sure they feel safe in their classrooms make sure they're connected to their school sites but also it's
103important for us to use research-based strategies techniques and curriculum to prepare them with listening speaking reading and writing and so that's what we're going to bring to you tonight so you look at that top piece and that is that Continuum of ELD one and you might ask the question well if I'm starting new how do I get out of ELD one how do I get out of the green section and then if you look at the at the blue section is how do you continue to grow and develop so there is now criteria set there that we use through our lpac which is our El testing and also through i-Ready and we're looking at a student that reads at a grade level third grade at that to then moved down to the blue section which
104is where our L tells them where we're doing the continuous growth model there the good part about this is every year students are assessed and they're looked at and then they're placed appropriately and that was a big piece in this because we want to make sure students don't just get stuck in a system and that they're getting targeted support and work as they move through so again the top one there is really our newcomer support across the bottom one is for students uh that are maybe struggling with the language that are progressing and moving forward and how do we continue to move them on their Journey so a timeline for adoption and you're going to see here is it says 21 on it and again why we slow down on this process was exact because
105we realized that curriculum wasn't going to solve our issue first we had to get organized we had to get systematic and we had to create criteria so we knew what students should be going in what students need to be need to come out and so that we're progressing them along the way and so if you see here that's why that happened but that work that we did at that time when we were using um in the programs that were talking about the curriculum we're talking about we were piloting and using that in these classes to see if that was success that it would create a successful model foreign also we had feedback groups again we started the feedback groups talking about curriculum and we quickly found out it wasn't just about curriculum it was actually
106our structure that we needed to create and adjust and that's why we targeted in on those two prong system and really creating entry and exit criteria so that way we have more clarity and making sure we're moving our students uh through the programs and making sure that they have what they need so what we got to is this ELD materials that we reviewed so again I will share with you we've obviously looked at the Frameworks looking at a CDE website the El roadmap was a huge piece and as you guys are aware we've done an El rise component for the last couple years district-wide working on that and obviously just working with the Consultants there supporting us as that is um a team that is really focused on serving Els throughout the state and that
107was a very important piece there again going to Selma that was a huge help to see their newcomer program they have a model program there that we gotta learn and grow and talk to the teachers there and see the kids and how they were thriving in that capacity and then also if you're familiar with this work but Dr Kate kinsella has done a lot of work in this area and she's been foundationalist for many many years in our area so kind of looking at those things and we reviewed a variety of different components here as you can see to the right here looking at those materials our recommendation at this time is this is that we are looking at three items and you might say well why Mark three items right and so just wanted
108to share a little bit so we have English 3D read 180 and systems 44. and again the reason why we have three is because each of our Learners have some different needs and we need to Target in on their specific needs so English 3D is really targeted on language and so they have a language launch component that we really Target in on language which is the speaking and the writing piece of it read 180 is actually a program a curriculum for struggling readers it's actually a guided reading model that's very scripted very focused that provides students with um research-based strategies for small group instruction that the teachers tailored they're trained on how they run that classroom as it is in small group sections it gives them that time and then systems 44 brings in the
109ex the explicit instruction for phonics reading comprehension writing for the most challenging readers so again each of them have a different component that is brought in here and that's why it's so important that the teachers have access to each of these so that way they can tailor it to their students needs the nice part about this is a very research-based um we've seen it in several other districts this is something very consistent throughout our area and also in past States I know Mr Shrum and myself have also worked with this program in other districts we did not know we were the team was working on the adoption but we've seen it's very research-based very consistent and gives the teachers the tools they need to really Target in and really help the students this is looking
110for a three-year adoption uh with the teacher resources digital resources uh consumables digital things professional learning and so that's that's kind of the pieces of that and again I will stay here and wait and if you guys have any questions feel free to ask but this is an action item tonight as we would like to get this moving forward so that way we can have it ready to go for the beginning of the school year thank you Mr Thompson is there any public comment any board comment or questions do I have a motion to adopt that I can make a motion that we adopt this program it's tremendous I'll second okay on a motion by Mr belt second by um case Miss Kasper celeno all in favor student board representative OTS and motion passes unanimously
111thank you Mr Thompson um General and item nine general public comment general public comment on any school related topic may be heard at this time the board asks that the public comment on any item listed on tonight's agenda be addressed at that at the time that item comes up for discussion by the board to comply with the brown act California's open public meeting law board discussion is limited to items on the agenda therefore when receiving public comment for items not on the agenda the board's role is to limit is limited to receiving such common 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 responsibility pursuant board policy the board uh will limit individual comments to more than
112no more than three minutes and individual topics to 30 minutes it is recommended you begin your comment by stating your name Ivan Rodriguez thank you hello board my name is Ivan Rodriguez I'm a product of Visalia Unified School District I raise my kids you helped me raise my kids to the districts so I thank you I am the program director for Visalia services and uh this month is mental health awareness month and so I wanted to come in and I haven't done this ever and uh that it was long overdue get to meet you and invite you some of you already know Ben Randy uh Trump Kirk I want to invite you May 24th 12-5 uh by cell use Services 711 North Court Street and uh it's visalia's children's mental health program and uh I
113really pride ourselves on on trying to make sure that we're serving our community to to the best of our ability primarily because we're members of the community and the Very schools we serve are where my kids went to school um we we had a reminder this past weekend about mental health impact it's not just when I talk mental health I'm not referring to Chronic serious mental illness uh we're all affected by it in so many different ways we had a loss in the Mount Whitney community and uh was out there yesterday and today happened to coach there happened to be a a academic advisor for the Academy of Health Science and so uh so again just wanted to make sure that I was here give you a reminder uh miss gamoyan you you've been on
114my mind for for months because you made a comment about a year ago I want to say about how you wanted therapists mfts you said at every campus and I was watching this online and I wanted to be here at the time to to tell you with Visalia Youth Services we have those therapists and we've been trying to serve the community our schools here for for over 30 years now and so uh one of the challenges that's looming for us is to try to make sure that we continue to serve our district even better and so uh the last few weeks I've been on this mission to connect with different resources and today I'm I know we're going to connect here after this with Brandon because the goal for me is to how can I
115how can I help influence the delivery of Services of Mental Health Services even better than we've had in the past given the challenges that we've all been experiencing so that's what I'm here for today I hope the dialogue with you somewhere down the line hope to see you all at the the open house we're gonna have tacos so uh so I so I hope to see you all there thank you thank you so much um Crystal Reynolds the longer walk today um good evening board superintendent sharum and president gamoyan my name is Crystal Reynolds and I am the mother of three with one child in the district first I would like to complement the district on the new diligent Community system that has been on the district website I have to be honest it's pretty
116fantastic I really enjoy it I found that navigating this as a new user was very easy whether I used my laptop or my phone it was very easy to navigate the hyperlinks is a huge plus you don't have to go searching for pages so um and then having the videos on there was great so um kudos for that that's going great for the community um and super easy uh for navigating so it's been very helpful thank you um on a different topic I had a parent reach out to me this week with the concern coming from her teen who was a student of vusd the student is feeling very uncomfortable with the current situation occurring on campus which may be infringing upon his or her privacy rights I am aware of board policy 5145.3 um
117letter H I guess regarding um the uh non um the harassments um or non-discrimination and harassment of transgender and non-conforming gender students when it comes to use of sex segregated facilities I do have some questions on this policy in particular Clause number four I just want to make sure that I am accurately interpreting the policy as it's reading to me I also want to make sure that parent students and Educators know no matter how they choose or not choose to identify are fully understanding their rights when it comes to balancing inclusion and privacy rights of the students and uh last I'm hoping to seek some clarity with someone that might be well versed on California Ed code it's 51932 letter B my understanding is that parents are currently able to opt out of comprehensive sex
118education and HIV prevention however as stated in education in that code I gave you 51932 letter B the opt-out provision of the California healthy young act does not apply to instruction or materials outside the context of sex education including those that may reference gender gender identity sexual and orientation discrimination bullying relationships or family I do have some questions on this and I would like to clarify so if you have somebody that can connect with me that would be great thank you let's move on to the consent agenda was there was there any board member that would like to pull a consent any consent item oh let's entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda move to accept I'll second okay who who was first oh uh on a motion by Dr Otto on a second
119by Dr Villegas all in favor student board representative votes yes and motion passes unanimously okay here comes the best part of the board meeting our student representative report Mr Tawanda charamuka thank you board president it's always great to be here all right uh El Diamante High School um they will be celebrating the Visual and Performing Arts students at an assembly on Thursday on April 28th we named in the 2023 minor of the Year Jasper Malone at our minor Expo rally at El Diamante we're hosting a Powerpuff fly at the football game no this may this Friday uh at going west they're making preparations for his spring Sports rally this week is filled and will be filled with fun Barbie themed activities for the Barbie rally this Friday multiple athletic senior nights are being held uh
120this uh this week at and last week all of which are well attended in order to support our students yeah and that leads for their Great accomplishments on the field over the years Special Olympics was written a very well supported event with members not just from going west and but all high schools coming together and to help support and run the event we would like to give going west would like to give a special announcement and all of our support it's a freshman uh Mateo Sanchez for his incredible yeah performance and dive and espresso congratulations for making it to the state and Dives championships foreign y High School I mean they held their spring rally on Friday May 5th they celebrated spring Sports and Pioneer partners and ours and their Special Olympics team for their
121accomplishments this semester and my Whitney held their annual cultural lunch on May 5th clubs hosted on various food vendors and celebrated you know with Cuisines from around the world and a live band rally will be held on Friday May 12th it will feature performances from band choir Elevate and drama Mount Whitney High School will be hosting the vusd prom on Saturday May 13th now vusd students will unmax the night at the Visalia Convention Center on Saturday from 8 to 11 pm at Redwood this mask for upros CIF playoffs has been an intense battle for the Redwoods Esports team and they made it to the top eight uh in California and played in uh the quarterfinals on um on um sorry uh maybe the second Redwood ASB hosted their ASV elections last week and have selected
122a new executive board for the 2023 to 2024 school year congratulations to ASB president Isaac Nelson and vice president Riley yeagel the Redwood Visual and Performing Arts Department held their annual evapora assembly last Tuesday and highlighted all their talented students in front of the Holstein body Redwood had a battle week and hosted a release on Friday oh seniors and freshmen I took the win and Rangers had a great participation of new students who aren't always getting involved at Sequoia High School students were able to Charter their own bus for a graduation trip to Disneyland with 35 students attending and 27 of them for the first time Sequoia and the Sequoia softball team went undefeated this year and will now be playing in a league championship tournament and Sequoia High School had several students for the
123first ever El reclassification ceremony bcis is celebrating teacher appreciation week this week with a totally awesome and gift bags uh treats and other tokens of our appreciation for our amazing teachers and all staff bcis hosted its annual students of the Year award ceremony and scholarship night on May 1st at the El Diamante theater vcis counseling department is recognizing mental health week vcis this week students and staff are wearing neon to help sign the light on mental awareness along with lunchtime boots Tuesday and Wednesday and an after-school game on Thursday pcis has been working on the USC prom decorations and organizing events for Teacher Appreciation Week uh VTEC they are hosting uh their VTEC FFA banquet award ceremony uh tonight which began at 5 45 P.M our their students at VTech honored their teachers with thank
124you notes oh for being so awesome our Scholarship Foundation had daily treats and meals for them uh this week last week their Spanish club celebrate Cinco de Mayo with many great activities for our students and an amazing dancing routine our seniors are preparing for senior week which begins on May 15th 2023 where their ASB has been planting engaging lunchtime activities and that's all I have today thank you so much um Dr Villegas thank you president um was able to attend a few events uh the last couple of weeks I was at Redwood High School last Friday for the cultural event the Cinco de Mayo event we had Community Partners tabling we had students and teachers dancing and live music it was a great time uh celebrating um art culture of course Cinco de Mayo and
125the Battle of Puebla so major thanks and shout out to ambar Rodriguez and the advisors and students from the Redwood Latin next club for putting together just a phenomenal event I look forward to seeing what they do next I was also able to visit to visit Arrow middle school with board member Naylor and president gamoyan where we saw some fantastic learning in action and Leadership and action from Principal model keen and all the staff so major shout out to all of them I was able to visit the Special Olympics helicopetti Stadium where we saw tons of families staff from all across the district and here in the county gathering for just a really amazing event so great to see students engaged families who often don't have that in the regular school year and so I
126look forward to seeing what else we can do moving forward to help support our students and our families whether that's looking at you know adaptive playground equipment or even adaptive Sports Seasons I know there's tons of great stuff going on in the community and I would love for us to to continue in those efforts um and finally I just wanted to take a brief moment to congratulate uh Brandon Gridiron is he here in the room who just defended his dissertation and is now a doctor Gridiron so if we could give him a hand congratulations uh and that concludes my report thank you Dr Otto yeah a relatively light couple weeks uh visited Sequoia High School with board member Casper soleno a couple weeks ago uh thanks to Mr Reyes principal Reyes for his hospitality great
127to see that facility uh which is commensurate with the needs interests and what the kids there deserve Sequoia High School is a place where kids for many times reasons beyond their control fall behind on credits and they receive academic support there and also personal support to get back on track and to get to the diploma in time it's a great place they're doing good work there also attended a couple of the celebrations around language one of the Seal of by literacy celebrations last week which is great to see that we're encouraging kids to become bilingual in finding a number of different Pathways for them to become bilingual and I attended two of the English learner reclassification ceremonies so small start there um it's it's a good thing to see that we're doing that kind of
128recognition publicly I wish we would have done it for years and years and years because it's worthy of that when you stop and think about kids who come to our schools learn a language and also by the way learn content virtually simultaneously as we saw in the previous presentation there that's a big darn deal and kids that are successful at that are great students and we know you know data shows us that as a subset kids who are reclassified are the highest performing academic kids in the district so if you want to look at subsets look at that one it's a great thing to see the kids working hard really do good things amid tough situations and they succeed magnificently so great to see those ceremonies in place that's good thank you um board member
129Naylor I'm not going to talk about buy literacy because you did a great job Dr Odo and I also attended along with um board member good morning and superintendent Shrum and it was a great celebration I want to give a shout out to Claudia Ardon for doing such a great job it was a nice evening the fort lorco group performed which was nice uh it was just it was a amazing night so thank you I had the opportunity to also visit Crowley with superintendent Shrum and it's kind of the Hidden Jewel I I had I did not I've never been to that school and so it was nice to um the principal there gave us a nice tour great Hospital hospitality great learning going on we went to a classroom they were doing uh jeopardy
130with the kids um preparing for the test upcoming test and they were in groups and it was just it was so nice to see that kind of active involvement in their learning and they were excited about it I also went to Divisadero with um board member Villegas and also board member good morning with Mr Strom and they did a great job we um got there around noon and they were exiting out of the cafeteria it's like okay let's stand back because here they come and but you know what they went straight to class uh with without a hiccup so principal American did a great job there um I also just wanted one more time give a congratulations to all of our employees of the year just appreciate their commitment to education they did a great
131job and also to our students that got the student award recipients tonight it takes a lot of hard work and and to get to that point and all their parents and the staff and the teachers that support them I just really appreciate it and um just want to reach out this is teacher appreciation week and thank you so much to all of our teachers for all the hard work work that you do on a daily basis educating our students it does not go unnoticed thank you so much thank you board member Casper Selena um ditto to what Miss Naylor said um no report board member belt uh I also want to thank Mr Thompson and all of your staff for presenting and pushing through this new program with Eld and I know as well we've
132been working very diligently with the new Mass uh coordinating and behind the scenes there's so many other things that are happening thank you all of you you're working on everything from safety to curriculum culture and moving forward which is our number one reason we're here to see that our students do the best they possibly can and you're making good strides uh you mentioned many things that I also attended I won't go through all of them but I I do want to highlight the last night the FFA at El Diamante I had no idea that nearly 500 students are involved with FFA in our AG academies there it was I I've never seen anything like it my experience of FFA a pretty small group of those denim jackets with the embroidery on it and um they
133not only are developing Future Leaders but they're developing students to be lifelong Learners and we got a good taste of that um both because of nice banquet but also of what they were demonstrating and how they do it so it was absolutely phenomenal well worth seeing and I know we have have I have a my account you all do NCAA has March Madness we have May Madness of every kind of event and opportunity to really celebrate and you know the principal Kim mentioned that last night this is a great time of year because we celebrate what's happening with all of our students and so it's not just tiring going oh no I have one more thing on my calendar it's a celebration after celebration and so we don't want to to to lose sight of
134that just because we run out of energy um I am really excited to see that our strategic plan is rolling out further with getting input from everyone possible with the new surveys that came out today the uh the development that probably is not going to be fast enough for people um I'm hearing that as well but it will be well worth it because it's going to be thoroughly done over the next few months and the last thing I want to share is uh something that I picked up last week I I also crazily I'm attending open houses um and they see me there and they go uh why are you here you don't have any kids here uh yeah I do all these kids all of them and so I've attended two open houses I
135have two more planned because I just want to be there to support parents and students and all of our staff but I picked up something last week in this governance class that being the Newbie here I'm having to take and I'll share it right now we've talked a lot about data and we've talked a lot about making that be kind of our Drive but I'd rather replace those two words with be data informed people driven thank you board member Gaby um yeah so definitely ditto um kind of the congrats to teachers um I've had the opportunity to be in Miss de Leon and Miss Townsend's rooms and multiple times and they are so student-centered I mean what they go out of their way for our kids um every day and definitely deserving um and also
136kind of on that idea of how our teachers are so influential in preparing our kids right now we're in State Testing we're in AP testing all of that and sometimes um you know it gets this um kind of idea that we're testing our kids too much or the testing is somehow so harsh on them but I'm telling you with um the right teachers I know my high schooler walked out today taking an AP laying test and she was like no I got this my teacher prepared me and she felt confident and to see that um the just the confidence our teachers can instill in kids and my other ones are taking State Testing right now in sixth grade and they're not stressed they're excited about it they want to show how much they've learned and
137that's all because of our teachers kind of instilling that confidence in them and the school culture that does that so thank you to our teachers and admin and staff yes um I um first of all uh Mr marqueen the principal at uh Divisadero gave us all a gift a book called The Talk conversations about race love and truth and I didn't get you one but since you're on our board I'll give this one I'll get another one can I pass that down to um and yes teacher appreciation week I thank you all um teaching is like the most wonderful job in the world so thank you for all your hard work I've been out and about quite a bit at different um schools and what I see is that our principles are embracing a growth
138mindset they're blossoming they're mentoring and their coaching and they are becoming the instructional leaders on our campus and that just amazes me as I walk around and I just want to give a shout out to our area supervisors who have really worked hard coaching and mentoring our principals I want to say thank you I see a huge difference so I just want to thank you for that and that's my report Mr Shrum thank you president and board I also want to Echo our teacher appreciation and uh hope they all feel valued and appreciated again you know we know this job isn't easy but as we saw tonight uh when it you're also your passion um great things can happen and so uh shout out to all of those teachers and all of our teachers for
139teacher appreciation also want to thank this board for the evaluation acknowledgment of the work that we've done this year but also acknowledging the work that we have ahead and so I'm excited about doing that and committing to that I hear with you in Visalia and also May is a busy month we have prom we have finished strong we have all of those things happening and so we want to make sure that all of our students are safe make good choices think carefully uh and and be safe and may enjoy it um and uh can't wait to see our students walk across the stage here in just a few weeks and also want to let our Mount Whitney family know our thoughts are with them with the loss on their campus as well um exciting event
140tomorrow we will be signing an additional mou with Fresno State for the guaranteed Admissions and so we're excited to join a few other districts in our area to do that again just continuing this commitment to make sure that our students know there are Pathways available to them and support available for them as well to continue their career or to continue their Journey whether that's career or college because we know we have a lot more kids that are capable of going to four-year colleges and and then we see right now and so we want to make sure we continue to build those Pathways and so that concludes my report thank you 14 1 recommended expulsions do I have a motion motion a second okay motion by um board member Naylor second by case board member case
141for soleno all in favor student board member abstains and motion passes unanimously um item 14-2 recommended suspended expulsion no motion oh second um on a motion by uh board member case barcelino second by board member Vegas all in favor student board member abstains and motion passes unanimously okay we have item 15 one collective bargaining agreement between Visalia Unified School District and Visalia Unified Teachers Association for the 2023-24 uh school year I'd like to open a public hearing Mr Dillon good evening board president good boy and superintendent Shrum members of the board um and folks folks here late um I am excited to share with you that our viewta and vusd bargaining teams uh reached a tentative agreement on April 28th for collective bargaining agreement that will spend a new three-year contract from July 2023 through
142June 2026. um uh just first of all I want to say like just how exciting that is and and how much that helps us having that happening right now in may going forward and preparing for the school year coming up also I want to let you know that vuta and bargaining unit members voted on the tentative agreement recently that closed out yesterday and Mr Price informed me that it passed unanimously with a record 98.4 uh percent of the vote so that's a great news I also want to just take quickly uh moment to thank our bargaining team members from both the UTA and busd Mark Thompson Nathan Hernandez Adolfo Reyes Lisa majerry and Michael Lambert um Megan Macy and then Patrick Hemphill the lead negotiator for vuta Liz Forsyth Steve Gonzalez Deborah Chapman Elena Griffith
143Cindy Jacobson Lisa idle hi and Greg price and also too I want to extend a special thanks to all of you as our board member superintendent Trump for providing us with Clarity and support to help guide us in that negotiation process and and I guess before I make a recommendation to the board I really want to extend a special thank you to Greg this has been my first year in the role you've been a great partner and we've pushed on each other and worked through things in and out of that room and appreciate just the ongoing you know good faith efforts to negotiate to do its rights for not only our teachers but for our kids so appreciate that from you um so I would ask at this time and recommend that the board approve
144uh the collective bargaining agreement that we bring forward to you good would anyone like to provide public comment on the collective bargaining agreement between vusd and vuta for the 23-24 school year Mr Price Greg price the president of UTA I just want to come before the board thank you for the work for getting a deal done and I'm going to call it record time um I'm on a personal note I appreciate having a summer back um that that's been good we've bargained through the summer for three straight years and for all the bargaining team members who took their time I appreciate that Ben I appreciate your leadership on the district side uh it's been a very collaborative bargaining session that we've had people may not realize that we bargain all year we started in September
145and we've probably had 15 to 20 sessions talking about a variety of issues so I want to thank everybody for my team the district team and particularly Mr Shrum thank you you know we got it across the Finish Line uh as Ben said in record time and also a record percentage vote and just so you know we had nearly 900 teachers vote which is also I believe a record so thank you very much thank you um I will now close the public hearing board members may I have a motion to adopt and approve the collective bargaining agreement between Visalia Unified School District and Visalia Unified Teachers Association and the certified salary schedule for the fiscal year of 2023-24 effective July 1st 2023. all motion all second okay a motion by Mr Villegas or Dr Villegas
146in a second by board member Gaby all in favor student board representative votes yes and motion passes unanimously I'm sorry and I did forget to ask is there any board member comments a cheer that was good anything else okay we're very appreciative as as the board thank you um item 15 2 public hearing California School Employees Association chapter 83 initial proposal for 20 20 23 24 classified negotiations um I'm going to open a public hearing and um CSC CSEA president Crystal Lopez foreign thank you good evening board members and superintendent Trump I am Crystal Lopez the csca president for our chapter 83 the following constitutes a csca's initial bargaining proposal article 10 our Health and Welfare benefits the district shall provide the full increased cost of the current Health and Welfare benefits for all eligible
147employees and their dependents Article 13 salaries csca seeks a fair and Equitable salary increase to our current 2223 classified salary schedule Article 15 leaves CSEA proposes to update change or amend language related to leaves and all other articles to remain status quo thank you thank you do we have um any public comment any board comment or questions I'll close the public hearing I will now um is there any board member that will make a motion to acknowledge receipt of the California School Employees Association chapter 83 initial proposal for 2023 2024 classified negotiations on motion okay second okay on a motion by board member Naylor a second by Dr Otto all in favor mine's not working there we go student board representative votes yes and motion passes unanimously item 15 3 public hearing Visalia Unified School
148District interest initial proposal for 2023-2024 classified negotiations second read I will now open a public hearing Mr van Dylan good evening board president boy and members of the board superintendent Trump uh Bend illness isn't superintendent for hrd and wanted to bring back to you again uh the initial proposal that we brought to you back two weeks ago again this evening as you know this is an action item so I would request that the board approve what we have here to bring forward to you I'm not going to read the whole thing again it is available obviously for your review but I will just clarify in addition to uh what Ms Lopez shared uh the the district uh does intend to move forward with opening article 9 hours in overtime in addition to the articles that
149uh the CSEA bargaining team has suggested also both parties have an interest in opening mutually agreed upon articles for the purpose of including them in the collective boarding agreement for example the the mou that we have around the Juneteenth holiday so I I do want to say just again I truly appreciate our bargaining unit members and look forward to good and Faith negotiations going forward here in the coming weeks is there any public comment any board comment questions I'll now close the public hearing Boardman may I have a motion to approve the Visalia Unified School District interest initial proposal for 2023 2024 classified negotiations it's all moved okay on a motion by board member belt second by board member Naylor oh come on there we go student board representative votes yes and motion passes unanimously
150okay here's to not having to spend your whole summer um fifteen four final resolution to eliminate classified services for the 2023-2024 school year Mr Dylan I was just going to move my chair over here if that's right um no you know this is the last one uh so good evening again um would like to bring forward to the board uh final resolution if you recall we brought forward the initial um information on this back to you in May um and as as we've shared before uh all these positions that we are including are worked through and we we talk through that with CSEA as well um so specifically we'd ask that the the board authorized the district to provide final notice to these affected employees and as a reminder these eliminations are a result of
151a lack of work or a lack of funds I think you do have a motion to accept the resolution promotion oh second on a motion by a board member Casper Solano second by Dr Yeagers all in favor student board representative votes yes and motion passes unanimously thank you thank you um fifteen five board policy revision adoption deletions first read uh superintendent Shrum thank you president moyam board members this is just the first read for uh our policies that we periodically review and update uh most of these policy updates uh correspond with csba recommendations stemming from new laws uh or bills that have become effective in California so updating language and striking uh language that is no longer valid and so again this is a first read they'll come back on consent agenda at the next
152board meeting board member questions comments okay well I'd like to adjourn this meeting thank you here